How Long Do Ear Tubes Stay In? What Follow-Up Visits Check and What Happens When They Come Out

The pediatrician tilts her head, peers through the otoscope, and says the sentence you have been half-expecting for months: “I think it is time to talk to an ear, nose and throat specialist about tubes.” Your child, who has had four ear infections since the start of daycare and now turns the TV up louder than anyone else in the house, is busy pulling paper off the exam table roll.

The surgery itself turns out to be the smaller worry. What parents keep asking, in waiting rooms and late-night forum threads, is what comes next. How long do ear tubes stay in? Will you feel them come out? What is the specialist actually looking for at each check-up, and what happens if a tube stays put for years?

Those are fair questions, and the honest answers are more reassuring than the rumor mill suggests. Here is what the evidence says about the life cycle of an ear tube, from placement to the day it quietly turns up in a bit of earwax.

How long do ear tubes stay in? The typical range

A tympanostomy tube is a tiny hollow cylinder, roughly the size of a grain of rice, placed through the eardrum to let air into the middle ear. Once it is in, the clock starts ticking, but not in the way people imagine. The tube is not scheduled to come out on a fixed date. It leaves when the eardrum decides it should.

For the standard short-term tubes used in most children, that usually means somewhere between 6 and 18 months, according to Mayo Clinic. The NHS, which calls the same devices grommets, gives a similar picture: most fall out naturally within 6 to 12 months as the ear grows. MedlinePlus notes that some tubes, particularly larger ones, can remain considerably longer.

Why such a wide window? A few things shape it. The design of the tube matters most, since some are built with flanges that anchor them in place for years. The thickness and healing pace of a child’s eardrum play a role. So does the amount of drainage and wax moving through the ear canal, which can nudge a tube along or occasionally block it.

The range also explains why two children from the same family can have very different experiences. One child’s tubes may be out before the first anniversary of surgery; a sibling’s may still be sitting comfortably at 20 months with no cause for concern.

The practical takeaway: a tube that is still in place at 12 months is normal, a tube still in place at 2 years is worth a conversation with the ENT team, and the only way to know its status is to have someone look. That is the whole point of scheduled follow-up, which we come to shortly.

What ear tubes actually do inside the ear

Behind the eardrum sits a small air-filled chamber called the middle ear, home to the three tiny bones that carry sound inward. This chamber is meant to be ventilated by the Eustachian tube, a narrow passage that runs from the middle ear to the back of the nose and throat. Each swallow or yawn briefly opens it, equalizing pressure and letting fluid drain.

In young children, the Eustachian tube is short, floppy and nearly horizontal. It clogs easily during colds and allergies, and it drains poorly. When it stays blocked, fluid collects behind the eardrum. Doctors call this otitis media with effusion; the NHS uses the plainer term glue ear. If bacteria multiply in that trapped fluid, the result is an acute ear infection with pain and fever.

Fluid in the middle ear does something else that is easy to miss: it muffles sound. Speech reaches the child as if heard through a closed door, which is why glue ear so often shows up first as a louder TV, a child who does not respond when called, or a teacher’s note about attention.

An ear tube works by bypassing the faulty Eustachian tube altogether. The surgeon makes a small opening in the eardrum, a step called a myringotomy, suctions out any fluid, and seats the tube in the opening. Air now flows in through the ear canal, pressure equalizes, and fluid has a route out. The middle ear, in effect, gets a second ventilation shaft while the child’s own plumbing matures.

According to Mayo Clinic, the procedure takes about 15 minutes and is typically done under a brief general anesthetic in children so they hold still. Adults sometimes have it done awake with numbing medicine in the office.

Why the eardrum pushes the tube out on its own

The eardrum is not a passive sheet of tissue. Its outer layer is skin, and like skin everywhere it constantly renews itself, growing outward from the center toward the edges and then along the ear canal. This slow migration is the same mechanism that carries earwax out of the ear over weeks.

A tube sitting in the eardrum rides that conveyor belt. As new tissue forms around the edge of the opening, it gradually squeezes the tube outward until, one day, the tube pops free into the ear canal. The hole it leaves behind usually seals within a few weeks, according to MedlinePlus, leaving a small pale scar that specialists see all the time and rarely worry about.

