Ear Tubes - Corpus Christi, TX

I had tubes in my ears when I was 7, and they fell out about a year-and-a-half later. I am 35 and still extremely sensitive to loud noise. Still, I would talk to an ENT and have his hearing tested because sensitivity to lous noise can be indicitave of other developmental problems.

My son had tubes put in at about 18mo, and they too fell out by the age of 3. He has always had a problem with loud noises. When he complains about noises we tell him to just cover his ears, and he is fine with it. I have also noticed that the more tired he is, the more the noises seem to bother him. We try not to play into it, so that it does not become an attention getter. Some children do tend to be more sensitive to noises that others. I hope this helps.

Hi J.,
I had tubes when I was 4. I am now 32 and still have some sensitivity to noises, espically the car windows being down. I will still cover my ears if someone rolls down the windows.
K.

Hi J.. My daughter was sensitive to loud noises after getting tubes. Her doctor said it's like they've been walking around with their fingers in their ears for a long time and now all of a sudden they can hear so it's pretty normal for them to be sensitive at first. He didn't say anything about long term so it couldn't help to have it checked out. Good luck!

-W.

This may seem crazy, but I am 28 years old and had tubes in my ears a couple times. Ths first time they didn't stay in very long infections came back and so they did it again. But I have a very difficult time with high pitched noises and "loud" noise. I have been to the doctor and have had my ears tested and the only thing they can figure out is that it is from the tubes that were once in my ears, it is something to do with vibrations.

My youngest (now 7) had ear tubes when he was 3 and then again when he was 4. After the second set, he was very easily startled by "loud" noises. After so long of not hearing very well, all these new sounds seemed overly loud to him. He is still a bit overly sensitive to some sounds, but he's getting better.
Just for a point of reference - before they get the ear tubes, everything they hear sounds like they are underwater. Then when they get the tubes, it's like coming up out of the water and everything is overly clear.
Just be patient - but listen to what he has to say.

Hello! I have a 5 year old daughter who had tubes placed at 18 months. When they fell out when she was 3 1/2 she did the same thing. Her ears are very sensitive to loud noises, especially loud music and loud yells or screams. There are times when it does not bother her as much and it seems that her own voice does not bother her ears a whole lot. I would trust your son's complaints and just have his ears evaluated. My daughter was at 50% hearing loss in her left ear and 75% in her right(temporary) before she had tubes, now she is fine, no hearing loss at all. I think (and this is my opinion) that when they had such a hard time hearing before and things were muffled that now they are much more sensitive, noises are louder and they are not used to that. I would have him reevaluted but do take him seriously.

Sometimes the holes do not heal up, which would explain his complaint. You can take him back to the ENT specialist who can see what's going on in there.

Hi! My name is E. M. and I'm 33 yrs old and I had ear tubes put in when I was 5yrs. Noone believes me either and I'm 33!!! My whole life I've suffered with noise being tooo loud and sensitive to my ears! Its true no joke! When I'm in a car and there's too much bass, I get mad because it hurts and on New Year Eve, the fireworks at 12am, I run inside to cover my ears and insulate myself from the noise. Everyone says I'm just lying and being a cry baby, but believe me,,,ITS TRUE!!!!!! All u can do is comfort him and take care of his ears!!!! If u have anymore questions, feel free to call me ###-###-####.

Hi J.,
My daughter has tubes at 1, they are out now, she is almost three. I have not heard of noise sensativity, but, I would contact the ENT that placed his tubes to make sure he is not having problems that are a little unusual.

My 5 yr old doesnt have tubes and has always complained about things being too loud. I think some children are just more sensitive to noise. She is just now starting to sit through an entire movie at the theatre, and still we have to get up and go out for a minute because she says it is way too loud.

I do not have experience with tubes, but my son has issues with certain sounds and frequencies. He covers his ears when we are driving, but only on certain roads.
I took him to the school for the deaf (in Austin) to have his hearing tested. They have a special sound proof room set up to test the hearing of young children. In 2005 it was $35 for the test. I think I just called the school and asked to have it done. They directed me to the right person and I scheduled a time to go there.
Also, your son may be having some sensory issues. The ears affect balance, etc. You might consider having him evaluated by an occupational therapist.

