SAN ANTONIO – It's a $3 billion-a-year industry that not all kids are benefitting from.
Ear tubes placed in the eardrum to drain fluid from the middle ear. The idea is to reduce the risk of repeat ear infections and hearing loss.
About 7 percent of children have the tiny tubes by age 3.
And new guidelines should help parents figure out if their kids really need them.
Brooke Meabon's son Harris wasn't a happy camper before ear tubes.
She says he had persistent ear infections from the time he was 3 months old until he was about a year old. Her daughter Harper also had them, which stemmed from allergies.
For her children, ear tubes turned out to be a great solution for their ear infections.
"We could finally tell when he had ear infections because we could see drainage come out of his ears," she said.
Despite how common the tubes are, it's been hard for parents to know if and when their child should get them.
To reduce the confusion, the first guidelines on ear tubes have been issued.
Kids need tubes if they have multiple ear infections or fluids in the ear, which is causing problems like hearing loss, balance problems or problems in school.
Pediatrician Dr. Sarah Bourland says being judicious about who gets tubes in will help to reduce unnecessary surgery in young children.
"It's not appropriate to put tubes in after one ear infection, but when kids are having a pattern of multiple ear infections, then it's very important to consider tubes," Bourland said.
For Meabon's children, her pediatrician monitored her kids' multiple ear infections. Now they have a much better quality of life -- thanks to ear tubes.
Some other benefits of ear tubes include decreased numbers of infections and decreased use of antibiotics.
For a list of recent stories Mariza Mendoza has done, click here.