A Parent Weighs the Merits of Getting Ear Tubes for Her Infant Son

 

As soon as we decided to get ear tubes for our son, then 14 months old, it seemed like everyone we knew had done it for their kid, too. Hundreds of thousands of ear tube surgeries are performed each year. The reason for the ear tubes, which are inserted through a tiny hole in the eardrum, was because my son, Rio, had fluid in his middle ear (otitis media with effusion, or OME) since he was nearly 10 months old. A hearing test showed his hearing was being affected, especially in one ear, and this can harm language acquisition and development.