'Ear infections are so common that we tend to dismiss them as having no long-term effect. We should take all ear infections seriously'
Ear
infections, a common childhood experience, can potentially impair hearing with
fluid building up behind the eardrum and lead to delay in language development,
warns a new study.
New research from the University of Florida
scientists reveals that when ear infections become chronic, this repeated,
temporary hearing loss can lead to deficits in auditory processing and language
development in children, years later. They suggested parents take these
infections seriously.
“Ear infections are so common that we tend
to dismiss them as having no long-term effect. We should take all ear
infections seriously,” said Susan Nittrouer, lead researcher and Professor of
speech, language, and hearing sciences in the College of Public Health and
Health Professions at the varsity.
Ear
infections, a common childhood experience, can potentially impair hearing with
fluid building up behind the eardrum and lead to delay in language development,
warns a new study.
New research from the University of Florida
scientists reveals that when ear infections become chronic, this repeated,
temporary hearing loss can lead to deficits in auditory processing and language
development in children, years later. They suggested parents take these
infections seriously.
“Ear infections are so common that we tend
to dismiss them as having no long-term effect. We should take all ear
infections seriously,” said Susan Nittrouer, lead researcher and Professor of
speech, language, and hearing sciences in the College of Public Health and
Health Professions at the varsity.
“Parents should be aware that
their child may have some middle ear fluid without it being painful and work
with their doctor to monitor their child closely,” she added.
In the
study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology,
the team studied the auditory processing and language development of 117
children from ages 5 to 10 years, both with and without a history of chronic
ear infections in early childhood.
On average, children with several ear
infections before three years of age had smaller vocabularies and a harder time
matching similar sounding words than children with few or no ear infections.
They also had difficulty detecting changes
in sounds, a sign of problems in their brain's auditory processing centres.
One
takeaway, Nittrouer says, is for parents, physicians, and speech pathologists
to continue monitoring children long after the last preschool earache fades
away. Some language deficits may only reveal themselves in later grades.
“As children go through school, the
language they're required to use becomes more complex,” said Nittrouer.
Treating ear infections early can help prevent the fluid buildup that hurts language development, according to Nittrouer.
If ear infections are common and fluid does build up, tubes placed temporarily in the eardrum can help drain the fluid and restore hearing, which should lead to less risk of delay in the development of the central auditory pathways and fewer problems acquiring language.
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