Tonsils and Adenoids Out with Ear Tubes

I would not allow any physician to put tubes in my child's ears. This is coming strictly from personal experience. I had the exact same surgery that you describe when I was 6 years old. I have never had any complications from having my tonsils or adenoids removed, but I have had several complications from having tubes put in my ears.

I had tubes put in both of my ears. The tube which was put in my right eardrum fell out naturally over time, and healed itself. The tube that was put in my left eardrum caused a lot of problems for me. It did not fall out naturally, and had to be removed. It left a hole in my left eardrum. At age 9, I had a corrective surgery using skin that was grafted from behind my ear lobe to fix the hole. The surgery was initially successful, but failed after about 6 months.

I have had a permanent hole in my left eardrum since the age of 9. It has caused numerous ear infections, and has affected my hearing drastically. I have close to perfect hearing in my right eardrum, but in my left eardrum, I have 60% hearing loss. I have had to wear a special earplug that I got molded to my ear from my ENT since I was a child... I have to wear it anytime that I come into contact with water. I am 27-years-old now, and I may have to have a hearing aid in my left ear in the next few years. That surgery for tubes caused many problems for me, and has affected my quality of life, still, to this day.

Research this thoroughly, and do not rely only on doctors advice. You certainly make the most informed decision for your child, but realize that a decision that you make now could affect her for a lifetime. Best of luck!

my daughter has had this problem since 18 months. her adenoids were not enlarged and the ENTs (a few of them) said nothing was wrong with tonsils. she kept getting sick followed by ear infections. when she turned 4 we had an ENT say well even though her tonsils look normal let's go ahead and remove them (this was after a history of getting colds, cough all that). he removed tonsils and adenoids. when he came out of surgery he said he couldn't believe the shape of tonsils, they were falling apart filled with gunk yet during examinations no one caught this. he said adenoids were somewhat enlarged but he would have not removed them had he not removed the tonsils. he said from experience, when he has removed only tonsils, he has had patients come back a few months later reporting problems still and has had to remove adenoids.
the surgery decreased the amount of times she was getting sick but didn't remove the ear infection problems. she is on her 3rd set of tubes. i would have never gotten tubes done the 2nd of third time but the numerous ear infections had eroded one of her hearing bones, which we had to have it replaced with an implant. the 2nd tube scared the eardrum which it never healed after the tube fell out, so the eardrum was patched. after patching the eardrum it never healed properly, and was sucked in, hence the 3rd set of tubes to relive the negative pressure.
so, after i told you our story, if i were you this is what i would do: get the tonsils and adenoids out and do not go for tubes. wait a year, see if the surgery makes a difference.
by the way my daughter is 6 and she had the 3rd tube put in 3 weeks ago.
the problem with young children is that their eustachian tubes are not mature. and do not drain properly and bacteria gets stuck in there and drains into the ear.
i have friends whose kids have benefitted from tubes. we haven't.

I just went through this with my 2 year old daughter. She had this horrible cough that she couldn't shake for months. We had adenoids out (because they were obviously enlarged on an x-ray), one month of health, then a series of ear infections. Then we had tubes put in. It's been about a month and a half and so far so good. I am glad we had the surgeries, but I am also glad we took a conservative approach. Our ENT was kicking himself for not doing the tubes at the same time as the adenoids since so many people generally need both, but there was no indication that she needed them at the time. I stand by that call even though it resulted in two surgeries. During this process I also learned that tonsils are a much bigger deal than adenoids or tubes. So, I would make sure that it was necessary and not take them out "just in case".

As far as the difference in doctor's approaches, we experienced that as well. The first ENT we saw didn't listen to a thing I said and just sent us off for a CT scan (although that's still better than your ENT who recommended taking everything out based on a visual inspection). CT scans are a big deal and I wasn't about to put my daughter under anesthesia for someone who didn't even listen to me. Our current ENT took the same approach as your current ENT - and he listens to me and explains everything. Doctors have different personalities just like everyone else and so much of what they do is a judgement call. You have to find a doctor that you feel comfortable with. Learn everything you can from the doctor and then follow your gut instincts. You'll do just fine.

