My daughter has chronic ear infections.....can you help?

In MOST cases of children with ear infections once the infections finally stop there is little or no permanent damage. I am sure you have heard that kids grow out of it and that is true because the anatomy of the ear changes as the child grows making them less susceptible to the infections. Some kids stop having the infections by 4-5 years old some later some lucky kids never have a problem at all. However, it is important to continue to keep up with treating her ears when an infection occurs. Everytime she has an infection she has hearing loss so one of the problems is delayed speech development which may end up needing speech therapy to get caught up. Again in most cases the child will end up with a mild hearing loss on a permanent basis or even none at all once the infections are cleared up. If a mild hearing loss occurs it is wise to have the child seated in the front near the teacher, use hearing aids or use an FM system while in school so that she has every opportunity to hear while in a learning environment. When the child is older it may no longer be necessary to continue with these things depending on the level of the hearing loss. It is important though to give her the help that she needs during those critical learning years in school.

Some children just seem prone to chronic serous otitis media and your daughter may have progressed to chronic suppurative otitis media. Chronic otitis media is associated with eustachian tube dysfunction.

The good news is that children generally outgrow this. Over time the fluid that collects in the middle ear thickens and impairs hearing conduction. This is Conductive Hearing Loss, or CHL. Resolve the infections and hearing is usually restored. Infections can be viral or bacterial and even both with bacterial following a viral infection.

Chronic otitis media (COM) is almost always due to chronic mastoiditis, infection of the mastoid bone. Because mastoiditis doesn't respond well to antibiotics, partial or complete removal of the mastoid may be necessary.

Another problem with COM is that along with conductive hearing loss (CHL) there can also be sensorineural hearing loss, or SNHL. The longer the infections go on the more likely the SNHL will be permanent. So you're right to be concerned. Sometimes, with COM, adenoidectomy is also performed to help reduce the occurrence of infections.

I'm guessing that your daughter has had two sets of the smaller, short-term tubes placed. These stay in for 6 months to a year. Speak to her ENT about the advisability of using the larger, long-term tubes.

In the days before her return appointment, put all your questions and concerns in writing and take them with you to be sure that each and every one is addressed and answered. Review all her options, the risks and benefits. Make sure you understand the answers you get.

Now I don't know if your little girl definitely has mastoiditis or SNHL, or that she needs an adenoidectomy, mastoidectomy or long-term tubes. I do know that you need to cover these topics with her doctor and that you'll feel better for knowing that you covered all the bases.

I used to work Head & Neck surgery and I hope I've given you some things to consider.

As the mother of a son who had the same problem, let me say first how sorry I am for both of you. I'm glad you are going to an ENT. Docs are always in hurry to prescribe antibiotics, and in the case of ear infections in little ones, with good reason. They can't really give anyone that little much in the way of decongestants, so you just try to get rid of the cause as quickly as possible. That being said, what about the kid with the chronic problem? Well, the reason my son had them so often was because his eustation tube was too short and didn't drain properly, causing fluid to back up and get infected. It was once so bad that pus gunk started coming out from under his lower eyelid! That will freak you out, let me tell ya! He also had hearing loss that hindered him learning to speak. The ENT will probably make you go thru the whole antibiotic thing first, then will probably suggest tubes. It's quite common. We didn't opt for them and I'm sorry we didn't. My son stayed on low-dose antibiotics for over a year,and thought that Dimetap was like juice. It will eventually stop, but your daughter may be 6-8 yrs by then. If I had it to do over again, I'd go for the tubes. They keep the ears draining so they don't get infected. Problem solved! They do fall out eventually, so they may need to be replaced a time or two. Good luck, and I hope your daughter feels better soon!

I also had chronic ear infections. Mine were a direct result of relatives who constantly smoked in the household. My ear infections completely disappeared after those relatives stopped smoking.

I did experience a noticeable reduction in my ability to hear out of my left ear. It lasted for about six months. The doctors eventually perforated my ear drum, which helped to relieve the pressure.

Mine started at around age 2 and went away when I was 8. I hope that your daughter's condition improves.

Two things that spring to mind straight away are dairy allergies and exposure to cigarette smoke, both of which have been mentioned. If she drinks a lot of milk, try eliminating it from her diet for a couple of days and see if she improves. Then try the same with cheese, eggs, etc. Try one thing at a time so that you can see where the improvement happens. I hope she's better very soon.

I understand where you are coming from my son is going thorough the same thing, but he has only had one set of tubes put in and he has a lot of draining from his ear and I just wish that I could get the Dr's to listen to me about it. How did you get them to listen. Can you help me out on this please Thank you so much

My niece was like this she just out grew it but had to use tubes for years I will send my thoughts for a blessed recovery

When I took my daughter off milk, her ear infections ceased.

cut out the dairy from her diet

my daughter had them one per month for two years. it was terrible. had her tested, and she was allergic to eggs, took her off of them, and never had another one to this day.