It started before christmas.... he just wasnt following instructions. Everyone thought " he's a boy". Took him to GP got told fluid in the middle ear. Now we are 4 months on and took him to GP again as I think his hearing comes and goes. Apparently he is fine. Get the school nurse to test him lost most of his hearing in one ear and still has some in the other - that was nearly 3 weeks ago. Last week partial hearing in both ears finally referred to a audiology clinic. The minimum wait is 6 months......

He has another exam in 2 weeks..... we have no diagnosis except that his hearing is very bad... no cause.

He is still playing but now I am worried about the aurals. How will he cope?

any help or advice greatly received.

There are hearing impaired aural tests, you just need to submit a note from his audiologist.

as you read.... he is on the waiting list for the audiologist appointment so he will be waiting at least 6 months. He could go deaf by then.

What are the alternative tests? also his next exam is guildhall grade 4 any idea what the alternative aural tests are?

Just a thought - have you considered acupuncture? My 5-year-old is suffering with fluid in the ear and I'm assured that acupuncture (possibly in conjunction with other treatments) can really help. It really can't hurt, anyway - and could solve the problem after say 10 treatments (that's what we were told by a specialist in children's acupuncture). Certainly it helped me - after a year of persistant colds and flu, I went on a course and it cured me - I've never had a cold in the 6 years since the treatment. As long as it works, go with it!

Hope that's helpful as an alternative. Unfortunately the ears are very badly designed and stuff can't really escape if trapped in the middle ear.

The ear is perfectly well designed and fluid etc. can exit from the middle ear if there is a patent eustachian tube. There can be problems with thick viscous secretions in the middle ear but an insertion of grommets (or an acupuncture needle)... should help to drain that.

Frumpybabes - I'm sorry to hear about the trouble that your boy is experiencing. What age is he?
If the hearing problem has been going on for quite a while, comes and goes and you've received advice from health professionals that it is not serious then there is very little cause for concern. The Audiology clinic will no doubt sort him out (albeit after a very long wait). Perhaps it would be better not to enter him for any more music exams until his hearing as been sorted out? He can of course still learn and enjoy music.

Hope this is of some small help

Dangermouse

If you ring them up enought times, and explain the exams thing, they push you forward where they can. Since he's a child, he'll get through a lot quicker than adults, because he can go through paediatircs.

Also, if you have to leave it to the last minute, they can change the terms of the exam. I managed to get specail arrangements for my grade 5 theory a week before my exam.

I'm sorry he's not so good. Other than that, if you tell me his name, I could send him some reiki.

he is 9 and we managed to get an appointment for next Wednesday with another GP who specialises in ENT so hopefully a letter from them will help the process move quicker.

Thanks for everyone's help. The acu would be good except he is frightened of needles so that is no good as for not entering for exams indefinitely I think he would rather sit them as aural is the only section he seems to struggle with.

Hope you have more luck than my younger daughter.
She had grommets reinserted regularly between the ages of 6 and 21.
She finally told the doctor that she wasn't having them put in again and uses a hearing aid now.

HI - yes - I'm not convinced about grommets. Also, as someone who's had experience of an ear infection, the ears are badly designed - if something goes wrong, there's nowhere for any fluid to go and the eustacian tube doesn't do what it should under these circumstances. The reason I mention acupuncture is that it can "thin" the fluid - it's certainly not (as Dangermouse implied) about puncturing anything!!

Both my sister and I had grommets on and off during childhood. We were lucky though; my father was in the RAF, and we recieved near immediate treatment in the military hospitals.

Best wishes Frumpybabes; as I understand your concerns. Knowing how well you prepare your children for exams though, I am sure the hearing difficulties will not cause too many problems.

Re: the exams - ring the boards asap, I don't know what can be done at this late stage but give them as much time as possible! Also try to get some sort of doctor's note even if the actual audiologist's report can't be had so easily...

hope they are able to help him.

It is perfectly possible to have specialist aural tests provided for someone who is deaf (but they do take a different format so you'd need to prepare same). Also the ABRSM will tell the examiner your son is deaf and the examiner will try harder to communicate clearly with him.

