s/o Have you ever had ear tubes removed?

[TKDmom]

My ds has had ear tubes in for nearly 5 years. His ENT told me that after 4 years they probably won't fall out on their own. I've been putting off the surgery for almost a year now. I meant to get it done before swimming season started up again (oops). Does anyone have any experience with this surgery? Did your dc's eardrums heal up okay?

 

The Dr. had me kind of freaked out by the recovery time (no sneezing allowed for 6 weeks). He also indicated that there was no way to tell ahead of time if his eardrums would heal up or if he would need to go in a second time to patch up the holes left by the tubes. I'd love to hear your experiences. :bigear:

[MorganClassicalPrep]

I had (my second set of) tubes removed when I was 17. Both eardrums were torn (during the surgery or before, not clear on this) and had to be repaired with paper patches. This was done during the removal, I didn't have to go in a second time, but I'm not sure if the holes left were so big they knew they wouldn't heal or what.

 

I do have some hearing loss in both ears, but.... I'm not sure how much, and I had already lost some before the surgery, and haven't had my hearing tested since, so I don't know if the surgery effected that.

 

 

I know, not much help. :tongue_smilie:But I have BTDT (and now have a daughter with tubes- so on both sides!) :grouphug: for you and your son.

[Retired]

don't wait to long for the surgery, we moved and my son's tubes were left in a little to long and one of them was starting to be absorbed by ear tissue and swelled into a small tumor and anyway it became a more complicated surgery with some hearing loss

 

he had a previous set removed with no complications

[FrogMom5]

My oldest ds had a tube taken out at about age 7. All was fine until last summer (age 14). His swimming instructor had him repeatedly dive down to the bottom of the deep end. On the third dive his ear drum burst. The tubes had weakened his ear drum. It doesn't happen to everyone, just some.

 

He had surgery to graft skin from behind his outer ear onto the hole in his eardrum. He's can't ever go diving, sky diving, etc. He talks louder than before so it has affected his hearing a bit.

 

So, having the tube removed should be a brief and easy surgery. Your dc will likely be just fine and not ever have a problem with it again.

 

If he ever does complain of ear pain after diving though, take him to the doctor. I waited thinking that he just had water in his ear and that he was being a bit wimpy. Yes, I get the bad mother of the yr. award for that one.

Denise

[TKDmom]

don't wait to long for the surgery, we moved and my son's tubes were left in a little to long and one of them was starting to be absorbed by ear tissue and swelled into a small tumor and anyway it became a more complicated surgery with some hearing loss

 

he had a previous set removed with no complications

 

Thanks for the gentle nudge. ;). His previous ENT (who actually did the insertion) had no plans to remove them until ds was 7 or 8, but I would like to get it done sooner, rather than later. I'm tired of ear plugs.

[TKDmom]

My oldest ds had a tube taken out at about age 7. All was fine until last summer (age 14). His swimming instructor had him repeatedly dive down to the bottom of the deep end. On the third dive his ear drum burst. The tubes had weakened his ear drum. It doesn't happen to everyone, just some.

 

He had surgery to graft skin from behind his outer ear onto the hole in his eardrum. He's can't ever go diving, sky diving, etc. He talks louder than before so it has affected his hearing a bit.

 

So, having the tube removed should be a brief and easy surgery. Your dc will likely be just fine and not ever have a problem with it again.

 

If he ever does complain of ear pain after diving though, take him to the doctor. I waited thinking that he just had water in his ear and that he was being a bit wimpy. Yes, I get the bad mother of the yr. award for that one.

Denise

 

Thanks for the tip. It'll be a long time before ds is comfortable enough with the water to do any diving, but now I'll know not to encourage it. No scuba diving either, I guess.

 

I don't think you get bad mother of the year, either. I've done things like that. It's so hard to tell whether they're really in pain or just being tired and whiny.

[KatieJ]

The tubes had weakened his ear drum. It doesn't happen to everyone, just some.

 

 

 

Interesting. My oldest son had tubes that hd to be surgically removed. (IT was planned as the first set came out within weeks, so they went with a different kind) 2 years ago he ruptured his eardrum diving off a pontoon boat. I never put the two together.