Paediatric Audiology - what can dd expect?

[PrettyCandles]

Dd, 5, has an appointment at Paediatric Audiology next week. It would be useful for me to have some idea what is likely to happen so that I can prepare her.

She can't hear, hasn't had ear infections, but has masses of earwax which olive oil doesn't shift. I imagine she is likely to have her ears syringed, but I haven't had this done, myself, so have no idea how it is done or what it feels like.

Def no ear syringing - that's not done by audiologists.

Prob ear phones of some sort which will send noises down dd's ear.

She may have to press a button (or put a brick in a bucket/man in a boat...) when she hears a noise and the noise will be repeated at different frequencies so see if she has a prob at particular frequencies.

Also a sort of pressure test (ear phones again - doens't hurt) to see how the ear drum moves - it doesn't move much if there is a lot of fluid behind the ear.

The clinician may or may not be a doctor - may be an audiological scientist.

They may or may not look down your daughter's ears.

Thanks.

I am now wondering why the dr refered her, when he could see that her ears are heavily clogged with wax. Not much point doing these tests, surely, if it's the earwax which is affecting her hearing!

ears being syringed is one of my favourite things in the world (only had it done once though) .. and so very interesting when you get to look in the bowl

doesn't hurt

audiologists will probably not do this though

I've had two children attend paed audiology. its exactly as gagarin says

she will go in and do teh tests in a sound proof room. As she is 5 she will get to press a little button when she hears a sound. they try to make it fun for the child. you will get to sit right beside her if she wants. its not frightening at all

At our clinic you have to then wait to see the doctor who will talk you through the results and the next steps.

If she does have a hearing loss, remember to ask them about school and how the school can help her.eg where she shoudl sit

its important becasue you dont want her catagorised as being inattentive etc. it can also be a cause of behavioural problems & the school need to support her

DD aged 8 has just been discharged from the clinic ( as her hearing loss has stabilised) and she was really disappointed as she likes going so much

But what's the point of testing if it's earwax that is causing the problem? Surely they should remove the earwax first, and then see if there is still a problem?

Or is earwax not a problem? The GP certainly seemed to think it might be the cause of her slight deafness.

Oh it's so frustrating that I don't even know the right questions to ask the GP, and it doesn't seem to occur to him that I don't, so I don't get all the information.

Her school are aware, and supportive, fortunately.

(What does it look like, Twiglett?)

I've had my ears syringed LOADS of time...its fine...tickles a bit and sometimes you cough...then when you tip your head to the side, it all comes out and you can see it in little bits in the bowl...suitably eww enough to make kids laugh so try not to worry! They used an electric one on my last syringing...was quite relaxing actually!

Why do you have your ears syringed?

I'm profoundly deaf and wear a hearing aid in one ear so the wax does tend to build up at times...tmi..but true...

Haven't had it done for a while though - maybe I'm producing less of everything as part of the ageing process!! lol!!

So do you need to get the earwax removed because it affects the fit of the hearing aid, or do you actually hear worse if you have too much earwax?

Well, my hearing is too far gone to be affected by a bit of ear wax..lol!! No, I get it done as it can give me a sore ear. Doesn't affect the fit of the mould for the hearing aid as the mould doesn't go right into the ear canal isywim?

Ear wax is a very common cause of people not hearing very well by the way. Its only for the serious hard core deaf ones like me that it doesn't make any difference sound wise

Oh I see, thanks.

Isn't ignorance an amazing thing? I didn't even know that I'm ignorant about earwax!

Its not a bad thing to be ignorant about...'tis not exactly dinner conversation really is it??

Oh by the way darhlings...I a wax today

oooh bikini or full leg

No, ears...

I had a wax today rather!

Pretty candles - ear wax in adults can affect hearing because it becomes rock hard and impacted.

But in children ear wax is rarely the cause of hearing problems - as it's soft it doesn't cause the same problems for sound travelling into the middle ear.

The most common reason for hearing prob in this age group is "glue ear" - I expect you've heard of that?

Don't children get earache with glue ear?

Not necessarily once it is a chronic problem prettycandles
Dd spent some time as a guest of the local paed audiology service between the ages of 1 and 3 because of recurrent ear infections leading to perforated eardrums
Gagarin has described the tests accurately. Dd luckily never developed glue ear so we were given our cards. But they clearly thought she might.
I think it is normally caused by ear infections in the past.
The paed audiology women were fantastic, absolutely delightful, and a mine of information on causes of hearing loss, effect on language acquisition etc