If you had a child in the past who has suffered from chronic ear infections, he may have been treated with a round of antibiotics (or several rounds of several different kinds), and perhaps even, ear tubes. I have a five year old who suffered from chronic ear infections and eventually we stopped all antibiotic treatment and we refused the ear tube procedure. At the time (remember this is less than 5 years ago), we were ‘rebels’. Now it seems that our concerns were well founded.
Recently, the pediatricians have changed their response to ear infections from “treat it with antibiotics”, to “wait and see”. If you’ve had a child who suffers chronic ear infections you understand what I mean when I say that this makes so much more sense. Treating a ear infection homeopathically works as well (although not as quickly) as antibiotics but without the side effect of developing another infection that will require more severe antibiotics and eventually developing a certain immunity to them altogether.
Now it seems that a new study is showing that there is little benefit in terms of learning, to putting tubes in ears for children who suffer chronic ear infections. Inserting ear tubes has been a common procedure for children who have several ear infections a year. Ear tubes allow the liquid that builds up inside the ear to drain more effectively. It is thought that inserting ear tubes allows the child to hear better and thus reduces developmental and speech delays. (It also reduces the amount of infections a child has.)
However, in a long range study done by the University of Pittsburgh, there seems to be little benefit. Children are apparently resilient enough to overcome the difficulties they may have in terms of speech, and language without the ear tubes.
Our own son suffered from chronic ear infections for about a year. He was classified as speech delayed as he wasn’t talking yet. . .even at age 3! As I mentioned earlier, we chose to stop antibiotic treatment after 5 rounds and we also chose against the implants. While he was classified as speech delayed for a short time, I can assure you our choices did nothing to impede his academic abilities. I know we are glad we chose the route we did.
Only you can decide what is best for your child. Researchers do note that while doctors should not offer ear tubes for the benefit of language acquisition, they can consider inserting ear tubes to reduce the amount of suffering a child has with chronic ear infections. Did your child suffer with chronic ear infections? What did you do?
Related Articles:
Finally! Some Common Sense on the Use of Antibiotics
Ear Infections: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly