HEARING LOSS IN CHILDREN

About 6 TO 16 % children in INDIA have hearing loss in one ear (unilateral) or both ears (bilateral)

Early detection and management of hearing loss are very important and will help a child stay on track with developmental milestones.

Signs and symptoms

● Does not respond to sounds and voices — or stops responding consistently
● Is not meeting age- appropriate speech and language milestones
● Has frequent middle ear infections and/or middle ear fluid
● Turns up the volume of music or television
● Says “what?” a lot and needs information or requests repeated

● Types

● Conductive – hearing problem caused by condition affecting the outer and/or middle ear.

● Sensorineural – hearing problem caused by condition affecting the inner ear.
● Mixed – hearing problem caused by a condition affecting both the outer and/or middle ear and the inner ear.
● Neural – hearing problem where the ear detects sound normally but has difficulty sending the information to the brain.

TREATMENT

specialists will check your child’s ears to make sure that other conditions such as ear wax or middle ear fluid are not contributing to your child’s hearing loss.

At Sagar ENT, audiologists conduct hearing evaluations for children from birth until early adulthood

If hearing loss is found, team of specialists will provide you with appropriate resources, intervention services, and ongoing follow-up care

If your child is younger than 5 years of age, they should be evaluated as soon as possible because it will effect your child’s speech and language development.

Some children who are diagnosed with hearing loss benefit from being fit with a hearing device (such as a hearing aid, bone conduction hearing device or cochlear implant)

The results will help you to understand your child’s ability to learn and is useful in creating your child’s educational plan.