What is the treatment for ear perforation?

Question

Hello doctor,

My daughter is 11 years old with a tube in her left ear and a perforation in her right ear. The doctor does not want to fix the perforated ear until the tube falls out of the left ear and is healthy for a year. In the meantime, it is suggested that a hearing aid be used until the perforation surgery. Does this sound like a normal course of action and will ear perforation surgery improve the situation?

Please help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

We shall do the ear perforation surgery only when we are sure that eustachian tube ventilation to the middle ear is normal and not hampered by any reason. The functioning of the eustachian tube is indicated by the successful falling off of the ventilation tube. The falling off indicates that middle ear pressures are getting maintained by the natural eustachian tube. Usually, kids of this age have some remnant adenoids that cause tubal obstruction causing recurrent ear issues. Usually, the adenoids regress by this age. If they do not, then the kid will have symptoms of mouth breathing, snoring, teeth crowding and protrusion, and other signs of adenoid facies. If these issues are there then before we attempt ear surgery we will have to remove the adenoids because the source of ear infection is adenoids. Otherwise, we can wait for a while until the natural eustachian tubes function well and then we can repair the eardrum. We would need to do an adenoid x-ray to check for the adenoid size. Meanwhile, the hearing aid is the best option because you cannot risk your child not hearing properly at this age as it would adversely affect his speech and development.

For any queries on this matter please revert to me.

I hope this helps.

Thank you.