Causes of hearing loss in childhood
Decreased hearing can be congenital or acquired. Infections, injuries, medications and even external noise can harm a child.
Hearing loss is a serious development damage.babyPhoto: Getty The baby distinguishes sounds while still in the mother’s belly. From the moment of birth, he hears no worse than adults. But some genetic diseases lead to the birth of hard of hearing and deaf children. Hearing organs are damaged due to premature birth, viral diseases of the mother and the use of antibiotics during pregnancy. Hearing can decrease after birth for the following reasons:
- rupture of the eardrum;
- serious infections - meningitis, measles, mumps, whooping cough;
- brain injury;
- Meniere's syndrome;
- taking certain medicines;
- started otitis media
In addition to diseases, external factors cause hearing loss - constant loud noise and passive smoking.
Symptoms of hearing loss in children
In the maternity hospital, doctors test hearingevery newborn. But then the child is brought up in a family, and parents should notice the first signs of hearing loss. Mom and dad should be wary if the baby aged from 1 to 9 months does not flinch at loud sounds, does not recognize familiar voices, does not pay attention to the noises made by toys. Remember: a child of 10-15 months should be able to repeat simple sounds, respond in your name, attract the voice of adults. Children from 3 to 14 years may experience temporary or permanent hearing loss. In this case, the child speaks worse than his peers, inadvertently answers questions. He does not always understand what he is told. If you notice that the child sits closer to the TV, doesn’t hear the conversation on the phone, several times a day asks: “What?” Or “Eh?” or audiologist. The loss of hearing in children leads to speech disorders, mental retardation and emotional development. However, in 80% of cases hearing loss is cured and corrected. The sooner parents notice a child’s problem, the more chances they have to help! Read also:
