Tubes

morsey2011

I know there are several LOs who have had tubes in their ears. DD was just diagnosed with her 4th one in less than a year. The last two times they were diagnosed in an urgent care clinic, not by her regular pedi. I'm most likely taking off work tomorrow and taking DD to see her regular pedi to talk about tubes. If your LO had to have tubes, what made you make that final decision? 

anasazi17

We are in the same situation.  A has had 3 infections in as many months.  The pedi said if it hasn't cleared up by her follow-up appointment in a week she will be sending us to the ENT.  I am curious to see what others who have already gone through tubes have to say to your questions. I don't want her to get tubes, but I think that may be where we are heading. 

morsey2011

anasazi17:

We are in the same situation.  A has had 3 infections in as many months.  The pedi said if it hasn't cleared up by her follow-up appointment in a week she will be sending us to the ENT.  I am curious to see what others who have already gone through tubes have to say to your questions. I don't want her to get tubes, but I think that may be where we are heading. 

I posted this on FB yesterday and everyone recommended tubes. One person told me she was told 3 infections in a year is what pedis usually say. But of course, my mom has to tell me horror stories about them.  

Scramblersmom

DS doesn't have tubes but he has had multiple illnesses (10+) which all end up with ear infections. The pedi told me that after DS was 6 mos that they don't even treat them anymore because the ear infections are almost always viral and will resolve on their own. There has been no discussion of tubes at all. I know that this doesn't answer anyone's questions but I wanted to add my 2 cents in regard to our experience and I am also curious on the necessity of tubes given the change in treatment of ear infections. I am in no way saying that they are not needed but I am wondering what the threshold is for making that decision especially given DS's history.

Scramblersmom

Just found this article doing a quick web search. I don't have time to pull the original research papers but I might look into them more when I have more time since I am curious given DS's multitude of infections. Here is the NY Times article...

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/health/15brody.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0

 

 

morsey2011

smit5009:

DS doesn't have tubes but he has had multiple illnesses (10+) which all end up with ear infections. The pedi told me that after DS was 6 mos that they don't even treat them anymore because the ear infections are almost always viral and will resolve on their own. There has been no discussion of tubes at all. I know that this doesn't answer anyone's questions but I wanted to add my 2 cents in regard to our experience and I am also curious on the necessity of tubes given the change in treatment of ear infections. I am in no way saying that they are not needed but I am wondering what the threshold is for making that decision especially given DS's history.

I have been researching most of the morning. I did find a study that said tubes were done too often. I'm torn. DD's hearing doesn't seem to be affected by anything and she has a big vocabulary. I just don't want to blow off these infections as no big deal if there's something serious going on. DH and my mom are on the side that she's fine. Everyone else says I need to see an ENT.  

morsey2011

smit5009:

Just found this article doing a quick web search. I don't have time to pull the original research papers but I might look into them more when I have more time since I am curious given DS's multitude of infections. Here is the NY Times article...

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/health/15brody.html?pagewanted=print&_r=0

 

 

That is one of the articles I read.  

katecham

morsey2011:

anasazi17:

We are in the same situation.  A has had 3 infections in as many months.  The pedi said if it hasn't cleared up by her follow-up appointment in a week she will be sending us to the ENT.  I am curious to see what others who have already gone through tubes have to say to your questions. I don't want her to get tubes, but I think that may be where we are heading. 

I posted this on FB yesterday and everyone recommended tubes. One person told me she was told 3 infections in a year is what pedis usually say. But of course, my mom has to tell me horror stories about them.  

Our pedi told us 7 in 6 months and the ENT said 5 in 6 months would qualify. The ENT was shocked that we weren't referred before then. His infectios lasted longer than usual too, even with antibiotics.

B had 11 in about 10 months, but because we moved the new pedi didn't review his medical history to see the older ones. I made an appointment with the ENT without a referral because we have awesome insurance that doesn't require referrals for specialists. At that point he had 6 in 6 months and failed the hearing test miserably on his left ear.

