My 33 month old daughter needs tubes in her ears, anyone have any positive/negative experiences with this?

Question

She gets an ear infection with every cold. She has had 3 in the past 5 months. The doctors recommend this, but it's my decision. What are your experiences with this?

Answer 1

The only regret I has was that we didnt do it sooner. it is a relatively easy procedure and almost painless. You have to be careful that water does not get into the ear until the tubes fall out (a year or so). In all events, if she has regular infections, she may have more permanent damage done to her ears if it is not taken care of soon... good luck

Answer 2

I had tubes in my ears when I was younger. Like your daughter, I had repeated ear infections almost every other week. I was older when I had the surgery though, like 7-9 (don't remember exactly). From what I remember it was a very simple surgery and I experienced NO PAIN. I went in to the hospital and came home the same day and played. I remember feeling a little dizzy and tired, but nothing really beyond that. The doctor told my parents that the tubes should fall out by themselves one day when they were no longer needed, but mine never did. So I had to have surgery again to remove them. That's the only hitch up I had with my experience. If your daughter has the procedure it's extremely important that she does not get any water in her ears while taking baths, swimming, etc. They gave me little ear plugs to wear when I did things like that. Overall, my experience was OK. I think your daughter will be fine too because she's so young. You might as well take care of this now before she keeps getting sick.

Answer 3

my daughter had tubes put in her ears and her tonsills and adenoids taken out in December. She was getting ear infections all of the time. She had trouble pronouncing things because she had fluid built up behind her ears. If she also has hearing problems I would strongly recommend it. The longer that you let it go the worse off she will be. it will affect her speech and how she interacts with others things like that. it was not bad at all and she was back to normal in 2 weeks. The tubes end up falling out on their own (most of the time) and she doesn't feel them at all. If anything she didn't like them because she could hear so well that everything was a lot louder than it used to be. Water is not a problem as long as it is not lake water, she can go swimming in a pool after a few weeks and showers and baths do not bother them. you just cannot get them wet until after the antibiotic eardrops (from after the surgery) are gone, once that course of antibiotics is done showers and baths are fine.

Answer 4

I actually have had 9 gadgets of tubes put in my ears. i replaced into very susceptible to ear infections as a baby and none of the different issues they tried to empty the fluid worked. Have they tried the different strategies which includes antibiotics or different strategies? frequently, tubes lately have a tendency to be a very last motel, even though it appears like in case your daughter has that a lot fluid, she will desire them. it really is an quite straight forward and quick technique. they're going to positioned her down and the tubes, they are tiny and eco-friendly, will be inserted into her ears. It facilitates to empty the fluid right now and quite. The tubes do fall out after some time, and if her ears replenish again and they could't drain it, they're going to do it again. My ears are wonderful now, and that i had to have the technique performed 9 cases between age 18 months and 10 years. it really isn't any longer some thing to agonize about. reliable success!!

Answer 5

My daughter is now almost 25, but I had her ears done when she was 18 mos. and it was wonderful. No more ear infections. However I think there are some kids that it doesn't help as much...for the most part most of what I've ever heard about tubes is positive.

Answer 6

get the tubes. my gosh, i had so, so, so many problems with my ears when i was little. after i got tubes put in, no more problems!!

i always had ear infections as a baby/toddler. the tubes will/should fall out after a few years--just be really careful, as one of mine didn't ever fall out and it had to be removed by my family physician when i was 16. it was slightly infected, but nothing serious (i had an awful cold at the time). so, i really think it would be a good idea for you to take your daughter to get the tubes put in.

it'll relieve alot of her pain and discomfort, and that is the most important thing!!!!

Answer 7

It was the best thing I could have done for my daughter. She was 13 months old and the day she got her tubes in, was the day she started walking. All that fluid built up can cause problems with her equilibrium and her speech. It is really not that bad of a procedure. I think it took 30 minutes at the most. It is well worth it.

Answer 8

I was sick with ear infections all the time as a pre-kindergarden-aged kid. While on pink-liquid penicillin, I was fine. After medication was finished up, I'd get sick again. Back in the 1980s my pediatrician was hesitant to send me to an ENT, since a normal part of a kid's life is getting sick all the time.

My mother listened to the pediatrician's advice, and my first tube operation was a success. They eventually worked themselves out of my eardrum and came out my ears. Then I went back to being the drugged up kid again.

Then I went through another tube operation, with exactly the same results. After the tubes came out, I was always congested and breathed through my mouth at all times, earning the name "Fish Breath" from my siblings.

Finally, my mother took me to the ENT doctor, who told her that I would need my tonsils and adeniods removed to stop reinfection from occurring. The pediatrician was adamantly opposed to this opinion, as he felt a child's first defense was their tonsils and that they shouldn't be removed.

Am I ever glad my mother listened to the ENT! The tonsilectomy was a success, and the ear infections quickly subsided, all by age 6. The US Army told me I had better-than-normal hearing, even though there are scars on my eardrums from the tubes.

Keep in mind too, that it is always better to get tonsils out as a kid than as an adult. I was out of the hospital the same day at age 6, and my kid sister had her tonsils removed at age 19 and was down for 2 weeks.

Answer 9

I've never heard of anyone getting tubes in their ears. I know about a technique of cleaning the ears that involves a paper cone and lighting the end of it... but I'll have to find out about tubes.

Answer 10

My daughter had them twice and had no problems. Just don't get water in her ears or it will really hurt her. They make earplugs for bath time and swimming. My daughter would get an ear infection everytime she was cutting a tooth. This stop that problems. I also had them as a child and I was fine too. Hope this helps.