Glue ear (secretory otitis media)

Written by Dr Gillian Rice, GP

What is glue ear?

Glue ear is a condition in which fluid builds up behind the eardrum. It can interfere with a child's hearing, although this is often temporary. Many cases get better without any treatment.

Who is at risk?

Children under the age of seven (with the highest risk at two years of age).

Children who have a parent who smokes.

Children who suffer from frequent coughs and colds.

Boys.

Children with a brother or sister who has also suffered from glue ear.

Children who have been bottle-fed.

Children who attend day care and come into contact with other children during winter or spring.

Children with certain genetic conditions, such as Down's syndrome.

Children with an anatomical abnormality affecting the face, such as a cleft palate.

Why is glue ear so common in children?

To work properly, the middle ear (the part of the ear concerned with hearing) needs to be full of air. The Eustachian tubes connect each ear with the back of the throat and when they open they allow air to move into the middle ear.

Children often develop colds and ear infections and if the Eustachian tubes become infected the walls may stick together so the air in the middle ear cannot circulate. Mucus may then be produced, which can fill the middle ear cavity.

What are the symptoms?

The most common problem is hearing loss. Sometimes the hearing loss is mild, lasts only a few weeks and gets better by itself but it may go on for many months.

How is glue ear diagnosed?

A doctor will looks inside a child's ear with an instrument called an otoscope. If the eardrum looks dull or cloudy, or fluid can be seen behind it, glue ear is present.

Your child may be referred to a hearing clinic for a hearing test and tympanometry, which measures how well the eardrum can move.

How is glue ear treated?

About half of all bouts of glue ear will get better spontaneously within three months, so doctors are often reluctant to use any form of treatment unless the glue ear goes on for longer than this.

Antibiotics Antibiotics appear to help in the short term but do not prevent glue ear from recurring. In the long term they do not appear to improve the outcome for children with glue ear.

Many parents automatically assume that antibiotics are always needed in cases of glue ear but many doctors now prefer not to prescribe these unless absolutely necessary.

Autoinflation

This is a technique for trying to keep the Eustachian tubes working properly. A device called the Otovent (a plastic tube which can be attached to a small balloon) can make the Eustachian tubes open up and by doing so may help to clear up glue ear.

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