Ear Tubes, Chiropractor, Allergies???

Updated on March 13, 2009
K.H. asks from Rowlett, TX
3 answers

My 13 month old son has had 6 ear infections in the past year! They count them as 6, but two were not fully infected (we caught them at well child checks and went ahead and started antibiotics) and 2 were counted during double ear infections during RSV. I do still think we have a very big problem that we need to figure out what to do about. My pedi sent us to an ent that we met with Monday. He recommended tubes and we were scheduled to do them this morning. Yesterday with the drop in weather and rain, my son woke up with a horrible cough!! I called the doctor and we decided to postpone the surgery. The next time we could do it is 2 weeks.
Since then, I've had lots of concerns raised about the tubes and been given many other suggestions to try first, and I'm wondering if God has given me this 2 week period to check it out before putting my baby into surgery. First, the chiropractor has been suggested. It really scares me to have someone mess with my baby's back...could he/she do damage to his back or neck?? Of course, now I'm thinking, why can't I trust the chiropractor but I can trust this ent to cut into my baby's ear?? My husband and I have never used chiropractors. I was thinking if I decided to try this, I may go first as the guinea pig as I do have lots of problems with my neck. I'd rather him/her mess me up instead of my son. I am pregnant, though. Could that pose a problem?
Another suggestion is allergies. Caleb does always get his ear infections in conjunction with runny nose and cough congestion. But, its not a constant thing. The doctor told me if, for instance, it was a milk allergy, he'd never get over the cold symptoms. Is it worth getting allergy testing? Where do you get that done?
I want to do what is right for my baby. If, at this point, he has had so many ear infections that he needs tubes and then to try to fix the congestion, that is what we will do. But, what if the congestion is never fixed, and the tubes fall out, and we are back where we started? I know we can do tubes again, but I'd like to solve the congestion problem. I think if we solve that, we solve the ears?
Also - asthma runs very strongly in my family, although I do not have it. I do have lots of sinus problems and take singulair at difficult seasonal times to keep that under control. Do I need to check into asthma testing/medication for him?
I know this is alot to ask. No one in my family has ever had tubes, and I know its a simple procedure...I just still worry about it.
Thanks in advance for the help!!
K.
PS - does anyone know how much tubes cost? I'm going to have to move some money around and just want to prepare for the possibility of that surgery. I won't make the decision to do it or not to do it based on money. We have insurance that I know requires a $100 hospital copay and 20% after that. Thanks!

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So What Happened?

Thanks so much for all of the great advice! Its good to know that I'm not alone in not wanting to do the tubes. Some have made me feel as if I'm a bad mother for not wanting to do the tubes, as they think my son needs them. I was referred to a chiropractor close to home and I sent the doctor an email Thursday just to ask some questions. I got an immediate call back and got to talk directly to the doctor. Then, Friday, I met with the doctor for about an hour as she convinced me that this is a good thing to try first. She examined my son and belives she can impact these infections. She did adjust him yesterday and he goes back on Monday. I'm not sure if its coincidence, but I went to check on him late last night and paniced for a minute because I didn't hear him breathing the minute I stepped in his door. He was breathing so well and sleeping so peacefully - something I haven't heard in awhile. I truly believe his congested head is causing the infections and if she can help that, we've got several problems solved.
I'm going to keep at it for awhile and hold out hope! Thanks again!!

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.B.

answers from Dallas on

I recently started taking my son to a chiropractor for digestive issues - and much like you I was very skeptical and nervous about it. I have never been myself and didn't know what to expect. My ped recommended Dr. Melissa Shelton in Plano ###-###-####) and she is wonderful. She really put me at ease before she ever laid a hand on my son - and he has been doing much better since going to her. She did notice swollen glands in his neck one day and checked his ears - she said they were red and she adjusted him for that - and she continued to check them for a couple of weeks and they never actually became infected (or ped confirmed this). I would try it before you get the tubes - I'd be nervous about surgery too - I know they do it all the time but it is hard when it's YOUR baby! If you need any more info feel free to message me! Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.C.

answers from Dallas on

K.,
I feel for you, because I went through a similar scenario with my youngest son. He had 3 back to back ear infections and ended up on antibiotics, etc. I did a couple of things... I took my son to a chiropractor and took him off dairy. I gave him almond and rice milk instead. He's never had another infection. Now, I have since let him have dairy again and he doesn't seem to have any problems with it, but he's older now. I sincerely think the chiropractor had a lot to do with it .

I know lots of kids get tubes in their ears with no problems, but it's still surgery. A chiropractor sure seems a lot less scary to me than that (but then I've been going to them all my adult life, even while pregnant, with no issues what-so-ever).

Best wishes for you and your son!

1 mom found this helpful

C.R.

answers from Dallas on

Hi K.,
I feel your pain. My now 2 year old had the same problem and I ended up taking him to my ENT and they suggested tubes too. He was beginning to have a speech delay and that was to only reason why we considered it. But the more I research it the more I didn't feel it was the right choice for us. Just because you get ear tubes does not mean that you ear/allergy problems are gone though it does help some. I found alot of information about getting stuck in an antibiotic cycle with ear infections. Sometimes the body gets resistant to the drugs and the infections just gets stronger with each cycle of antibiotics. I do have a chiro that I go to but decided that I would just use her to do ear exams whenever I went in for adjustments. By the way she adjusted both of my boys before, no problems. Just make sure if you decide to see a chiro make sure that they see children too. I ended up putting him on a really good probiotic and some natural ear drops for pain. And let his body fight the infection without antibiotics. I made sure he got a good multi vitiman too. For us once the allergies was treated regularly the ear congestion went away. I used a low dose of Zytec daily. It took a while for things to clear up and the fluid (not infection) takes a good while to drain off. I also found this cool ear lobe manipulation on the internet to help promote ear drainage that I did several times a day. Bottom line? We bypassed the tubes and are fine now. He doesn't even use allergy medicine any more. I think it was a seasonal inhalant. Everything I got him tested for was neg (?) I don't want to discourage you from moving forward with surgery but I do think it's very wise to consider and know all of your options.
The internet is a wonderful source of other stories similar to your own.
Best Regards,
C.

1 mom found this helpful
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