Deafness is a disease, the name of which speaks for itself. It is characterized by a decrease in hearing and occurs in all age categories. Deafness in newborns, as a rule, is a consequence of infectious or viral diseases in the mother, during pregnancy. There is both congenital and acquired hearing loss.
Symptoms of hearing loss in children
The main sign of hearing loss in children is a worsening of the perception of sounds. There may be noise in the ears. In newborns, it is quite easy to identify such a deviation. With normal hearing development, as early as 2-3 weeks the baby starts with sudden, loud sounds. And in 1-3 months he reacts to the voice of his mother or to the sound of a toy, turning his head toward the sound. And if all this does not happen, or something is alarming in his reaction, you need to see a doctor. Do not lose vigilance and with an older child, because hearing damage can occur as a result of various diseases and other causes.
Causes of hearing loss in children
- Diseases carried by the mother during pregnancy (influenza, herpes, toxoplasmosis, rubella);
- the use of toxic medicines by the mother that had a negative impact on the development of the child's hearing organs (streptomycin, aspirin, gentamicin furosemide, etc.);
- Smoking and alcohol abuse during pregnancy can also be a cause of deafness and hearing loss in a child;
- if the child is not full, and his weight is less than 1500 gr;
- poor heredity, and the deafness of the parents may not be observed;
- infectious diseases carried by the child (measles, influenza).
There are 3 degrees of deafness:
- The 1st degree is the easiest. A whisper is normally perceived at a distance of 1-3 meters and speech is more than 4 meters. Difficulties arise in the presence of extraneous noise, and also, if the interlocutor's speech is distorted.
- At the 2nd degree , the patient has difficulty in recognizing the whisper at a distance of a little more than a meter. A colloquial speech is perceived if the interlocutor is not removed more than 2-4 meters. And even at such a distance, many words can be heard indistinctly and repeated repetition of both individual words and entire phrases is required.
- The third degree is the heaviest. In this case, the whisper does not differ even at a very close distance, and conversational speech is only recognized at a distance of less than 2 meters. Here you can not do without the help of a special hearing aid, which will avoid difficulties in communication.
How to treat hearing loss?
In order to treat hearing loss, you should first see the doctor, because only a specialist can establish the true cause of the disease and prescribe the appropriate course of treatment. If the secretion accumulates in the inner ear in the process of inflammation and the corresponding medicines do not help to get rid of it, then they resort to surgical intervention with the use of general anesthesia. If hearing impairment is not so serious treatment can be limited to the use of drugs and cleaning the ears from sulfur. Sometimes used to treat this degree of deafness, folk remedies. In case of congenital hearing loss or lack of prospects for treatment, the doctor prescribes the use of a hearing aid that can be used for a child who has reached six months of age.
Folk remedies for hearing loss in children
- The medicine is made from onions . To prepare the medicine, you need to take a medium-sized bulb, clean, cut a small knife with a sharp knife and pour a pinch of dill seeds. Then bake the onion in the oven at medium temperature until golden brown. Turn the bulb into gauze and wring it out. The resulting remedy should be dripped 9 drops per diseased ear 3-4 times / day. Keep in a cool place, but pre-instill warm up, treatment course 1 month.
- Tincture of pine nuts . It is necessary to take 1 glass of nuts, pour 1 glass of vodka and put in a warm place protected from light. After 40 days, tincture is filtered and drunk on a half-spoonful every morning after breakfast.
- Alcohol-oil tampon. You will need a 30% tincture of propolis on alcohol and olive oil, mixed in a 1: 4 ratio. From the fleece twist the swab, moisten with a mixture of propolis and oil (pre-shaking), lightly squeeze and put in a sick ear for 12 hours.
For the prevention of hearing loss in a child, it is worth paying attention to the level of noise that surrounds it and gets rid of the habits of turning on the full volume of musical equipment and TV. This is worth thinking about, even when the child is still in the womb, because during this period the hearing organs are already very receptive.