Hopefully someone here can answer this...

[mizerey]

My niece is 6. Up until last week, we thought she was hearing. Only in the last couple months has my sister noticed that she isn't hearing very well. The doctor said she doesn't hear at all out of her left ear and her right ear isn't much better. They told my sister to take her to the ENT. The ENT said he wants to put tubes in her ears because she has allergies. He said that the tubes won't help her hearing any but he thinks she needs them. He said after she heals from the tubes, she will need to see an audiologist to get set up with ha. Does this sound normal to you? Why put her through surgery if it isn't really going to help her out any? I told her to get a second opinion but she trusts the doctor. I had the surgery when I was 3 because I had tons of ear infections (my niece has never had a problem with infections). I'm afraid that they are going to put her through a lot of uneeded pain for no good reason.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

I think your niece mother should get a second opinion from another doctor but anything is done to your niece.

 

[LDNanna]

You trust the physician or you dont. The tubes can relieve pressure, promote drainage and do help with infections as well.
I would suggest that you help and support your sister rather than question. I really hope the best for your family but there are other sites to help your sister with a medical decision. Your sister must trust and love you very much. It is obvious that you love her and your niece. Go enjoy them and good luck.

 

[Bottesini]

My eardrums consist only of scar tissue because they broke so many times due to infections with malformation.

The tubes prevent that. They also pop out on their own. No person I know ever complained they were painful.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

You trust the physician or you dont. The tubes can relieve pressure, promote drainage and do help with infections as well.
I would suggest that you help and support your sister rather than question. I really hope the best for your family but there are other sites to help your sister with a medical decision. Your sister must trust and love you very much. It is obvious that you love her and your niece. Go enjoy them and good luck.

That is the wrong thing to tell a person , doctors are not always right!
When my niece's baby was born the doctors was not sure it the baby was a boy or girl at first, the baby was born too early. The baby was a boy and had to have surgery to correct his penis. He had trouble peeing and the doctor kept on doing more surgeries on the baby and my niece and her husband ,trusted the doctor. My sister who it a RN kept trying to have the baby see another another doctor but his parents kept on trusting the baby doctor. And 11 years later the kid's bladder is the all messed up from all the surgeries he had! He has a new doctor but the damage has already been done. He was born with a healthy bladder, now he has a messed up one because his parents trust the baby doctor too much!

 

[mizerey]

I will stand by my sister and niece no matter what! I love them. I just want to make sure that this is absolutely needed. No other Dr. has ever said that she has any allergies and she has no history of infection. I had a history of chronic and near constant infection when I was young. The surgery worked for me but the pain I endured was bad. My mother reports that I screamed for the rest of that day after surgery and that tylenol didn't help like the Dr. said it would. I'm not saying its not painful for you but both times my ear drums have popped its been extremely painful for me. I'm sure the ENT has some reason for why he thinks this is the best course of action but he has not explained it to my sister and I in a way that we understand it.

 

[jillio]

My niece is 6. Up until last week, we thought she was hearing. Only in the last couple months has my sister noticed that she isn't hearing very well. The doctor said she doesn't hear at all out of her left ear and her right ear isn't much better. They told my sister to take her to the ENT. The ENT said he wants to put tubes in her ears because she has allergies. He said that the tubes won't help her hearing any but he thinks she needs them. He said after she heals from the tubes, she will need to see an audiologist to get set up with ha. Does this sound normal to you? Why put her through surgery if it isn't really going to help her out any? I told her to get a second opinion but she trusts the doctor. I had the surgery when I was 3 because I had tons of ear infections (my niece has never had a problem with infections). I'm afraid that they are going to put her through a lot of uneeded pain for no good reason.

Actually, if your niece has fluid behind the ear drums (easily detected through a tympanogram) then the tubes are necessary. An audiologist cannot get an accurate audiogram when there is fluid behind the eardrums as it prevents movement of the eardrum and creates a conductive loss.
If it were my child, I would definately have the tubes placed prior to audiological testing.

 

[jillio]

My eardrums consist only of scar tissue because they broke so many times due to infections with malformation.

The tubes prevent that. They also pop out on their own. No person I know ever complained they were painful.

