Seeking Info from Mom Thats Kids Have Tubes in Ears

My daughter had tubes twice...once when she was two and then again after they fell out a few months ago with her adenoids removed and she is nearly five. The procedure is so easy, like 15 minutes. They gave her cute pink earplugs to wear swimming and the same pair has fit her since she was two. The tubes do fall out over time as they grow and sometimes, like in my case, the ear fills up with fluid again and they need tubes again. She can take a bath or be in the sprinkler without the plugs. She likes them and knows they protect her ears and they don't bother her one bit. We just started going to a chiropractor and he helps children with ear problems as well, so you could check into that too.

Hi there. My oldest is 4 and just has her tonsils and adnoids removed AND tubes placed in her ears in May. She also had hearing loss due to backed up fluid. For the first two weeks after the tubes were placed we had to put cotton balls in her ears before washing her hair. They can make custm ear plugs for swimming if you wish, and there are also medicated ear drops for aftr swimming if needed. But, our ENT said that no extra measures need to be taken for our daughter. She has swam every sunny day this summer with no issues. The tubes will fall out when the tubes they are no longer needed.
The surgery to place the tubes is quick. If it is nothing more, she should be up and running by the next day if not a few hours after surgery. Hope this helps!!

Hi P.,

My son got tubes when he was 2 yrs old. It's such an easy procedure. Took about 5-10 minutes at Beaumont. Not painful at all. Nothing changes a bit. My son prefers to wear ear plugs when he swims (he is in a weekly swim class, but swimming all the time in the summer). It's nothing and will hugely help her hearing, balance etc.... One of my son's is starting to fall out (he's now 4yrs old) and the doctors say to just let it fall out naturally. No worries. This is nothing but will make a world of difference for your daughter. Take care. *C. WAHM 4 yr old son and 28 month old daughter

P.; our oldest son had tubes put in, no they cannot swim unless they have a waxy ear plug put in and the water proof headband on while they are swimming they do not water in the ear if they are not covered, the tubes are inserted into the ear drum, and they fall out on their own , they do not have to be removed, our son had his first surgery around 4 and they fell out in a year, he had them reput in his ears, after that and tey fell out within a month i said no more, little did we know then, it has scared his eardrum and has permanent hearing loss in that ear, it is not too bad but he cannot hear well in one ear, his problem was not ear aches, he has very small eustation tubes, the ear canal, and he does not produce wax, however he can use a warm water rinse to clean it out, so putting tubes in can result in permanent hearing loss, it does seem there is minor pain afterwards for the child, although with the tubes in he did hear better, but it did not last long, if i knew what i know nowi would not of done it, each person is different, and this was also about 15 years ago, please do your research , and i hope for the best, D. s

Tubes are not the best treatment and the research is starting to show that antibiotics are not a good course of treatment for ear infections either. The tube are put in, then they fall out and the ear drum scars. The scar tissue does not vibrate like normal tissue does and hearing loss progreses.
Try taking her to a chiropractor. I know a great one in Grandville who treats a ton of kids if you want the name of her!

My oldest had tubes put in when he was 15 months old because of chronic ear infections. He never had another ear infection after his tubes and he's 11 years old now. He still has his tonsils and adnoids. AT the time the tubes were put in he was younger so he couldn't communicate well, but I don't believe he experienced any pain or discomfort at all. He did go swimming, but we used ear plugs to keep the water out. His one tube fell out naturally after about a year and the other one sometime later, but I don't remember exactly when.

Good luck!

P.,

My son doesn't have tubes in his ears, but it may have been an option mentioned by his pediatrician if I hadn't had him tested for food allergies and intolerances at the age of 3.

My son also had the same problems, frequent ear infections, fluid in both ears to the point of flat-lining the tympanigram tests, and poor hearing.

