Ear Tube Operation?

Question

ANYBODY KNO WHERE I CAN GET INFORMATION ON THIS... MY DAUGHTER IS CONSTANTLY GETTING EAR INFECTIONS AND THE DOCTOR SUGGESTED THIS AS AN OPTION.

Answer 1

Below is a link to a good article about it.

My son had this surgery right when he turned 1. It was a tough decision and a little scary because the doctors have to put your child under general anesthesia, but the surgery literally took 10 minutes and recovery was simple.

We got to the hospital at around 7:30 in the morning. Your child can't eat before the surgery, which I thought was going to be really difficult to deal with but my son was fine. After some pre-op info and talks and forms, the doctors walked off with my baby (sniff), then I went to the waiting area, looked for a magazine to read, sat down, opened it up, and after reading one sentence of one article, they called my name and said my son was in recovery. It was literally that fast.

Recovery is rough for the first 5 minutes -- coming out of the anesthesia your baby will cry REALLY hard. They tell you to bring juice and a small snack, like dry cereal, and my son got quickly interested in that. After I think about 30 minutes, we went home. He ate lunch, then took a good nap, and he was 100% back to normal by 2:00 p.m. that day.

Hasn't had an ear infection since! He just had a follow up with the ENT and the tubes have fallen out on their own, a little over a year later.

It was a good decision for us. I didn't want my son to be miserable, nor did I want to keep pumping him full of antibiotics for every ear infection. There was also the possibility of delayed speech development because of the hearing loss caused by constant fluid in his ears, and that was a major factor in the decision.

Your pediatrican should be able to refer you to an ENT who can talk to you about whether it's right for your daughter. Good luck!

Answer 2

My son had them for 7 months straight. he even got them in the summer. It is hereditary. We decided to get the opporation because antibiotics did nothing for him. he ended up loveing it and expecting the medicine. We went in and they explained to us that what it is is, they cut a small slit in the ear drum iteself, then that take a small tube [ ><] like that but is way smaller than a piece of rice. Anyways they put the tub in the slit of the ear drum and its done. We sat in the waiting room for 5 minutes and they came to get us. Our doctor said that the ear heals fast, if they had made only a slit in the ear it would heal within an hour. They do use anesthesia but its such a small does and the enestatichians are specialized in small children.

My son was really crank when he woke up, they told us that is the usual when people come off the anesthesia, we feed him and after that he slept. about 2 hours later he acted as if nothing happend.

He has gone all of these months without an ear infection and it has saved him so much crying our crying and him so much pain. I would recomend this to anyone who has to do this as a last resort.

My son actually had hearing loss and wasnt speaking when he should have been. As soon as the tubes were in he was soo quiet all the time just listening to all the new sounds around him. now he is learning everything, he is still a little slower than most kids his age but he is catching up. Dont wait till it damages her hearing forever!! My mom had hers to late and always had us repeat everything back to her becuase she couldnt hear us well.

good luck!

Answer 3

Your doctor should be able to give you all the information you need on it. Basicaly, they make a small incision into the ear drum, and insert a tiny plastic tube. It helps to drain the fluid, which usualy causes ear infections when not draining properly. Both my children had this procedure done. It was a little scary because they had to be under general anasthetia, but the surgery itself took only about 5 minutes, and there were no problems or side-effects afterwards.

Answer 4

Contact a local ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist. This is more than likely who would be performing the procedure. My son had them put in at 9 months of age and it was the best thing we ever did for him. He had maybe one or two infections after the tubes fell out and he is now 4 years old.

Answer 5

Please take your daughter to a chiropractor before having any surgery done. Often kids have bones out of place in their upper neck that is either putting pressure on nerves that supply the eustasian tubes or are actually putting pressure on the tubes and they can't drain. I have seen many kids helped by a few adjustments including my own son.

Answer 6

My three year old grandson just had tubes implanted. It took just a few minutes and he came home. He couldn't use a straw (or a nipple if a baby) and he has to have his ears plugged with vaseline on cotton balls during his bath. He doesn't need the cotton if swimming in a pool. He's done just great.

Answer 7

I would ask your dr. They can give you exact infromation about this operation. But my personal experience is that it is great. My 5 year old had them, she used to get infections like every other week. It sucked. This helped the ears drain. good luck

Answer 8

Have her doc refer you to an ENT (Ear, nose, & throat) specialist. My daughter was the same way, with the ear infections.

Answer 9

look it up on yahoo or google but my neice had this operation when she was 3and everything worked out perfectly also my cousin had it when she was 3 as well...your daughter will be fine, try not to worry to much

Answer 10

It's pretty simple, my kid sister had them put in when she was little and some years later, they eventually came out.