How to prevent and aid hearing loss in children?

How to prevent and aid hearing loss in children

Hearing loss can make conversations hard. Although some hearing loss is common with ageing, it may also occur congenitally or after birth, anytime.

Hearing loss is diagnosable, treatable, and preventable. So here in this article, we shall discuss how hearing loss occurs in children, how it impacts them, and how our ENT clinic in Dubai can help children with hearing loss treatment.

How hearing loss occurs among children?

It is estimated 2 out of 1000 infants born have congenital hearing loss. It is a common by-birth hearing defect. Hearing loss can occur in children by birth or after birth due to a disease, accident, or tumor development in the ear canal or other parts affecting hearing.

  • Diabetes, or lifestyle conditions
  • Ear infections or earwax buildup affects the ear canal and eardrum.
  • Exposure to excessive ear drops
  • Family history of hearing loss
  • Medications to treat cancer, heart disease, and infections.
  • Tumors

 

Hearing loss is a common sensory processing disorder and interferes with how the brain processes information perceived by the senses and how to respond; for example, if your child has hearing loss, he/she would listen to T.V music in a loud voice. Hearing a loud voice is in response to not being able to listen to a normal sound. 

How hearing loss affects children?

Hearing loss can affect your child’s growth and development in the following ways:

  • Poor academic performance
  • Social seclusion
  • Poor listening skills
  • Lack of interest in game and play
  • Lack of cognitive development

Signs that say, “Your child is losing hearing ability.”

Here are some indications of his/her hearing loss.

  • Not reacting to loud sounds.
  • Not able to detect the sound source.
  • Making Um, Ummm, yeah sounds to answer.
  • Babbles with speech.
  • Non-reactive to normal voices

Diagnosis of hearing loss in children

If you suspect hearing loss in your child, you must consult the best ENT specialist. Sometimes, hearing loss can happen due to ear wax, which our ENT specialist, Dr. Peter, may treat with ear wax removal, but sometimes hearing loss may occur due to uncanny reasons, which only a good ENT specialist can find out with a thorough diagnosis.

Typically, Dr. Peter recommends the following tests to determine hearing loss and its intensity.

  • Hearing assessment test– It is a comprehensive test of a child’s hearing abilities.
  • Audiogram tests– to configure degree and type of hearing loss: mixed, sensory, or constructive hearing loss
  • Internal examination of ear and throat 
  • MRI – To obtain internal scans of a child’s ear, throat, or brain that the doctor suspects to cause hearing loss.

Hearing loss treatment in Dubai

The hearing loss treatment in Dubai will comprise the following treatments

  • Headphones or hearing devices– to properly channel sound into the ear canal.
  • Hearing assistive implants such as cochlear implants to aid inner ear hearing loss.
  • Hearing therapy– Hearing loss can lessen his/her listening skills. Hearing therapy is a rehabilitative therapy to stimulate a child’s interactive skills.
  • Medications– If hearing loss is temporary, our ENT specialist gives corticosteroid or antibiotic medications to mitigate ear infections.
  • Surgery– In rare cases, hearing loss occurs due to tumor growth in the ear, throat, or brain.  Surgery aims to remove the growth and restore hearing.

How PARENTS can help prevent hearing loss in children

  • Inculcating positive ear hygiene
  • Noticing and verifying early signs of hearing loss 
  • And visiting an ENT specialist once every two years.

Probably, these preventions can help reduce the hearing loss risk in your child to a great extent. However, the third point of prevention- visiting an ENT specialist at least once every two years. It is important to keep ENT issues like hearing loss at bay because our expert and one of the best ENT doctors in Dubai has treated thousands of cases in which hearing loss was not clearly observable.

Book an appointment at our ENT clinic in Dubai to get your child’s hearing tested.

 Dr Peter Baptista Jardin

European Board Certified ENT Doctor In Dubai

Dr. Peter Baptista Jardin is an ENT specialist with a special interest in treating sleep apnea. He is a revered expert in Spain for performing the first ever robotic transoral surgery in 2011, and the only series of hypoglossal nerve stimulation proved revolutionary for obstructive sleep apnea treatment worldwide. He currently serves as an ENT doctor in Dubai’s Al Zahra Hospital.