Tubes surgery in November was traumatic for me. We had an awful anesthesiologist who didn't explain anything to us and didn't give him the "calming" meds before they took him so he screamed and cried for us. His was done at a hospital because he was so little and had a scope done too.

Tubes helped. A lot. We can tell he can hear us now. He had been trying to walk for months but had no balance. Within a week after the tubes he was walking all over. He also passed the hearing test.

Ask your pedi for a referral if you are concerned. At least to get a hearing test and exam. Untreated ear infections can cause a lot of damage.

morsey2011

katecham:

morsey2011:

anasazi17:

We are in the same situation.  A has had 3 infections in as many months.  The pedi said if it hasn't cleared up by her follow-up appointment in a week she will be sending us to the ENT.  I am curious to see what others who have already gone through tubes have to say to your questions. I don't want her to get tubes, but I think that may be where we are heading. 

I posted this on FB yesterday and everyone recommended tubes. One person told me she was told 3 infections in a year is what pedis usually say. But of course, my mom has to tell me horror stories about them.  

Our pedi told us 7 in 6 months and the ENT said 5 in 6 months would qualify. The ENT was shocked that we weren't referred before then. His infectios lasted longer than usual too, even with antibiotics. B had 11 in about 10 months, but because we moved the new pedi didn't review his medical history to see the older ones. I made an appointment with the ENT without a referral because we have awesome insurance that doesn't require referrals for specialists. At that point he had 6 in 6 months and failed the hearing test miserably on his left ear. Tubes surgery in November was traumatic for me. We had an awful anesthesiologist who didn't explain anything to us and didn't give him the "calming" meds before they took him so he screamed and cried for us. His was done at a hospital because he was so little and had a scope done too. Tubes helped. A lot. We can tell he can hear us now. He had been trying to walk for months but had no balance. Within a week after the tubes he was walking all over. He also passed the hearing test. Ask your pedi for a referral if you are concerned. At least to get a hearing test and exam. Untreated ear infections can cause a lot of damage.

I can't bold, but your last paragraph is where I am right now. 

Scramblersmom

katecham:

Ask your pedi for a referral if you are concerned. At least to get a hearing test and exam.

This exactly. It doesn't hurt to check into it then make a decision later based on what the specialist says and how the hearing test results look.

thetheisens

My ds had tubes put in just before he turned a year. He had eight infections in under year. The ENT tested the movement of his ear drums and there was almost none. Basically, he couldn't hear. Tubes were definitely the right choice for us. I have seen so much improvement in his speech.

morsey2011

thetheisens:

My ds had tubes put in just before he turned a year. He had eight infections in under year. The ENT tested the movement of his ear drums and there was almost none. Basically, he couldn't hear. Tubes were definitely the right choice for us. I have seen so much improvement in his speech.

Thanks for the input. Her fever has spiked again this evening, so I'm taking her to the pedi tomorrow.  

thetheisens

morsey2011:

thetheisens:

My ds had tubes put in just before he turned a year. He had eight infections in under year. The ENT tested the movement of his ear drums and there was almost none. Basically, he couldn't hear. Tubes were definitely the right choice for us. I have seen so much improvement in his speech.

Thanks for the input. Her fever has spiked again this evening, so I'm taking her to the pedi tomorrow.  

That was also part of our problem, he would get high fevers from the ear infections and they only worsened over time and wouldn't clear up on their own. The constant fluid in his ears could have caused serious long term damage. Now with tubes we  treat with just drops, the tubes allow the fluid to drain.  

CallMeAl

DD had tubes put in the day before she turned 6 months old. I think we were probably the first on the board to do them. She had 7 ear infections in her first 5.5 months between her two ears. She wasn't cooing or really making any noise at all since she had been unable to hear clearly for pretty much her whole life at that point. For us, we had just had enough of our tiny baby being so miserable, and were terrified she would just become more and more delayed. She started making noises the same day her tubes went in, and she is almost caught up now, though I still feel like she is on the slower end of speech development.

Edit to fix stupid phone errors.