Tips on Tubes

My brother had tubes in his ears, and my mom used silly putty to put into his ears whenever she bathed him or when he went swimming. Its soft so it molds easily to the ear,but it keeps out the water. Good luck!!

I know it sounds scary. We had the same problem when my daughter was little. She wasn't sick a day her first year. And then her 2nd year, just sick all the time. We had her tonsils and adnoids removed and while they were there they put the tubes in. She was 2. She's now 5, and I swear she hasn't been sick a day since!!! And, the tubes are not that big of a deal. Just buy ear plugs. If you get a little water, don't sweat it. If it's clean water, it's no big deal. They just worry about water with bacteria in it getting into the middle ear. So, if you minimize water's opportunity to get in, you're safe.

I'm an older mom with three young adults now, but two out of the three had severe ear problems and before they were 2yrs old they had the tubes placed in their ears. My son, was the first one to have it done and the only thing that stood out in my mind was seeing him afterwards in recovery before he woke up, it was horrible, he just laid there so very lifeless and I swore that if my next child had to have the tubes put in that I would wait until the were awake in recovery before see them and that is what I did with my youngest daughter.

Procedure wise, I am very glad that my children had them done, afterwards there ear and throat infections were very few.

To help keep there ears dry, I would use ear plugs,soft spongie types, waxie types and now with my youngest, who is now 18yrs old, has special molded ones made, that are used when bathing, showering, swimming, even when she goes snow boarding to help keep the moisture out.

I hope that some of this helps.

C.,
I happen to be a mom, a Physician Assistant with 3 years experience in Ear Nose and Throat, and my daughter had tubes placed. I think you will be very happy after the tubes are placed. The majority of children don't have any more ear infections while the tubes are in. I think they mean that they want his ears to stay dry after the tubes are placed. The concern is that excess water (particularly water with more bacteria like lakes, oceans) could cause an ear infection. Most ENT surgeons understand that some water will get in your child's ear during a bath/shower. This shouldn't cause any problems. I also let my daughter go swimming with her tubes as long as the pool was treated. Some physicians recommend ear plugs, but many will let kids swim and splash around without them. Most 15 mos olds aren't swimming for extended periods under the water. Anyway, the short answer...it is likely that no serious problems will occur if some water enters your son's ears.

hi,both my sons had tubes put in their ears, my daughter was supposed to get them too, but the dr. thought to try taking her off milk.
Sure enough she never had another ear infection(allergic to milk) Anyway, you don't have to worry about shower water, it is mainly swimming and they just tell you to put in ear plugs. The Dr. could probably tell you what to do if it does get into tubes. I found I never had a problem with that with either kids. Good luck....M.

Hey just wanted to tellyou in case you dont already know, you can also get the garlic and mullin oil straight.from mothers market, in eltoro. It seemd to work faster then the childrens ear drops. My 3 month old is the same way. Good luck .......

Hi C.,

Have you ever considered chiropractic treatment for your child? I have been an assistant for a local chiropractor for the past 7 years and have seen many children come into his practice who suffered from chronic ear infections, asthma, allergies; even those diagnosed with ADD, ADHD and Autism. The results that I have seen and heard from the parents of these children is amazing.

The great thing about chiropractic is that it doesn't put anything into the body or take anything out of it, i.e. meds or surgery. What it does is open the communication from the brain to all the organs of the body so that the body can heal itself, the way it was designed to do.

If you're interested in learning more about this non-invasive treatment, please feel free to contact me and I will be happy to schedule a free consultation with the doctor. By the way, I have a 5 year old daughter who has been getting regular chiropractic maintenance since she was 6 days old and has never had anything more than the common cold, which only lasts about 3 days. And if she gets one, it's only about once a year. How's that for a healthy child!!

Hope you'll consider this; from one mom to another.

To yours and your families health,

C. S.
____@____.com

Get your son off dairy products, especially milk. Then limit refined sugars.

