Does your child suffer from glue ear?

Around 2,00,000 children are forced to seek professional help for otitismedia with effusion — or glue ear — every year. It is a common childhood condition where the middle ear becomes filled with fluid. It can cause hearing loss and severe pain. Now, researchers have discovered that sufferers can avoid the need for medicines or an operation simply by blowing up a small nose balloon.

Inflating the balloon by blowing through each nostril in turn opens up the Eustachian tubes and promotes drainage of thick fluid filling the middle ear. Researchers tested the 'autoinflation' technique on more than 300 children aged between four and 11 years of age in the UK. All had a history of glue ear with fluid confirmed in at least one ear.

After three months, nearly half the treated children had normal middle-ear pressure. They also experienced significantly fewer parent-reported symptoms including hearing difficulty, earache, and sleep disturbance. Lead researcher Dr Ian Williamson said, "All available medical treatments such as antibiotics, antihistamines, decongestants and intranasal steroids, are ineffective.

Autoinflation is a low-cost procedure that can be taught to young children in a primary care setting. It's effective in improving important ear symptoms, concerns and related quality of life over a three-month watch-and-wait period." Possible complications of the condition include ear infections and, where hearing loss is more severe, a minor temporary delay in speech and language development.