I can give you the best advice of all because you are describing ME when I was five years old!!! I was always getting sick with sore throats, ear infections, strep, tonsillitis....the works. Finally, my Mom talked to my pediatrician about all the illness and she agreed that my tonsils and adenoids had to come out and that tubes should be put into my ears as well. The surgery was scheduled and I was a kindergarten student at the time and scared as all get out. I remember it all. I may have been scared but the doctors and nurses in the hospital were wonderful to me. They gave me a pink liquid medicine to help take the edge off before surgery so when I was wheeled down to the operating room, I was totally calm and very sleepy. The surgeon put my Winnie the Pooh bear on top of the huge surgical lights above me.....very endearing and sweet......and then I remember the face mask to breath into and in 2 seconds I was OUT! Turns out that my tonsils were infected inside with resistant strep and my adenoids were 3 times the size that should have been! This surgery was necessary and although I had the worst sore throat of my entire life afterwards, it lasted only a week and I was given pain medicine to help me through it all at home. Popsicles, slushees, chicken soup, and soft foods got me past the initial healing period and then I was 100% fine and ready to go back to kindergarten with my friends. Let me tell you this.....BEST decision my mom ever made for me in my life! I have never had strep throat again, never an ear infection again, and I rarely get sick at all because those nasty tonsils and adenoids are out and my ears had time to drain and prevent infections. My tubes fell out when I was 9.....one on my pillow at night and another one in gym class! Here's the best part....I am now a mother of two and my youngst started up with the same stuff at age three. I wasted no time and had her looked at and we chose to have the tonsils and adenoids removed at age four for her. Once again, BEST decision I made. She is a happy and healthy 13 year old now and no more sore throats, infections....nothing. She doesn't even remember the surgery because that's how good they were with her. They did her tonsils and adenoids with a laser so she healed much quicker than I did. I hope this will help you make the right decisions for your daughter. I know it is hard but I have been on BOTH sides of the coin. Once as a patient and once as a mother. I thank my mom profusely for pushing my doctors to allow the surgery for me and I extended that tenacity onto my own child when I saw her misery as well. Do what you think is best. Just do this while she is young.....the longer it goes on and the older she gets, the worse it is and so are complications of surgery like this. Good luck and I hope I helped you out.

Hi D.,

There are many ways to boost her immune system and get her healthy without surgery. God really did put body parts in us for a reason. Tonsils and Adenoids are filters. Tonsils actually protect the heart from disease. If the tonsils are getting infected then the heart is safe. I realize if an appendix is about to burst it has to be removed but most can be saved long before any infection occurs.

I said that to say that this. Nutrition will help build the immune system. Detoxing our home has helped as well. It's simple and can be inexpensive. My kids and I don't get sick anymore and I was in and out of the hospital all my life for what I now know are things that could have been prevented. Chiropractic care kept my oldest from getting ear tubes. When tubes are removed, scar tissue remains and continues to build up. Hearing is affected later in life.

I do nutritional counseling and would be glad to talk to you about specifics if you're interested. I do know that there is a need for pharmaceuticals in some cases but usually not in issues of this kind.

God bless,

M.

My daughter had tonsils,adenoids and tubes done when she was 2 1/2. It was the best thing we ever did for her. She was ALWAYS sick. She spent an entire year with runny noses, sinus infections and ear infections. She was on ten rounds of antibiotics in a year. She snored loud and had sleep apnea. All around miserable and untested previous to surgery. In our case our daughter has huge adenoids and slightly enlarged tonsils. I knew that the adenoids had to be removed but I was Iniatially hesitant about the tonsils. The doc said that he recommended removing them cause he often had patients come back later. We decided to just do it all. Turns out her tonsils were infected as well but from the inside. She also had a horrible inner ear infection that went undetected by a normal exam. So she was always in pain even after a round of antibiotics. So do I think doctors over recommended procedures. Sure. This is an easy procedure for them. Think it over or maybe get a third opinion? A final note is that the recovery for a tonillectomy is much longer and more painful then just an adenoid removal but I would still do it again. My daughter has never been healthier or happier. Good luck mamma!

My daughter had both tonsils and adenoids out and new tubes at 3.5. She had MANY ear infections before the first set of tubes (11 in 1 year!) and her tonsils remained inflamed and large for over 18 mos - size 3. so we did it all. It was a bit of a tough recovery - not horrible, but NOT fun... I would suggest that if her tonsils are NOT inflammed and there is no issue w/ throat infections, she may not need them removed. Adenoids and tubes are MUCH easier. If the non surgical route works, stick with it. Then I'd just try the adenoids... they can only see those on an xray... so you may have that done... Final thought - the older you get the harder and more dangerous tonsil removals are... SO some Drs might just assume we take them as they don't know of any medical reason we need them after 2. Good luck and I'd stick w/ the cautious Dr. and ask him about her tonisls as well as how they know her adenoids are large.....