We had him tested for both food allergies and food intolerances and the test came back negative for allergies, but positive for intolerances to 6 different foods. Over the past four years I have learned that dairy and wheat cause his ears and outdoor allergies to react negatively. The "bad" foods have been mostly removed from his daily diet and he has made a "miraculous" recovery. =)

We also added monthly chiropractic visits to his regular health care and the adjustment of the bones in his neck helped his ears to drain normally rather than the fluid building up and causing ear infections.

It took some time, but he now has normal hearing and has not had an ear infection since he was 3 years old...he will be 8 in December.

If you have any questions about allergy testing, please let me know. I am happy to help you research this possible option.

I hope your daughter is feeling better soon.

-C..

My 10 month old had tubes put in both ears. He didn't have any ear infections until about a year later, he had one, that was it. He still has them and is just fine. He swims without ear plugs, but he isn't going under water very deep. If your child goes under water a certain depth, then they have to wear ear plugs. My son has been going in the water all the time, and no problems. Also, he had the surgery in the morning and by the afternoon was acting and eating just fine. My son's has not yet fallen out, but we get them checked every 6 months to check to make sure they are okay.

P.,

My daughter(now 7 years old) had tubes three times by the time she was 3 years old (the last time the adenoids were removed). She suffered from chronic ear infections to the point that her speech was delayed though you wouldn't believe it now. :)

The surgery was quick and so was her recovery. She was a little groggy from the anesthesia but acted like a normal kid within a few hours. We were told we didn't need to worry about a little water getting in the ears during a bath but not to allow her to submerge her head in water (tub or pool). You can purchase wax ear plugs that work great for those times you daughter would want to swim.

If fluid stays in her ears then it will be harder for her to hear since it's like hearing through a pillow. My daughters speech always grew when the tubes were in and when she stopped learning new words we knew it was time for more.

This is a personal choice. Tubes worked best for us and she occasionally still suffers from ear infections.

Good luck and hang in there.

C.

P.,

While my daughter has never had to have tubes in her ears, I can speak from experience telling you that I had them TWICE as a child - once at age 6 and then again at 12. The tubes are supposed to fall out after a couple of years. The set from when I was 6 fell out when I was 8 or so and from when I was 12 one fell out at 14 and the other had to be surgically removed (also at 14) because my ear drum had grown over it. They grafted skin from the back of my ear lobe to repair the damaged drum. I can hear everything and doctors say my hearing is in the "normal" range, but sometimes it's hard to hear clearly on the left side (where the tube got stuck in the ear drum).

It wasn't painful and I could swim as a child (I would recommend ear plugs while swimming though, I never did like water in the ears) with the tubes in my ears. I don't remember doing anything different from my other two sisters as a child in regards to restrictions because of the tubes.

I think that doctors tend to almost automatically recommend tubes as an option when a child has earaches. "Oh, if they have many more ear infections we may have to consider tubes." Check your options. It's not horrible if she HAS to have them, but you seem like you want to make the right decision for your little one.

Oh, on a side note, I also had my adnoids removed when I had the first set of tubes and I had my tonsils removed with the second set of tubes. Sometimes they grow back. I am now 32 years old and a few years back I had gone to a new doctor and he noted, "Oh, you still have your tonsils." I said, "No, I had those removed. My adnoids too." He said, "Well, you got those too." I guess if the doctors don't get every last piece of tissue that they can regenerate. Who knew?

Well, best of luck to you and your daughter.

My son had tubes put in when he was 4, it was not painful. They put him to sleep and the procedure was over in just a few minutes. It's like having your ears pierced. They shoot the little tubes in. It honestly was no big deal. We had ear plugs custom made for him for swimming. My sister put off having my nephew's ears done, and he actually had to go to speech to learn to prununciate his words because he couldn't hear well.

Both of my kids have tubes - they both got them when they were 2. They have been a godsend. We especially noticed some hearing difficulties with my son, and after the tubes, it got better right away. The procedure itself is pretty easy. Both of my kids were put under for about 5-10 minutes which can be scary, but our doctor was incredible. They wear earplugs and a headband when they go into the water so they don't get water in their ears. Good luck with whatever you decide!