Contact the Special Needs person in London and talk to them about it.

Whenever I've entered special needs candidates the Board has been very helpful and the candidates have always been most grateful for all that has been done to help them.

Best of luck with getting the ears and the exams sorted.

i have to disagree with those who aren't that sure about grommets - ive had them twice when i was younger (i had glue ear and supposedly relied on lip reading to get around, although i dont remember any of that!) i thought they were really cool - after my first lot, i came out of hospital and a car drove past - i was looking around for a low flying aeroplane! but hearing aids or grommets could help, i think that audio will advise you depending on how bad his hearing is

if you're worried about his exam, could you consider going private? i dont know much about how much this costs, but you might be able to claim some of the money back if you have health insurance or something, im not really sure how it works.
anyway best of luck to your son - hope he regains some hearing soon
love hoxie
x

Hi Frumpybabes
I'm really sorry to hear about your son and his hearing problems. I had a similar story with my first son, Daniel, including the long wait for audiology. I went the homeopathic route and I'm not sure if that did the trick but all the problems cleared up within 6 months.
Daniel infact did the Guildhall alternative aural tests until grade 6 as I thought they played more to his strengths.
For example at grade 3:

Candidate to play a given rhythmic pattern on a note at sight
Candidate to state time of the example and beat time
Candidate to play various intervals as requested, eg play the note 2 and minor 3rd about
Candidate to compolete by playing a simple two bar phrase with two further bars in 2/4 time

You can buy specimen alternqative instrumental initiative tests grade 1-8 which should help. If you have any problems getting hold of them let me know and perhaps I can photocopy and send the relevant bits.

Try not to worry - most of these things sort themselves out in children.

oh jeez, i'm sorry man

Offer to go privately.

found out it is not glue ear and not fluid in the middle ear. He has been given a nasal spray to be used for 2-4 weeks and is having an audiogram on the 6th July. Dont know if that is the same test that the school nurse did for him.

Anyway still waiting for the specialist appointment and will think about private. His hearing seems to change daily... he also hears ringing in his ears and voices/echoes.

At least he isnt in pain from it and carries on as normal.


Thanks Margaret for all that info for guildhall.... however they seem very disinterested at the guildhall about his problems they cant even give us a time for the exam only the day. They seem very disorganised unlike AB.

got an appointment it is on wednesday hoorray not that bad after all

hehe ive had a nasal spray for my hearing before....lol makes you want to sneeze! hope the appointment goes ok - try not to worry too much!
ive gone from lip-reading as a child to having perfectly normal hearing (im 16 now so thats not even that many years!), so its not like if he loses it hes never going to get it back - it all depends on exactly what the problem is. please dont worry too much! there always seem to be quite a few different ways in which the problem can be solved, which should be explained clearly by your audio doctor.
best of luck to both of you
hoxie
x

erm i think the only tests they ever seem to do is wear the headphones and play bleeps at different tones and volumes into each ear at a time, you then press the button when you hear them...very fun! lol except one i had ringing in me ears at the same time so i was sitting there whacking the button and not quite understanding why the bleep didnt go away...before the nurse explained she wasnt actually playing any bleeps lol! i got told to 'only hit the button when you can hear a bleep' (she thought i was just hitting it for fun )
hehe so this probably is the same test that the school nurse would do, dont really know...

Thye stuck tuning forks to my head to see where the sound was coming from once. I dunno how they could tell!

done the school nurse bleep test already failed that twice, had the tuning fork test too unexplained now having audiogram and something with a specialist. 2 different doctors but maybe the same tests but hopefully in more detail.

Hope it wont be a waste of time anyway

[SIZE=1][SIZE=1][SIZE=1]Hi frumpybabes,

I can only imagine the stress you and you son are experiencing...

You say your son is uncomfortable with needles, have you thought about using Hopi Ear candles? It's a natural remedy that is extremely effective for the ears. I use them once a month for relaxation purposes as well as to keep my ears and sinuses clear for singing so I can personally vouch for them. It may help relieve the problem without causing too much distress to your son. As you are seeking medical advice, I would run it past your GP/specialist first.