S. M

J. -

My daughter is almost 5. She has had 2 set of tubes (the 2nd set included removal of adnoids). She recently went back to the ENT specialist a few months ago for a check-up and her ears are fine now. The slight hearing deficieny she had is now gone and her ears are great in terms of hearing and the testing results; however, she is sensitive to loud sounds such as the garage door or other loud noises. She doesn't complain about her ears hurting but she will sometimes grab them (or one) out of habit - not as much now. She had tubes put in at 1 1/2 and then around 3. Hope this helps. Every child is different and unless you think he truly is playing it out, maybe some particular noises are sensitive to him then others.

T.

My Son did not have tubes but he did not like other people's loudness even at his birthday he would cover his ears and yell stop singing he has since outgrown this behavor you might talk to his ENT if you are worried
good luck
i'm 33 a stay home mother of 4 13-11-7-5
J.

having the tubes out should not affect hearing...in the way that you are implying that it can make sounds louder than you and i hear them. many children are sensitive to loud sounds with or w/o tubes. i'm sure your father in law is bringing attention to the sounds being loud, thus making your son more attuned to the loudness. probably not a good mix!

Hi J.,
My son is 5 ys. old with his second set of tubes. He too complains of loud noises. So it must have sometthing to do with the tubes. My family often comment about his sensitivity to sound. Sounds like the toilet flushing, sirens and lots of others. I kinda feel sorry for him, as I too have sensitive hearing.
Good luck,
K.

Hi J.!
Take your child back for a follow-up with an ENT for a tympanogram and audiogram (hearing test). IF your child is non-verbal, have an ABR hearing test done. It's possible he could have a slight hearing loss or his hearing may be "sensitive," meaning that, due to a slight loss in one range could cause a hightened increase in another range to compensate for the loss (which is true for me - I wear two hearing aids). It's also possible that your child may need to be evaluated by an Occupational Therapist for a sensory dysfunction having to do with with the auditory system. My suggestion would be to get a referral from your pediatrician now while your child is 3. You may be able to obtain services through ECI (early childhood intervention) for the OT. Hopefully, it will turn out to be nothing at all. However, it's best to rule out NOW than to start school with vestibular, handwriting and processing issues down the road. Best wishes to you. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like at ____@____.com.

Dear mom Felix and Aiden,
I am a 30 year old mom, with two daughter's, one of 5 named Soleil and daughter of 4 named Dalet. Also 7 year marrige. My daughter Dalet is very sensitive to sound, however ear tubes were not placed eventhough the pedi was suspecting. Test were competed to test the vol. she had with sound. Dalet's speech needs re-enfourcement and was just evaluated for it a week ago. It seems that she was a emotional reaction child therefor the sound was a little act for her to manage a situstion to her advantage. This became my eye opener! i hope this helps...good luck!

Hi J.,

I highly recommend taking your son back to his ENT. He may need a second set of tubes. Our son did, and it did him a world of good. Good Luck.

my daughter has the same problem... since she was very little. She has had tubes in her ears, a hole in her ear, and she has hearing loss in her right ear. You should go to the EN&T doctor to have a hearing test done. Talk to your doctor about this problem and he will explain whats going on with your little man.
My doctor explained it to me by saying that her ear drums are like a tuner and some of the hums hurt her ears while a hums one desimle off doesnt.
My daughter turns up the tv or music with some songs and turns it way down with others. I have noticed that she is constently turning down the same songs or tv shows.
My daughter also is loud and plays with no complants, she also doesnt here me alot of the time when I call her, but she can hear when some one walks up behind her without talking.
My daughter has very sensitive ears. I use to think the same thing that you are thinking with your son.

I hope this has helped you.

Hello J.!

I can offer alot of reassurance on this subject as I have three children that have undergone surgery for tubes, my youngest having had the surgery three times.

Each of them has definately complained of nosies being too loud, and covered their ears often for the first few years after the surgery. I believe the loud noises cause a vibration in the eardrum that aggravates their sensitive scar tissue from the surgery.

With my sons, it went away as they grew. With my daughter and 3 surgeries, I try to always watch out for places we go that have very loud noises, as I know it will bother her ears. She is 12 now and the last set came out when she was 6.

Not only does loud noises bother her, but diving in the swimming pool (anythng that puts pressure on her eardrums) is very uncomfortable for her. I have found that if you get some noise reduction earplugs, like the ones you can buy at any drug store, she is able to continue anything she wishes to do. My ENT doctor fully agreed.

