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February 28, 2006
Untreated ear infections can cause serious problems in children
It can be a nagging problem for both kids and their parents. If your child seems to be suffering from constant ear infections, don't worry, you're not alone. Left untreated ear infections can cause serious problems. NY1's Health & Fitness reporter Kafi Drexel filed the following report on what you can do recognize the signs. He's just a little over a year old, and already little Eli Ramos has had many ear infections. He'll always let you know the first signs of trouble, usually by poking at his ears.
"He's been doing that for quite some time now, and I'm concerned that he had several ear infections. I'm not sure if it's going to effect his hearing," says Eli's aunt, Eva Rios.
Eli has a common problem. Three out of every four children will get an ear infection by the age of three. And ear infections are actually the most common illnesses in young children.
The uncomplicated ones are usually easily solved by the pediatrician or family doctor and may require antibiotics. But it's those re-current ear infections, doctors say, that parents need to look out for.
"When children have multiple ear infections in a year – four, five, or six times in the course of one year – or an ear infection or fluid in the year that will fail to resolve in a period of time of three to four months and/or has a significant hearing loss relating to that, those are the type of ear infections that would be serious enough to require an evaluation or consideration of evaluation by an ear, nose, throat specialist," says Dr. Robin Dyleski, a pediatric ear, nose, and throat specialist at The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.
In addition to pulling, or poking at their ears, other signs of trouble may include: a child demonstrating problems with hearing. One big clue is if they turn on the television or speak more loudly than usual. High fever, crankiness, trouble with balance or trouble sleeping are also possible signs.
Untreated or recurrent infections can cause fluid in the middle ear, or chronic loss of hearing, which in some cases, may require some surgery to reverse.
"If a parent were to suspect that their child may not be hearing well based upon their ability to hear them in conversation, the parent should not jump to conclusions that there child may be developing permanent hearing loss," says Dr. Dyleski.
Ear infections aren't contagious, but the colds that often precede them are. So, something parents can try to do to try and prevent ear infections is to do the same thing that you would do to try and prevent a cold.
That includes frequent hand-washing, and possibly keeping kids out of day-care if there's a cold and flu bug going around. And again, for parents who are concerned, they should make sure to consult a specialist.
By Kafi Drexel
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=19&aid=57404
Posted by 4HL on February 28, 2006 4:30 AM
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