A mild infantile body is at times more at risk of picking up a disease. In the first place are infectious diseases and diseases of the upper respiratory tract. However, no less often children have problems with the auditory canal. Provoke them can not only catarrhal disease, but mechanical damage.
What should I do if suddenly a child's hearing begins to deteriorate? Does this indicate the onset of the disease, or is it a small temporary problem that can be eliminated on our own?
The child does not hear the ear
Children, like adults, may have some hearing problems.
Do not underestimate this problem, as often enough damage to the hearing aid can be of a global nature.
Newborns, infants and children under 3 years of age are not in a position to tell their parents about the pains and discomforts that may disturb them.
It's also not immediately parents can notice that the child has problems with the perception of sounds.
Causes of
Without the help of a specialist, it is quite difficult to determine the cause of the appearance of hearing loss. It is especially difficult to diagnose the problem in infants and babies. If such a small child has a disorder in the hearing aid, then often it has a hereditary origin.
In the case of older children, the reasons can be very diverse. In the first place, of course, are infectious diseases. However, not always the main essence of the problem is precisely in them.
So, if the problem is found in infants, then most of the violations occur for the following reasons.
| Causes of | Consequences of |
|---|---|
| Adverse during gestation period | A complex course of delivery that manifests itself in frequent toxicosis, the threat of miscarriage, and also in poor health. An exciting symptom may be considered the opening of bleeding, frequent fainting. Also, the use of alcohol, drugs, intoxicating substances can be adversely affected by the child in terms of hearing. To bad consequences leads the reception of some varieties of antibiotics. |
| Complications of childbirth | A child may lose his hearing during premature birth, as well as due to the fact that during the birth, problems arose that prevented the free intake of oxygen. The appearance of such problems can lead to premature birth, cesarean, carelessness of the doctor. |
In congenital abnormalities with hearing, the child almost always has other health problems. These include diseases of the endocrine and nervous system, eye diseases, allergic reactions, anomalies in the structure of the external ear, as well as lesions of the musculoskeletal system.
Also to the problem with hearing in the child can result:
- jaundice, which appeared almost immediately after birth;
- rubella, syphilis, which was in the mother during the gestation period;
- small weight of the child.
Acquired causes of hearing loss are no less diverse, but somehow they are more successful in eliminating. This gives a strong chance of recovery and the belief that the child will have a full audibility.
| Cause | Consequences of |
|---|---|
| Otitis | Most often provokes hearing loss as an accompanying symptom. Otitis of the middle ear occurs in children of school age quite often due to hypothermia or prolonged catarrhal disease. |
| Ear plug | One of the most harmless causes of hearing loss. Excessive accumulation of sulfur is easily eliminated and does not pose any danger to the child. |
| Damage to the eardrum | Hearing loss of this kind can occur due to mechanical trauma, excessive acoustic impact, or due to otitis media. Damaged membrane is poorly restored. Therefore, the untimely elimination of the problem entails a significant decrease in hearing and its partial loss. |
| Infectious disease | Most often, hearing loss occurs due to excessively weakened immunity, inattention to parents and peculiarities of the structure of the ear canal. |
There may also be such problems:
- foreign object in the auditory canal;
- treatment with ototoxic agents.
How to detect hearing impairment in a child in our video:
Provoking factors
Medicine has more than half of cases when hearing problems in a child arise precisely because of a particular disease.
- Otitis media of the middle ear - affects the auditory canal, leading to the accumulation of fluid inside the ear. In addition to hearing loss, acute pain, fever, and weakness are associated with the symptoms.
- Chronic infection of the ears - accompanied by the appearance of pus, blood, fluid.
- Meningitis is an inflammatory process of the soft membranes of the brain and spinal cord, which provokes a sharp deterioration in hearing.
- Pig - an acute viral disease leading to inflammation of the salivary glands.
- Measles is an infectious disease that, if aggravated, can cause deafness.
Symptoms of
How can I tell if a child has a hearing loss? First of all, you need to pay attention to such symptoms:
- inattention;
- apathetic condition;
- irritability;
- abrasions on the ears;
- redness of the ears;
- misunderstanding;
- Conducting conversations in loud tones.
If the hearing loss is associated with any disease, the baby may suffer from weakness, noise and ringing in the ear, headache, fatigue, fever and pain inside the ear canal, a feeling of embarrassment.
What to do if the child does not hear the ear, see in our video:
Diagnosis and necessary studies
Diagnosis and collection of anamnesis allows you to determine the cause of the appearance of deafness. So, in addition to the examination, the doctor appoints an audiological examination. It includes the study of brain potentials and audible frequencies, impedance measurement. Such objective methods allow at an early stage to determine the degree of hearing loss and to prescribe effective treatment.
Analyzes of
If a child is suspected of an infectious disease that has caused a complication on the ears, some tests must be performed. They will help to detect the pathogen and determine the degree of inflammation.
Among the most important analyzes are:
- total blood test;
- taking a sample of pus, blood or other discharge from the ears;
- testing of general analyzes to determine the general state;
- blood biochemistry for the detection of genetic and chronic diseases.
Assays are administered exclusively by the doctor's recommendations. It relies on the child's condition, the degree of neglect of the problem, and also on previous ear canal studies that were made during the survey.
Treatment of
Treatment for deafness is carried out according to the received indications. With congenital deafness, only a hearing aid can make a child's life easier. Surgical intervention in this case is meaningless. In cases where the deafness has been acquired, the necessary treatment is prescribed.
Medication
Depending on the type of disease that caused deafness, the child is prescribed the necessary drugs. Among them:
- antibiotics;
- pain relievers;
- antihistamines;
- ear drops with anesthetics;
- vasoconstrictor drugs.
One of the main points can be considered monitoring the state of the child. With improvements, treatment continues until symptoms improve. If the dynamics are not observed, then the doctor changes the tactics of treatment.
Folk methods and physiotherapy
Folk remedies can be successfully combined together with traditional methods of treatment. They perfectly remove the inflammatory process and facilitate the process of recovery. For the treatment of doctors recommend using:
- chamomile;
- honey;
- juice of dandelions;
- pumpkin juice;
- juice of plantain;
- lotion from vodka;
- lotion based on onion juice;
- propolis.
The patient is also shown physioprocedures. They consist of washing in the presence of pus and other secretions, light therapy, the use of ultraviolet rays. Procedures are appointed as the duration and stage of the disease.
Surgical intervention
Surgical treatment is prescribed only as a last resort. Among the methods most common in children are:
- myringotomy - incision of the tympanic membrane;
- tympanoplasty - opening of the tympanic membrane with further implantation of drainage, facilitating the outflow of pus;
- removal of tonsils, adenoids.
Children with hearing aids
Prognosis and prevention
With a competent approach to treatment, hearing is restored quickly enough. If the child has congenital deafness, then he is assigned maintenance therapy, as well as the constant use of the hearing aid.
As for preventive measures, the child should be protected from hypothermia, drafts, making his lifestyle as rich and diverse as possible. The main emphasis should be on physical activity and proper nutrition. Also, you should contact the doctor in a timely manner if you notice a worsening of the baby's hearing.