5 year old ear hurts.

oh the poor little guy! my sister had ear troubles for most of her childhood. they put the tubes in her ears twice! i cant even remember how many surgeries they did trying to fix whatever the problem was. she is 28yrs old now and still has over 50% hearing loss in one ear. my 12yr old gets earaches at least twice a year it seems. whenever its cold out and the wind is blowing i make her put cotton in her ears! which she hates, but does seem to help keep the aches from starting. not sure if that is REALLY happening or if it just seems like it though. i hate that totally helpless feeling, when they are in pain and there isnt anything you can do to make it go away faster!! sending good thoughts that if they do decide to go with the tubes, that it will fix the problem!