You may be able to treat your child’s glue ear at home. Glue ear exercises you can have your child try to temporarily clear their middle ear include: Valsalva maneuver Otovents are available on prescription. Ask your GP or ENT consultant about whether they think it will be suitable for your child. Chronic glue ear is sometimes treated with a type of surgery called an adenoidectomy. During this procedure, your doctor removes your adenoid glands from behind your nose that may be contributing to fluid buildup in your ear. In autoinflation, your child blows up a balloon using a nose-piece attached to one nostril. They close their mouth and the other nostril. This can help to open their eustachian tube and let air into the middle ear so that fluid can drain out. One study (n=60) reported a significant reduction in the need for ventilation tube (grommets) surgery in the children having both Otovent and nasal saline irrigation compared with children having irrigation alone.

Several auto-inflation devices to treat glue ear in children were developed including the nasal balloon, first introduced in 1968 by Professor Hunt-Williams. All the devices focused on autoinflation by nose, which is efficient in adults but difficult to perform in children. So there is no consensus about the effectiveness of auto-inflation, and grommet surgery remains the most common surgery performed on children. Researchers from the United Kingdom undertook an open randomised controlled trial to determine if autoinflation with a nasal balloon could be used on a large scale to benefit children in primary care settings. The child blows through each nostril into a nozzle to inflate the balloon, which then sends air into the middle ear helping to return the pressure to normal which clears the fluid build-up. The effectiveness of this procedure has been shown only in small trials in hospitals. As I’ve already mentioned, glue ear usually gets better on its own in three months. Glue ear that lasts three months or less shouldn’t affect your child’s speech development.

Watch and Wait / Active Observation

If your child is experiencing any pain along with the buildup of fluid, they may have an ear infection. In this case, their provider may prescribe an antibiotic to clear it up. Myringotomy Initially, Otovent should be used at least three times a day (morning, noon, evening). After one week, it should be used at least twice a day (morning and evening). The normal duration of treatment is 2 – 3 weeks, after which a physician should decide whether or not to continue with the treatment. Each medical balloon may be inflated a maximum of 20 times. When should Otovent not be used? The new generation of devices have a face mask that is used to cover the nose and mouth of a child. The mask is connected to a tube with a balloon on one end and a one-way valve on the other that allows air to enter. Approximately 200,000 children per year in the UK either attend GPs or are seen in the community per year with OME. There is a four in five chance a child will get an ear effusion in the first 10 years of their life.

Some parents reported that their children had problems with the first inflation. Pre-stretching really helps with releasing some of the tension and to keep trying. If your child is diagnosed with glue ear and their hearing is affected, the audiology or ENT department at the hospital will monitor the glue ear over a period of three months. This is known as ‘watchful waiting’. At the end of this period, your child’s hearing will be retested to see if the glue ear has resolved. The use of a simple nasal balloon can help restore hearing in children aged 4 to 11 with glue ear.After 3 months, this non-surgical treatment restored normal hearing to 49.6% of children with glue ear compared with 38.3% receiving usual care. Children inflate the balloon by blowing it up with their noses rather than their mouths. The activity which is done three times a day can be taught by nurses in a GP surgery. Few non-surgical treatments exist for children with glue ear. Some, such as antibiotics, are used despite evidence they don’t work. It is hoped using the nasal balloon may help reduce this unnecessary use of antibiotics and reduce the number of children requiring surgery, the last choice for symptoms persisting past three months. A grommet is a small tube that's placed in your child's ear during surgery. It drains fluid away and keeps the eardrum open.Symptoms for glue ear in both adults and children are similar. But adult glue ear sufferers may also feel pressure deep in their ears and tiredness from overall discomfort.

In the UK, xylitol can be found in small amounts in some types of chewing gum, children's vitamins and toothpaste. Other xylitol products currently available in the United States include granules, nasal sprays and sweets. A nasal spray containing xylitol has been developed and is available from health food and vitamins and supplements suppliers and online. You should take your child to see your GP who will examine your child’s ears and see if they have glue ear. Your GP may monitor your child to see if the glue ear resolves by itself. If it doesn’t, your GP will refer your child to the audiology or ear, nose and throat (ENT) department at your local hospital for a hearing test.

Do you need surgery for Eustachian tube dysfunction?

To determine the severity of your condition, the doctor will examine your ear using a magnified scope with an attached light. This will also help them determine the exact spot of the fluid build-up.