Ruptured eardrum/infection

cubuff98

So upset after taking DS to urgent care Friday night with fluid oozing out of his ear to learn he had a ruptured eardrum as a result of an infection.  Especially upset after DH took him to his pediatrician Thursday night and they said he was fine--it was just a virus and his ears looked good.  I find it hard to believe things could go from fine to horrible in 24 hrs.  This is his 2nd ear infection and he's only 4 and a half months.  I was wondering if anyone else had experience with kids having something like this, and also if he keeps getting them if I should think about getting the tubes in his ears? 

cmrand4

Almost this exact scenario happened to my DS1 when he was 4 mos old.  Ear infections can come on quite rapidly in little ones so the dr may not have been able to see it.  I too was worried that he would have reoccurent ear infections but he didn't get another one after those two until he was 3 years old.  It's probably a bit early to worry about tubes.  I think they have to sedate them to put tubes in so probably not something you want to rush to.  Hope he feels better soon.  Sick babies are no fun:(

km3

My kid hasn't had ear infections, but I am an audiologist in a medical setting and see kids with ear infections every day. If your son had a ruptured eardrum, he should see a Pediatric ENT to get it checked out. The ENT will be able to tell if the perforation is big or little and maybe if it is likely to heal on its own.

Tubes are put in to help the ears drain and to keep the pressure in the middle ear normal. Tubes are put in by making a hole in the eardrum and then putting a little tube in it to keep it open. If the eardrum is ruptured, the hole is there and he may not need tubes. But like I said, get it checked out by an ENT.

ETA: PP is correct, little ones have to be sedated to do tubes.

Different ENTs have different criteria for how many ear infections the kid has to have before getting tubes.

Good luck!

gingerfamily

Ear infections do come on fast so it's no surprise to me that he didn't have one when he went to the dr and then had one when you took him to Urgent Care. 

He may need tubes, time is the only way to tell.  Most ENTs won't do them until the child has had 8+ ear infections in a short amount of time.  Also, if he continues having ear infections in the summer time (past cold and flu season) that's an indicator as well. 

Good luck.

(Ma'iingan)

Our DD had tubes put in at 8 months of age (best decision ever!!!).  We questioned our pediatrician about looking into tubes, and the pediatrician referred us to the ENT.  We had an appointment to place tubes within a week (there was an opening). DD had about 3-4 ear infections at that point.  Ear infections are incredibly painful and we did not want to wait to have tubes placed due to the potential of speech and language delays.  We were amazed when we came home that day after surgery at the sounds she startled at (previously did not), so it was obvious she was not hearing clearly.  It made a tremendous difference for her.  We'd do it again in a heartbeat, and if DS starts developing ear infections we would absolutely choose to have tubes placed sooner versus later.