Going to ENT with 19 Month Old with Ear issues...what to Expect?

I have 2 different stories about ENT's and experiences with them.

The grandson I am raising has the excess ear wax and the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner we see is always scooping it out to look in his ears. He had about the same amount of ear infections as your little guy, same time frame of a year. He had tubes put in this past June and has not had a single ear infection since, really, zero. He was traumatized by the anesthesia but his was not the norm according to the out patient staff. Most just wake up and sit up and are okay with everything. We were totally happy with the results and would do it again if needed.

My 2 year old grandson seemed to have issues at a very young age. I told my daughter I thought he was deaf. She, of course, thought he was perfect and nothing was wrong. The foster mom who ended up with this little guy when he was just 5 1/2 months old told DHS just a few days after he was placed with her that she thought he was deaf and maybe blind or had very limited eye sight. She got a referral to an ENT and the baby failed the hearing test completely. He didn't even respond to a bass drum being banged by his head.

They also decided to do tubes for this grandson just to see if it would help. When the doc went in his ears he found debris from ear infections that antibiotics had not touched. He spent a long time in there cleaning them out and trying very hard to make sure he got everything possible. The baby came out hearing and he started following things and paying attention to everything all of a sudden. He still acts like he can't see somethings and eventually he'll have an eye exam to see if he needs glasses but for now he is hearing and developing more normally.

don't worry to much. Our son just had his adenoids removed and a friend's 10 mo son just had tubes put it.

It's VERY common-and the appt itself will be pretty simple. Then if they suggest tubes the procedure is also very simple and the kids recover quick.

I'd go online and research ear tubes so you can be prepare to ask questions.

My son had ear tubes put in at 20 months. He had many ear infections, many rounds of antibiotics. There was always liquid behind his ear drums which cause some hearing loss and he really didn't talk or pronounce words correctly. So we went to the ENT where they did a hearing test and looked in his ears. Ear tubes it was. I was so scared but luckily I was able to be with him until he was asleep and the surgery took about 10 minutes and we were able to be with him as he was waking up. That was the best thing we did for him. After that he started talking more, he wasn't so clumsy. Now he's almost 7 years old and he hasn't had any ear problems. I think he's had maybe 2 ear infections since the tubes (the tubes fell out by themselves after about 18 months). Be sure to ask questions that you have and if you're not comfortable get a second opinion.

We are taking our son next tuesday to an ENT , im also worried, your not alone i can let you know how it goes if you would like. Our son is 18 months old with constant ear infections. Just hoping for the best for our little one.

I have been through this 2x on both ends of the scale with my oldest he got his tubes his speech went up and he required speech therapy and he is fine now. my youngest had tubes put in at a younger age than his brother so I could avoid speech I was hoping but it didnt work. he is hard of hearing but he also has a major double ear infection due to his tube in one ear falling out. you have several possibilities here. the first is they clear the ear infection up and do tubes and that is it. second is possibly fluid making him hard of hearing which the tubes are for.

the other is it is a more serious condition which could be a bone or ligament in the ear both which from what I have been told can have surgery but may only parially fix the problem. then there is a possibiility he will need a hearing aid. that is way to soon to determine. its too soon to determine on my son. now you may hear about adnoid and tonsil removal which is done in some cases depending on the type of hearing loss he has. my oldest sons doctor did his tubes diffrent and apperently the reasons why were both boys have a diffrent kind of hearing loss. my oldest was mostly due to allergies and my youngest I guess is something else.

mine has a receptive hearing loss but there is diffrent types of hearing loss so until you know what kind of hearing loss he has they cant determine the solution for it. get a hold of eci and get him in speech therapy. somehow there is a cordination between fine motor skills and speech. I knew that there was a connection between hearing loss and equilibrium but just now am learning about the fine motor skills. so the haring loss may be permanat or temporary depending on the problem.

start signing to him and saying the word at the same time. speak loudly when speaking to him and occasionally you will forget he cant hear you I did at first and still do sometimes. get a harness for safety. that way he cant wonder off in a store or get infront of a car by accident. make him look at you when you talk to him and you will forget to do this sometimes too. I am getting much better but at first I did it alot. if yours can hear you hollar or pound or clap you are in better shape than my son. mine cant hear you from the back and is pitch deaf. I have a meeting with eci thursday to see if mine qualifies for all day school due to his hearing loss and it looks like he will qualify due to deafness runs in the family on his dads side. dont panic and take it one step at a time. they cant get hearing aids till a certain age if i am not mistaken. I will find out real quick like and be able to answer that for you. if you need anymore info pm me. hope this answers some of your questions.

I can tell you what to expect at the appointment.
First of all, they should remove the wax before testing his hearing. If there is stuff blocking is ear canal, then it's going to be hard to him to hear. It's possible it it's removed he'll hear normally. He's young enough that it shouldn't be too hard to get him back on track with his speech.
The appointment isn't really all that much different than a regular physician appointment. They, of course, don't do the full physical. They'll focus on his ears, nose and throat. The doctor will look in your sons ears, in his mouth and maybe up his nose. In my experience it's no more invasive than a regular doctor.
If he needs tube, they may ask you to schedule the surgery right away (that's our our ENT does it). If you're not sure that you want tubes put in, then make sure you tell them that you need time to talk about it. They can have the surgery scheduler call you back in a few days.
There are a few different types of hearing tests. I'm not sure which one they'll do since he's so young. Again, it won't be invasive. You should be able to be with him the entire time.

For a child that needs tubes, they can be a god-send. They will look at his ears, review his history (be prepared with dates, course of treatments...one round of antibotics to clear up or did it require more to clear the infections). Be sure to express your concerns and ask any questions you have (take a list with you if you think you may forget something).

My lil one just had tubes put in on the 18th it was really quick I mean fast procedure me & hubby sat down in the waitning I haven't finished 1 magazine I didn't read an article it was just to look at to pass time she did great literally less thatn 20 min she cried while waking up we came home she fell asleep for 3 hrs woke up playing no fussing was back to her normal routine.We did this for her she is speech delayed because of fluid build up not becasue of ear infections her first one was when she was about a yr the next one was in November on 2010 she is 6 months behind I got her into speech therapy at 14 months she has done a great job for only having it for 6 months she is now talking putting words together barking like a doggie & saying saying doggie then barks again it has been along road she is going on 2 with very little words I didn't hear mama till she was 15 months old it was dada & a few other words.She failed all her hearing testing.Now she is responding to her name & it is lovely.
The ENT will look at her history of ear infections look over the hearing test,do what is recommened for the ear wax he may hold off on suggesting ear tubes till the ear wax is under control there is a wait & see approach how well the child is doing over a certain amount of time but since the ear infections are quit high I would only guess he will prescribe another antibiotic prior to ear tubes then do them after the antibiotcs only if they are infected.I would hold off in the hearing test till the ear wax is removed anything that is in there it is a cause for failure on the hearing test in my case it was fluid not ear wax.There really isn't much else it is a very fast appt.

When we went, he looked at her ears and told us that she should get tubes or would have permanant hearing loss. I was worried about the surgery, but it took about 10 minutes and she's had no ear infections since, which is much better than before! (she got the tubes when she was 1 and now she's 4). One of her tubes fell out the other week and the other is still in as far as we know. I'm not sure about your son's wax issue, although one doctor suggested drops that you could put in and help dissolve the wax, called debrox, which she hated but seemed to work.