Adult Glue Ear

Hi,

there aren't many adult posts, I thought I'd share my experience:

As I write I'm experiencing a 'relapse' and yes there's a bit of a high pitched hiss.....look on the bright side at least I know the blood is still circulating!

It's not uncommon to 'hear' noises from the circulation in and around the ear along with pops etc as the fluid moves.

I'm 50 have had a grommit in my left ear for a number of years and periodically get my symptoms back. DON'T PANIC (ok a bit dramatic) if you're pinning your hopes on the ENT surgeon and a grommit. I'm told my eustation tube is damaged and blocked after a bought of flu so drainage is near impossible for me.

Things you might want to know:

drainage ops are not uncomfortable nor are grommet ops.

You'll have a number of injections inside your ear .....sounds scary... don't be it's fine and pretty painless similar to an injection the dentist might give.

After that the surgeon gets on with it, 'vacuumes' excess liquid from behind the ear drum (having first made an incision) then inserts the grommit,

Aftercare: the most tedious side of being a grommet wearer is the woolly advise about water...as a proud owner of a hole in your ear drum there's now a route for water to enter your inner ear. Water can carry bacteria.

I was advised to plug my ear when washing hair etc and then there's swimming do you or don't you? ask your medical team, I was told to avoid getting my head underwater which is quite a challenge in a swimming baths!

Hope my comments will prove of help.javascript:emoticon('')

Hi

You're not the only one who suffers. I'm in my mid 30s and woke up one morning with no hearing in my right ear. I haven't had a cold, am fairly healthy, don't work in a noisy environment, haven't had anything explode near me and don't swim. I just can't hear !

I've got the continual hissing noise - which doesn't alter at all, night or day. I sometimes get a sloshing noise in my left ear which goes away if I rub it.

The hearing seems to be getting worse as time goes on.

I'm due to see ENT in a few weeks. I'm hoping its nothing more than adult glue ear as the other options look a bit more worrying !

I'm hoping I might be able to get some advice on what to do as I've had gluey ear since being a child and am now in my late 30s. I had grommits put in as a child which always seemed to do the trick but it was never resolved. Since having my two children was then also diagnosed with having ME and my hearing has got worse. No one has ever since been able to give me any help as such and am now worried that the damage has been done. I am desperate to find out whether there is anything that can be done now as I have had it so long or whether it's too late to rectify. I feel let down by the NHS and may not actually have ME at all. I am wondereing if all my systoms may all be an effect from the guey ears. Can anybody help?!!

I have had ear infections on and off since I was a child (am now 42) and now have been told I am slightly deaf because of it. I was finallly referred to ENT consultant in August this year and have been on a nasal spray, been back to gp today with another ear infection and he is writing to the consultant to bring my appointment forward to hopefully get gromits, This gp is the first ever not to just fob me off with antibiotics and to try and sort the problem.

I am 24 years old and have been suffering with glue ear since around the age of 16 after several bouts of cold/flu like viruses one winter.

Fortunately I have never suffered with the hissing noises but I am almost completely deaf in my left ear. I was treated with a grommit when I was about 18, the operation was 'successful' and I left hospital the same day with complete restoration of my hearing which was great.

The warning I would give however is that I was informed grommits are around 25% successful in permanently getting rid of glue ear. After around 9 months the grommit falls out naturally, within 3 months of this the glue ear had returned as before. The warning hear being do not assume grommits will fix you for life because clearly they do not always work and although the operation is completely painless general anaesthetic is something I would rather avoid unless certain it is worthwhile.

Frustrated that the grommit didn't work I have just put up with it since and have just found/purchased Otovent to see if that will work - my feelings are it may not be powerful enough as a treatment for long term adult glue ear (seems to be advertised for children mostly) but fingers crossed.