My experience of Glue ear – a guest post

This post is an anonymous guest post

Well I suppose for me it all started 10 years ago well thats when I first noticed a problem with my hearing. I used to sit at the back of class rooms during school lessons mainly due to bullying. This is when I noticed I couldnt hear well at all, if a teacher asked me a question 9 times out of 10 I had to ask for it to be repeated as I hadnt heard what they had asked me, and if the class as a whole was asked I left it for my class mates to answer as I hadnt heard what was said.

Then when reports were handed out many teachers were putting down that I was lazy or that I didnt pay attention in my classes. My mum was not impressed she thought i was doing it on purpose little did she know it was because I couldnt hear. When I had a bad cold one week my hearing went completly but I wasnt allowed time off school. I tried to tell teachers I was ill and was struggling to hear anything, yet I was just making excuses to them.

Two months later I was really ill again with another cold, tonsilitus, sinusitis and tinitus. This time my mum took me to the doctors, I as prescribed anti-biotics and a decongestion meds. They worked for a while then my ears would be blocked again!! This went on for a whole year before my learning mentor at school picked up on the fact I wasn’t just being lazy or not paying attention, I was actually struggling to hear.

That when I was reffered to my doctor for hearing tests. Finally I would get some answers as to why I was struggling so much to hear. I was told that I had glue ear, I had no idea what it was, why I had it or how i got it. Alls i knew was it was the reason I could not hear the way I was supposed to.

I was told there was 3 ways to help me get rid of it one way was for me to be on medication everytime I had a flare up for the rest of my life. Another way was to have my adenoids taken out, just incase your wondering what they are they are just like tonsils for your nose bit pointless them being there and the final treatment was to have grommets fitted in to my ear drums to help drain the ecsess fluid that builds up around them. I am currently taking meds as and when I need them.

Finally school believed me that I struggled to hear them during lessons so I was given written notes on things we spoke about during lessons so I wasnt missing out. School became easier for me but that didnt stop me from being bullied, all I got was check out the deaf kid, as well as other the other taunts. But at least I knew what was wrong with me.

During breaks I would go in to he school libary to research what glue ear was. I finally knew what I was dealing with and learnt that I could possibly have had this condition since I was 2 years old. I was kind of shocked as I didnt produce any of the symptoms until i was 13 years of age. So no one had any reason to suspect glue ear for the reason for me being hard of hearing.

What is glue ear?

Glue ear is a medical condition also known as otis media with effusion. It is a common childhood illness that one in five chidren around the age of two will suffer with at some point. Usually treatment is not needed as it can clear up by itself within 3 months. Glue ear is a build up of fluid in the middle ear and is most common during winter. Signs that you or your child could be suffering with glue ear are turning up the tv on a regular basis, struggling to hold up a conversation and getting aggrivated because of the loss of hearing.

hopefully this has given you all a slight insight as to what glue ear is, what it causes and how it can be treated. Remember that if your child has any of the symptoms lasting more than 3 months to go seek medical attention from your gp. The sooner it is caught the quicker it can be dealt with. 14 years it took me to get a diagnosis, although I didnt present with any symptoms but my son presented with the sypmtoms after 2 and a half years and had grommets fitted october this year when he was 3 and a half years.

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/glue-ear/Pages/Introduction.aspx this website should also give you a little more information on the conditon. So now you all know the signs of glue ear and what it entail you can be on the look out with your own child if they have speech and language problems.

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