3 year old's hearing? Any experience with fluid in ear? - Children's Health Message Board

Happymom · 01-18-2001, 05:48 PM

I have a little boy who is almost 3. He talks all the time but is very hard to understand. I heard that fluid in the ear could be the problem. The premise is that if there's fluid in the ear then the kid hears and speaks what he hears as if he's under water. Before I subject him to a ear, nose and throat doctor does anyone have any experience or advice in this area. Also, he has never had an ear ache.

Thanks!

jade0605 · 01-30-2001, 12:50 PM

Take him to the doctor, it could be glue ear, which will effect the way he hears things. I had it when I was younger, and had grommets put in. But that was when Noah was building the ark. My SD had it and it just meant that she had to have speech therapy. My 2 year old is having problems with talking, so I talked to the health visitor and she refferred him to a speech therapy. It's better to be safe than sorry, and the sooner a problem is found the sooner it can be fixed

eweejoe · 03-08-2001, 06:03 PM

Ask your pediatrician to do, or refer you to someone who can do a tympanogram. It measures the elasticity of the ear drum. If there is fluid in the ear, there will be a decrease in the elasticity and they will inform you of where to go from there. I was told my son failed a tympanogram in school, so I had a more professional one done and his ears were fine. It is a simple test. A puff of air is blown in the ear with a little ear plug like thing and a machine measures the response. No pain involved, very simple and would put your mind at rest. My 2 1/2 year old is hard to understand when she speaks also. A lot of the time it is just a difference in speech development. My little girl is tongue tied though and hopefully will soon be having it corrected surgically. Good Luck to you.