Conference moira::parenting

    I have had a long miserable life with ear infections/problems. I'm now
    37 and it has taken its toll - take your child to a specialist and have
    all your concerns answered. I vote for not fooling around.

    For myself, a simple squeeze bulb with warm water is the method that
    keeps my ears clear of wax. Wax can be related to diet/allergies.

    Its not fun.

    FWIW,
    JR

Also, consider the fact that loudspeakers can be
impossible to understand.  She just may not understand
what is being said over the speaker.

Pat

    My 3-year old has problems with wax buildup in his left ear. His right
    ear is fine. At his 3-year old checkup, the pedi removed a *huge* chunk
    of wax. He told me that his hearing must have been affected. He also
    looked in the records and saw that he'd had to do the same thing at
    Andy's 2-year checkup. So, when I brought his brother Daniel for a
    checkup roughly 3 months later, I brought Andy along. I asked the pedi
    if I should schedule an appt for Andy the next time Daniel had a
    checkup (3 month later, 6 months after the last cleaning). He went
    ahead and tried to clean Andy's ear and the buildup was too hard and
    Andy was too unwilling. The pedi suggested that I get one of the earwax
    removal kits and use it the day before I bring the boys back and he
    would try again. It may be the combination - I won't know until
    November.
    

    Your questions should be answered by a specialist - don't hesitate.
    
    My brother had a huge wax problem as a young child. Mom had to use
    the warm water and bulb method to clean his ears almost every two 
    weeks. It sure beats using instruments at the doctors. If you get
    her to understand what's being done, she may squirm a little less.
    (but that's no guarantee, certainly!).
    
    She may have problems with certain ranges of sounds, but I also
    agree in that school intercom systems are not known for their 
    clarity of sound. It may be a red herring. Have the full range
    tested at a specialist!
    
    Monica

Please also see notes 58.* "Hearing Loss in Children."  There is a wealth of
information there about hearing loss in general.

      Carol duBois, PARENTING co-moderator

    I agree with all the folks who have stated that you should go to a specialist. 
    My Jeff had many ear infections starting when he was four months old. 
    My Pedi mentioned a few times that he probably should have tubes, but I
    fought against it.  Especially when he was younger, because I was afraid
    of the anesthetic.  However, when he was five he had an infection again
    in one ear and she put him on sulfa for three weeks.  Well while he was
    on the sulfa, he got an infection in the other ear.  This time she said
    you *WILL* get tubes or he will lose his hearing.
    
    When we took him to the specialist, we found out that he could hear
    almost nothing.   Talk about mom-guilt!  We got the tubes put in at the
    end of June, and anyone who lives in or who has visited Colorado in the
    summer knows about our thunderstorms.  Well, the day after Jeff's
    surgery, we had a thunderstorm.  When the first thunder rattled and
    shook our house, Jeff came running round-eyed into the living room and
    said "Mom!  What was that?"  His ears were so bad before the surgery
    that he couldn't even hear thunder.
    
    I know your question was more about ear wax, with which Jeff also has a
    big problem.  Every time the pedi needs to look in his ears, she has to
    clean big wads of it out.  I'm not sure how badly that would impair
    hearing.  According to Jeff, it doesn't make a big difference.
    
    I am more concerned about the ear infections that you mentioned.  I
    wish you and your child well.
    
    FWIW,
    
    Jonnie
    

Ear wax can certainly temporariuly impair a person's hearing, particularly 
in the high frequencies. Whether it can affect the person's sound or speech
perception or audition depends on how bad the blockage is and how much speech
was present before the blockage. What's worse, it's a harbor for infection.
Outer ear infections, or swimmer's ear, can be just as painful as middle ear
infections.

Chris

    My daughter's pediatrician noticed a lot of wax in one of her ears at
    one of her checkups.  She gave me a prescription for eardrops and asked
    that I use them once a week until furthur notice.  I don't remember
    what the prescription is, but I could check if you would like to know.
    
    Meaghan