Livi, other docs....tubes in the ears for my one year old?
 

He has had 5-6 ear infections in the last year (he's 15 months). He's been on really strong antibiotics(omnicef sp) and they say it's time for tubes. Should I be concerned? They make it sound like an afterthought.

i had em when i was like 10 seemed to work...

Fairly common procedure. It's to avoid excessive scarring of the ear drum and potentially serious chronic middle ear and inner ear infections. You can always get second paediatric opinion.

I trust this doc, but the nonchalant attitude toward it is what gets me. Kind of an "ahh it's nothing" thing. Is it "nothing"?

had them when I was a kid. Pretty common. I had to have custom earplugs made for when i went in the shower

I'm sure it's nothing but don't you hate it when your kids get sick.

Good Luck and I hope the little one feels better soon.

What's holding you back? How old is the child?

Do the tubes or your kid will suffer for it. The tubes let the pressure off your kids ear drums. If you do not do this his (or her) eardrums can and MAY burst, causing very serious, very permanent damage.

My oldest daughter and several of my younger sisters had to have them. My first cousin was an EyeENT doc, graduated from Harvard and did most of the surgeries, including one of his own kids. He certainly would not have recommended the procedure if it hurt one of his family. The ENT that did my daughter basically stated the same thing, 40 years later. My oldest is now 26 and doing fine. Its a simple mechanical procedure, it works and not doing it can cause serious permanent hearing damage, also a proven fact.

The kids are young, recover nicely, and will not remember it, that’s unless their eardrums DO burst. I have 5 sisters. This did happen to one of them, ie her eardrums burst, because she did not have the tubes installed (my mother got some kind of natural healing thing up her butt on the third kid) Ruined that daughters hearing, permanently. Thank god all the rest got the tubes.

Len,
The majority of risk is anesthesia related. Most ENT docs do hundreds of these and the procedure is pretty basic. So while the operator may feel/appear somewhat flippant about it, there is always a small chance something could happen. The vast majority are quick and work well. As always, YMMV.

HUGE difference with my son 15 or so years ago. He was up and running around in two hours. Made a big difference in his hearing.

Don´t worry. Tubes is a very common and routine procedure. I would not hesitate one moment and the effect on ear infections is usually very good.

Several ear infections - more than 4-6/year - is almost always a sign of a local 'sensitivity' in the upper airways /ears. Almost every child grows out of it during the preschool years, but tubes is a big help and it is easy and humane.

If a child in this age group also has suffered several other bacterial infections, like pneumonia or more severe infections, like meningitis - it is prudent to have a look at its immune defense system. However, ear infections alone is rarely a sign of a immune deficiency.

No problem. I think I asked the same question of the board about my then 1.5 year old. He is so much better for having them. Our doctor was the same way, non-chalant about it.

I would recommend it. Did it with my daughter, twice. The tubes are much better than the constant meds. Good luck.

A nephew had them for six months or so, fine now. He is engaged to a woman with hearing problems but not related to this thread.
Jim

Apparently they only do "mask" anesthesia. Is this safer?

Thanks Livi, he han't had any other serious illness.....but he's only one. He did have a chest cold like the rest of us a month back but so did I, my wife and three year old. He did seem to get it the worst though and the doc gave him an inhaler to help him out as he was working really hard to get air. He's fine now though.

Thanks for the info guys, I'm sure we'll go forward with it. Little fella will thank me later:D

My daughter had tympanostomy tubes placed when she was about 12 months old. She had had about 5 ear infections in the previous 6 months, basically she never got off of antibiotics. We brought her in, they took her back to the OR, sedated her and used a bit of anesthesia (not enough to require intubation usually) and did the procedure. She was back in our arms in about 20 minutes.

Since the tubes she has had 2 ear infections that I can recall in about 15 months. I would do it again if my kid needed it, it really made a difference.

The risk involved is really just the anesthesia. You are correct in that most places will sedate the child just enough to do the procedure safely (which means making them go to sleep but not so much that they require a breathing tube). Once they are asleep the ENT can put the tubes in in a matter of minutes. Afterwards the kid is sleepy for about an hour or two and then you go home.

BTW, it's amazing how different it is when the patient is your child. I go into the post-anesthesia area all the time to see folks coming out of the OR and/or going into the OR and I was a friggin shaking leaf when I brought my little peanut in.

My son had tubes put in twice (the first ones fell out) and they have made a big difference in his hearing and "ear-related" issues. He suffers from some severe allergies and has gone through the allergy shots/testing/medication routine. Dan is 15 and he's had tubes in his ears since he was 5. He has no problems swimming because he wears ear plugs. His ears seem to be better in the warm weather and the long MI winters play havoc with all of us...

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