Glue ear - Preventing glue ear

As the cause of glue ear isn't fully understood, there is no known way of preventing it.

However, there are steps that can be taken to reduce two of the known risk factors for children. These include:

• breastfeeding your baby rather than bottlefeeding
• making sure your child isn't raised in a smoky environment and avoiding close contact with people who smoke (passive smoking)

Passive smoking

It is unclear why passive smoking increases the risk of developing glue ear. It may be that the smoke irritates the lining of the Eustachian tube (the tube linking the middle ear with the back of the throat), causing it to become inflamed.

Not smoking around your children also has many other important health benefits, including:

• reducing the risk of developing asthma
• reducing the risk of developing a chronic lung condition in adulthood
• reducing the risk of dying from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), also known as cot death

If you smoke, always try to smoke outside your house. Smoking in another room can still affect your children's health because the smoke can easily travel from one room to another, and the toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke can stay in the air for several hours.

If you decide to stop smoking, your GP will be able to refer you to an NHS Smokefree service, which will provide you with dedicated help and advice about the best ways to give up smoking.

You can also call the NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 022 4 332 (Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm, weekends 11am to 4pm). The specially trained helpline staff will be able to offer you free expert advice and encouragement.

For more information about giving up smoking, see treatment for stopping smoking and stop smoking advice.

Breastfeeding

As with passive smoking, it is uncertain why breastfeeding reduces the risk of glue ear. One theory is that breast milk contains proteins that help reduce inflammation inside the Eustachian tube.

Read more about the benefits of breastfeeding.