More Ears Dears

Last hospital appointment of the year for the family goes to my son, Aden, who had his check up for his hearing.  You may remember me stating that I got a referral for his hearing as I concerned that the selective hearing was more than just childhood refusal to listen to parents. Doctor could not see any issue when looking in his ear and school had not mentioned it, so there was seemingly no issue, just me saying I am sure the TV is too loud and he cannot hear me properly.  On referral they confirmed that he had glue ear and his hearing was not at the level expected.

Cue 6 months of Otovent (Nasal Balloon) treatment and a follow up appointment halfway through the treatment, with significant improvement in the hearing test (though still below the level expected), which I was sure would be the case; TV volume a lot lower and true selective hearing.  

Well the last hospital appointment started with meeting the consultant, a look at his ears, a determination that he still had fluid behind the ear drums and a recommendation that he have a small operation to insert a grommet into each ear drum.

The off we went for his hearing test and then back to the consultant who reported with a surprise in his voice that Aden's hearing was now normal but that he did indeed still have fluid behind the ear.  How much is not quantifiable just a view of, fluid behind the ear drum = yes/no

Much more difficult to sell the operation at that point, but as the consultant put it, "we cannot say what the long term effect of fluid behind the ear drum is, even though his hearing is now normal"

The next 4 months will be interesting to see what will happen.  He will have another hearing test and check for fluid behind the ear before the operation but he is now on the waiting list and we are continuing the Otovent treatment.

Don't be afraid to trust your parental instincts

Around the start of this year I started feeling concerned about my sons (7yr) hearing. The usual "huh", "what", high volume of tv and ignoring us when we spoke.

I took him to the doctor and got him checked. No visible problem could be seen. and he responded to doctor without hesitation. The doctor also mentioned that it is more usual for hearing problems to be picked up by teachers at school.

After a few weeks I was still concerned, even though I was being told by friends/family it was probably just selective hearing.

I took him back to doctor and requested a referral.
The referral had a hearing test, which showed that he has a hearing loss from fluid behind the ear.

That is now being treated. The tv volume has been reduced, the selective hearing is still there but at leat I know he can hear me. Most important of all is the fact that when out he is more confident as he is hearing what is being said or questions asked of him.