Grommets???

Hi Everyone

I am wanting to get some info on grommets, we saw an ENT specialist on Friday after our son has had plenty of reoccuring ear infections. We were going to wait and see about whether to do it as we are both are concerned about our son whoi is 2 having a General Anasethetic (Sp?) but at the same time don't want him to have more pain with infections.
Well he has not got another infection he was up all night in pain and was miserable so off to the doctor we went today! we kind of feel our mind has been made up for us, but want as much information as possible, such as did the help, how did your child recover after they were in. All stories good and bad are welcome, we really want as much info as possible.

Thanks in advance

my 16 month old had them insertd a month ago, so glad we did! she actually sleeps now!

thanks Olive, did she wake up grom the GA ok? was she in much pain? did she stay overnight or was she allowed to come home? sorry for all the ?s im a bit stressed can u tell? lol

My DS had his first set at 11months second set at around 2. its only day surgery, he woke up a bit tired and grumpy but no pain :) Its very scary for us when they go under but they are tough little buggers. I was able to go right into the theatre with DS so I was there when he went to sleep and there when he woke up.

she woke grumpy but ok she had panadol before, day surgery, we were there at 7.30 and left around 10am, i couldnt go into theatre and it was probably better that way

Hi Kimmy

My DS2 has had grommets twice. Both times successful and woke up fine from the GA. A little grumpy, mainly because he was hungry :) I was allowed in while they gave him the GA and then escorted out to wait for him to come around. They called me back down when he was awake, whe I got there he was being entertained by the after surgical nurses with them blowing bubbles.
We got to the Hospital at 7am and as he was youngest that day he was first up at 8am. We were home by lunch time given some drops for his ears. We only needed to use a dose of panadol and that was it.
It was a huge improvement and we were able to sail the the winter with no problems.
He had to have them done the 2nd time with his adenoids removed as well...again no problems and he woke up from this GA in better form than the first one...he got an icepole ;) The reason he had them the 2nd time as the first ones came out(as they are supposed to) and when we hit the next winter we were hit again with recurring infections, the grommetts again did an excellent job also being helped with having adenoid removed.

thanks for your replies ladies i really appreciate it! i just feel like the more info i have the better i'll cope! has anyone heard of them not helping?

MY eldest DD is having her grommets done on Friday. I'll let you know how they go. I've looked after plenty of other little ones who have had them though, and they all recover pretty well afterwards. It's only a light anaesthetic.

My eldest DD had tonsils and adenoids out and grommits in a week before her 2nd birthday. With the GA she didn't recover her oxygen levels very quickly but they just left oxygen near her face and they eventually came good (about 8 hours). The nurses didn't seem overly worried though, just her mother! We were in overnight but I believe for just grommits it is only day surgery. In the 1 1/2 years since it was done we have only had 2 ear infections. Before that she had them at least once a month. This started at 3 months of age. Well worth it in my opinion.

Good Luck, its scary even if you know it is the best thing to do!

Hi there - my DD's story is a little different. She kept getting unwell over a period of 6 weeks when she was about 12months old and had numerous trips to GP only to be told time and time again that it was a virus. On day of final GP visit I noticed that she was red behind her L ear on the bone - pointed it out to GP who said to keep eye on it but nothing to worry about at that time. Well she ended up in hospital that night and was diagnosed with Mastoiditis (the ear infection had gone from her middle ear into the bone behind the ear) was put on IV antibiotics and was in emergency surgery the next morning to drain all the pus out of her ear and insert a grommet (they only did the one ear as it was an emergency). Turns out she more than likely had a middle ear infection for most of the 6 weeks of illnesses that our EX-GP did not pick up on. She was in hospital for 4 nights as she had to remain on IV antibiotics. She was really quite groggy for the 24 hours after the surgery, but bear in mind that hers was not the normal sort of surgery. However, she obviously felt so much better after the surgery and after being febrile on and off for weeks her temperature suddenly returned to normal immediately after the surgery. She was sent home on oral AB's and also ear drops. The ear drops can be a little disconcerting and feel strange for the littlies - they upset her a bit when they were put in.

I have to say that it was the best thing that we have had done. She has had no more infections in that ear. She has had one more ear infection in her R ear - so wish that they had done that ear as well!

When it is day surgery I believe it is a very straightforward operation - the grommets really do make a difference in those kids with repeat ear infections. I was really worried about the General also, but in our instance she was so sick that the risks of her having problems were so much higher than normal, but we were also in the situation where we had no choice as she HAD to have the surgery in order to recover.

Good luck with your decision.

Janie xxx

my ds had gromets last december, he was 2, he had reoccuring ear infections over is first 2 years. no probs with th surgery, they cut smoe addanoids out too and he has improved. Gromets have recently fallen out by themselves and ears are looking good.
he still has some sinus issues, so we are left with deciding if anymore is to be done to his addanoids.
I wasn't too concerned about him having the op because my hubby had them 3 times, his brother twice and his sitster once, they all survived back in the 80's a lot of advances have been made in the last 30 years

thanks so much for all your replies and stories, I am feeling much better about it now and am glad we have booked the surgery, it is taking him a long time to get over this curren infection, we were back at doctor yesterday and his right ear is still very red so we have drops for that ear, he HATES them but i spose its good practice for after the op.

Has anyone heard or been told not to give nurofen after the surgery? We don't use it much anyway but i had heard not to use it, anyone else heard this?

My boytwin had grommets inserted and another unrelated operation at the same time, so his recovery was longer and as he got a post op infection at the other surgical incision he became quite ill. We were able to treat his fever with nurofen and paracetamol. This was straight after the operation and prescribed by the hospital which was a specialist children's hospital, so I am happy that the nurofen was safe.

Once he recovered from his infection he was like a different child. He learned to walk within a couple of days (aged 15 months) and started making efforts to talk (previous to the op he had hearing aids). Needless to say I am over the moon we had the grommets put in. His hearing before the op was moderately to severely deaf, and afterwards he had 100% perfect hearing, so you may be surprised by how much clearer his speech becomes. My boytwin also became scared of the vacuum cleaner and we had to keep the telly and music down low for ages as loud noises freaked him out.

We were advised to use Pain Stop after we got home if needed. I recall the ENT saying something about nurofen?? Just can't remember?

Definitely do not give nurofen if they have had tonsils or adenoids out at the same time. It's okay if they've just had grommets though.