There was talk of one of my kids having them but in the end we managed without them

I had grommets inserted in 2013, one fell into the middle ear. I requested they be removed as had constasnt infections n 16 couses of antibiotics. I am now 59 years old. I was put under general anaesthetic by ENT doctor a t the time, when I requested to have a local only to have gtommets removed. Since then my ear drum bursts each time I get a cold. I have complained n seen different specalists only to be told if you were my patient and the grommet fell in I would leave it there. I now have swelling in jaw n constant pain n pressure. I bend over n something moves n then my ear pops. I believe my grommet is still in my ear. I have been told tmj n your jaw is moving!!. I have had two rear lower teeth removed because of pain n swelling. Can anyone tell me what scan will show up the grommet, as xray n CT do not. Will an ultrasound show it? My ENT specialist letter to my GP after grommets removed supposedly is written in a very vague way that does not actually say he did remove the fallen in grommet.

I am a 51 year old woman. I had grommets inserted when I was 4 yrs old. I have had fullness and ear pain for many years. Last week the pain was very bad so I went to the doctor. He said that’s strange you have a middle ear infection. I got antibiotics. After days of taking them my throat pain got better but not my ear pain. I went back to the doctor. He said you don’t have an infection anymore. Not happy with the pain I used a saline solution and put a little in my left ear. Then I sprayed it up my nose. I was laying down and felt something strange in my nose so I blew it. To my surprise and shock my grommet came out. Tonight I’ve been back to my doctor. He said the grommet must have been stuck inside my middle ear and it’s moved down through the back of the nasal cavity. He said it’s possible to travel to the brain as well. The grommet is the likely reason for the infection. I thought after 46 years I wouldn’t even have a grommet anymore. My ear is still sore and the hole has already closed over. Is this the reason for my ear pain and not TMJ? I can’t believe it and this is the first place I’ve read similar stories.

Hi I’m actually in the UK and searched for anything I could on lost grommets. My story actually is quite frankly terrifying.
I used to have grommets put in every year as a kid to go on holiday as I had terrible trouble with planes and pressure as well as ear infections.
I must have stopped having them put in when I was around 10 (unfortunately my parents aren’t around to confirm)… I’m now nearly 34.
For the past maybe 15 years I have felt almost constant pressure and blockage in my right ear always say I feel it need syringing or I need to heavily pop it.
Fast forward to 2 months ago and I went away to Hong Kong I slept through the flight so was unaware of ear popping. Our hotel rooms were 44th and 111th floors (we stayed in 2) and due to the height and the lifts my ears were popping all the time. Again on the flight I slept the full 12 hours (bliss for any mum). Pretty much from the day I landed home I had excruciating pain and took myself off to the doctors. Please believe me I kid you not for the next bit. She looked in my bad ear gasped and said “Oh my god”. I was like please tell me I’ve not got something living in it from my trip. She replied “No you have a bright green grommet lodged in your ear but not where it should be.
So I’m stunned… that’s been in my body for 23 odd years no wonder I’ve had so much discomfort. So I think that with all my ear popping it moved it. I was referred to an ENT specialist whom I saw on Friday just gone. He looked in my ear gasped and laughed. I said I wish I would stop getting these reactions.
He basically told me it cannot be removed. It’s stuck behind the eardrum and surgery would probably do more damage.
I’ve been in agony for 2 MONTHS and have been told I have to live the rest of my life like this now. Of course I’ve asked to been referred further.
As a kid I was under one of the top ENT departments in the UK and they missed it. In 23 years any doctor who has looked in my ears has missed it. Please take this from my situation… if your child has had grommets and still complain of the ear feeling blocked or pressure please take them to get checked that the grommet is actually out x

Grommets in some cases help the fluid drain out. Normally they fall out after they have done their job, normally they don’t stay in for long. I have known children to have to sit in the front row in the classroom and still not be able to hear properly some of the time. After having grommets they regained a very high % of their hearing……and their behaviour improved very soon afterwards. They are no longer frustrated because they can’t hear.

My youngest had grommets twice. The first time they removed his adenoids as well. We were very lucky because he never had any problems with them falling out on their own. Before he had them he only had 35% hearing in one ear and 55% in the other. He now has 85% and 95% hearing.

No, I hadn’t heard of this occurring but thanks for the update.

Poor boy, hopefully all will be well with him soon. Thankfully, this is a rare thing to happen.

Wishing this young lad good health from now on. Thanks for sharing this story.

Thankyou. I didn’t even know of such a thing.

My son is 9 and has had 5 sets of gommets, adenoids done twice and tonsils removed. And now has been on a wait list to see an ENT for nearly 3 year as his old ent left Australia to work with kids in third world countries

Poor guy thankfully the next doctor found it.

Wow, scary but knowledge is power thanks for sharing.

My daughter had 2 sets of grommets at 3 and 5 and needed a 3rd, both fell out within 3 months. At 7 we took her off all milk products, as I read this could help along with blowing up balloons, after nearly a year of being blocked her ears cleared after 2-3 months, although she lost some weight and was already thin. We tried to replace the milk with soy.
The grommets effected her hearing slightly, and pressure is almost unbearable (in a plane or up the mountains) another side effect that I have since heard other children got after having multiple grommets.

My other daughter (asthmatic) had similar ear problems after swimming for a term. I believe this was due to pool chemicals as she improved on school holidays and when we went back, the sore ears, ear infections returned. From this time on we only did swimming lessons on school holiday programs and she was good.

Being a Mum it’s always good to trust your gut instinct.

So lucky this is a very rare occurrence. Feeling the boys pain though, must have been agony

Poor boy, he must have been in such pain !
My youngest has grommets because she had continuous build up of fluids behind her eardrum and a moderate hearing loss and speech delay because of that. Once she had grommets her hearing improved for some months, but then the ear infections began and never stopped (she had never ear infections before grommets) and her hearing loss went to severe because of that. She is now on the waiting list to have them removed as the grommets themselves are infected. She’s 4,5 years old and only speaks about 10 words (inarticulate). She has a hearing aid, but doesn’t like to wear it much.

Wow! Surely this must be a rare case? My niece has had nothing but problems with her grommets falling out and needing them put back in.

I’m thankful we haven’t had to worry about any of this so far

We have issues with snot and ear wax. We’ve been considering grommets for a while but he’s only ever had one ear infection so I’ve held off. Glad I did now. Most doctors refuse to even prescribe antibiotics for ear infections now because they just don’t make any difference to healing time.