| Allergy tests are a lot easier than they were when I was a kid. The last time I had an allergy test done, they did a "scratch test" on one arm. The doctor pricked me a total of 7 times with a mixture of different allergens. He knew within 30 minutes what I was allergic to.
If your son is having allergies that cause his nose to run, chances are that this could also be causing the problem with his ears. I'd try to get the allergy situation taken care of BEFORE you have tubes put in his ears. Talk with the allergist to find out how long it should take to know if your son's hearing is improving. If he isn't better by that time, you can make the appointment with the ENT specialist.
My little brother (he's 40 years old now) went through the tubes in his ear thing several times. It turns out that he just had allergies that irritated his sinuses, throat, and filled his ears with fluid. Once the fluid was in there, his ears would become infected, swelling would occur, and another set of tubes was put in. Eventually, these cycles took their toll on him and he's 3/4 deaf in one ear and totally deaf in the other ear.
On the bright side, he seems to have outgrown a lot of his childhood allergies.
Good luck to your son!  | 
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