Children may be deaf only because ... runny nose

Parents are often not too worried when they see their children have a runny nose, fuss, fever ., but that may be a manifestation of middle ear infection - a very common and often detected disease that can cause deafness permanently or meningitis.

Long baby, 2 years old, Kim Giang, Hanoi, is one of the victims of otitis media. Seeing children with symptoms of colds, fever, runny nose, cough, Ms. Duong, her mother, also signaled a new medicine to buy cold medicine and antibiotics for treatment. But the disease did not stop, Long cried, fussy and still had fever. After that, the baby seemed less uncomfortable, but was absent-minded when the adults called.

In order to avoid middle ear infection, it is necessary to get a complete cut of nose and throat diseases.(Photo: Hoang Ha)

One day he saw that the epidemic was like a pus flowing from her ears, Mrs. Duong panicked bringing her to the Institute of Otolaryngology. The doctors confirmed that he had severe otitis media, causing eardrum perforation. Ask carefully, Ms. Duong recently or this situation stems from infections of the nose and throat, and children have signs of earache such as pulling ears, but she does not know to care.

According to Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dinh, former head of the Central Otolaryngology, the case of children with severe otitis media to the eardrum puncture is detected by the parents and taken to the examination is not uncommon, due to the disease symptoms. not very typical head.

At first, children only have the same symptoms as the common flu, when more severe, they will complain of earache , children who do not know how to speak will tug their ears hard or fuss. When you lie down, chew, and suck, your baby will fuss more and more because of the increased pain. Until the ear discharge phenomenon is very severe disease, causing eardrum perforation. At this time, children have less pain, so it seems better, but there is a lack of concentration, no response to sounds due to hearing loss.

Most cases of middle ear inflammation in children stem from inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, because this organ communicates with the back of the throat, causing the fluid to contain bacteria from the nasopharynx, VA, tonsils can enter. Infection can block this passage, causing the middle ear mucus to not drain into the throat as usual, gradually causing inflammation.

If treated promptly, the doctor will administer antibiotics, or inject the slit to drain the pus, making ear medication carefully. The disease will go away in 1-2 weeks without leaving sequelae. If later, children may experience complications such as ear bone necrosis, or sinusitis, meningitis, facial paralysis due to nerve damage 7 - "neighboring" organs of the middle ear. If the eardrum is severely damaged, the child will be deaf. For children under 12 months old, deaf means no longer able to practice speaking.

Therefore, when the child has sympathetic manifestations, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract such as runny nose, fever ., parents should take the examination of the ENT specialist so that the doctor can examine the ear, especially if the child has the expression now the ears end. If the child is less responsive to the sound, likes to turn on the TV, the radio, speak louder, lose focus . the more urgent it is to go to the doctor.

To prevent the risk of middle ear inflammation in children, experts recommend:

- Always keep the nose and throat clean for young children. Keeping the health of children, avoiding colds and upper respiratory diseases, if they are, they must be treated completely.

- When children vomit, do not put their head down low because the vomit is easy to spill into the middle ear following the catheter in the back of the throat. Similarly, when washing your hair, you should not lower your baby's head too much, your baby will saliva will flow through the catheter, into the middle ear.

- Avoid exposing your baby to cigarette smoke, as it increases the chance and severity of the disease.

Hai Ha