ear tubes and adenoidectomy

[mendi-a]

My 3.5 year old son has middle ear blockage and some hearing loss.  There is no movement in the inner ear and the doctor wants to place tubes/grommets after he completes yet another round of antibiotics.  He suggested we take the adenoids as well due to the repeat infections.  I am worried about the adenoidectomy in such a small child.  I am afraid if we do not remove adenoids, he will continue to get ear infections.  If we do, it could be a painful recovery for no reason.  Does anyone have advise???

[Momof2littleguys]

I saw your response to the mother with the 3.5 year old and thought you might be able to assist me.  My son had his adenoids and tonsils removed when he was 3.  Tubes were inserted at the same time.  We've since been though another set of tubes and unfortunately, still have hearing loss.  Putting in a third set at his age (now 7) is making me a little nervous.  Everyone that I've talked to has been through 2 sets, but never three....guess I'm just lucky. Since you've been through that many, I was wondering if you suffered any long term affects....long-term hearing loss, hole in the eardrum requring a patch.     Thanks so much!

[nicash]

Each one of my recoveries was different from each other but I am also an adult and my pain tolerance is much higher than your sons. My first set was not as bad as I would have thought. I was back to answering phones and working by the end of the week. My second set was extremely painful mostly due to the previous set not being able to heal in time. My third set was a piece of cake. My last set with my adenoids as well were a little sore but with some discomfort when having to swallow.

I also had my tonsils out at the age of 13 or 14 and I can still remember the pain from that. But remember everyone is different. The say the older you get the harder and longer it will take to recover from some operations. For example when I had a c-section with my daughter the pain was so bad I had to be on a constant pain drip through my IV and it took months to recover from that. Then with my ears I can recover faster that I heal. And the pain is not bad at all.

I really think you should sit down with your child

[mendi-a]

Thanks for the input.  Will the recovery be similar to that of a tonsilectomy?  I know the adenoids are in a different place, but I worry about his throat hurting.  He also has a very sensitive gag reflex causing him to expel anything in his stomach.  How long do you think he will feel bad and what do I expect from the tubes themselves?  Are they painful?  Sorry, just trying to prepare myself.

[nicash]

i came across your post and i was hoping i could easy your worries alittle.

I am a 28yr female and have been suffuring with ear problems my whole life. As i child i was always having ear infections and hearing losses but back then my parents had no medical coverage to do anything about. It wasn't until my daugther fell out of her bed one night that i did something. She was on the opposite walls where my couch was and i never heard her until she came to me crying and holding her head. This scared me.

I had my first & second set of tubes put in at the age of 25 and they were in about 6 months each when i had hearing loss & fluid build up again. My doctor decided to pulls those a put in a third set which lasted a suprising year and 2 days. and again i had fluid build up and almost complete hearing loss in both ears. My doctor then decided to make one last attempt and he put in the forth set and at the same time pulled my adnoids in hope it would work. Yes it is a painful recovery but i am happy to say that i am now almost on my third year with the forth set with no problems yet.

i hope my story can help you allittle..As a mother and as a suffer i know how hard it is to make a decsion like this but if it was my child and knowing what i went through my whole i would do it