Tubes or no tubes... Help!!

Mrsniles09 · April 2014

My 3 year old has had 3 ear infections in the last 4 months... I don't know if I should have him get tubes or not... We are the type of family that likes to try natural remedies... I just have heared good things about them and not so good things... Anyone have any input?

JENandJEH · April 2014

Neither of my boys ever had them but my niece had to have them and she was like a totally different child after she got her tubes put in. She went from basically having an ear infection every month to not a single one and her mood/sleep improved greatly. My BIL and SIL wished they had pushed for them sooner. The procedure was so quick that my SIL hadn't even made it back to the waiting room (they let her walk into the OR with niece and then she stopped at the bathroom and went to the waiting room) when the nurse came out to tell them it was over and they could see her in a few minutes. She was home before lunch and they said they kept trying to get her to rest and take it easy but she was up playing like her normal self by dinnertime.

RedDDD · April 2014

My son has had two sets of tubes, 10 months and 20 months. What does your Pedi say? They usually say they out grow the ear infection phase by around age 2. Mine has not. But by this time the eustachian tube should have lengthened and the ear infections become less common. Does your LO have a history of ear infections? My son basically had one long ear infection for 3 months....never could clear the fluid and after repeated treatments which killed the infection the fluid was still there so the tubes helped a LOT. When we did a hearing test I was horrified to see he basically could not hear a thing. So for us the tubes have been the best thing we ever did. Im not sure what bad things you have heard because I haven't heard a bad thing about them. If your kid needs them they are a life saver!

ashiscute · April 2014

DS got his first ear infection at 4 mos and it basically never cleared up. He had 3 more plus constant fluid before he got tubes at 10.5 mos. He is now 19 mos and hasn't had an ear infection since. It has been wonderful for us. I actually do not know anyone that has had a bad experience with them personally. My niece got them as well and it has hugely helped her.

Like PP said the experience is pretty easy. I held DS while they put him under and then DH and I headed to the waiting room. I don't think we were there 10 mins when they called our names that he was done. We were away from him 30 mins total and I nursed him as soon as he woke up. He was a little cranky but by the time we got home he was back to his usual self. I would do it again without any hesitation. Good luck.

bitsybubbles7 · April 2014

Lo got tubes right around his first birthday. He had 2 infections before 6 months and 5 between 6 and 12 months. It was the best thing we did. The cool, yet sad, part was seeing him hear things he obviously wasn't before, like water running for a bath.

junebugrbig · April 2014

DS had chronic ear infections from 6 months old on. After consulting with a pediatric ENT, we skipped the tubes and had his adenoids and tonsils out at age 3. Went from being sick all the time to having only one ear infection in the past almost three years. Best decision we made.

Jmcmahon21 · April 2014

DS is 28 months and we just got tubes put in, in february. He had fluid in both ears and barely passed the hearing test he is also delayed in speech. We are so happy we got tubes put in, it was so quick and painless for him and he was back to normal the same day. His speech has been amazing since getting tubes and so glad we did it.

thanxbaby · May 2014

I have heard many people have been able to avoid tubes by seeing a chiropractor and avoiding dairy. This is a good article https://www.livestrong.com/article/543751-can-milk-protein-allergy-cause-ear-infections/#page=1

thanxbaby · May 2014

I will also say that my 5 1/2 yr old hadn't had any ear infections since seeing our holistic chiro in the last 1.5 years and my 2 yr old has never had one(he's been getting adjusted since 10 months old and has always been dairy free as he has an intolerance). I used to have issues with fluid building up in my ears as an adult to where I couldn't hear!! I would have to have my ears flushed, since I have been dairy free I haven't had this happen again. The article I posted talks about a milk protein allergy but it doesn't have to be a true allergy to cause these issues.

2-Step · May 2014

As someone who struggled with ear problems my whole life, I can say that tubes can really help. But I can also say they aren't very fun to get or maintain. For me they were just a treatment, not a solution. I had to keep getting them replaced over and over, meanwhile I was building scar tissue in my ear drum where they kept being put in. No water in the ears, swimming was a pain etc.

My son started getting ear infections at a very young age and I thought he must be destined to have my same issues. My neighbor told me about a garlic oil treatment that can combat inflammation. He had been on back to back rounds of antibiotics and the infections never went away. I tried the garlic oil and he has not had one infection in nine months! The theory is that antibiotics kill all the bacteria, but also the good bacteria, leaving the ear constantly susceptible to ongoing infection, it can never fully recover. The garlic oil is a natural anti-inflammatory/anti-bacterial that reduces the swelling and helps prevent infection without killing off every single bacteria good or bad.

He has had a few colds where he starts to complain about his ear. I immediately put some drops of room temperature garlic oil in his ear and cover it with a warm damp cloth for 10 minutes while he watches a movie or something. Never once since I started this has he developed a full blown ear infection. You can make garlic oil easily, but I just buy it off Amazon.com because I am lazy.

If you google it you will see that it is even listed as a treatment on WebMD and Dr.Sears, so it's not going to hurt to try.

The thing that finally fixed my problems was having my tonsils out at age 18, after that my ears have been much better. Tubes can help, but I see them as more of a temporary fix from my experience.

Ardmhs83 · May 2014

My son got tubes put in right before his second birthday. Our pedi didn't rush the decision...we tried to ride it out, but the infections wouldn't stop. Our pedi and ENT decided he needed the tubes. Once he got them he RARELY got infections, so it was well worth it!

He's now almost 4 and his tubes have fallen out and he has been getting them again. Much less frequently though, like 3 this year.

Just continue to talk to your doctor and go from there. Good luck!

BookitBoo · May 2014

DS just got tubes yesterday. He's 2 1/2, and has had 10 ear infections since October. ENT doctor said that he had a lot of fluid build up, so I feel like it was well worth it, but I don't have any other advice or actual experience. The procedure itself was really quick and seemed 'low maintenance' -- no IV, and they carried him to the surgery room instead of wheeling him away.

Good luck!

Wipz · May 2014

junebugrbig said:

DS had chronic ear infections from 6 months old on. After consulting with a pediatric ENT, we skipped the tubes and had his adenoids and tonsils out at age 3. Went from being sick all the time to having only one ear infection in the past almost three years. Best decision we made.

A coworker and I were discussing this ear infection thing recently and he said the same thing.. he said his daughter never had another ear infection and his sons ears and allergies were also drastically improved. We've been lucky and never had that issue.. but he swears by it.... always worth asking your ENT/Pedi if it's worth a shot

Mally2011 · May 2014

This is a subject you should be discussing with either a pediatrician or a pediatric ENT specialist whose judgement you trust. Everyone's child has different experiences with it, so the advice given on here has nothing to do with your child.

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Tubes or no tubes... Help!!

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