My ears never hurt. I just can't hear out of it. As for ear tubes, my mom wrote ear tubes and then listed a series of years. The list was longer than the line! I think they seemed to like sticking ear tubes in my ears for some odd reason. I must have had ear infections all the time as a kid and have not had many after that. I sometimes wonder if that is because I don't recognize it as a reason to see a doctor unless it hurts or I can't hear out of it.