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Ear Infections and Tubes

I’m sure many will agree there is nothing more upsetting and frustrating then seeing your child sick all the time. Unfortunately I see this often with infants and toddlers that have recurring ear infections. Many times parents of these children are already suffering from lack of sleep and then to deal with a child who has recurrent ear infections that is fussy, uncomfortable, waking up at night crying in pain and with fever can be exhausting. Also, many times these kids have already been treated with multiple rounds of antibiotics, which in itself can cause problems i.e. diaper rash from excessive diarrhea to name the most common, and so parents are left wondering what to do.

The best thing for these kids when medical treatments fail is to have a short outpatient procedure to have tubes inserted. I know surgery is scary especially for the new parent with a 6 month old, but I can’t tell you how many times afterwards I hear things like, “he’s a new baby” “She’s finally sleeping through the night” “It’s the best thing we did”. I am also speaking not only as a medical provider but as a parent of a child that has tubes. My now 22 month old son had recurring ear infections that were unresponsive to antibiotics by mouth and injection. Unlike the kids I talked about earlier he was a very happy baby but always had fluid behind his eardrums. The fluid persisted for 3 months and probably had 2-3 infections during that time. Working in the ENT field I was able to check his hearing and that was the deciding factor for me. The fluid behind his ears was causing hearing loss, which could affect his speech.

The procedure went excellent. It was quick, painless and he hasn’t had any fluid or infection issues since the tubes were placed a few months ago. I always tell parents that the surgery will be harder on them then it is for the child, especially now having experienced it myself.

If you would like more information about ear infections and ear tubes please check out our website under the pediatric tab the link for ear pain and ear tubes. If you have any comments or would like to share your experience feel free to chime in.

Jeff D’Ambrosio PA-C, MPAS