Once you understand this mechanism, several everyday observations start to make sense:

• Tubes come out on the ear’s schedule, not the calendar’s, which is why the typical range runs from months to well over a year.
• A tube can work its way out early in a child whose eardrum heals fast, and the fluid may return if the Eustachian tube has not yet matured.
• Nothing a parent does, short of pulling at the ear, speeds the process up. Tubes do not fall out from swimming, sneezing, or a toddler shaking their head.
• Long-term tubes resist this migration by design, with wider flanges that the tissue cannot easily push past. That is why they can stay for years and may eventually need a specialist’s help to remove.

This built-in expiration is one of the treatment’s quiet advantages. In most children, the tube has done its job by the time the eardrum evicts it, and a second surgery to remove anything is not needed.

Short-term vs long-term ear tubes: what changes the timeline

Surgeons choose from several tube designs, and that choice is the biggest single influence on how long a tube stays. Broadly, they fall into two families, described by Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins as short-term and long-term tubes.

Feature	Short-term tube	Long-term tube
Typical time in place	About 6 to 18 months (Mayo Clinic); NHS cites 6 to 12 months for grommets	Often 2 years or longer
How it usually comes out	Falls out on its own as the eardrum heals	May fall out eventually, but often needs removal by a specialist
Design	Small, with narrow rims	Larger, with wider flanges or a T-shape that anchor it
Common use	First set of tubes in a child with glue ear or recurrent infections	Children who have needed several sets of tubes, or adults with long-standing Eustachian tube problems
Trade-off	May come out before the ear has matured, so fluid can return	Higher chance that the eardrum hole does not close after removal

Neither design is universally better. The short-term tube is the default precisely because most children outgrow their ear trouble within a year or two, so a tube that leaves on its own around that time is a good match. A long-term tube makes sense when the underlying problem is expected to persist and the team wants to avoid repeat surgeries.

Parents are not usually asked to pick. The ENT surgeon weighs the child’s history, the number of previous tube sets, the appearance of the eardrum and any hearing test results, then chooses. It is entirely reasonable to ask which type was used and why, and to write down the answer, because it frames every follow-up conversation afterward.

Who is usually offered ear tubes, and who is asked to wait

Ear tubes are among the most common childhood operations in the United States, yet the decision to place them is rarely made at a first visit. Guidelines from ENT professional bodies, reflected in patient information from Mayo Clinic and MedlinePlus, point toward two main situations.

The first is persistent fluid. Glue ear is extremely common after colds, and the NHS notes that in most children it clears on its own within about 3 months. That is why a period of watchful waiting is standard. Tubes come into the conversation when fluid has lingered in both ears for roughly 3 months or more and a hearing test confirms it is affecting hearing, or when there are concerns about speech, learning or balance.

The second is recurrent acute infections. Frequent, painful infections that keep needing antibiotics, particularly when fluid is still present between episodes, are a common reason for referral. The exact threshold is a clinical judgment, but repeated infections over 6 to 12 months are the usual trigger for a specialist opinion.

Children with certain conditions, such as Down syndrome or cleft palate, have Eustachian tubes that work less well and may be considered earlier. Adults with chronic Eustachian tube dysfunction, barotrauma from pressure changes, or fluid that will not clear are also candidates.

Who is usually asked to wait? A child with a single infection, or with fluid noticed for only a few weeks after a cold, is typically rechecked rather than referred. So is a child whose fluid is in one ear only with normal hearing on the other side, unless other concerns arise. Waiting is not neglect; it is the evidence-based recognition that many ears fix themselves.

Every one of these decisions rests with the treating team, who can see the eardrum and the audiogram. The parent’s role is to report what they notice at home.

At what age do doctors stop putting tubes in ears?

There is no upper age limit for ear tubes. Adults receive them for chronic Eustachian tube dysfunction, persistent middle ear fluid, and pressure-related ear injury. The reason the procedure is so strongly associated with toddlers is not a rule about age; it is a fact about anatomy.

The NHS notes that glue ear is most common in children between about 2 and 5 years old. That window lines up with two things: the peak age for daycare-acquired colds, and a Eustachian tube that is still short and horizontal. As the skull grows, the tube lengthens and angles downward, draining more effectively. Most children have far fewer ear problems by school age, and many who had tubes as toddlers never need another set.

So the honest answer to the question is that doctors do not stop; children stop needing them. A 7-year-old with fluid that has persisted for months and a documented hearing loss is just as much a candidate as a 2-year-old. The threshold for surgery may be a little different, since an older child can often report their own symptoms and cooperate with a hearing test, which gives the team more information to work with.