Hi P.,
I don't have any childeren of my own (trying to adopt!),but as a child I had four sets of tubes in my ears. As a resault of this my ears are now very senitive.
I remember after getting the tubes put in-waking up from the procedure that my throt sp? hurt for a few days, but after that everything was fine.
As your child grows her tubes will most likely fall out. This is nothing to get overly concerned about, it just that her body may think that they are no longer needed.
Her ears may become senitive to wind, and cold.
If she dose wind up getting the tubes, water in the ear might become an issue for her. Make sure she has earplugs in.
Another thing that might become an issue later is scar-tissue on the ear drum. This is especally an issue if she winds up getting more than one set of tubes. Of course it has been many years since my last set of tubes, and the procedure may have been changed to minimise this.
I hope I have helped you a little.
My advice is that if her hearing loss is enough to affect her daily life get the tubes.
C. O.

Hi P.,

My son had six ear infections before he turned one and his pediatrician highly suggested getting tubes. He suggested it b/c he didn't want my son to become immune to some of the antibiotics we were using to fight off the infection. We decided to give it a try. Our son was in the operation room for 15 minutes, came out crying b/c of the anesthesia, and was back to normal within two days! He hasn't had an ear infection since(he's 20 months), and I believe that it was the tubes that helped. He doesn't pull at his ears, nothing!

The tubes that we had will fall out within a year; he suggested to not submerge his head underwater but did not say our son couldn't go swimming. If he does go swimming, there is a puddy that you can put in their ears but at my son's age, he pulls it out.

Our ENT is Dr. John Becker and he is one of the best in the State. Very personable, very good bedside manor, and appointments are not a pain.

Good luck!

Hi P.:

Don't worry yourself about the tubes. They are very easy to take care of and the difference we had in our son, I will recomend them to anyone.

When she gets sick, you will have some cleaning that you will want to do around the inside of the ear opening, but other than that, they keep themselves pretty clean. Some kids have to use ear plugs when they go into the water, they say it hurts the eard to allow fluid through it, but my son wore the ear plugs for a very short while and never used them again and we haven't had any problems with water entering his ears. He is now 10 years old and doesn't have the tubes anymore, they fell out a few years back, but the relief that the tubes give your little ones ears is just amazing. My son was very cranky before we got the tubes because he constantly had this blockage or fluid in his ears. Literally within a day of having the tubes, he was a new child happy and loving, sleeping well, eating well, all was good. So, don't worry they are okay and not a lot to deal with. Have a great summer.
A.

P., I had tubes when I was younger and so have both of my kids. The kids can do all activites except when the go swimming or have baths they are supposed to wear wax ear plugs. You don't want water to get in the ear cause it could cause another infection. The surgery it self is about 15 mins. The child is no different then before they go into the OR. If your child has this much problem I would strongly recommend tubes because the fluid could start effecting the ear drum and she could lose her hearing. I wish you the best of luck! Oh and if you want a second opinion go see Dr. Russell Craig. He is on Hall Rd.

My oldest son had tubes in his ears. He had his adenoids removed, but not the tonsils. The tubes helped a lot. I noticed a little difference in his speech that was helped with a speech therapist, but it seemed only temporary.

Kids can swim with tubes, BUT you've got to get some ear plugs. There's the kind that looks like wax. It has to be water proof, otherwise the water will get back into the inner ear and you're back to square one. So some good ear plug wax I would suggest above the other kind. I don't think any of them are entirely foolproof. The alternative would be for her to stay in the shallow end, or have a wading pool and just look like the 'queen of the beach'. Also, my son's tubes eventually fell out. Since he had them put in around age four, and them falling out, he's been fine. And he turns 26 this coming week. So it isn't as scary as you might think.

