The symptoms of glue ear are not always very obvious.

Glue ear can affect a child’s hearing, although the hearing loss may not be present all the time and may fluctuate. This can sometimes make it difficult to know if your child is having hearing problems.

If their hearing is affected, a child may sometimes not respond when talked to, may find it difficult to concentrate and quickly get tired and irritable.

Young children may be slow to develop speech. Older children may be able to tell you if they cannot hear very well. You may notice that they say ‘pardon?’ or ‘what?’ a lot, or that they turn the television up loud.