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Health & Fitness

Winter Ear Infections Lead to Hearing Trouble for Kids

Hearing loss due to ear infection is generally temporary, but even mild hearing loss for a period of time can have a great impact on a child's ability to learn speech and language.

Imagine if every voice you heard, all day long, was as muffled and distorted as the “wah wah waaah” sound coming from the teacher of the lovable Charlie Brown cartoons. Chuck may have been able to decipher the indistinguishable noises coming from his instructor, but this is what simple everyday conversation sounds like for children with hearing difficulty—a muddled, incomprehensible warble.

Recurring Ear Infections

Audiologist Lauren O’Flaherty of Midwest Hearing Consultants in Chicago’s western suburbs says this hearing issue often occurs in children during the wintertime. Why? Winter is a time of sore throats, colds, respiratory infections and … middle ear inflammations, more commonly known as “recurring ear infections.” Inflammation happens when fluid builds up behind the eardrum, and if left untreated, it can cause sounds to become muffled or inaudible or, more seriously, causing mild to moderate hearing loss.

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The Danger

Hearing loss due to middle ear inflammation is generally temporary, but even mild hearing loss for a period of time can have a great impact on a child’s ability to learn speech and language. How? Children plagued with hearing problems can’t learn to identify and repeat sounds, causing them to miss out on proper speech and language development during critical development years. O’Flaherty says that if these skills aren’t fully developed, a child might later need speech therapy or surgically-inserted ear tubes to help drain the fluid.

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The Symptoms

Parents should look for these signs, this winter, to determine if their child (age 6 months to 7 years) has an ear infection:

  • Tugging or pulling at the ears
  • Fussiness and crying
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Fever
  • Fluid draining from the ear
  • Trouble hearing
  • Unclear speech or speech delay
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