Confused and frustrated by inconsistent advice

Annetta Grams-Byrne's daughter Maja, who is 4 years old, has had glue ear for nearly three years. Related hearing problems, long waiting lists for a grommet operation and varying medical opinions about the best treatment have, at times, left Annetta confused and frustrated.

Here she tells her story.

"I realised that something was not right with Maja's ears when she was about two and a half. We visited our GP practice, but were given several different opinions about the best treatment. Opinion was divided between no intervention at all and fitting grommets.

"It was decided that the first step was to get rid of Maja's earwax, which took several months, using a combination of olive oil and ear drops.

"After the earwax had gone Maja had several hearing tests, and the results showed a hearing loss. She was then referred to an ENT consultant and glue ear was diagnosed.

Maja's hearing was badly affected by the glue ear, so she was fitted with two hearing aids approximately six months ago. We are also now on the waiting list for grommets - an expected wait of nine months.

While we wait for the grommet operation, we have been referred to a homeopath, and Maja is being treated with calcium carbonicum tablets. We now have to wait three months until an assessment on the success of these can be made. The glue ear has not yet improved.

Maja is bilingual and talks and sings a lot. Fortunately she is not shy, so she will always ask you if she cannot understand something. I suspect that her speech and vocabulary in both languages would be even richer if her hearing was better, but she is doing well at school, thanks to the hearing aids.

Maja's hearing problems before the hearing aids put a strain onto our parent-child relationship; I became aware that I wouldn't talk to her about casual, every day issues in order to avoid her asking me 'what?' five times. As a parent you can lose your patience after a while, end up shouting, and then feel guilty about it (not to mention angry at the NHS waiting lists!).

My biggest concern is the lack of consistent information available for parents, which, combined with varying opinions from health professionals, makes for a confusing and somewhat scary situation for parents.

I was given varying opinions ranging from avoiding grommets altogether because of the possibility of scarring on the eardrum, to suggestions that I take Maja to my home country Germany and get the grommets fitted immediately. Current waiting lists for grommets in Germany are three weeks."

More education for parents and health professionals will go some way to helping solve these problems. Deafness Research UK is working to raise awareness of glue ear and the treatments available through its Information Service, which offers a range of leaflets and factsheets, available free of charge.

. . . . . . . . . .