My Baby's Ear Infection Almost Led to Surgery

on October 7, 2010 at 7:15 PM

Baby Ear I know the signs: Night wakings become more frequent and he doesn't eat as much. He gets clingy and goes from playing happily to a hot, feverish lump -- hello ear infection! I haven't missed you at all!

Rowan had two ear infections during his first 12 months. After two more in rapid succession, my pediatrician suggested a consultation with a Pediatric Ear Nose and Throat Specialist (ENT).

Of course, I made the appointment. I don't want my baby to suffer through more infections, but I also don't want to have him put under so he can have incisions in his ear drums -- I don't know what to do!

The ENT was pleasant, but I had the feeling that even though I was there for information, she had her mind made up. She checked his ears, throat, tonsils, and adenoids. Good news, she said: He only needed tubes and we didn't need to remove his tonsils or adenoids. Wait, what? We still hadn't done a hearing test. I asked if we could check that before discussing the matter any further.

I was surprised to find ourselves led to a tiny, dark room with speakers in each corner. The test consisted of Rowan on my lap and someone observing how he turned his head in the direction of the sounds coming from the speakers. Some of which were so low I could barely hear them myself. I was not exactly sold on the process.

His hearing in the high frequencies, where most speech and language occurs, was fine. His hearing in the lowest frequencies was just barely below normal. It wasn't perfect, but not terrible. If they would have identified a problem, this decision would be much easier, but they didn't.

After hearing that tubes don't guarantee there won't be a recurrence of ear infections and that they only stay in (on average) between 9 and 18 months, I decided to wait and see what the next few months bring.

I hate the idea of handing him over to a nurse, in one of those baby hospital gowns, for a surgery. I know it's minor surgery and infants get them every day, but what if he only has two more ear infections that I can easily treat in the next 9 months? Is that so bad? Which one is the lesser of two evils?

Do you deal with ear infections with your baby? Has any doctor recommended tubes? Do you think you would go through with a procedure to have tubes put in?

Image via LisaW123/Flickr

Filed Under: baby development, baby sleep, baby health

Comments (7)

Nonmember comment from Christine

on Oct 7, 2010 at 7:51 PM

My daughter did have tubes put in her ears at 15 months old, but that was after 12 earaches in 14 months! She is now 4 and she has not had an earache since. One of her tubes is actually still in. They fall out by themselves and one ear fell out after about 12 months, but the other one is still in there. She had a hearing test before the surgery for tubes (same experience as you and like you I was not very impressed. She had a second hearing test when she was 3 (that one felt much more trustworthy!) Both hearing test confirmed her hearing is normal. Although the surgery was scary, I am so glad we did it and the actual surgery was super quick. I was in the room with her until the anesthesia kicked in. In less than 20 minutes she was waking up with her tubes. She wore her PJs per doctors suggestion and they let her keep a stuffed animal with her for comfort. The whole thing was traumatic for me, but her only worry was being hungry and thirsty after the surgery because she could not eat or drink before surgery. Hope your little one turns out not to need tubes, but if he does, I can at least tell you my experience was very pleasant (as surgery goes :/)

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ProudSingleMum

on Oct 7, 2010 at 10:06 PM

My dr pushed to wait for tubes. Im glad. On the day he said to wait, that was the last time he had an ear infection. It would not have been worth it. Same thing happened when I was a kid. I had had an ear infection for THREE MONTHS and it would just NOT go way...despite my mother medicating it. They were on the verge of tubes when it just stopped, and I didn't have another for years!

Nonmember comment from nonmember

on Oct 8, 2010 at 12:11 AM

Our ped rarely prescribes antibiotics for ear infections and is in fact very hard-pressed to diagnose an ear infection - he doesn't believe in giving children unnecessary doses of antibiotics - and he has been right every time when he has said it will clear up on its own. I have a friend whose child had the surgery for tubes and this child is still sick with 'ear infections' all the time - the tubes fall out all the time...and well, this friend and her ped and her physician husband all missed for the child's first 15 months that she was severely tongue-tied...thus contributing to all of the ear infections. I would definitely proceed with great caution and definitely get at least one second opinion.

thinline

on Oct 8, 2010 at 1:38 AM

I have a friend who's daughter had fluid build up in her ear(s) and while she didn't have ear infections it affected her speech and hearing. My friend decided to take her to her chiropractor(as opposed to having surgery and tubes) and it has done wonders for her. This is what the mayo clinic website says:

Chiropractic treatment is another alternative therapy that has been tested as an ear infection treatment. Proponents of chiropractic manipulation claim that by using specific techniques, this treatment helps drain fluid from the middle ear and promotes better ventilation of the narrow passageway that connects the middle ear to the nose (eustachian tube). Though some people believe this approach to be helpful, long-term studies haven't verified its effectiveness.

So while its not fool proof(and nothing really is) it may be worth looking into or at least bringing it up to you doctor.

Nonmember comment from Catherine

on Oct 8, 2010 at 11:04 AM

My son had frequent, recurring ear infections and had the same hearing test Rowan had. It showed that his hearing was being affected, and since he was right around a year old and would be learning to talk any minute, I wanted him to be able to hear well. He did get the tubes, which took barely 20 minutes. That was 4+ years ago and he's never had an ear infection since. So for us, getting the tubes was the right choice.

on Oct 8, 2010 at 11:14 AM

Forgot to say the biggest reason for tubes for my son was that the fluid in his ears would never drain and that's why his infections kept recurring. So viral vs. bacterial it didn't really matter, he needed a way to get the fluid out and neither meds or time would have fixed it.