Deafness is more common than expected in children and adolescents, and on the occasion of the International Day of Disability celebrated every December 3, the specialists in Otolaryngology and Psychology of Top Doctors are going to explain what this disease is and what guidelines should be followed by parents with children suffering from hearing problems.
What is deafness?
Deafness, hypoacusis or hearing impairment is a sensory disability that makes it impossible to receive sounds, making speech, language and, in general, communication difficult.
How to detect deafness in children at an early age
Deafness plays a very important role in children, since it is an aspect that greatly influences language acquisition and cognitive development. Nowadays, it is possible to detect hearing loss as soon as children are born thanks to universal hearing screening. It can also occur later, but there is no need to be alarmed as it can be detected early because its symptoms are quite striking. Experts in Otolaryngology explain the aspects that parents should be aware of in order to identify possible hearing loss in their children:
- At 6 months the baby does not babble.
- At one year of age, he/she does not react to sounds or to his/her name.
- At one and a half years of age, the baby does not imitate words or simple sounds.
- At two years of age, the baby does not pronounce more than 10 words.
- At three years of age does not say sentences of only two words.
- At four years of age does not develop simple sentences.
- History of otitis or factors related to deafness.
Causes of deafness
Deafness can be caused by genetic and environmental factors, although the origin cannot always be known with certainty. Genetic causes are those that are hereditary, and involve the appearance of deafness from birth, or the progressive development of deafness. Environmental causes, however, occur when deafness is the result of an accident, illness, trauma, intake of aggressive medications or long-term exposure to noise.
Most common pathologies of deafness that have surgical solution
- Cochlear Implant When a child is born deaf or with hardly any hearing, there is no need to be alarmed. The Cochlear Implant, which consists of an electronic implantation in the inner ear (cochlea) together with an external processor similar to a hearing aid, is a good option to recover hearing.
- Otosclerosis It affects the stapes, the smallest bone in the ear, and causes a progressive hearing loss that can lead to the child’s disability. The solution to this pathology is surgery, stapedotomy or stapedectomy, a laser microsurgical intervention that recovers almost all hearing in most cases.
- Festering otitis This is one of the most common problems, and is usually associated with perforation of the eardrum or cholesteatoma resulting from catarrhal otitis, which is very common in children, so caution should be exercised when a child catches a cold. The solution is, on the one hand, to submit the child to medical treatment against the infection, and the reconstruction of the eardrum. In this way, the child will recover part of the lost hearing.
- Implanted hearing aid When deafness is total, the child can wear hearing aids that allow him/her to develop language, learning and communication. In this way, it would not have any complications in their daily life, and if the “sonotone” is surgically implanted under the skin, it would have more advantages since it would allow the child to hear in situations in which he/she cannot wear the normal hearing aid: sleeping, in the shower…
- Acoustic Neurinoma It occurs when a benign tumor appears in the ear, which aggravates the situation by being poorly located. This results in tinnitus, dizziness and, consequently, hearing loss. Magnetic Resonance Imaging allows early diagnosis of this pathology, and if the tumor is small, in the case of a child, it can be removed and hearing can be preserved.
- Otologic vertigo This disease is caused by a lesion in the labyrinth and inner ear, which gives rise to violent vertiginous episodes, tinnitus and progressive hearing loss. If the patient does not respond to treatment, surgery is always an option.
Which of the above is the “best option” in the treatment of general deafness?
Many specialists confirm that the most prominent advance against profound sensorineural hearing loss is the cochlear implant. This choice has the advantage over other imperceptible devices that it offers better sound quality, reduces the level of feedback and the occlusion effect, providing better amplification of high frequencies.
This type of osseointegrated implant makes it possible to receive hearing from the affected side and transmit it to the healthy ear, giving the patient the sensation of hearing in both ears. This microsurgery goes hand in hand with the most advanced technology that makes it possible to recover hearing in people who, at another time in history, would not have been able to hear.
Living with a disabled child
Top Doctors’ experts in psychology state that when parents receive the news that their child suffers from a disability, they enter a stage of bewilderment in which parents think about how the disease will influence their child’s life. In addition, since it is a child, the emotional reaction is more intense. Usually, the most common fears of parents are the degree of interference that the pathology may cause in the child, the level of autonomy that he/she may have throughout his/her life, social problems derived from the same, psychological problems and in some cases, fear for the life of their child.
How should one act when faced with a child with a disability?
We must avoid reactions derived from sadness, anger and hopelessness about the future. The situation should be normalized as much as possible and the problem should not be given more importance than it already has.
In conclusion, parents must assimilate what is coming to them and act with all the means they have in their hands so that the situation is handled in the best possible way. Also, the time will come when the parents will have to inform the child about his pathology. First of all, they must have it assumed and carry it with the greatest serenity so that the child does not perceive it in a negative way. They should be prepared for the questions the child may ask them, and make sure of the right place and time to tell them the news. Ideally, do it in an intimate place where the child feels comfortable.
In addition, giving the child books or stories related to the disease can be quite useful for a better assimilation of the situation, and for the child to see that he/she is not the only one who suffers from it, so that he/she understands that it is something normal that can happen to anyone, and does not feel different. The child’s illness should not be an excuse for possible misbehavior, so the child should not be overprotected either. In this aspect, it is very important that when the child reaches adolescence, he/she is fully capable of informing his/her other friends and schoolmates of his/her pathology, so that he/she “normalizes” the situation with the others as well and is not excluded.