Have your kids ever had tubes put in their ears?

Question

My son is getting the surgery tommorrow and I'm wondering what others' experiences are. My son had hearing tests that showed hearing loss and they are not sure if it's related to the fluid or not. When your child got the tubes - did you notice an immediate difference in their behavior and abilities in a positive way - if your child was delayed did it really help them catch up? Is there a good chance this will make a huge difference or could it be a waste of time and money? I'm doing this on doctors orders but just wondering - anyone's kids experience hearing loss from getting the tubes or other complications?

Answer 1

Hi! My son has had tubes three times (he's now four, had them at 9 mos, 2 years and 3 years old) and my daughter, now 3, had them once when she was 1. My son had the same problem yours did with the fluid/hearing loss. He was also on the spectrum for autism and had a significant speech delay (he was nonverbal by age 2) - literally one week after he got the tubes in the 2nd time (when his hearing was at its worst), he begain talking up a blue streak. truly amazing. Other than that, it cut their ear infections down to maybe only 1 or 2 a year. We never had any complications per say - just be very careful about him not getting water in his ears after he gets tubes in, because they can become infected. Also, noone warned me that some kids literally are beserk as they come out of anethesia. My son was screaming and crying and thrashing around so badly I was sobbing. The nurses told me after the fact that kids are very disoriented when they come out of anesthesia, so they often react this way. Once the anesthesia completely wears off (about an hour) they are completely back to normal and there is no recovery time.

Good luck!!

Answer 2

I had tubes put in my ears when I was 8. I was prone to ear infections and they did it so I would not get them as much. I didnt have an ear infection the whole time they were in but I got one as soon as they fell out. But that was just bad luck. I'm 23 now and I've only had like maybe two or three since I was 9. I used to get them ALL the time! I think the tubes definitely helped me.
I didnt have any complications from the tubes. No hearing loss or anything. But if I wouldnt have gotten the tubes, chances are I would have had a lot more ear infections and I could have experienced hearing loss just from having so many infections.

Answer 3

My son had a 75% hearing loss due to fluid build up because of cronic ear infections. His speech was severly delayed. At 21 months he had tubes put in his ears and his tonsils and adenoid taken out. This past January (when he turned 4) the ear vent tubes fell out. He caught up with his speech right away, and has had no lasting effects.

There were no complications from his surgery and the chance of perminate hearing loss because of the ear vent tubes is very unlikely.

The tubes made a HUGE difference for my son. Just be sure to keep water out of your son's ears until the ear vent tubes fall out.

Answer 4

I had it done twice when i was a kid!!!
I was pretty young, maybe 5 or 6? I think it was something that was necessary. Everyone says I used to have horrible hearing.. And I hear normally now so I'm guessing they worked! I'm not sure why I had it done twice though, guess they didnt work the first time......
I do remember that right after the surgey everything was EXTREMELY loud... so yeah, they work right away!
The only complication I experienced was that one of my tubes didnt fall out and my dr saw it a few years later, but he just pulled it out and I was fine. I dont think there really are too many complications w/ tubes..not that i've heard of.

also, i used to get real bad ear infections and after the tubes i never had one again..

good luck tomorrow

Answer 5

when my son got his 1st set of tubes at 10 months it was awesome...pre tubes he was behind developmentally to a certain degree. after the tubes he started crawling correctly (instead of scooting on his back) and heard better and alot of other things. the ear infections subsided for some time but then returned again, which led to his 2nd set and adnoidectomy , and 3rd set, in the process of finding out what is causing the ear infections. if we don't do the tubes he can go deaf.

one thing to watch out for this is that if he does get an ear infection it could smell very foul and no matter how many times or how well you bath him, it will still be there (i had a problem with the day care saying i wasn't bathing my son because of this)

Answer 6

My youngest son had to have tubes put in. He did have a small hearing loss and was a little behind in some of his verbal skills. My docs attributed it to the fluid in his ears (so much of the time). He was certain that the tubes would clear these problems up and it did! He did mention that in rare cases , tubes do not correc it. Funny thing is my oldest son had almost no ear infections and never had tubes.

Good luck!

Answer 7

My son had tube he also had hearing loss, on the ride home from the hospital he would say to me "stop screaming mommy why are you talking so loud" I was talking in the same tone I always did, that went away in a few days, he did fine they fall out on there own and best part no more earaches, my experience was positive, only problem the drops they gave me to put in his ears would cause him a burning pain so I stop putting them in his ear.
other then that great.

Answer 8

My daughter had tubes put in her ears 2 yrs ago. It was because she was experiencing hearing loss. Her speech was affected to. We did see a difference within a month. It made a big difference for her. Her tubes are still in although at a recent checkup, her doctor says they are trying to work their way out. We take that as a good sign that she may no longer need them. I think it's worth the effort and money. Mom to3.

Answer 9

I had tubes twice when i was young. The day after the first surgery, I heard a clock ticking for the first time in my life and didn't know what it was. I had to ask my mother what I was hearing. My experience showed an improvement in the hearing right away.

Answer 10

My brother had three sets of tubes placed in his ears from the time he was born to the time he was like, a year old. He's real prone to ear infection, but overall he's experienced no hearing loss.