What does change with age is the anesthesia conversation. Young children almost always have tubes placed under a brief general anesthetic because they cannot hold still while a surgeon works through a microscope. Older teenagers and adults can sometimes have the procedure in the clinic with numbing medicine applied to the eardrum, which Mayo Clinic describes as an option in some cases.

If a child is heading toward a second or third set of tubes, the team may also look for reasons the Eustachian tube is still struggling, such as enlarged adenoids, and may discuss addressing those at the same time.

The first days and weeks after ear tube surgery

Most children go home the same morning. According to MedlinePlus and Mayo Clinic, the common experience is a groggy, sometimes cranky hour or two as anesthesia wears off, followed by a return to normal play by the afternoon or the next day. Many parents are startled by how quickly their child bounces back.

Some drainage from the ear canal is expected in the first few days. It can be clear, slightly bloody, or a thin yellowish fluid; this is the middle ear emptying through its new vent. The surgeon may prescribe antibiotic ear drops for a short course to keep the tube clear while the ear settles. Those drops belong to the treating team’s plan, and any questions about them go back to the prescriber.

Hearing often changes noticeably within days. Parents describe children startling at sounds they had been ignoring, speaking more quietly, or complaining that the bath water is loud. This is the muffling effect of fluid disappearing, and it can take a week or two for a child to recalibrate.

A typical early timeline, drawn from patient information at Mayo Clinic and MedlinePlus, looks like this:

• Day of surgery: rest, fluids, normal food when hungry; mild ear discomfort is possible.
• Days 1 to 3: drainage tapers; most children are back to usual activity, and many return to daycare or school.
• Weeks 1 to 4: a first follow-up visit to confirm the tubes are open and in place, often with a hearing check.

Water is the question every parent asks. Mayo Clinic notes that earplugs are generally not needed for routine bathing or surface swimming, though some surgeons advise them for lake water or diving because of the pressure and bacterial load. Follow the specific instructions you were given, since practice varies.

What does an ear tube follow-up visit check?

Follow-up visits can feel almost anticlimactic: a quick look in each ear, perhaps a hearing test, and a cheerful “see you in six months.” That brevity hides a fairly precise checklist. Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins describe follow-up continuing at intervals until the tubes have come out and the eardrums have healed.

At each visit, the specialist is typically looking at five things:

• Position. Is the tube still seated in the eardrum, or has it started to work its way out? Has it already fallen into the ear canal?
• Patency. A tube is only useful if its channel is open. Dried drainage or wax can plug it. The examiner may confirm airflow with a puff of air, a test called tympanometry, which measures how the eardrum moves in response to pressure.
• Drainage. Ongoing discharge, called otorrhea, is the most common complication and usually signals infection reaching the middle ear through the tube. It is generally managed with topical drops rather than oral antibiotics, at the team’s discretion.
• The eardrum itself. Signs of granulation tissue (a small mound of inflamed tissue around the tube), scarring, or thinning are noted so they can be watched over time.
• Hearing. An audiogram, a chart of the softest sounds a person can hear at different pitches, confirms that hearing has improved and stays improved while the tube is in.

The first check is usually a few weeks after surgery. After that, visits are typically spaced 6 to 12 months apart, though the schedule varies by practice and by how the ear looks. Once the tube is out, there is normally one more visit to confirm the hole has closed and hearing is normal without it.

Skipping these visits is where problems most often go unnoticed: a silently blocked tube, a tube that has fallen out with fluid returning, or a tube that has quietly overstayed its welcome.

Ear tubes falling out: what happens, and does it hurt?

The single most reassuring fact about ear tubes falling out is that most families never notice the moment it happens. The tube, freed from the eardrum by that slow outward migration of tissue, sits in the ear canal until wax carries it to the opening or a specialist retrieves it at a check-up. Parents occasionally spot a tiny blue, green or white cylinder on a pillowcase or in a bit of wax on a washcloth.

Is it painful for ear tubes to fall out? Not in the way people fear. The eardrum has no sensitive nerve supply in the way a fingertip does, and the process is gradual rather than a sudden pop. Mayo Clinic and MedlinePlus describe the tubes falling out on their own without any need for intervention. A child may briefly feel a tickle or hear a slight change in sound, but pain is not a typical part of the experience. If a child does develop ear pain around the time a tube has come out, that points to something else, most often a returning infection, and warrants a call.