Dear C.:

It is often the case that the ear infections are a result of allergies. Before you schedule the surgery, I would suggest that you visit NAET.com, order and read the book "Say Good-Bye to Children's Allergies" and make an appointment to consult with an NAET doctor at your first opportunity. I go to Dr. David Karaba in Fullerton and absolutely love him. His phone number is ###-###-####. One of the wonderful things about NAET is that for children or the infirm, they can be treated through a surrogate, i.e., you. Here is the description paragraph from the book information.

"Say Good-bye to Children’s Allergies
By - Devi S. Nambudripad, D.C., L.Ac., R.N., Ph.D.
Paperback-1st Edition 2000
350 pages, 8.5’ X 5.5’ X .75’
ISBN: ISBN: 0-###-###-####-8-4
In Say Good-bye to Children’s Allergies, Dr. Devi S. Nambudripad, the developer of NAET®, will help you understand your child’s illness and will assist you in finding the right help to achieve better health for your child. This book will show you how certain commonly used products in your foods and environment can cause health problems in your child; how you can test your child in your privacy of your own home using the Nambudripad’s Testing Techniques described in the book. This book will educate you how your child’s health problems can relate to allergy, a traditionally under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed condition; and, how allergies can manifest into myriad symptoms that might seem unrelated. The author also provides remedies for mild conditions of common childhood ailments arising from allergies and how to find help in assisting your child find the right help for serious problems such as, asthma, hay-fever, common colds, sinus problems, milk allergy, peanut allergy, sugar allergy, hives, gastritis, vomiting, colic for newborns, ear infections, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, bronchitis, drug reactions, and many other conditions. Dr. Nambudripad explains how allergies are often the underlying causes to pediatric problems and how NAET® testing procedures and NAET® treatments can offer relief from these allergies. The book is supported by NAET® practitioners’ testimonials and patients’ success stories."

Hi C.,
My daughter has had tubes twice now. I was nervous about the surgery as well. It only took about 5-10 minutes and it was done! Once it was finished, her attitude improved greatly. She was 5 when she had them the 1st time. She couldn't hear very well due to the fluid build up and would just sort of zone out. After her hearing returned, she was back to the great girl I've always known. The ENT's office made custom earplugs for bath and pool time. They are great and you never have to worry about water getting in. If water gets in by accident, there are drops that the Dr. can give you to prevent infection.
Good luck and I'll be praying that his surgery goes smoothly. (The only complication I've heard of is nausea afterward.) Do make sure that the Anesthesiologist is board certified!
N. B.

C., I sympathize with you and your son. I always had ear infections as a kid and it was awful. Here is my suggestion, consider whether or not your son might be allergic to dairy. Dairy allergy and ear infections are closely related. Doctors may disagree with that but hi-end allergists will concur with this connection. It is documented and tested. (Does he have eczema or digestive upsets, too? These don't have to be there, but these symptoms can be seen in dairy allergy as well.) If you want to check it out, this means if you are nursing him you will have to stop drinking or eating anything with dairy (milk, cream, butter, etc.) in it. Remove all dairy from his diet (read labels) for a minimum of four days but recommended 10 days. If he is allergic you should see improvement in that time....although if his only symptom is repeated ear infections you'll likely need to keep him off of dairy until you satisfactorily see he isn't getting any more infections. This may sound worse than it is.....trust me, to fix a child's problem when it is only food related ends up being SO much easier than alot of the alternatives. I know, my child is allergic to corn, wheat, eggs, dairy and yeast. Good luck, I hope you find an answer somewhere.

My son (now 21) had ear tubes for years. We had special ear plus made to fit his ear that kept all the water out. They were costly but very well worth it.

My son had tubes in his ears at about that age too. You buy some wax earplugs and they get put in his ears when he goes swimming or in the tub so that water doesn't go in there. Eventually as he gets older the tubes will work their way out of his ears. He is now 19 and in college and the tubes made a big difference in his speech. Because once he could hear better he could speak more clearly. wow I didn't remember that til I started writing. :) But it's true, his language skills picked up and improved after the surgery. I"m sure you little guy will be fine!

