Need help/Tips: Ear plugs and ear tubes

[dlp]

We are finally 14 days post ear tubes for one twin dd who is 2 1/2. She can finally have her hair washed - yippeee! But last night and tonight had an awful time getting them in (she was P-O'd) and they popped out once right during a major spalsh fest with her twin sister.

They are the silicon ones the ENT gave us. So, how do I get them to stay?? I tried to make them a little smaller but I think I pinched too much off.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated from those who have BTDT

Di
C and E
12/01/06

[brandy_l]

We've had 5 sets on tubes in my house......

and from my experience you will find some doctors that say you need plugs for everything and some that say you don't need them for anything other than lakes and dirty water swimming. Locally I've noticed it depends on the age of the ENT. It appears the older the ENT the more likely they will require plugs.

My own experience.... We have never wore plugs except for lake swimming. I have never put plugs in for washing hair or anything else. Sure my kids have struggled some with infections but they have definitely NOT related to having water in their ears. But then again, we never waited to wash hair either. We were told to only keep water from entering the ear canal the day of surgery only with no restrictions after that.

Soooooooo I guess I'm no help because the ENT we used didn't believe in the need for plugs for most activities. Good luck.

Brandy

[Guest]

Give the ENT a call...you may be able to get a different

type of plug. Ours were flexible but not so flexible that you could "pinch" part off. However, after maybe one time, ds just didn't want them in his ears. I'd fight to get them in and then they'd pop out. Our ENT said the splashes with bath water wouldn't pose a terrible problem, but dunking would. He then gave me drops to put in if water did get in the ears. So, for most of the 2+ years we never used the plugs and avoided deep pools. We delayed swim lessons and stuck to baby pools for the most part. For the splashing in the bath and pools I used the drops if I felt too much water got in the ears. I was super careful when washing his hair and just carefully used a cup to rinse. Fortunately, ds didn't mind getting his hair washed so there was never a struggle.

If you don't want to avoid deep pools, they make a headband that can be worn over the ears too. It will work to keep the plugs in but also has some water repellent properties without the plugs. You can buy the headband in swim stores but we got ours at the ENT (at the same price) who custom fitted ds dor us.

Talk to your ENT. You won't be the first Mom to call with this concern.

[Doe]

Hmmm... ours did not prescribe tubes. She just said no lake swimming (too cold anyway) and don't float in the dirty bathwater. She said no problem for showers or swimming in a pool, though. Interesting how different they are. FWIW, our doc is fairly young and has a 5 year old herself who has tubes.

[zmaditto]

We used the tubes shaped like layered Christmas trees that you can get at CVS and Walgreens. They come on a string so you can hang them over a rack to dry right by the tub. We also didn't worry too much about a little water getting in ds' ears during hairwashing. We usually didn't let him play with his head under water unless he was wearing plugs though. He swam in pools a few times without plugs and we never had an issue with infections.

HTH

[RickiD]

3 kids, 4 sets of tubes, 3 docs. 2 said plugs, 1 said no plugs...m

I think it's ridiculous that some ENT's say no plugs except if the water is lakes/oceans/dirty and some say plugs at all times. Obviously water doesn't hurt except when organisms in it or they'd all say plugs at all times.

I used OTC plugs for dd#1 with her 2 sets of tubes. Fortunately, the tubes didn't last that long and she had her adenoids out with the 2nd set of tubes. Solved all the problems so that was that. With dd#2 no need for plugs thank heavens b/c her tubes lasted in her ears forever. She got them in at age 2 1/2 and we finally had to have 1 surgically removed at age 10. It was actually causing her to have ear infections, if you can believe it.

With ds we were told to use plugs and the ENT's office molded custom plugs in-house for very cheap. Best thing, really. They don't fall out & he didn't even notice them in b/c they fit the whole ear, not sticking into the hole much.
I'd ask about custom plugs. Your ENT can probably direct you to where you can get them if they don't do them in-house.
Good luck!

[dlp]

Thanks everyone - interesting on the different "rules" Our ENT is on the older side, and the Chief of Otolaryngology at CHLA... My dd had her adeniods out too at the same time. I think I will call and ask about custom ones, because we do hope to take swim lessons this summer and I think it might be prudent to use them then.

[jvirginia]

Our ENT said absolutley no need to use ear plugs, even for swimming - and our son had both tubes and adenoid removal. Here is a good article talking about studies that show that ear plugs don't make an appreciable difference:

http://www.drgreene.com/21_497.html

[dlp]

Interesting articel, but it does infer that getting soapy water in the ears may be a bit of a problem. We we also given the drops to give her if there was any drainage.

Hmmm, would be great if this wasn't a battle we have to have!

[Hollie_B]

We are in the no plug camp. Thankfully our ENT is of the new mindset that no tubes are necessary (except in the lake).

We live in the south and are always in the pool. Only Laney has had one ear infection since tubes. OTOH, our friends have 3 boys with tubes and must wear plugs (per ENT) they still get ear infections on a regular basis.

Good luck. I think the custom ones may be your best bet.

[LisaM817]

We have used 3 different ENTs with my kids. The two younger ones said no plugs if swimming in chlorinated water. The older doc said no water in ears. We have had no problems with getting water in ears, but one of my kids swims with the Ear Band It because she doesn't like getting water in her ears.

[jkhallow]

We use

We use vented Doc's Pro plugs from a scuba shop. We have since my son got his tubes at 1 year old. (he's 6 now) They have xs up to adult size. He currently has a hole in his ear drum b/c his tube hole reopened and his Dr wants plugs in... he's kind of middle aged not old not young, but with no tube in there to block the way even a little bit, that might be why.
Karen