Hearing loss in a child is a condition characterized by progressive or persistent hearing loss. The disease can be diagnosed in a child at any age, even in newborns. Currently, there are a lot of predisposing factors that lead to a decrease in sound perception. All of them are divided into several large groups and determine the features of the pathology.
Characteristics of hearing loss in a child are presented below.
Any form of illness is characterized by a lack of reaction to the sound emanating from toys, to a whisper or mother's voice. Among other things, in the clinical picture there are disorders of mental and speech development. A diagnostic feature is a check by a pediatric otolaryngologist, it is based on carrying out certain activities using a special set of tools. In addition to establishing the correct diagnosis, they aimdetermination of the stage of hearing loss. Based on the etiological factor, therapy can be physiotherapeutic, medical and surgical. Often, treatment requires an integrated approach.
Classification of this disease
Hearing loss in a child is characterized by incomplete hearing loss, in which the patient perceives sounds rather illegibly. Doctors note four degrees of hearing loss. Speech, depending on the amplification of the degree, becomes less and less understandable. The last degree is on the border with complete hearing loss.
The disease is divided by duration:
- acute - hearing worsens gradually, no more than a month has passed since the beginning of this process; occurs in most cases as a result of injury or infection;
- sudden flow - appears very quickly, up to a couple of hours;
- subacute - one to three months have passed since hearing loss;
- chronic - the patient has been sick for more than three months; this stage is the most responsive to therapy.
According to the place of inflammation of the auditory analyzer, hearing loss is classified:
- neural;
- conductive;
- mixed;
- touch;
- neurosensory.
If a child develops hearing loss in only one ear, this means that the disease is unilateral. Bilateral - in the presence of pathology in both ears.
Degrees of pathology
Specialists, determining the severity of the pathology, take as a basis the results of speech and tonalaudiometry:
- Hearing loss 1 degree in a child (with fluctuations from 26 to 40 dB). A child can clearly understand and hear conversational speech at a distance of 4-6 meters, and perceives a whisper at a distance of one to three meters. Constant noise makes speech difficult to understand.
- Hearing loss 2 degrees in a child (with fluctuations from 41 to 55 dB). The patient understands a conversation two to four meters away, a whisper from one meter.
- Hearing loss 3 degrees in a child (with fluctuations from 56 to 70 dB). The kid distinguishes a conversation in one or two meters, while the whisper becomes illegible.
- Hearing loss 4 degrees in children (with fluctuations from 71 to 90 dB). Spoken language is not heard at all.
If the hearing threshold is above 91 dB, doctors diagnose deafness. In some cases, having established the causes of the disease, it turns out to take the necessary measures that can slow down the progression of hearing loss.
Sensory hearing loss in children
This form of pathology is a combination of neural and sensory type. Both one and several departments can be exposed to inflammation at the same time: the auditory nerve, the inner ear. Most often, this type of hearing loss in a child develops due to injuries that were received during childbirth and when exposed to viruses or toxins.
This pathological form most often occurs in children, about 91% of cases. In seven percent of situations, conductive defects are detected. Mixed hearing loss is the least common.
Conductive hearing loss in young patients
This form of the disease, as conductive, is a disorder that spreads to the outer ear, the ossicles of the middle ear and the tympanic membrane. In such a situation, experts distinguish the first and second degrees of hearing loss.
The causes of the conductive type, as a rule, are:
- sulfur plug;
- traumatic disorders of the eardrum;
- processes of inflammation in the ear;
- high impact noise;
- a bone grows in the cavity of the middle ear.
Diagnosis of hearing problems at the very first stages makes it possible to prevent deafness and other dangerous complications. Therapy of this disease should be carried out by a qualified specialist who is able to choose an individual approach to such a problem and a course of treatment.
Causes of hearing loss in children
Currently, experts cannot give exact information about what may cause this disease. However, after a thorough analysis and study of this pathology, a certain list of alleged source factors was identified:
- Heredity - the baby most often acquires a mixed and neurosensory type of pathology due to this factor. In this case, the child has irreversible changes in the organ of hearing, which, in turn, represent bilateral defects in the perception of sounds. According to statistics, in 80% of cases the disease appears in isolation from other disorders, in other cases, simultaneously with geneticsyndromes.
- The negative impact of factors that affect the intrauterine development of the fetus. At the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, the auditory organs are formed. If a woman suffers from serious infectious diseases in a given period of time, this can negatively affect the development of children's hearing organs.
- Various injuries during childbirth.
- A woman leading an unhe althy lifestyle during pregnancy and neglecting timely visits to a specialist.
- Diabetes mellitus in a woman.
- When the blood of the fetus and mother is incompatible, an Rh conflict may occur, resulting in defects in the formation of the baby's organs.
- Premature birth. Of course, during premature birth, the child's hearing organs are fully formed. But the hypoxia that occurs during childbirth can negatively affect the auditory organs.
- Negative consequences of infectious diseases suffered by the patient - in some cases, the baby may experience complications in the form of herpes, measles, rubella, etc.
