chronic sinusitus and middle ear infection

My 3 y.o. son was diagnosed with sinusitus and ear infections and has been on medication since Chinese New Year. It is now May and we are still seeing an ENT specialist as his sinus still hasn't cleared and he also has fluid build-up in one of his middle ears.

I am concerned that it is taking so long to treat. Fortunately my son doesn't mind taking medicine and the illness doesn't seem to bother him. Can anyone offer any alternative solutions or advice? We have already switched ENT once. Do you think we should seek a 3rd opinion? Has anyone tried homeopathy with small children? Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

While your son does not mind taking the medicine a lot of antibiotics are not good for anyone, including young children. Have you asked your ENT about alternatives?


Have they suggested grommets/tubes in his ears?


I hope someone here has some more relevant and better advice for you... good luck.

Cri, the ENT said my son's case, although lingering, is not (yet) so serious that he requires tubes/grommets. He is hoping by giving him medication which will hopefully dry up the mucus then his sinus and ears will have a chance to clear up by themselves. He has been off antibiotics for over 2 months now, just on Mucodyne, Actifed Cold and a nasal spray.


Exyogi, thanks for the info. I will try eliminating dairy, could be difficult but he loves his milk and cheese. Not alot, but in the morning and before bed, but I guess probably enough to cause a problem. where did you hear about the colloidal silver? have you tried it yourself?

Exyogi - the only posts I ever see you make are about 'real milk'

Why? What is your connection?

If the air in Macau has been as bad as the air in GZ, you might consider upper respiratory allergies or sinus irritation as a culprit. Consider a HEPA air filter especially for the bedroom, and also a humidifier to keep the nasal secretions from getting dry and hard inside (hard to believe we would need a humidifier but my doc says the AC dries out the indoor air). In case it's other common allergies (which can simply surface on their own, not related to China), try paying obsessive attention to dust, dust mites, and any possible mildew or mold anywhere in the house. Doctors have pamphlets to tell you how to do this, or the info is available on the internet. Also, China AC units don't seem to have the same level of filtering I was used to, but my friends gave me a great suggestion -- get a bulk roll of the filter material that's used in large fish tanks and cut it to fit over your room AC blower. My AC unit would actually accomodate the fish tank material inside, on top of the washable plastic grate that supposedly funtions as the built in AC filter. If these measures don't work, you could consider possible food allergies -- allergists and probably ENT's too have pamphlets giving instructions on how to put together an "elimination diet" to systematically identify possible food allergens. Did the doc prescribe the actifed cold? If your son doesn't have a fever then perhaps could switch to something that just has the decongestant or antihistamine without the tylenol. Run all the ideas on this bb by your doc on the next visit! Tubes in the ears would be terribly inconvenient for a child who wanted to swim and play in the water this summer. Hope those can be avoided!

You may want to try an ENT in HK at the chinese University - Dr. Van hasel - who is also head of surgery for the university and Prince of Wales hospital - considered top ENT in Asia Pacific.

thanks everyone for your suggestions and advice.

Wayne G, do you have the contact details for Dr. Van hasel. Do you know if I can just make an appointment to see him or do I need to referred?

Your child is too young for this, but I just took my 6 year old to doctor for bad sinus congestion a few days ago. He said if the child has learned to hold their breath to swim, they are capable of learning sinus irrigation. In his office, he taught my daughter how to do sinus irrigation and she loved it. It helped her so much, she asked to go back and do it again the next day. (It gets rid of all the old gumpy congestion, and it also washes the allergens out of the nasal passages.) For what it's worth, this particular sinus irrigator that you can order a "baby tip" for is called a grossan hydropulse. I got mine in the USA but he said there is a HK distributor for it.

Just for another thought - did your son suffer from reflux as a baby. It may be ongoing and silent (yes even at three) and this is often a cause of long term middle ear infection and sinusitis. Babies with reflux often spike fevers which are put down to "unknown origin" and actually it is inflamation of the middle ear from reflux.

My daughter had this problem, we ended up with grommits!

Good luck, poor little boy - hope you get some joy soon.

Thanks for all your replies. The funny thing is he has not complained except that one time at CNY when we first discovered his ear/sinus infection and his ear was obviously very painful , but other than that one time despite the sinus congestion he does not complain which makes it very difficult to understand when the docs say he is still not 100%. Touch wood the last 2 weeks even his nose and cough have cleared up so hoping we are heading in the right direction finally.

Midwife, interestingly, my son did suffer from reflux as a baby - he had a floppy larynx and reflux is usually linked with this condition, but he has outgrown it. ENT says his condition not serious enough to put in grommits. Have been given him vitamin supplements and they may be helping. WOuld be interested in trying out a homeopath so justgorgeous, would be grateful if you have number for Dr. Jay. thanks all.