Hearing loss can happen at any age, but when it happens at a younger age, there might be serious consequences. If a child suffers from hearing loss, it can affect their ability to develop speech, language and social skills. If you suspect your child might have some ear damage, you can consult a doctor. Similar to oral health, it is important to keep a child’s ears safe and healthy from early on.
Conductive hearing loss occurs due to wax buildup, fluid in the ears, damage to the eardrum, middle ear bone birth defects or a hereditary condition. It can be temporary and be treated with medicine or surgery. Sensorineural hearing loss is permanent and occurs if there is a problem with the inner ear. Many various things can cause this. It can usually be treated with hearing aids.
If you are able to detect hearing loss early, your child can start receiving the proper care, which will help them live their childhood to the fullest. If your child needs a hearing aid, you can start with identifying the best hearing solutions.
Once your child has a hearing aid, you should help them adjust to the changes. Make sure that your child uses the aid throughout the day in order to participate in activities and learn about communication and language. You should also modify your own behaviour to accommodate your child better such as by only starting to speak when you’re in the same room as them or turning on closed captions of a movie among other things.
It is also important to take care of the hearing aid so that it doesn’t suffer any damage and has a long life. Here are some tips on how you can do this:
Clean the hearing aid daily
Hearing aids should be cleaned regularly so that they function properly. There might be tools such as a small brush or a lint-free cloth provided with the hearing aid. Use them to clean out the wax. You can use soap only when you clean the ear molds separately.
Avoid getting them wet
Hearing aids should always be in a dry place. If you have water resistant hearing aids, make sure you don’t go deep into a swimming pool or into a shower with them on. The water resistance can be tested only to a certain degree and extended periods of water submersion might damage them.
Check batteries
Old batteries can damage the hearing aids and reduce their functionality over time, so you should keep tabs on the batteries and replace them often. Also, the batteries in hearing aids might be tiny, so make sure that it doesn’t wind up in the hands of your toddlers or pets.
There are many more ways you can take care of your child with hearing loss. It might take children some time to adjust to using a hearing aid and you should ensure that they do so daily, especially in the beginning. Make sure you go for your scheduled visits to the doctor to check in on your child’s hearing health. With the right intervention at the right time, children with hearing loss can learn and grow with ease.