T. S.

when in doubt get him tested for his hearing with an ear nose and throat doc. good luck

My 7 y/o was always very sensitive to external sounds, radio, t.v., police sirens... Then her ears became clogged with fluid, I thought she was finally getting used to the sounds. Turns out she needed tubes. So we got the tubes, the sensitivity was not there during that time. Once the tubes fell out, the sensitivity came back. Believe me she can be as loud as she wants but the minute something else gets too loud she crumbles. I don't know about your child, but for my daughter it is a very real thing. Like you said, it is selective to a point.

My son did not have ear tubes but did get upset about loud noises when he was little. He would wear ear muffs when we did fireworks and other loud activities because he had fun and wanted to be involved but did not like the noise. We could not go to basketball games because of the buzzer during the game. He eventually grew out of it though and began to work through it. It took until he was about 4 or 5 though. His ENT said he had better hearing than normal and so the pitches he heard sounded louder. Has your sons ENT checked for his hearing being better than normal?

Just a thought.
L.

My husband had tubes as a child and he has very sensitive/selective hearing. He will blow up if I say something that he percieves as 'too loud' and has a fit over the tv and radio, but then he seems to have normal hearing at other times. I don't know if it's related to tubes or now.

Now, there is a possibility your son has SID (sensory integration disorder.) My girls can be very loud, but I have seen them cry when the toilet flushes. They also have some other sensory sensitivities, but some children with SID it's only to sound.

I had tubes put in at 5 years old. Now at 32, some sounds are more sensitive than others. What I think is a comfortable volume, others think isn't loud enough. It really bothers me when things like the TV are loud. So, its very possible your son experiences this. Make a note of what sounds he complains about, and go from there. Hope that helps!

J.,
I had tubes in my ears when I was a kid, as did my husband, I definitely don't remember being sensitive to loud sounds. But of course, that was many many years ago! :) Maybe a visit to the pediatrician to check and make sure everything is ok. I have heard that people who have their ears flushed by a doc have heightened sensitivity, maybe he just doesn't have any wax in there to mute the sound?

Hello J.

I would say just to be on the safe side take him back to the ENT(There is one in SA that is great with kiddos and he has two offices his name is Patrick Brown.)
We recently just toke my son who is 4 to Dr.Brown because my son was always sick,pain in ears from everything including loud nosies sometimes and then the next time he would listen to his Tv as loud as he could.He was also not very clear on some things that he would say.We knew it was ears but to our surprise he had to have adenoids and tonsoils removed and tubes back in.The first time we got tubes was before his first bday. We were shocked that there were other problem besides needing the tubes.
I think just to be on the safe side,do it now so he doesnt have other prombles and the longer it goes not treated more bad things could happen.He could have lots of snot build up and then it gets a little better sometimes.

We thought the same about my son that sometimes it was not really hurting but it really was.

FYI:I read alot more about tubes and things and most times if a child gets the tubes before age 1 and 2 they will need to get them again.The second usually is the last but if they still have problems they may need them again after that.

We will be going for our first check up today,but I can already see a huge change in everything. speech,sounds of certain things,eating habits,sleeping and so on.

Good Luck

Doctor Information:
San Antonio Head and Neck (Dr Patrick Brown)
###-###-#### This is the southcross office over by the Southeast Baptist Hospital. He has one on the north side to I belief that is were it is.

Hi, my name is K.. I have a daughter who is about to be 3 in June. She also had tubes put in her ears when she was 1. We just recently had them removed a few weeks ago because we had her T & A taken out. I do think it is perfectly normal to complain about the loud noises. I also think it can be selective. She does it ALL THE TIME! Some weeks she will ride on the lawn mower with me and help mow grass, and then the next week she will scream that the noise is hurting her ears! So your not alone!!

My 3 year old had tubes for the first time when she was 10 months old & they fell out about a year later. This past year I have noticed that at certain places she holds her hands over her ears & cries. We just recently had to have tubes put back in & I asked the ENT about this. He said that with the improved hearing the tubes provide, many people have a heightened sensitivity to certain sounds. He said that it may even get worse with the second set since she'll be able to hear even better now. He told us that some people are just more sensitive to certain noises than others & that there is nothing wrong with her ears (other than needing tubes for ear infections)! lol

Hi My daughter did the same thing and still does and she is now 30 yrs old. Some sounds still irritate her now. So not to sure if this helped or not but she did learn to cope and to let things kinda slide. But she still complains of the TV or radio is up to loud. tells me all the time.

Mom Cindy