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Ear tubes are usually something made of plastic that create an equalization of pressure between
the outer ear and the middle ear. That’s what our station tube does. It replaces the
air that has leaked out into the surrounding tissue and then equalizes that pressure. If
it doesn’t equalize, then the relative negative pressure that is produced tends to bring in
fluid from the surrounding tissue and leads to infection. This is a very common problem,
especially in children 1 through age 5.
We make a hole in the ear drum and that hole will usually heal in about 3-5 days. That’s
not long enough for the middle ear and the nose to correct the problem so these tubes
are placed in the ear drum to keep the hole open.
If the child has had some recurring infections, we do have criteria that stipulate three infections
in three months. That’s a lot of time being spent sick and on antibiotics. If the child
is not sleeping well at night, not walking, not talking properly, or you’re not getting
communication established.
First of all, you would like to remove the source of his infection and the need for his
antibiotics. If he’s having speech delays or speech articulation problems, then this
should reestablish his hearing as accurate as possible and will then give you a leg up
on treating those kinds of problems. Sometimes the changes after tubes are miraculous and
not only does the personality change, but all the other indications have changed for
the better as well.