After the tube leaves, the small opening in the eardrum usually closes within a few weeks, according to MedlinePlus. Once it has, the ear is back to relying on its own Eustachian tube. In many children by this stage the tube has matured enough to cope, and the ear problems do not return. In some, fluid or infections come back, which is why the team wants to see the ear once more after the tube is out.

Two loose ends to mention. If you find a tube, there is nothing to do with it beyond, perhaps, keeping it as a slightly odd souvenir. And if only one tube has come out, that is common; the two ears rarely run on identical schedules, and the specialist will simply keep watching the remaining tube.

How long is too long for ear tubes to stay in?

Every so often a tube simply refuses to leave. The eardrum tissue fails to push it out, or the design was built to resist exactly that, and 2 years pass with the tube still sitting neatly in place. Forums are full of anxious posts on this point, so it is worth being clear about what the evidence supports.

A tube still present at 18 months is within the range Mayo Clinic describes for short-term tubes and is not, by itself, a problem. Beyond about 2 to 3 years, Johns Hopkins notes that a specialist may consider removing a tube that has not come out on its own. The reasoning is that the longer a tube stays, the more time the eardrum edge has to become thin, scarred, or unable to close once the tube finally leaves. A persistent hole, called a perforation, is the main complication specialists want to avoid, and the risk rises with duration.

Removal, when it is needed, is a brief procedure. In cooperative older children and adults it can sometimes be done in the clinic; in younger children it is usually done under a short general anesthetic, and the surgeon may place a small patch over the opening to encourage it to heal.

There is no emergency here. A retained tube that is open, dry and doing its job is not dangerous, which is why the decision is made at routine follow-up rather than in a hurry. What matters is that someone is actually checking. The retained tube that causes trouble is nearly always the one nobody has looked at in years.

If your child’s tubes have passed the 2-year mark, the useful question for the team is not “is this too long?” but “what is your plan for this tube, and what would change it?”

What are the downsides of having tubes in your ears?

Ear tubes are a low-risk procedure, but low risk is not no risk, and parents deserve the full list rather than a wave of the hand. Mayo Clinic and MedlinePlus describe the following as the recognized complications.

• Drainage and infection. Otorrhea is the most common issue. Because the tube connects the middle ear to the outside world, a cold or contaminated water can produce discharge. It is usually treated with ear drops and rarely causes pain or fever, but it can recur and is the leading reason for unscheduled visits.
• Blocked tubes. Dried secretions or wax can plug the channel, quietly undoing the tube’s purpose. A blocked tube behaves like no tube at all, and fluid can return behind it.
• Early extrusion. A tube that falls out within a few months may leave the ear before the Eustachian tube has matured, and symptoms can come back. Some children need a second set.
• Persistent perforation. In a minority of cases the hole does not close after the tube leaves. Small holes often heal with time; larger or long-standing ones may need a repair procedure later.
• Scarring. A chalky patch on the eardrum, called tympanosclerosis, is common after tubes. It is visible to the examiner and almost never affects hearing in a meaningful way.
• Anesthesia. The anesthetic is brief and serious reactions are rare, but it is a consideration the team will discuss.

The alternative to tubes is continued watchful waiting with hearing checks, or repeated courses of antibiotics for infections. Each path has trade-offs. Antibiotics carry their own side effects and contribute to resistance; waiting can prolong a hearing loss during a period when language is developing. Weighing these against the tube’s complications is the core of the conversation with the ENT team, and reasonable families make different choices.

Can ear tubes change behavior?

Ask a room of parents whose toddlers have had tubes and you will hear a striking pattern: “It was like getting a different kid back.” Calmer, chattier, sleeping better, less clingy. The stories are consistent enough that they deserve a serious answer rather than a shrug.

The mechanism is plausible. Middle ear fluid causes a mild conductive hearing loss, the kind that comes from sound being blocked on its way in rather than from nerve damage. The NHS compares it to listening with your fingers in your ears. A 2-year-old living in that muffled world may misunderstand instructions, tune out, fall behind in speech, and express frustration in the only way available to a toddler. Chronic low-grade ear pressure can also disturb sleep. Remove the fluid and hearing returns within days, so a shift in mood and engagement is not surprising.

What the research actually shows is more measured. Studies confirm that tubes improve hearing while they are in place and reduce the time children spend with fluid in the ear. Evidence on longer-term outcomes, such as language scores or behavior ratings years later, is mixed, and reviews have generally not found large lasting differences between children who had tubes and those who were carefully watched, likely because most children’s ears improve either way. That does not make the short-term change parents see any less real; it means the benefit is concentrated in the here and now, during the months a child would otherwise be hearing poorly.

