Glue ear and grommets · Guide
Glue ear and grommets explorer: guide
What glue ear is, what a grommet does, and how clinicians set up the picture.
For patients and families
What the picture shows
A 3D model of the ear. Behind the ear drum is the middle ear, a tiny space that is normally full of air, with three small hearing bones inside. A narrow tube, the Eustachian tube, joins it to the back of the nose and lets air in.
What glue ear is
In glue ear, the middle ear fills with fluid instead of air, often after a cold, when the tube to the back of the nose gets blocked. The fluid can be thin or thick and sticky, like glue. It stops the ear drum and bones moving freely, so sounds seem quiet or muffled. It is very common in young children, and usually isn’t painful.
Glue ear often gets better on its own within about 3 months, so your team may check hearing again before deciding on any treatment.
What a grommet does
A grommet is a tiny tube placed in the ear drum during a short operation. It lets air into the middle ear, so the fluid can drain and hearing can return to normal. Grommets usually fall out on their own after 6 to 12 months, and the ear drum heals.
Things you could ask
“Can you show me where the fluid is?”
“Why does it happen?”
“Can you show me what a grommet does?”
Afterwards
Your clinician can give you a picture sheet with a QR code that opens the same picture on your phone. Nothing about you or your child is stored online. If a child has severe ear pain, a high temperature, swelling behind the ear, or is very unwell, contact your GP urgently or call NHS 111.
What it can’t do
The model is simplified and can’t tell you what is wrong. It helps you picture what your clinician is explaining.
For clinicians
Before you start
The explorer opens at a healthy left ear in the cut-away view, with an air-filled middle ear. Add the findings, then use Patient view to hide the set-up panel while you explain. It works well with a parent and child looking together.
Setting it up
| Control | What to set |
|---|---|
| Which ear | Left or right. The whole model mirrors. |
| Fluid behind the ear drum | None, some (a fluid level) or full. |
| What the fluid is like | Thin and runny, or thick (glue). A full, thick effusion shows the drum dull and pushed outwards. |
| Blocked tube | Shows the Eustachian tube narrowed, to explain why fluid collects. |
| Hole in the ear drum | A small or large perforation. |
| Grommet | None, in the ear drum (with air shown passing into the middle ear), or coming out and lying in the canal. |
Views
- Cut-away and Middle and inner ear: the fluid, ossicles and Eustachian tube, for explaining why hearing is muffled.
- Through the otoscope: the drum as you see it, including its colour with fluid behind it and a grommet in place.
- Outer ear and Whole head: orientation.
What the model assumes
- The model is an adult-sized ear. In children the ear canal is shorter and the Eustachian tube shorter and more horizontal; the guide for families explains this.
- Fluid level, thickness and drum position are illustrative, not measured.
- The tool shows the option your team has chosen. It does not recommend grommets, hearing aids or watchful waiting.
Picture sheet and QR code
Snapshot up to four views, add an optional note (for example the date of the next hearing test), then preview the A4 sheet. When a grommet is shown, it can include what the operation involves. The QR code reopens the picture on the family’s phone and never holds a name or notes.
This tool is new. If you work in paediatric ENT, audiology or primary care and can review it, please get in touch.