Hello C., my name is C. Novak. I am a chiropractor in Oxnard. I just wanted to make sure that you had at least tried chiropractic before you had tubes placed in your sons ears. I have had great results w/ preventing this in many other cases, and thought I might suggest a consultation. The philosophy behind Chiro. helping in this situation is: the nerves that control the ears are in the neck. Many children around the age of your son have recently started to become more active thus causing tiny misalingments in their neck. These misalingments left unremoved over time can cause different symptoms. One of which is ear problems for the child. It would be a great honor to evaluate your son. It can't hurt to try!

Hi C.,

I am an Alternative Health Practitioner and own a wellness center located in Simi Valley. There are other things you can do instead of putting tubes in. There have been so many children I have dealt with that the tubes had to be removed because of infection. By building up your child's immune system and looking to possible allergies to foods, etc., you can correct the ear infections without the tubes.

My e-mail address is ____@____.com if you want to diszcuss it further.

Bleszsings,

J. Sanders
Alternative Health Practitioner
kaysnutrition.com

Hi,
You may have already checked into this, but my son was having the same problems with ear infections - on antibiotics about 6-7 times a year. We had his adnoid removed - its a gland sort of like your tonsils near the nasal cavity. In some kids it is too big and blocks the natural sinus drainage, which causes the sinuses to back up into the ears - thus the infection. It is VERY easy to check - an xray will show you how big the adnoid is. Anyway we had it removed. It is outpatient - takes about 20 minutes. They also recommended putting tubes into his ears (since they were already working in the area and since he would already be anesthestized... but we declined) Since the surgery (over 2 years ago) my son has not had a single (not even one!!) ear infection. And we do not have to deal with the tubes.
Just something to check into.
Good luck!
S.

Dear C.,
Check with your doctor, but it seems like a drop of (rubbing) alcohol in the ears will dry up water that gets in them . . .
Good Luck!
B.

We used the ear plugs the ENT gave us for her baths. You don't have to worry about pools because they have chlorine. One thing to remember though is that your son can still get ear infections even with the tubes. He probably won't get as many but we didn't think our daughter could get one after her tubes were in and we kept ignoring her when she said her "ear hurt". I finally took her in and she had an infection.

C.,

I raised four children. Two adults and my eldest is married and had a daughter, I have 16 yrs old daughter in Junior College and 14 yrs old son freshman in high school. None of this children had a surgery in their life. My suggestion is to talke to at least 4 or 5 doctors who are well experienced and specialized in ear before rushing to surgery. At least having four different doctors who are specialized in ear,throat section will give you a well variety of advise. Take it from them and work step by step. Even thought we have latest technology but I am still skeptical about surgery. You will be the one who will make a decision what's best for your son ear. Good Luck.

A.

Hi C.,

My son and I are going to a biophysical chiropractor in Poway. He has a poster in his office about ear infections and his treatments. It would not hurt to call him Dr. Peter Moncado Abundant Life Chiropractic ###-###-####. His prices are very reasonable.I see many families of all ages in his office. Feel free to call or e-mail me, F. P. ###-###-#### ____@____.com

My son got tubes in both ears last February at 16 months, so I know exactly where you are. My doctor was straight forward and said there are custom-made ear plugs but they cost about $400 and are no more effective than the waxy earplugs you can buy in the first aid section of your grocery store. They are made for adults and are far too large for your son but if you take one and split it in half, that half is enough for both ears. Just split it again and make it into an oval shaped to seal up his ear. My son laughs every time we put them in! So I know it doesn't hurt. Water may get in them a little but the doctor said it's nothing to be too concerned about. Just do your best. We do it every bath and he even swam all summer with no problems and no infections. He got one infection this fall but it was as a result of a sinus infection that backed up. I knew the ear was infected because pus actually drained out of his ear, which is the whole point of the tubes. He had no pain in his ear and slept fine. It has been a great solution to his previous problem!