ear infections, tubes and reflux?

[Anonymous]

my son is on his 4th anibiotic since the 1st week of september for ear infection i truly beleive the reflux causes the ear infection’s. he is just about 19mo old he has a pretty good vocabularie so i dont think the ear infections are causeing any hearing loss. was wondering if any 1 else has put the tubes in there child and if it was worth it. a friend of mine’s son has reflux and she tubed him this last spring and he has had 2 ear infection since spring. the only benifet i see is he doesnt have to be on the anti biotics. i have just been hearing don’t tube them unless it’s causeing hearing loss any opions appericated thanks Leanne mom to samuel 18 1/2 mo protonix 10.5ml a day and zantac 2 ml day and LExi 4 no relux

p.s seeing Ear nose throat DR on monday i have heard he doesnt beleive reflux has anything to do with ear infections should be a fun apt.

[Anonymous]

Well, I don’t know if there is any proven correlation between the ear infections and reflux but Seth sure used to get a lot of them that no antibiotic would help. I do know that the acid can back up into their ears and if it doesn’t drain, can get infected.

We ended up getting tubes last December and knock on wood, he has not had an ear infection since. I would definitely recommend the tubes. We have not had any problems whatsoever. I only wish they had put them in sooner!

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Aidan just received antibiotic shots today for his double ear infections, can’t remember what they are called but he goes back in for more on friday (it’s 2 shots in each leg given at the same time). Then we wait 10 days to see if it clears them up. I do think that sometimes reflux plays a part in ear infections, but they are also hereditary. I almost hope that the infection is still there so he can get tubes because I know that this will be an ongoing issue as my husband had them all the time as a baby, and aparently I had a bunch too. A LOT of the time reflux really doesn’t have anything to do with ear infections, as I know a ton of kids with tubes who don’t have reflux. Aidan’s only 10 months old, but his speech has halted a bit since getting his first infection, I know he can hear but both me and his dr think his hearing is muffled. If his doc suggests tubes, I’ll go along no problem!!!

[Anonymous]

ear tubes are to drain fluid. if a child is prone to infections they may still get infections after tubes. i had always thought that it was the fluid that caused hearing loss but our ENT told me it was the toxins from the infections that caused the hearing loss. 3 of my kids have had tubes. the twins got them at 11 months old. kassie only had 1 ear infection, but the fluid never went away. tianna had tons of infections and after she got her ear tubes she had 2 more infections. molly got tubes at 8 months old. she had only had 1 infection, but we went through 5 different antibiotics.

[Anonymous]

Dylan got tubes for standing fluid (few infections, but not excessive). The fluid never went away so everything sounded muffled to him. He could not hear and his speech was significantly delayed. Even after the tubes, he had double ear infections for a while, but at least they could drain and did not cause pressure/pain for him.

We just got Carter’s placed for standing fluid (two failed hearing tests as well) on October 6th. We had them do a brain stem hearing test while he was under, and after the tubes passed with flying colors. If you think that the hearing is compromised by fluid, etc… I would not hesitate to get the tubes. We advocated for them for Carter this young, and our ENT agreed that it was not a good idea to let him go as long as Dylan without hearing.

[Anonymous]

Christine-see that’s where I think things are going with AIdan. We’ve tried every antibiotic we can I think, and I guess the shots are the last option. Only the 2nd infection, but nothing can touch it, so far, and the fluid stayed in his ears for months after his first one…

[Anonymous]

we kept seeing different doctors and one would say, well, if it doesn’t clear up she may need tubes—then we would see a different doc and he would say the same thing. (the docs were rotating in the office) i finally called one of them and told him that if it looked like she was going to need tubes i would just as soon go ahead and do it. he called and got us in with the ENT. i wish that my 17 year old had had tubes—–he had so many ear infections.

is roceferin (SP?) the antiobiotic shot?

[hellbennt]

in the meantime, have you tried saline?

we swear by it in this house-

when jonah had a string of ear infections that wouldn’t clear up with antibiotics the ped told us to try saline- and for him, it really worked! he did get subsequent ear infections but after starting saline on a regular basis he didn’t get another one for 6 months

we just squirted saline (no suction, just squirting) at every diaper change and more…we were doing at samuel’s age- jonah started to hate it at about 2 & 1/2…so we don’t do it regularly any more, but we really should when he gets a cold (actually now when he gets a cold it seems to go ‘down’ rather than ‘up’ meaning he gets terrible coughs that linger forever…)

anyway, the pressure of the saline in the nose supposedly helps clear/drain the ears, too…

we just bought store brand saline- it’s a lot cheaper than Little Noses

[Anonymous]

I am also a believer in saline. Abby is almost 9 months old and has only had 2 colds and no ear infections (knock on wood!!!!!!!!!). I still use it on my 4 1/2 year old as well. When she gets a stuffy nose, she asks for “booger drops” She is such a nut!!.

Robin

[Anonymous]

yep christine, that’s it! I hope it clears things up. My husband has a bit of hearing loss, he can’t hear you if you’re standing behind him and talking (well either that or he doesn’t WANT to hear me, that’s another possibility!!!!)

[Anonymous]

so u just squirt saline in there ears and nose just a little?

[Anonymous]

i think just the nose

[Anonymous]

nooooo not their ears, only the nose!!!!

[Anonymous]

We had Alexis’ tubes placed when she was 22 months old along with her tonsils and adenoids removed. She went 6 months without and infection until recently she actually had a fungal infection in her ears the nice thing about tubes was it drained and she was not in pain like before, it was just very nasty. The ear infections were hereditary due to enlarged adenoids she just won’t drain right. Once she had her tubes placed she seem to hear so much better and started to talk, she is still speech delayed but I truly think it was because her hearing was so muffled for so long.

[Anonymous]

Hmm, I’ll definitely try the saline drops w/ Eli next cold, as we’ve never really used them but worth a shot. I am not totally convinced though that after tubes the ear infections are painless. Eli was up many night screaming and pulling at his w/ his last ear infection. (The night before we brought him in and at least one night after, although I think it was few) He would literally scream “OWIE!!” (He’s 22 mos old, btw) I have also suspected a few other ear infections, but they don’t end up draining and no fever so we haven’t actually went in for them, but he’ll be pulling at his ears or recently his one ear literally has scratches by it (Mommy needed to cut his fingernails ) but no fluid although, fussiness, etc and some night waking. Although that is not uncommon at all for him, he hasn’t slept well thru the night since his bouts of ear infections last winter. A friend of mine also has a 2 1/2 yr old and he cried many time during his last ear infection saying it hurt. 🙁

[Author]

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