Hopi (For more info)

They're safe enough to use on children, but must be supervised at all times.

If you want I can send you a leaflet! You can get them in certain holistic shops(go for Biosun brand) or can get them done professionally in some beauty salons that offer holistic remedies. I've been told they have in some cases been known to relieve near deafness!

Hope this is of some use!

has your son had his appointment yet? (it is today isnt it...?)
hoxie
x

Are the Hopi Ear candles really small enough to fit inside the ears? The biggest thing I was told to put in my ear was my elbow - I don't think I wan't to be placing flammable objects there....

Hi Dangermouse,

They're not candles in the traditional sense, the ones I'm talking about are long linen tapers wrapped in beeswax with sage and st john's wort. They are extremely narrow and as they are linen, adjust to the shape of the ear canal and sit quite comfortably (it doesn't go far in at all). You light the top of them with the person lying down and let the candle burn to a centimetre above a red safety line. I do know of people who have used on them on children, and it is an accepted practice on conditions such as children's glue ear and similar. Of course there are safety guidelines to follow but I was impressed with the results.

I was really sceptical about them at first and didn't think they would do any good but I was impressed with the results. Obviously you're not sticking the flame in anywhere near the actual ear!. It's just to create a chimney effect.

Hope that clears up any confusion!

saw the specialist today and his hearing has gradually improved in the last 10 days since taking the nasal spray. They suspect that the fluid in his middle ear had built up and the spray helped drain the fluid from the tubes. Even the test showed no fluid in the middle ear. Really pleased.... son had said he felt his ears go pop at the weekend and everything was really loud.

Hooray just in time for the exam next week. Still wondering whether it will come back now as they are only guessing it was fluid in the middle ear

lets hope so! Am so pleased things are improving!! He must be dead chuffed too. Keep us posted frumpybabes on how he does next week.

yay! thats great news!

Frumpybabes, glad to hear that your son's hearing is improving. My nephews have narrow ear canals and when younger, often had ear problems after colds.

Something that I hesitate a little to recommend, because it may not be relevant to your son though it worked for me...a few years back, I started cutting out sugar and reducing the amount of refined starchy foods I ate (eating smaller amounts of whole-grains, replacing potato with sweet potato or beans etc). To my great surprise, my stuffy ears, poor hearing, and constant middle-ear infections all cleared up.

I know that people often mention dairy foods in connection with ear problems, but I then recalled a friend telling me that her dog's vet blamed the dog's ear problems on cheap dogfood with starchy fillers. So....now I know that I'm part German shephard!

Joking aside, it might be worth trying for a while.

My son got his grade 4 trumpet results this morning. He got 300 which is High honours and he lost most on his marks on his aural. He managed to get full marks in a few sections and his study which he really enjoyed.

Wow next year should be a busy year preparing for grade 5 on both trumpet and violin.

Thanks for all the support with his ears. His hearing seems to come and go as and when but he copes.

Many congratulations to him!

Well done! What a great thing to acheive!

I meant to say in my previous post - I think that would be an extremely good mark even without his hearing difficulties, so kudos to him - really impressive!

Well that's great news a very well done to him.

Outstanding! Pass on congratulations, you have very talented children.

I have read your request and some of the replies you have received and wanted to add my comments. I launched Hopi ear candles in the UK in 1990 and although I'm not saying they could work in your case, I would strongly suggest that you try cranial osteopathy for your son. The candles could of course be of use too. I have written a book called Hopi Candles and there I have put all the information I discovered about them. In my experience, some of the people who have had grommets inserted have found that the operation has needed to be repeated and they can finish up with impaired hearing. If you are in London there is the Royal Homoeopathic Hospital's clinic that deals wsith such things. Fifteen years ago I had contact with the head of the department, an osteopath called Stuart Korth who also practised (I think) in Maidstone or Maidenhead. This sounds like the best route for your son.
Jili Hamilton :)