Loss of Hearing In Children
December 18, 2008
The human ear is composed of three main parts – the outer ear, the mid ear and the inner ear. The outer ear extends from the pinna or external portion visible to us to ear drum, and the mid and inner ears go beyond within. The outer ear is responsible for picking up stimuli and passing them on to the ear drum, which responds and converts sound to vibrations in the mid ear. The inner ear converts these to comprehensive sounds that we receive.
Problems in the ear, especially in children are difficult to detect, and are sometimes also difficult to cure. Help can be extended by operating, using medication, and in futile cases using hearing aids. It is most common to communicate with these patients using either raised voices, or with sign language. The experience can be rather traumatic for both the patient and the family involved.
Problems in the external ear, and hearing in children arise from the following main causes – wax formation, which is easy to detect and also cure through cleaning. Phlegm and mucus collection in the ear drum and auditary canal can also pose problems. Bones formed incorrectly and placed wrongly can also cause loss of hearing. Perforation of the ear drum and pus formation in the area cause loss of hearing as well. Another common cause can be inflammed or infected adenoids which can also impair hearing.
It is first important to detect the problem. Most times, these situations go unchecked due to mere negligeance, or even the fear of having to operate the ears and lose all hearing. About five percent of ear problems cannot be operated on, while the rest all have some form of cure.
At birth, it is a little difficult to ascertain a child’s hearing abilities. Children grow to respong by turning their head to the direction of the sounds, later beginning to respond to and recognise the voice of the mother. When at school, look for these symptoms to notice failure in proper hearing. Attention deficit brought to the notice of the parent by the teacher, or often recurring colds and phlegm collection which can lead to clogging of the ears as well.
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