My daughter was 1 1/2 when she got tubes because she would get erainfections as soon as shed be done with antibiotics from the previous ear infection. So after about 6 months of that we decided to do the tubes. She immediatly had one ear infection then no more! A year later her tubes fell out and we were hoping we'd be done but she still couldn't drain the fluid from her ears and her adeniods were enlarged so they said they needed to come out too. (she snored sooo loud) I asked them to take her tonsils at the same time which he thought would benifit her. So we did all three when she was 2 1/2 and she's almost 3 now and doing great! She hasn't been sick since then and her recovery wasn't too bad at all.
What no one warned me about (which is very common i guess) is that the 2nd week is harder than the first (so if she doesn't need the pain meds the first week save them for the second!) and they SMELL AWFUL!!! ugh... my daughter smelled for like a week starting a few days after the surgery! I couldn't even be in the same car with her! ( i WAS pregnant at the time so that couldve made it worse) but it'll go away theres just nothing you can do about it. (that I know of)
Good Luck!

Go back to CHOP and have the surgery - tonsils, adnoids and the ear tubes - make sure they put in the "long acting ones" - yes, there are "short acting ones" too that fall out in approximately 3 months!

All three daughters of mine have had the surgeries done at the same time - best thing ever! The nasal spray and antihistamine didn't work at all. The oldest was 3 when she had it done - the other two were even younger. They never get strep throat.

As for the ear tubes... please do it for your daughter's long-term health. She is developing scar tissue in her ears with each infection, which causes hearing loss (which I now have as an adult from recurrent ear infections as a child); also, you daughter is not hearing properly with all of the infections, which can cause auditory processing problems - which will lead to difficulties with reading, following directions, etc.

Note: make her drink as soon as possible after the surgery - or suck on a popsicle. Tell her before the surgery that she will be very thirsty and that the popsicle will make her throat feel sooo good - so that she is craving it (mind game here... ) Why? A lot of kids her age become afraid to drink anything after the surgery and then become dehydrated - plus, it is very painful on the throat. The little kids don't know any better and they drink and have popsicles and go home happier and faster! Also, Day 10 post-op, the scar on the tonsils is painful - give her motrin when she wakes up to prevent the pain!

Also, once tonsils are infected, the outside may heal, but the inside of the tonsil stays infected, which is why it becomes reinfected so easily!

Your daughter will be so much better after the surgery... just pray about it and you will have peace about all of it.

My daughter had 7 back to back ear infections after she turned 2 and started daycare. We were on constant antibiotics and were finally referred to the ENT. He took one look and said her adenoids and tonsils need to be removed. I thought he was nuts b/c she had never even had the slightest sore throat before. But, he assured me that her naturally enlarged tonsils and adenoids were the cause of her ear infections. He said he could gurantee me that it would fix the problem. So, I agreed. She had the surgery right after her 3rd bday. It was amazing. By far, the best thing we ever did for her. She is 6 1/2 now and has never had another ear infection and to this day has still never had strep or even a viral throat infection. Then came along our son. He started having ear infections when he was about 3 weeks old. You obviously can't remove tonsils removed at that age, so he got his first set of tubes and adenoids removed at about 10mths old. They fell out after only 5 mths (instead of the regular 9-12 mths). He was good for a little while, but the ear infections came right back. So, at about 20mths old, he had Duravent tubes placed. They are long term tubes. They last for 2 years and have to be removed. They are kind of "t" shaped and larger than regular tubes. Now, he just turned 4 and we just went back to the ENT for his 2yr follow up on the tubes. They are ready to be removed and he also has to have his tonsils out. They are gigantic naturally. I mean GIGANTIC. We go in on July 16th to have the tubes removed, the holes patched with a sterile surgical paper and a tonsillectomy. I know the surgery is no fun, but I also know my son will be SO MUCH better off without those huge tonsils. I recommend the tubes and adenoids. And I majorly recommend the tonsillectomy if her tonsils are indeed enlarged. That cured my daughter wonderfully. I actually have a picture of my son's naturally enlarged tonsils. I would be happy to send it to you if you want to PM me and give me an email address. Maybe it would help you to see naturally enlarged tonsils so you could compare them to your daughters??? Just let me know. Good luck with your decision, mom! I hope my experience helped you some. =0)