A candid framing: if a child’s fluid is affecting hearing, tubes are likely to make daily life easier for that child fairly quickly. Whether they change the long arc of development is uncertain, and a clinician who tells you otherwise is going beyond the evidence. The decision should rest on the hearing test and the child’s current struggles, not on promises about the future.

What people often get wrong about ear tubes

Ear tubes generate an unusual amount of folklore, partly because so many families have a story. A few corrections, each grounded in mainstream patient information from Mayo Clinic, MedlinePlus and the NHS.

“The tubes are removed at a second surgery.” Usually not. Short-term tubes fall out on their own in the great majority of children. Removal is reserved for tubes that overstay by years or for certain long-term designs.

“Once the tubes are in, no more ear infections.” Infections can still happen, but they typically present as painless drainage from the ear canal rather than a screaming, feverish night, and they are usually managed with drops. That is a genuine improvement, not an elimination.

“No swimming for as long as the tubes are in.” Mayo Clinic notes earplugs are generally unnecessary for bathing and surface swimming. Some surgeons advise protection for lake water or deep diving. Ask your team rather than assuming a ban.

“Tubes fall out because the child pulled at their ear.” The eardrum pushes the tube out through normal tissue migration. Ear-pulling does not cause it, and a tube that came out early is not anyone’s fault.

“A blocked or fallen-out tube is an emergency.” Neither is. Both are addressed at a routine visit unless there is pain, fever or foul discharge.

“Tubes fix speech delay.” They restore hearing, which removes one barrier. Speech develops through many inputs, and a child who is behind may still benefit from speech and language support regardless of tubes.

“Older children and adults cannot get tubes.” They can and do. The procedure is simply far more common in toddlers because that is when Eustachian tube problems peak.

The thread running through all of these is the same: tubes are a temporary ventilation aid, not a permanent repair, and their value lies in bridging the years until a child’s own anatomy catches up.

Questions to ask your care team

A good ENT consultation is a two-way conversation, and it goes better when you arrive with specific questions. These are the ones that tend to matter most for the months and years after surgery, rather than the surgery itself.

• Which type of tube do you plan to use, short-term or long-term, and what led you to that choice for my child?
• Roughly how long do you expect this tube to stay in, and at what point would you consider it retained?
• How often will you want to see us for follow-up, and will a hearing test be part of each visit?
• What should drainage look like in the first week, and what kind of drainage would you want to hear about?
• What are your specific instructions about bath water, pools, and lakes?
• If the tube falls out early and fluid returns, what would the plan be? How many sets of tubes would you consider before looking at other causes?
• Are the adenoids a factor here, and would you assess them if a second set of tubes were needed?
• How will you decide whether the eardrum has healed properly after the tube comes out?
• What signs at home would mean the tube is blocked or not working?
• If we notice a change in hearing or speech between visits, should we call you, the pediatrician, or an audiologist?

Write down the answers, particularly the tube type and the expected follow-up interval. Ear tubes have a long tail; a child may be under observation for 2 years or more, often across several clinicians. A simple note in your phone with the surgery date, the tube type, and each visit’s findings makes every later conversation shorter and more accurate.

None of these questions is a challenge to the team’s judgment. Specialists generally welcome them, because a family that understands the plan is far more likely to turn up for the follow-up that keeps small problems small.

When to call your doctor

Most of what happens with ear tubes is unhurried and handled at scheduled visits. A small number of situations should prompt a call to the ENT office or pediatrician sooner, and a smaller number need urgent attention. The following draws on patient guidance from Mayo Clinic, MedlinePlus and the NHS.

Call the care team within a day or so if you notice:

• Drainage from the ear that continues for more than a few days after surgery, returns after it had stopped, or has a foul smell.
• Ear pain in a child with tubes, since a working tube should prevent the pressure that causes pain, and pain suggests the tube may be blocked or has come out.
• A return of the signs that led to tubes in the first place: louder TV, not responding to their name, or speech that seems to slip backward.
• You find a tube on the pillow or in wax; there is no urgency, but the team will want to schedule a check of the eardrum.
• Blood-tinged drainage beyond the first few days, or any drainage in an adult with tubes that lasts more than a week.

