Ear Infections After Tubes

ok heres another ? LOL! My 14 month old son has had ear infections from
day one of 9 months to now. AS SOON, and I mean the day he ends his
meds, he has a raging ear infection again and back on meds to continue
the circle. So 10 days ago he went in and got the tube surgery, 8 days
later he has TWO ear infections again and back on meds. Is the
"normal"? Does it happen alot? Does this mean the tubes wont help at
all? What could of caused the infection even after tubes and if tubes
wont solve the probelm whats the next step. His been on meds every wk
now since 9 months ( biaxin ) and it cant continue, his getting immune
to it now. TIA

Has he had a change of antibiotics? The reason I ask is my doctor told me
there are 3 main bugs that cause ear infections and 2 main antibiotics to
combat them. Sometimes it's a matter of changing if the one antibiotic
doesn't work. Also tubes open up the ear drum to allow the fluid to drain
but if you don't treat the underlying infection I don't think the tubes
themselves will fix the problem.

I would suggest going back to your doc and asking for a 14 day course of
another antibiotic.

FWIW My DD2 had an ear infection that wasn't cleared by Amoxcycelen (sp?)
but she was changed to Co-trimoxazole which although hasn't completely
cleared the infection did keep it at bay. The next step for us is tubes if
this latest infection hasn't cleared in 2 weeks. We have actually been told
to stop the antibiotics just to see if the infection worsens.

Take care.

--
Pip

My girls :
DD1 Jasmine - 5 weeks early - 21 March 02 -
"I'm a big girl cause I go to school kindy"

DD2 Abby - 8 weeks early - 3 Feb 05 -
Took her first steps on her 1st Birthday.

"Yes you can drive me insane just by talking to me!"


--
"Blue Eyes Blue" wrote in message
ups.com...
ok heres another ? LOL! My 14 month old son has had ear infections from
day one of 9 months to now. AS SOON, and I mean the day he ends his
meds, he has a raging ear infection again and back on meds to continue
the circle. So 10 days ago he went in and got the tube surgery, 8 days
later he has TWO ear infections again and back on meds. Is the
"normal"? Does it happen alot? Does this mean the tubes wont help at
all? What could of caused the infection even after tubes and if tubes
wont solve the probelm whats the next step. His been on meds every wk
now since 9 months ( biaxin ) and it cant continue, his getting immune
to it now. TIA

Blue Eyes Blue wrote:
ok heres another ? LOL! My 14 month old son has had ear infections from
day one of 9 months to now. AS SOON, and I mean the day he ends his
meds, he has a raging ear infection again and back on meds to continue
the circle. So 10 days ago he went in and got the tube surgery, 8 days
later he has TWO ear infections again and back on meds. Is the
"normal"? Does it happen alot? Does this mean the tubes wont help at
all? What could of caused the infection even after tubes and if tubes
wont solve the probelm whats the next step. His been on meds every wk
now since 9 months ( biaxin ) and it cant continue, his getting immune
to it now. TIA

If he has tubes in he should be on antibiotic ear drops, specifically,
Ciprodex. Usually systemic
abx (Biaxin, Keflex, Amox, Omnicef etc...) aren't necessary. The tube
allows direct access to the infection.

Yes, some children do get infections after tubes, they aren't 100%.

Regardless, if he is getting back-back infections with no break then it
is probably the same infection that is never being cleared up and
repeating the same antibiotic week after week, month after month
probably won't work and may make the situation worse.

If he hasn't been allergy (environmental and food) tested yet, I'd be
headed that direction.

"Blue Eyes Blue" wrote in message
ups.com...
ok heres another ? LOL! My 14 month old son has had ear infections from
day one of 9 months to now. AS SOON, and I mean the day he ends his
meds, he has a raging ear infection again and back on meds to continue
the circle. So 10 days ago he went in and got the tube surgery, 8 days
later he has TWO ear infections again and back on meds. Is the
"normal"? Does it happen alot? Does this mean the tubes wont help at
all? What could of caused the infection even after tubes and if tubes
wont solve the probelm whats the next step. His been on meds every wk
now since 9 months ( biaxin ) and it cant continue, his getting immune
to it now. TIA

hmm, I'm not aware of there being any risk of infections after the surgery,
unless it is related to the surgery itself. If it is just that the tubes
haven't worked, possibility one is that they have fallen out, but if they
haven't there are still other options, there are some different shaped tubes
available and eventually there is getting rid of adenoids, but most surgeons
wait until age 2 to do that because there is a lot of blood loss envolved.
My sister had hers done the week after she was 2, it did help, but she still
had more tubes later and as they were cautious with the removal, they
eventually regrew and she had them out again.

Anne

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
there are some different shaped tubes available and eventually there is
getting rid of adenoids, but most surgeons wait until age 2 to do that
because there is a lot of blood loss envolved.

Not necessairly Anne. It really is person dependent. DD1 didn't loose any
blood after the tonsils and adenoid surgery.

--
Sue (mom to three girls)

"Blue Eyes Blue" wrote in message
ups.com...
ok heres another ? LOL! My 14 month old son has had ear infections from
day one of 9 months to now. AS SOON, and I mean the day he ends his
meds, he has a raging ear infection again and back on meds to continue
the circle. So 10 days ago he went in and got the tube surgery, 8 days
later he has TWO ear infections again and back on meds. Is the
"normal"? Does it happen alot? Does this mean the tubes wont help at
all? What could of caused the infection even after tubes and if tubes
wont solve the probelm whats the next step. His been on meds every wk
now since 9 months ( biaxin ) and it cant continue, his getting immune
to it now. TIA

If he hasn't had the Prevnar vaccine, that's supposed to protect against a
wide variety of bacteria that cause ear infections. If he has had the
prevnar, I'd suspect that it's the adenoids that are enlarged and blocking
the eustacian tube enough to cause the re-infection after tubes. Here's
some information about Prevnar:

http://www.drgreene.com/21_712.html

Having adenoids out is NOTHING like having tonsils out. My son showed no
pain from it at all and was out playing later that afternoon. They're high
enough up that they don't get irritated by swallowing like tonsils do.

Leigh