Gromits

My son had them fitted when he was in infants school. They worked for him, and did not affect his hearing as he is now a head of music.

Forgot to say, we thought he was deaf because he did not respond to anything we said to him from behind. However, he learned to lip read quite early, so the GP did not think anything was wrong.
When he started school his teacher asked if he was deaf. So we took him to the GP with a letter from her.

So, durhamjen, the gromits actually improved his hearing? Did they work quickly and how long did he have to wear them for?

You wear them until they work their way out, only for six months or so, if I remember. I would ask him if it hurt, but he never remembers anything about primary school years. Yes, it improved his hearing a lot.
He had fluid in his ears because of too much penicillin in his childhood, a well known side effect. Fortunately they do not do that any more.

Thanks for that, durhamjen. I've been ignoring my slight (?) loss of hearing but DH is constantly complaining about how loud the TV or radio is on and I do find my self saying 'Sorry? I missed that....' rather more frequently than I used to. It's just been brought home to me because apparently DD had a quiet word with DH about it over Christmas. OMG - they are talking about me as if I were not here now!

Grommets are inserted into the eardrum in a very quick operation. They have a tine hole in them, if you can imagine a very tiny cotton reel. The purpose of grommets is to allow any fluid behind the eardrum to simply drain away. Fluid in the ear can be caused by coughs and colds and a build up of fluid behind the eardrum will affect your hearing.
You should notice an improvement quite quickly. This operation is often done on children who may have problems hearing in school. The grommets will drop out of their own acvord.

Thank you, mrsmopp. Is it a general anaesthetic job or just a local?

Thank you, mrsmopp. Is it a general anaesthetic job or just a local? Isn't it unusual for adults to have this done?

Thank you, mrsmopp. Is it a general anaesthetic job or just a local? Isn't it unusual for adults to have this done?

(PS have noted my spelling error. I must have been thinking of Wallace and Gromit!)

Thank you, mrsmopp. Is it a general anaesthetic job or just a local? Isn't it unusual for adults to have this done?

(PS have noted my spelling error. I must have been thinking of Wallace and Gromit!)

Oh, dear. A technical blip............sorry about that.

Hi, it was always a general but progress has been made so possibly it may be a local. The op is more common in children because their Eustacheon tubes are not fully developed for fluid to drain away, plus they get more colds and sniffles as they havent built up natural resistance yet. When this happens they begin to struggle in school if they cant hear properly.
It wont be painful as it is a minor op, done as a daycase, but do get it done if your doc says you need it. Deafness is not pleasant, and you dont need to suffer it.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Thank you, mrsmopp. You are very knowledgeable. I will certainly let you know how I get on when I pluck up the courage to see the GP. Happy new year!

Personally I would have them done without a moments hesitation.
My sons had to have them done several times, and all times were a success. One son in particular would have really struggled through early school without having them.
and we were tired of having to shout to be able to get him to hear us!

Just remembered that the only drawback was swimming.
I cant remember in quite which way now. I think they had to have something else plastic put on their ears as well when they swam?
I will try to recall and perhaps google in the morning.

Well, if you have grommets in your ears, which have holes in them, then the sea water or pool water could get into your inner ears and cause a nasty infection. For this reason it would be best to wear ear plugs to prevent this.
Once the grommets are out and the ear drum healed up you can swim to your hearts content.
Nottooold, please dont delay, get your ears seen to. No point in putting it off! Really, there's nothing to worry about. Honestly!!