when my son was 1 he had quite a few ear infections but as time went on they subsided...he is now 4 and has had sooooo much congestion for months now....his nose is stuffed, he also gets about 5 or 6 bloody noses a month...of course this has been brought up to his pedi, she treated him for allergies and said the nosebleeds were not that big of a deal....lately he has been yelling when he talks and saying "huh?" all the time...i started to get annoyed but then i realized that he is not hearing me well......i am questioning a deviated septum or adenoids and tonisils....but he does not get sore throats.....either way he is going to the Ear nose throat doc this week.....anyone have any ideas? or insight how his appt will go?? thank you

My son, who will be 3 in March, had the same issue. After getting tubes, the fluid was able to drain properly and now he hears just fine. My brother also had the same issue. When my mother took him to the doctor, they found he was completely deaf in 1 ear and only had 20% hearing in the other. He got tubes and was 100% after that. With my son, he has had not 1 ear infection since June of last year, when he got his tubes. He used to get 1 every other month before that. Good luck! I know how frustrating it is:)

I felt that my 5 year old was having trouble hearing me. In his case it turned out to be that his ears were blocked with too much wax. We made 3 visits to the dr.'s to have them flushed out - along with putting baby oil in his ears at home to try and soften the wax up. After his ears were cleaned out his hearing test came back fine.

One other thing to try which I saw on Oprah is a Netti (sp?) Pot. It looks like a teapot and you put warm water (with salt in it?) and it goes in one side of the nose and fills the sinus cavities up and flushes them out and then drains out the other side. Sounds gross but several people on her show that have used it swear that their allergies and sinus problems have improved since using this. It may help with his nosebleeds. Just a thought.

Good luck.

I noticed the same thing in my 5 year old daughter.

Her ENT said that because of her allergies, she had a lot of fluid built up behind her eardrum. A hearing test confirmed this.

The ENT went in and drained the fluid and put in tubes. Her hearing is great now and she is doing better in school.

Cam, removing the allergens works the best. Winter time allergies are most likely dust mite allergies. Controlling for dust mites works really well. You can start by putting dust mite covers on his mattress and pillow and washing them periodically. Wash his blanket periodically. You can change the pillow case every other day and flip the pillow in between. Keep the clutter out of his room, especially stuffed animals. Vacuum frequently and slowly, furniture too. Damp cloth dust frequently, especially his room. Get good furnace filters and change them frequently.

Nasal steroid sprays work really well.

Another allergen to think about removing is all cow dairy. Take him off of any and all cow products, especially milk!! That is one of the WORST offenders in terms of mucous production. Yes, it will be a pain to find healthy alternatives, but well worth it, I promise.

definitely sounds like allergies causing fluid build up in his ears. my daughter had this and was put on claritin for a few months and it seemed to fix the problem.

for the nosebleeds..... it might be caused by the allergies, but could also just be caused by the colder dryer winter weather. try putting vaseline in his nose twice a day (i have nosebleeds all the time and have to use vaseline in my nose quite often!).

hope this is all it is! :)

Kinda same input here. My youngest had tubes (and T&A due to breathing difficulties) when she was 5. She was near deaf (trying to read our lips!!!) when this was done. Large amount of fluid build up. She had had prior ear infections as an infant. May have led up to this.... I don't know.
Anyways, all worked out well! Good luck.

can anyone tell me the process of having tubes put in the childs's ears? what it consists of?pain? hospital stay?

thank you

When my daughter had hers put in, she was sedated.

The whole process took about 1 hour. The ENT said that he would make a very small incision in her eardrum to drain out the built-up fluid and would then insert the tube into this small hole.

She was in recovery for about 45 minutes where they monitoted how she came to and pain level. Aside from being a little groucy because of the anthesia, she was great.

Some 2 hours after the procedure, we were at home and it was like she had not had anything done that mornng.