Seek same-day or emergency care if there is:

• High fever with ear pain, especially with a stiff neck, severe headache, or an unusually drowsy or hard-to-rouse child.
• Redness, swelling or tenderness of the bone behind the ear, or the ear itself appearing pushed forward.
• Sudden dizziness, loss of balance, or a facial droop on one side.
• Sudden and marked loss of hearing in one or both ears.

These red flags are uncommon, and listing them is not meant to alarm. It is meant to give you a clear line between what can wait for the next appointment and what should not. When in doubt, a phone call costs nothing but a few minutes, and the team would far rather hear about a false alarm than miss a real one. All decisions about treatment, including whether to change or stop any ear drops, belong with the clinicians looking after your child.

Frequently asked questions

How long do ear tubes last before they fall out?

Short-term ear tubes typically last about 6 to 18 months before falling out on their own, according to Mayo Clinic, with the NHS citing 6 to 12 months for the same devices, which it calls grommets. Long-term tubes are designed to stay for 2 years or more and sometimes need to be removed by a specialist. The exact timing depends on tube design and how quickly the eardrum heals.

Is it painful for ear tubes to fall out?

No, the process is not usually painful. The eardrum gradually pushes the tube out over weeks as its tissue renews, so there is no sudden event to feel. Most families only discover a tube has come out when a specialist sees it in the ear canal or it appears in some earwax. If a child has ear pain around this time, it more likely signals returning fluid or infection and is worth a call.

At what age do doctors stop putting tubes in ears?

Doctors do not stop at any age; adults receive ear tubes for chronic Eustachian tube problems and persistent middle ear fluid. The procedure is most common in children aged about 2 to 5, the age range the NHS identifies as the peak for glue ear, because the Eustachian tube is short and drains poorly at that stage. Most children simply outgrow the need as their anatomy matures.

What are the downsides of having tubes in your ears?

The most common downside is drainage from the ear, which usually signals infection reaching the middle ear through the tube and is generally managed with drops. Tubes can also block, fall out early so that fluid returns, or occasionally leave a hole in the eardrum that does not close. A chalky scar on the eardrum is common and rarely affects hearing. The brief general anesthetic is a further consideration the team will discuss.

Can ear tubes change behavior in a toddler?

Many parents report calmer, more engaged children within days, and the mechanism is plausible: fluid behind the eardrum muffles hearing, and restoring it removes a source of frustration and missed communication. Research confirms hearing improves while tubes are in place, but evidence on long-term behavior or language outcomes is mixed. The change parents notice is real; whether it lasts beyond the period of hearing loss is uncertain.

What happens at an ear tube follow-up visit?

The specialist checks that each tube is still seated in the eardrum and that its channel is open, often using a brief pressure test called tympanometry. They look for drainage, inflamed tissue or scarring around the tube, and usually repeat a hearing test. Visits are typically a few weeks after surgery and then every 6 to 12 months until the tubes are out and the eardrums have healed.

Are ear tubes for toddlers safe to have under general anesthesia?

Placing tubes requires a child to hold completely still while a surgeon works through a microscope, so toddlers have a brief general anesthetic, usually lasting only minutes. Mayo Clinic describes serious anesthesia complications in healthy children as rare. The anesthesia team will review your child’s health history beforehand, and any concerns about a specific child’s risk should be raised with them directly.

What happens if an ear tube stays in too long?

A tube that remains beyond roughly 2 to 3 years is usually discussed for removal, because the longer it sits, the greater the chance the eardrum will not close once it leaves. A retained tube that is open and dry is not dangerous in itself, which is why removal is planned at a routine visit rather than urgently. The procedure is brief and may include a small patch to help the opening heal.

Can my child swim with ear tubes in?

In most cases, yes. Mayo Clinic notes that earplugs are generally not needed for bathing or surface swimming in treated pools. Some surgeons recommend ear protection for lake or river water and for diving below the surface, because of pressure and bacteria. Practice varies between teams, so follow the specific instructions you were given and ask if anything is unclear.

Do ear infections come back after tubes fall out?

Sometimes. By the time a short-term tube falls out, many children’s Eustachian tubes have matured enough to prevent fluid from returning, and their ear trouble ends there. In others, fluid or infections come back and a second set of tubes may be considered. This is why the specialist schedules a visit after the tube is out, to confirm the eardrum has closed and check hearing.

References

• MedlinePlus: Ear tube insertion
• NHS: Glue ear

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.