Loss In Children

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Hearing loss is a non-discriminatory condition. It can happen to anyone, at any age. Children or babies may not understand that they have hearing difficulties. Depending on the cause of their hearing loss they may indicate simply by pulling on their ears. If they are able to speak, they may as “Huh?” frequently or turn up the volume on the radio or television. Preventative care and regular hearing screenings may help significantly reduce the risk of hearing loss in children, or help prevent it from becoming worse.
Hearing Loss in Children There are two primary categories of hearing loss, congenital and acquired. Hearing loss can then be categorized further into sensorineural, conductive or mixed depending on what areas of the ear they affect and if the hearing loss is permanent or temporary. Most children with any type of congenital hearing loss are usually born to parents with normal hearing. …show more content…

Viral infections such as Toxoplasmosis, Syphilis, Rubella, Herpes, and Cytomegalovirus have been known to increase the risk of hearing loss, although many virus carrying parents have had perfectly healthy babies. There are medications that are identified as risk factors that may affect hearing including antibiotics like gentamycin, tobramycin, kanamycin, and streptomycin.

At birth, all babies are evaluated on a 10 point scale called an APGAR score. They test for A-activity, such as muscle tone, P-pulse, G-grimace (reflex irritability), A-appearance, including skin color and R-respirations. Babies are then given APGAR scores at 1 and 5 minutes after birth, the higher the number, the better the score. Babies who score 0-4 on the first test and 0-6 for the second, are considered at risk of hearing loss, long or short

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