EAR INFECTION – CHILDREN

When fluids build up behind the eardrum the middle ear gets an infection caused by bacteria that entered the environment which is unfortunately perfect for them to live in.

Children might not always mention having earache, they could have fever or the erea around the ear could can be swollen. Then the symptoms might also be trouble hearing, balance problems, a child might get fussy or the most obvious, fluid coming from the ear canal.

As we mentioned the dark, moisturized and warm environment in the ear canal is perfect for bacteria to end up in after some other illnesses such as sore throat, cold, etc. But why is it that adults don’t get their ears infected as often as children? The answer is nose.

Nose and ears are connected by the tube and because kids don’t know how to properly clean their nose, along with their small fallopian tubes that are much more in line with the ears than the adults, they have the perfect combination for the inevitable ear infection.

What happens when the ear infections, despite the treatments and percautions, keep returning? In these cases a small ventilation tube is inserted to prevent fluids from building up behind the eardrum. Tubes fall out on their own, before that it is important to stop water from entering the ear canal. From our products we recommend in the very beginning a special ear band that comes along with silicone ear plugs and when the three week period after the surgery pass it is safe to take the ear canal print and create a special custom made earplugs for which we can guarantee no water will come through.

To avoid ear infections it is best to use protection while swimming, don’t let your children get their head under the water, avoid public swimming pools, children souldn’t drink while laying down and if you are using saline solution for nose cleaning do it only when your child is sitting up, if the child is laying down it might all flow from the nose along the tubes directly to the middle ear and cause more trouble.

Any health percautions are great but keeping hands clean is by far most important. Also limit time on public playgrounds, specially the indoor ones and keep your children away from those who are showing signs of illness. Another important fact has recently been discovored, children who have been exposed to cigarette smoke are much more likely to get multiple ear infections in their childhood than those who hasnt been exposed to it, so keep them away from smoke and don’t let anyone light up a cigarette inside your house.

We have several products to help you keep your childs ears safe, stop by our nearest AUDIO BM hearing center or give us a call and we will be glad to give you the best advice.