Are Certain Children More At Risk For Ear Infections?

Yes. Children with multiple allergies, facial anomalies such as those found in the cleft palate population, children with Down's Syndrome and those children with chronic nasal congestion are at higher risk for conductive hearing loss. However, once the problem is correctly identified these children can be medically managed so that the ear infections are little more than an inconvenience.

Treatment for Ear Infections

Once a child is identified as having a middle ear infection the physician will usually prescribe a seven to ten day treatment of antibiotics to alleviate the child's pain and kill the bacterial infection. Within 48 to 72 hours a noticeable improvement should occur. All medication should be given and ingested as prescribed by your physician. It is important for the child to be re-checked to make sure all residual fluid is gone. It is possible for bacteria to leave but for fluid to remain. This needs to be monitored as too much fluid for too long a period can impact a child's language learning both expressively and receptively.

Welcome to My World

The phone rings and it's your mother. She has given some thought to what you've told her about her grandchild. Her good friend Mrs. Sendicki has a grandson with ear problems. Mrs. Sendicki swears that these can be cured easily by blowing cigarette smoke in the child's ear. You do something you never thought you would. You hang up on your mother and make an appointment with your doctor.