My son had tubes placed and was outside playing a few hours afterward. Also, he wore his HA home from the hospital immediately after the tubes were placed. If it had caused pain, I am 100% certain, he would have jerked the HA off and thrown it.

 

[jillio]

That is the wrong thing to tell a person , doctors are not always right!
When my niece's baby was born the doctors was not sure it the baby was a boy or girl at first, the baby was born too early. The baby was a boy and had to have surgery to correct his penis. He had trouble peeing and the doctor kept on doing more surgeries on the baby and my niece and her husband ,trusted the doctor. My sister who it a RN kept trying to have the baby see another another doctor but his parents kept on trusting the baby doctor. And 11 years later the kid's bladder is the all messed up from all the surgeries he had! He has a new doctor but the damage has already been done. He was born with a healthy bladder, now he has a messed up one because his parents trust the baby doctor too much!

No, LDNanna told the OP exactly the right thing. What you are doing is liable to cause more problems for the child than she already has. Just because your sister had a situation that you have interpreted, whether correctly or not, as being a "doctor's fault" doesn't mean that it has anything to do with this situation.

 

[mizerey]

Thank you jillio, you have eased my fears. I guess I am one of the few who have had pain when they put in the tubes. My ears have always been very sensitive. The tympanograms actually cause me to squirm because I get a very mild pain from it. I also gag when they do the ear molds for my ha too. I'm not against any doctor, they obviously know much more than I do.

 

[rebeccalj]

My niece is 6. Up until last week, we thought she was hearing. Only in the last couple months has my sister noticed that she isn't hearing very well. The doctor said she doesn't hear at all out of her left ear and her right ear isn't much better. They told my sister to take her to the ENT. The ENT said he wants to put tubes in her ears because she has allergies. He said that the tubes won't help her hearing any but he thinks she needs them. He said after she heals from the tubes, she will need to see an audiologist to get set up with ha. Does this sound normal to you? Why put her through surgery if it isn't really going to help her out any? I told her to get a second opinion but she trusts the doctor. I had the surgery when I was 3 because I had tons of ear infections (my niece has never had a problem with infections). I'm afraid that they are going to put her through a lot of uneeded pain for no good reason.

As a deafie I think doctor is right here. Definitely get second opinion if you feel better by it. It never hurt to get second opinion but the delay might hurt her.

Then again, if she have no history of hearing loss can the parents not take her to an audiologist first? Before surgery? If they think alergies why think she is also Deaf? <confused>

Tube might help relieve the pain and lack of proper drainage. If tubes help with proper draining she may not need HAs at all. Hard to say. Maybe she need after. But, I can tell you, the pain of the pain, from not proper drainage, is agony. Think of childbirth but a child experiencing it in their ear. The pain in the ears is horrible and you get nothing from the pain. At least with childbirth you have a baby to show for it.

 

[mizerey]

They did a basic hearing test in her pediatrician's office and that showed that she had no hearing in her left ear and not very much in her right ear. She has never shown any hearing problems in the past. My sister and I emailed the ENT back yesterday so that I could ask a few questions. He thinks there might be a fluid back up in her ears causing her ear drums to be paralyzed. This is why he wants to do the tubes. He doesn't think this will improve her hearing any but that it may stop any further damage. He thinks she'll still need ha in both ears.
My sister relies on my input for everything with hearing loss. Until now, I have been the only one who has been hoh. I have been all my life. I was mainstreamed with no accomodations. It was a struggle but I made it through school. I didn't get a ha until I was in my 20's because the school audiologists told my mom they wouldn't help me. I had a huge body worn style FM while in school but I wouldn't wear it because the kids picked on me so much with it on. My sister knows I had it rough and wants to prevent my niece from going through it as well. I told her things are much different now and the ha and fm are so much smaller. My niece's wild hair will hide them if she wants them hidden lol!

 

[jillio]

Thank you jillio, you have eased my fears. I guess I am one of the few who have had pain when they put in the tubes. My ears have always been very sensitive. The tympanograms actually cause me to squirm because I get a very mild pain from it. I also gag when they do the ear molds for my ha too. I'm not against any doctor, they obviously know much more than I do.

