My brother had tubes put in his ears, and tonsils and adnoids removed, sometime in the early 80’s when he was a wee one.
Of course I don’t remember any of it except he got to take home LOTS of cool stuff like his hospital gown, one of those spit tubs, a stethescope, slippers, some headcoverings and lots of other cool goodies that went into our “dress-up bag.” Oh, and a cool comic book about how your ears and throat work.
He also started a popsicle addiction around that time (still loves them 25+ years later!)
I was always secretly jealous of his fun time at the hospital as a little kid.
My son, now 7, had tubes when he was less than 2. The operation was very fast, just a few minutes. He came out of anesthesia quickly but cried for almost an hour while I paced the floor with him, then he just conked out from exhaustion and was fine when he woke up. They’re a little high maintenance in that you cannot allow water to get in the ear canal because it’ll go through the tube. We had to be careful when bathing him, and very careful in swimming pools. We splurged and had custom-molded earplugs made, and they worked great. I’m sure the doc told you all about the risks, how often they come out too soon, or don’t come out at all, etc. If not, ask.
My son had chronic ear infections. Once he got the tubes, I don’t think he had any more.
Both my kids had their tonsils & adenoids out when they were something like 5 & 7. We got them done at the same time. My son, the younger, had a much easier recovery than my daughter did. The most difficult part of the whole process was comforting them during the first hour after surgery–they were pretty miserable and disoriented when they were first wheeled in. The next day my son acted like nothing happened, though my daughter continued to have pain for a few days. We attributed the difference primarily to age. They have to have curtailed activity for a while to prevent bleeding. Even if you don’t do the tonsils I imagine it’s a similar experience.
We got this done primarily because of chronic strep infections. Maybe a coincidence but in the 8 months prior to the surgery they had about 5-6 strep infections each. In the 3-4 years since, my daughter’s had it once and my son zero.
FWIW – I recently purchased Ear Band-its for my boys for swimming this summer. They were recommended by one of the otolaryngologists we see. I haven’t tried them yet, so I can’t vouch for them. Maybe someone else here has given them a try?
We had the second opinion yesterday and are feeing much more confident about this procedure. He completely concurred with the first doctor. We liked the second opinion doctor better that the first so will be going with him. He said no restrictions for bathing/showering or swimming with head above water but if the kid will be diving under then earplugs are called for.
Also got her several books from the library about going to the hospital, one specifically about getting ear tubes. She didn’t want to read anything else last night, just that one book 3 or 4 times. I think it is helping her process the whole idea.
Our daughter had ear tubes put in when she was 18mo. She had not had more than one ear infection, but in the three months she had been in daycare, she had gone from using complete and clearly pronounced sentences to mumbling in 1-3 word phrases, because of the fluid in her ears. The doctor was alarmed enough by the loss of speech that he recommended ear tubes immediately. She regained her speech within hours of the surgery, and she never needed another set.
Our son was born hearing impaired, although we did not find out until he was four months old. His first hearing tests showed severe to total loss. We had ear tubes put in to drain the fluid, and that increased his hearing levels to moderate loss, which meant that he could use hearing aids. His tubes keep falling out, though, and have had to be replaced every year or so. He did have to have one eardrum “rebuilt” last year, when he was ten, but it appears that he has finally outgrown the need for ear tubes. (Multiple ear tubes can create permanent holes in the ear drum, and while it might sound extreme, in our son’s case, the alternative is no ability to hear at all.)
Ear tube surgery by itself is nothing. Yes, there is always a risk from the anesthesia, but the surgery itself is so routine that many doctors simply do it in a clinic, rather than a hospital, to cut costs. It takes about 15 minutes for the surgery itself–the long and hard part is recovery from the anesthesia.
We haven’t done adenoids or tonsils in either child. Our son does have adenoids, but they are not affecting his ears or his ability to hear, so none of his doctors see any need to put him through that surgery. Neither of the kids has recurring ear infections or throat infections that would indicate the need to remove tonsils.
I had the whole tonsils & adenoids removed and tube surgery when I was 5, after nearly going deaf (the adenoids blocked my eustachian tubes) and not being able to breathe through my nose for quite some time. I also couldn’t say the sound “ing” (I said “ig”). It affected my cheekbone and jaw development, and I had ear infection after ear infection all through early childhood. The surgery made things much better.
Unfortunately I probably missed some critical brain pathway development before the surgery and though I have minimal hearing loss from eardrum scar tissue, I was diagnosed last year with an auditory processing disorder that I’ve probably had since I was 4 years old (I’m 27). And I just thought I was kind of deaf. I’ve been compensating with things like lip reading and putting subtitles on when I watch movies - but there are some situations in which I just can’t hear (or actually, just can’t process what I hear into important sounds vs background sounds). I’d have your daughter checked out for the auditory processing thing in a couple of years just to make sure everything is OK, since she’s about the same age I was during the worst of it. It’s possible her speech/language issues may clear up after her surgery since she’ll probably be able to hear much better.
I’ve had ear tubes at least 3 times as a kid, but I had the last set in for 8 years, and developed two cholesteatomas because of them. I’ve had my tonsils removed when I was 2, and my adenoids removed at ages 2 and about 8. I’ve had hearing problems on and off, and my hearing is still not up to par, and I’ve had my right ear drum rebuilt once and my left twice (the ear with the cholesteatomas).