It should be noted that the causes of the disease can also be:
- adenoids;
- sulfur plug;
- tympanic membrane defects;
- otitis media;
- tonsillitis;
- various injuries of the hearing organs.
In some cases, the pathological process in adolescents can be affected by constant listening to music at high volume.
Below are the symptomshearing loss in a child.
Symptoms of this pathology in babies
The main importance in recognizing children's hearing loss is given primarily to the observation of parents. They should be alerted by the lack of a child under four months of reaction to loud sounds; at four to six months there are no pre-speech vocalizations; at seven to nine months, the baby is not able to establish the source of the sound; in one or two years there is no vocabulary.
Older babies may not respond to spoken or whispered sounds from behind; the child may ask the same question several times; do not respond to the name; do not distinguish surrounding sounds; speak louder than necessary and read lips.
Children with hearing loss have systemic speech underdevelopment: there is a polymorphic defect in the pronunciation of sounds and sharply manifested difficulties in differentiating phonemes by ear; an extremely limited lexicon, gross distortions of the syllable-sound verbal structure, the absence of a formed lexical-grammatical speech system. All this causes the formation of various types of dyslexia and dysgraphia in schoolchildren with hearing loss.
Hearing loss with ototoxic drugs is usually diagnosed in children two to three months later and is bilateral. Hearing can be reduced to 40-60 dB. In a child, the first symptoms of hearing loss are vestibular disorders (dizziness, unsteady gait), tinnitus.
Features of the diagnosis of the disease
Whenpregnancy, the main diagnosis is a screening procedure. If children are at risk of congenital hearing loss, they should be subjected to particularly careful examination. With a clear perception of loud sounds by a newborn baby, such involuntary reactions are noted as inhibition of the sucking reflex, blinking, etc. In the future, in order to identify defects, a procedure such as otoscopy is performed.
For a good study of auditory function in an older child, audiometry should be performed. For preschoolers, there is a game form of this diagnosis, for schoolchildren - tonal and speech audiometry. If a specialist detects certain deviations, electrocochleography is used in the future, through which the area of damage to the hearing organ can be identified.
Besides an otolaryngologist, otoneurologists and audiologists also diagnose children's hearing loss.
Can childhood hearing loss be treated?
With carefully implemented diagnostic procedures and timely and complete treatment of hearing loss in children, the likelihood of gaining full hearing can be significantly increased. I must say that at the beginning of this pathology there is a chance to bring hearing back to normal.
When the disease is accompanied by sensorineural disorders, in order to recover, it will be necessary to implant sensors. Naturally, the time of contacting a specialist also affects the positive outcome: the sooner treatment manipulations are started, the greater the chances of a successful outcome.
Treatment of this disease in babies
The set of methods of rehabilitation and treatment of small patients with hearing loss are divided into surgical, functional, physiotherapy and medication. In a number of situations, it is enough to carry out simple measures (removal of a cerumen plug or a foreign body in the ear) to restore hearing.
Children with conductive hearing loss due to defects in the integrity of the ossicles and tympanic membrane usually require hearing-improving surgery (ossicular prosthesis, tympanoplasty, myringoplasty, etc.).
Medical treatment of hearing loss in children is based on the degree of hearing loss and the etiological factor. If hearing is reduced due to vascular disorders, drugs are prescribed that improve blood supply to the inner ear and cerebral hemodynamics (Bendazol, Eufillin, Papaverine, nicotinic acid, Vinpocetine). With an infectious origin of childhood hearing loss, non-toxic antibiotics become the first-line medicines. If intoxications are acute, then detoxification, metabolic and dehydration therapy, as well as hyperbaric oxygenation are carried out.
Non-drug treatment methods for childhood hearing loss are pneumomassage of the eardrum, electrophoresis, acupuncture, endural phonophoresis and magnetotherapy.
In many situations, the only method of rehabilitation for patients with sensorineural hearing loss is hearing aids. If athere are appropriate indications, then cochlear implantation is performed for small patients.
Comprehensive rehabilitation for this disease includes the help of a child psychologist, defectologist, deaf teacher and speech therapist.
Prevention and prognosis of childhood hearing loss
If a child was diagnosed with hearing loss in a timely manner, this makes it possible to prevent retardation in the development of intelligence, delayed speech development, and the occurrence of psychological complications of a psychological nature.
With early therapy in most cases, it is possible to achieve a stable state and successfully carry out rehabilitation manipulations.
Prevention of hearing loss in young patients includes exclusion of perinatal risk factors, vaccination, avoidance of ototoxic drugs, prevention of ENT pathologies. To ensure the harmonious development of a child who has been diagnosed with hearing loss, it is necessary to accompany him at all age stages with complex medical and educational activities.
Such a pathology in a child is a rather serious problem that causes severe discomfort to a fragile body. Therefore, you should be careful with children and do not postpone a visit to the doctor if there are any suspicions.
We examined the degree of hearing loss in children and methods of treating this pathology. He alth to you and your children!
