Son recently had surgery for tubes in his ears. Need input on ear moulds

February 5, 2020 1:49 PM

My son is 3 years old and recently went to the hospital to have tubes put in his ears because he had water behind his ears. We were told that he should get ear moulds for when he takes a bath or goes swimming. Is there a difference between getting moulds from a pharmacy versus an audiologist?

We found that there are two options: 1) we can buy some ear moulds from the local pharmacy or 2) we can have them specially made at the local audiologist. Is there any benefit to option #2 over option #1? The reason I ask is because option #2 would cost nearly $150 and isn't covered by our insurance and option #1 is significantly cheaper. Thanks.

posted by NoneOfTheAbove to Health & Fitness (15 answers total)

FWIW, when my son got tubes, we were told we didn't even have to bother with the ear moulds (since the tubes are really so teeny tiny), so we never did and he was fine. YMMV but I'd go with the cheap option.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:52 PM on February 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

I had these as a kid and I think did fine with the wax stuff from the pharmacy. I think I did get official ones one of the summers, but I can't remember them actually plugging my ears more efficiently or staying in better, so if there's a major cost differential to you, you can probably go cheap.
posted by salvia at 2:55 PM on February 5, 2020

Ear moulds for earplugs? No way. Our pediatric audiologist gave us a bunch of free wax ones and suggested wearing an ear band over them to keep them in. Eventually we found some reusable silicone earplugs like these that stay in better than the wax ones.
posted by bq at 2:57 PM on February 5, 2020

Our ENT and audiologist gave us a pair of Doc's ProPlugs. Our son rarely uses them anymore, and isn't bothered, even when swimming underwater.

If your son uses the cheap ones regularly, then I might consider getting a pair of custom ones, but I wouldn't start out with them.
posted by toxic at 3:11 PM on February 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

2 boys- both had tubes. I was told to avoid getting soap/soapy water in his ears during baths. I used a neoprene visor thing that channelled the shampoo water around his ears when rinsing. 2nd boy: I got a little lazy and let him play around in the tub after bathing/washing hair and guess what? He got soapy water in his ears and got an infection. It was awful! Poor boy was in so much pain and had goop coming out of his ears and we had to use drops and there was crying (both of us). Bottom line: do not get soapy water in his ears! The wax earplugs should be fine if you can't find the visor. Bottom line: don't let him get soapy water in his ears. My boys loved playing in the bath so I let them play in the clean water, then when it was soap-time I got it done quick and got them out. Good luck!
posted by Ochre,Hugh at 3:20 PM on February 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

When I had tubes in my ears I just used the wax plugs When I would swim I used cotton balls rolled in vaseline and wore a swim cap over the top and it was fine. My tubes were in for a few years and this was all I did.
posted by jessamyn at 5:43 PM on February 5, 2020

Long-term user of Mack's white silicone earplugs here. Should be available in your drugstore.
posted by 8603 at 3:27 AM on February 6, 2020

Just another data point - we weren't advised to use ear plugs at all (and didn't), the ENT just prescribed ear drops for after bath/swimming. Our son had 10 ear infections in a few months before the tubes, and zero in the four and a half years since.
posted by Pax at 5:42 AM on February 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I will say - my son has always been freakishly patient about things like ear drops (eye drops, dentist - even a filling - shots at the doctor, nail-cutting, splinters, haircuts etc.) - as an infant, at 16 months when he got his tubes, and now that he's older and truly knows what's going on, so YMMV.
posted by Pax at 5:47 AM on February 6, 2020

Seconding Doc's ProPlugs. My son is a swimmer, and he wore Doc's with no problems. We didn't bother with using plugs during showers/baths.
posted by jenny76 at 7:13 AM on February 6, 2020

I had tubes twice as a kid and am about to have to get them again as an adult.

I had to have molds made because I'm allergic to all other types of ear plugs, wearing OTC stuff makes my ears itch / contributes to outer ear infections.
posted by bradbane at 9:31 AM on February 6, 2020

I had one Bad Eardrum as a kid and before it was finally fixed (via a skin graft) I had to wear an earplug any time I bathed or swam. I had a custom earplug and honestly, if you have to use these for any length of time they'll be SO much easier than messing around with the wax ones. They pop in and out really easy and make a reliably water-tight seal. A few years ago, as an adult, my Bad Eardrum decided to rupture again just a few weeks before a Caribbean vacation. I used a variety of wax and silicone plugs from the drugstore and while they did work, they were less comfortable, and it was a hassle to get them in and properly sealed each time. With a kid it'll be that much harder to verify if it's in correctly every time. Definitely consider custom molds it if this is a long-term situation.
posted by Jemstar at 9:42 AM on February 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

You've received a lot of good responses here, but thought I would chime in with my experience. I had ear tubes growing up, and now I have a daughter with ear tubes!

Growing up, I had both the ear moulds and the silicone ear plug style, and I vastly preferred the silicone style. In contrast to Jemstar's experience, I found that the ear mould ear plugs get absolutely DISGUSTING, and since you paid a bunch of money for them, you can't throw them out.

Now that my daughter got ear tubes, her ENT says Ear plugs are not standard practice anymore. He told me that "old-school" docs, still recommend ear plugs, but he's never seen a case where they are that helpful. YMMV, listen to your doctor, but you may raise this with him!
posted by unexpected at 9:44 AM on February 6, 2020

Anecdotally (always helpful) my kid with ear plugs consistently gets an ear infection every single time he goes in the water without ear plugs.
posted by bq at 11:46 AM on February 6, 2020

I’m an audiologist, not yours, but I work partially at a large research university otolaryngology department and see tons of kids with tubes. Tubes are great.

We actually make temporary custom ones on site for kids who get tubes, but usually only recommend them as necessary for swimming.

You don’t want water to get into the middle ear space, because water can be dirty and even if clean it will just bread more bacteria, can be painful, and might not drain through the Eustachian tube as many kids with chronic ear infections have Eustachian tubes that aren’t doing their job super well. Whether water will pass through the tube into the middle ear space depends on whether the tube is patent, the tube diameter, and the water exposure. Whether the water sits there or drains to the throat depends on your kid. So I don’t put much faith into anecdotes about who and who didn’t have negative consequences of not using plugs with tubes. Only your ENT knows the situation with your kid.

This is not medical advice, but if it’s just for showers/baths, you will probably be fine with just wax plugs from the pharmacy (and may be fine with nothing at all, tbh). If your kid is going to be doing a lot of swimming, I would recommend the customs.

If you live in Iowa I will make you some temporary waterproof customs for free if you come to my lab.
posted by Lutoslawski at 2:10 PM on February 6, 2020 [2 favorites]