You are very welcome.

You must be one of those people with a very strong gag reflex and very sensitive eardrums. It will happen with a few people, but the majority will experience no pain at all.

Good luck to you and your neice, and you are very welcome.

 

[jillio]

They did a basic hearing test in her pediatrician's office and that showed that she had no hearing in her left ear and not very much in her right ear. She has never shown any hearing problems in the past. My sister and I emailed the ENT back yesterday so that I could ask a few questions. He thinks there might be a fluid back up in her ears causing her ear drums to be paralyzed. This is why he wants to do the tubes. He doesn't think this will improve her hearing any but that it may stop any further damage. He thinks she'll still need ha in both ears.
My sister relies on my input for everything with hearing loss. Until now, I have been the only one who has been hoh. I have been all my life. I was mainstreamed with no accomodations. It was a struggle but I made it through school. I didn't get a ha until I was in my 20's because the school audiologists told my mom they wouldn't help me. I had a huge body worn style FM while in school but I wouldn't wear it because the kids picked on me so much with it on. My sister knows I had it rough and wants to prevent my niece from going through it as well. I told her things are much different now and the ha and fm are so much smaller. My niece's wild hair will hide them if she wants them hidden lol!

I am sorry about the situation in school for you. No kid should have to go through that. That makes you even more aprehensive thinking your neice might experience the same thing. Hugs to you.

 

[posts from hell]

heh... heh..... I see things that I shouldnt...

 

[mizerey]

It really does Jillio. I saw her at a birthday party the other day and she was struggling to hear my nephew's train set make noise. I felt sad for a moment and then I told her its no big deal that we can't hear it. She said like music? I cant hear it unless its really loud but I can feel it and it makes me happy! Such a smart little girl, she is! My niece already has poor self confidence so that is why I worry about her so much.

PFH dare I ask what you see that's wrong?

 

[jillio]

It really does Jillio. I saw her at a birthday party the other day and she was struggling to hear my nephew's train set make noise. I felt sad for a moment and then I told her its no big deal that we can't hear it. She said like music? I cant hear it unless its really loud but I can feel it and it makes me happy! Such a smart little girl, she is! My niece already has poor self confidence so that is why I worry about her so much.

PFH dare I ask what you see that's wrong?

Oh, there are many ways that she can still enjoy music. I would share more with you, but I am off to a session with a client. Will return later.

 

[MCB]

PFH-- like I braid my hair, no need to hide them, a lot of people wear ha's nowadays. You don't need to have a flat audiogram to be happy with them.

I told her things are much different now and the ha and fm are so much smaller. My niece's wild hair will hide them if she wants them hidden lol!

 

[mizerey]

My niece is very shy and doesn't like any extra attention on her when at school. She may want to hide her hearing aids. I don't hide mine at all. On any given day you can plainly see my purple ha on either ear. I can't use the soft ear molds and my audiologist said that the company they work with doesn't color the lucite they use. I wanted to have purple molds too.
Jillio, the gag reflex only happens when they stick the gauze or whatever that stuff is in to block the goop for the impressions from touching the ear drum. She uses a lighted stick to see how far she is sticking it in. She always hits that certain spot in my ear that makes me gag. My right ear has scarring on the canal itself for some unknown reason. They biopsy it when I was little but I never found out what it was.

 

[jillio]

My niece is very shy and doesn't like any extra attention on her when at school. She may want to hide her hearing aids. I don't hide mine at all. On any given day you can plainly see my purple ha on either ear. I can't use the soft ear molds and my audiologist said that the company they work with doesn't color the lucite they use. I wanted to have purple molds too.
Jillio, the gag reflex only happens when they stick the gauze or whatever that stuff is in to block the goop for the impressions from touching the ear drum. She uses a lighted stick to see how far she is sticking it in. She always hits that certain spot in my ear that makes me gag. My right ear has scarring on the canal itself for some unknown reason. They biopsy it when I was little but I never found out what it was.

Gotcha. I have a place in my left ear, that when touched, causes me to cough. Right ear, no problem. I discovered this when I had my son watch mommy get an ear exam so he would see that there was nothing to be afraid of.