Glue ear - Symptoms of glue ear

The most common sign of glue ear is hearing loss, which can affect one or both ears.

If your child is struggling to hear, they may:

have difficulty understanding people who are far away
speak quietly
appear unusually tired or irritable because they have to try harder to listen to things
have problems picking out conversations in places where there is a lot of background noise
easily "tune out" of conversations when they are distracted
only be able to understand face-to-face conversations that take place at a short distance
experience problems with communication, learning and social skills (these problems will usually resolve once hearing is restored to normal)

Less common symptoms of glue ear include:

episodes of mild ear pain
irritability
problems sleeping
balance problems and clumsiness
tinnitus (hearing a ringing noise in the affected ear or ears)
delayed speech and language development in younger children if the condition lasts a long time

It's important to see your GP if you're concerned that your child may be having problems with their hearing.

While glue ear is usually the most common cause of hearing loss in children, further tests may be required to rule out other possible causes.