tubes in ears because of fluid?

So my 13 month old son has only had 2 ear infections. 1 of the ear infections took 4 rounds of antibiotics to clear up. anyway... he still has fluid in his ears and its been there for 2 months.

His ENT says we'll check on the 11th and if not, he needs to have tubes put in his ears.

Anyone been through this because of fluid??? I know when you get constant ear infections, but i'm talking about fluid that's not draining.

he says no antibiotics can clear that up. I also asked about allergies and he said they can contribute to ear infections but his problem is the fluid that's not filtering out.

So it's probably not worth getting a 2nd opinion right?

as far as the surgery goes, what are we in for?

Re: tubes in ears because of fluid?

We just went through the same thing. DS2, 10 month has had two ear infections since he was 7 month old. The last ear infection started at 9 months and took two antibotics to clear up. After the second round, the infection was gone, but still had thick fluid in his ears. Our doctors said to go to an ENT asap. The ENT testing his hearing which was still good, but also tested the how thick the fluid was with a pressure test. They said the fluid was really thick and was not going away on its own. We just tubes 5 days later on 3/5. Surgery was quick 10 minutes. The hardest part was when he woke up and was crying. We have to do ear drops for two week, which are a pain, but he seem to be going good. We go back for a check up on Monday.

We were also very hestitant to do the tube. My older DS, 3 year old, still has ear infections 4-5 time in the winter and tubes have not been recommended for him yet, so we trusted the doctor when they advised us to get them for DS2.

Re: tubes in ears because of fluid?

My older son, now 5, had tubes put in at 13 months due to this issue.

Not only did he hardly get an ear infection after that, but his hearing and balance improved. He started walking shortly after. He had constant fluid in his ears, it just never drained.

The tubes fell out a year later, but there was no issue after that. He got older and his ear canal expanded.

I would do it!!

Re: tubes in ears because of fluid?

My DS is getting tubes next Friday. I know it's for the best, but I'm still very nervous about it. He's 2.5 so he's a little older than when most kids get it done. He has had around 7 ear infections (some doubles) in the past year, and the fluid does hang around even after the infections are gone. So the ENT recommended tubes. I have several friends and family members who have experience with this and they ALL say it was the best decision. So I know wer're doing the right thing, it's just scary having to go to the hospital and put your LO through all that. Good luck if you decide to do it! I will post again next week after DS' procedure.

Re: tubes in ears because of fluid?

I believe that if the fluid doesn't drain itself naturally, eventually it gets glue/jelly like and this affects hearing. My DS had tubes put in when he was a little younger than a year old. He got chronic ear infections for months upon months. The fluid in his ears turned into jelly and it wasn't going anywhere. He also failed the hearing test performed by the audiologist. Obviously if they aren't hearing, their speech development will likely be affected....this was one of our concerns.

Re: tubes in ears because of fluid?

My dd got tubes at 17 months because of fluid in both ears that would not drain. She also had 9 double ear infections from 6 months through 17 months. It was a miracle for her. Right away her speech took off. I was amazing how clear her speech was. She has only had one ear infection since. It was the best decision stopped the pain and antibiotics! ETA: my dd ear infections were very painful for her. She would scream so much she would vomit. She would go days like this. Sometimes antibiotics helped but I felt like she was living off antibioctics and Tylenol and Motrin.

Message edited 3/15/2013 3:10:47 AM.

tubes in ears because of fluid?

I can't really comment on this but my nephew suffered with multiple ear infections and different antibiotics and was told he would need tubes in his ears. My mother in law mentioned this to her chiropractor and he saw him and now he is doing much better and can actually hear and no longer needs the tubes. Just something to think about.

Re: tubes in ears because of fluid?

DS had fluid in his ears from 6 months up until he was 3!!!! He had 8 ear infections in 2012.. No tubes... The fluid was mainly from his teething. It got bad when he was cutting a tooth. Now that all of his teeth are finally in, he is almost 3.5 years old, the fluid is gone... I really thought we were heading for tubes.. Almost all of his ear infections cleared up without an antibiotic. He was prescribed them, but he usually threw it up... I started to worry about him getting so many antibiotics, so I held off on the last 2 and with in 2-3 days, the infection was gone. If he had a high fever or was really uncomfortable, then I tried to get all the meds into him...

Re: tubes in ears because of fluid?

DS had same problem. A few ear infections, but the main problem was the fluid wouldnt drain. I will say that my ENT had us wait through the summer to see if the fluid would drain on its own before we got him tubes. So we kept an eye on it from March to September.. DS had fluid the whole time and September 30 the first ear infection of the season started. He got tubes that November at 15 months old.
Good luck!