What are the consequences of frequent middle ear infections?

Many young children suffer from recurring middle ear infections. Any middle ear infection means that the child will have poor hearing for at least two weeks. During this time it is not possible to learn new words. Repeated middle ear infections can cause the child to stall in its language development and speak slurred. Parents often notice this too late, as children quickly learn to read lips. If there are six or more middle ear infections per year, delayed language development must be assumed, which is still noticeable at school age. It is therefore important that in such cases and with the slightest suspicion of hearing loss, the hearing ability is examined. Chronic middle ear infections can develop from frequent middle ear infections. This leads to destruction of the eardrum and middle ear. In these cases, complex operations are necessary to restore hearing.

Why does my child often get middle ear infections?

In most cases, an enlargement of the tonsils is the trigger for the middle ear infection. An allergy, e.g. B. against house dust or anatomical peculiarities, can lead to recurring middle ear infections.

What treatments are eligible?

In many cases, we can treat the middle ear infection with herbal medicines and decongestant nose drops. If this treatment is unsuccessful, surgery may be necessary. We can only determine which treatment makes sense for your child after a thorough examination.

Which operations are eligible?

All operations in children are performed under general anesthesia and, as a rule, on an outpatient basis. The smallest intervention is an incision in the eardrum. This heals within a few days and allows secretions to drain from the middle ear into the throat. We choose this method if we have removed a very large tonsil in the same procedure and the secretion is thin. However, if viscous secretion escapes after the cut in the eardrum, a tube must be inserted. The ventilation of the middle ear is thus ensured for 3-12 months. The tubes are then expelled and fall out of the ear by themselves. Only if the problems recur afterwards do we use tubes that cannot fall out on their own.

We strive to only operate on each eardrum twice so that we do not cause any consequential damage. We only use the laser to cut the eardrum in exceptional cases. In contrast to the sharp instrument, the laser vaporizes the area of the cut. This increases the risk of chronic otitis media.

What is the aftercare like?

We regularly check children with tubes in their eardrums to ensure that the middle ear is well ventilated. Even after the tube has fallen out, we check the hearing ability in order to identify problems that arise again at an early stage.