My son had tubes and his adnoids removed at about 18 months old. He didn't have infections, just a consistent build up of fluid. We went to Children's Hospital and saw Dr. Belenky. My son's tympanogram (measurement of the ear drum's movement) showed some signs of hearing loss, but some of that was attributed to the fact there was so much fluid in the ear while they were testing.

His left tube fell out when he was about 4, and the right one- according to the pediatrician, is still there, not causing any problems and he's 11 yrs old now.

It's surgery which requires anesthesia. Because my son had surgery perviously (totally unrelated issue) we knew that he didn't respond to the anesthesia well (he also has chronic lung disease from being a preemie on a vent for 5 weeks) they "did things differently", whatever that means! and he recovered from the anesthesia much better with this procedure and we were sent home the same day (previous surgery resulted in a 2 day stay that should have been outpatient too).

I don't remember much pain or discomfort that wasn't managed with tylenol or motrin; he seems to respond well to that. We did buy some wax ear plugs from CVS I think it was- you can form them into whatever size plug you need and then insert them in the ear for a shower or hair washing.

Just a side note- my 48 yr old husband and his 68 yr old father both recieved ear tubes as an adult. With adults, there is no anesthesia involved and it is a general office procedure for an adult Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. It's a simple click of whatever their insertion device is called and all done. It appears that both of them have malformed ustacian tubes, which can lead to ear infections and fluid build up in adults. I had never heard of adult tubes before - who knew!

Definitely ask for a referal for a second opinion if you feel better. It is a fairly common procedure now-a-days, which shouldn't make it sound any less risky. It turned out to be a good thing for my son because his hearing is fine now, and we don't get ear issues anymore.

Hi there, My son got a T&A with tubes placed this past year at the age of 4 1/2 and he has had no problems. We got swimming a lot (the ENT said it was okay). They should eventually fall out on their own (from what I was told). He hears better and his behavior has improved from all of this. The only problem we have had is that sometimes he will have increased pressure in his ear (he put a rubber duck against his ear and squeezed it) but that probably would have hurt even if he didn't have tubes in his ear. Good luck with getting back into shape!

my younger son had hearing loss also...was way behind in speech because of this....we were lucky that after the tubes within 6 mths his speech was up to age level.....they bounce right back usually after the surgery....my sons both had them and the younger one had them 2x...they do fall out eventually and you will have to get ear plugs to keep water out during baths and swimming...the dr or pharmacist will help you out on which kind they recommend for your child....i hope this helps

M.

My step son just turned 7, and has had tubes since he was around a year old. He went through about 5 sets of tubes, because they kept falling out. The surgery never bothered him. At 3 he had the tonsils and adenoids removed. I will say he was on the extreme end as he has been now one year without tubes and he won't ever need them again. He had surgery on both ears to rebuild the canal. At the time the also removed a lot of scar tissue.

For him, when the tubes were in place they worked wonderful. But when they fell out, then the ear infections came back. We always knew when they fell out. The doctor's never knew why his kept falling out, as the majority of children won't have them fall out.

he did have to wear ear plugs, and if we ever forgot he always reminded us that they weren't in. Every kid is different and again my step son was on the extreme end. I will say that every time the tubes fell out, we went through all the rounds of antibiotics in hopes that he wouldn't need to have them put in.

The doctor he used was dr. hollander in cascade, on east paris. He was a great doctor and very through. He had his last surgery out in troy, at the hospital there. no doctor's in the GR. area, would do ear surgery on a 6 year old.

I don't know if I would do a second opinion, but if it makes you feel better then get one. You can always ask if there are alternative treatments before doing tubes. Some doctors will offer them.

My 3 year old was about 18 months when he got tubes. He didn't have any ear infections after the procedure. He was totally fine by the afternoon (the procedure was in the morning)He swam with ear plugs and something called the ear band-it until they recently fell out. I was very happy with the procedure, we had it done at a surgery place in troy with a beaumont doctor. There may be some additional pain or anxiety with an older child, but it went great for us.