Grommits

Hi there

Oli has yet another ear infection, and I suspect that my GP is going to suggest that we get grommits for him. I just wanted to hear from anyone that has had grommits put in their little one this early.

I am very nervous about putting him through that sort of surgery, and I want to understand the impact post surgery on things like his swimming (which he LOVES!).

Thanks in advance

 

 

Hey SimSam, Emma Rose had grommets inserted when she was about 18 months old. I wrote an article about it here.

In terms of her post-surgery life -- she's three now, and since the grommets were inserted, she has had only one ear infection. It has definitely affected her swimming -- in a POSITIVE way, as she had to miss three terms of swimming due to ear infections before the grommets were inserted! Our specialist told us she can definitely still swim, just not to go below 1m. Since at this age they're still staying pretty close to the surface, that has not been a problem at all.

They have made a huge difference to her life. Her speech has improved amazingly, and it was incredible how quickly we saw improvement after her surgery. I am very much a fan of grommets.

Best of luck -- I know it's a hard decision.

Been there done that 3 times now with my boys. I think I have written Andrew's stories in the ears, ears, ears thread in the special needs.

Our dramas are all in the Ears, Ears, Ears thread of the Special Needs board, but in a nutshell Mercedes has had three sets (at 9 mths, 23 mths and 25 mths) and Sienna has had two sets (at 11 mths and 23 mths). With the 23-mth ones they also had their adenoids out.

I can't even begin to imagine what their life would have been like without the grommets. Even with them in they have still had occasional infections but the pain is almost nil because the perforation/grommet enables the fluid to get out instead of building up and causing pressure. Mercedes had two ruptured drums before she had the grommets, it must have been so painful for her

Sienna's hearing was severely affected, her speech therapist thinks she was probably hearing impaired for most of the first 2 years of her life, and it affected her speech but since the second grommet surgery her speech has come along in leaps and bounds.

They haven't been able to swim for months at a time, but that's mostly coz they have had recurrent infections. When their ears are dry and well they are allowed to swim.

If you've got health insurance, I highly recommend Colin Brown at Gillies, he is a legend. My girls love going to see him. He also practises out of Starship so if you don't have insurance you'd possibly even see him there.

My sister had grommets put in when she was just a tot after terrible terrible ear ordeals and ending up completely deaf and not only did it hugely improve her hearing, her verbal skills and confidence but shes 22 now and other than an occasional earache when shes had a cold or whatever has no problems with her ears.