Ear Infections in Children

Ear infections can be a very common childhood illness.

Some pediatricians will wait to treat an ear infection with antibiotic, some infections will clear them selves..

If your pediatrician chooses not to prescribe medicine they will follow up with another visit to the office to check the ear. If the infection persists they most likely will prescribe an antibiotic and again a follow up will be necessary.

It is important to keep the follow up appointments to make sure you do not have complications due to infection.

Allergies can be the cause of fluid in the ear.

You may choose to take your child to an allergist. They will do some testing and possibly prescribe a antihistamine to see if this helps with the fluid. If it does not help and the child is still suffering with the fluid I personally think it is time to see an ENT doctor. 

Do not forget ask questions this is your child. What is the best treatment? If you are not happy with the answer it is your right to get another opinion.

Take care of the childs ears you do not want serious complications that can occur. 

Fluid in the middle ear can cause ear infections, hearing loss, and pain for the child.

If your child has chronic ear infections and fluid in the ear your doctor may recommend you see an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist.

When meeting with the specialist they may suggest what is known as typanostomy tubes. These are tiny tubes placed in the ear drum to drain the fluid from the ear. This is a surgical procedure as an out patient in the hospital.This procedure requires general anesthesia, and the tubes are placed in the ear drum.The tubes should stay in the ear for maybe a year. The tubes will fall out by them selves most of the time once in a while you will have to go to the office to have them removed.

Tubes are not a guarantee for no more ear infections, it is a temporary fix till the childs Eustachian tubes develop

Eustachian tubes in children are shorter than adults and sometimes they are slightly slanted. I am not sure if this is the real reason for ear infections in children this was just my experience with my son.

If the childs adenoids are enlarged, the ENT might also suggest having them removed. Having the adenoids removed should allow the ear to breath better. 

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After the tubes are in place infection is not likely but can occur.

Do not be come alarmed, you may see a drainage from the ear. This will be the infection but you must contact the doctor. The doctor will treat the infection with antibiotic drops. 

Sometimes infection with tubes can be caused by getting water in the ear. Don't forget the tube that is in place makes an opening to the middle ear so the water will go straight in there. Ask your doctor what they recommend to prevent getting water in the ear.

I have had many children in our family have tubes placed in their ears.

My niece at the age of two had tubes put in. After the tubes came out a year later the child was free of ear infections and fluid.

This is not the case for all children, my grandson had the procedure done at the age of two and when the tubes came out the fluid built up again in the middle ear. The ENT is keeping a close eye on him, but is leaning toward putting the tubes in one more time.

My son is now a grown man, but when he was young we had major problems with his ears. We had tubes put in, adenoids taken out. It seemed every time the tubes came out the infection would reoccur.

It took many visits to the ENT and many surgeries but the outcome was worth all the effort. His ears are healthy.

Do not ignore ear infections you could cause long term problems.