How to Tell if Your Baby Has Hearing Problems

KEY POINTS

• Hearing loss is a common nascency defect that can touch on a babe's ability to develop speech, language and social skills.

• Hearing loss tin happen when any office of the ear isn't working in the usual way.

• Most babies get their hearing checked as part of newborn screening earlier they leave the hospital after birth.

• If you think your baby may have hearing loss, tell her health care provider right away.

• Early on treatment for hearing loss is important for your baby's wellness and development.

What is hearing loss?

Hearing loss tin can happen when whatsoever part of the ear isn't working in the usual way. Information technology tin can range from mild to profound:

• Mild: You can hear some speech sounds, but soft sounds are hard to hear.
• Moderate: Yous tin't hear very many speech sounds when someone is talking at a normal level.
• Severe: You can't hear any speech sounds when someone is talking at a normal level. You can only hear some loud sounds.
• Profound: You tin can't hear whatever voice communication sounds. You can simply hear very loud sounds.

Hearing loss is a common birth defect. Nascency defects are structural changes present at birth that can bear on nigh any part of the body. They may affect how the body looks, works or both. Birth defects can cause bug in overall health, how the trunk develops, or how the torso works. Up to 3 in 1,000 babies (less than 1 percent) are born with some kind of hearing loss in the U.s. each yr.

When a babe is born with hearing loss, it's called built hearing loss. Hearing loss as well can develop later in babies or during childhood or machismo.

What are signs of hearing loss?

Signs of hearing loss in your infant can include:

• Not being startled by loud sounds
• Not turning toward a sound later on he's 6 months erstwhile
• Not proverb single words like "mama" or "dada" by the fourth dimension he's ane year quondam
• Turns his head if he sees you, simply not if you just call out his name
• Seems to hear some sounds but not others

If your infant shows signs of hearing loss at any time, call his wellness intendance provider to get your baby'southward hearing checked.

What are common types of hearing loss?

Your baby's auditory organization is the system in the body that helps her hear. It makes sense of sound information every bit information technology travels from the ear to the encephalon. Bug in these parts of the auditory organization may cause hearing loss:

• Outer ear. This includes the part of the ear on the outside of the caput, the ear culvert and the outside of the eardrum. The eardrum separates the outer and middle ear.
• Eye ear. This is made upwardly of the inside of the eardrum and iii small basic called ossicles. Audio coming into the ear moves through the ear canal to the eardrum, causing the eardrum to vibrate (movement back and forth quickly). When the eardrum vibrates, it moves the ossicles. This helps sound move to the inner ear.
• Inner ear. This is made upwards of the cochlea (a curled tube filled with fluid) and canals that assist with residuum. The inner ear also has fretfulness that change audio vibrations into signals that travel to the encephalon through the auditory nerve (as well called the hearing nerve). The auditory nerve sends sound information from the ear to the brain.

Common types of hearing loss include:

• Conductive hearing loss. This happens when at that place'south a problem in the outer or middle ear that slows or prevents audio waves from passing through. Problems may include a blockage in the ear culvert or fluid in the middle ear. This kind of hearing loss often is temporary and ordinarily can be treated with medicine or surgery.
• Sensorineural hearing loss. This happens when at that place'due south a problem with the way the inner ear or auditory nerve works. It may happen when certain cells in the inner ear are damaged. This kind of hearing loss is usually permanent.
• Mixed hearing loss. This when a infant has both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.
• Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (also called ANSD). In this condition, a problem with the inner ear or auditory nervus prevents the brain from understanding sound.

How do you know if your infant has hearing loss?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (besides called CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (also chosen AAP) recommend that all babies get screened for hearing loss before they're one month onetime. Most babies go their hearing checked every bit part of newborn screening earlier they exit the hospital after nativity. Newborn screening checks for serious but rare and mostly treatable health conditions at birth. It includes blood, hearing and center screening.

If your baby doesn't pass her newborn hearing screening, it doesn't always hateful she has hearing loss. But she needs a full hearing examination as soon equally possible earlier she's 3 months old. A full hearing test can help your baby's health care provider diagnose hearing loss.

If your infant has hearing loss, getting treatment right away is important. Every country has an Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (also called EHDI) program that works to help children with hearing loss and their families. It can help with full hearing tests and other services for your infant. You can find your local EHDI program through the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management website.

What hearing tests are part of newborn screening?

Your babe has i of these hearing tests as part of newborn screening:

• Auditory brainstem response (also called ABR or brainstem auditory evoked response exam or BAER). This test uses patches called electrodes and a reckoner to check how the brain and auditory nervus respond to sound. Your baby's provider puts the patches on your baby's head and soft earphones in your babe's ears. The provider sends sounds through the earphones and measures your baby's brain waves to see how your babe'southward brain reacts. This exam can show if the brain isn't getting sound information in a clear way. Your infant can be asleep for this test.
• Otoacoustic emissions (also chosen OAE). This test checks how the inner ear responds to sound. Your infant'south provider places a small earphone in your baby's ear. The earphone is connected to a computer. The earphone plays sounds that should repeat in your infant's ear canal. If at that place'southward no repeat, your baby may have hearing loss. Your baby can be asleep for this test.

What other kinds of hearing tests tin babies have?

If your baby doesn't pass his ABR or OAE test in newborn screening, her provider refers her to an audiologist. This is a person with special preparation to diagnose and treat hearing loss in newborns, children and adults. Your child'south provider likewise may refer your babe to an otolaryngologist (likewise chosen ENT). This is a doctor with special preparation in ear, nose and throat care.

An audiologist gives your baby a full hearing test to bank check for hearing loss. This tin can include the ABR and OAE tests, also equally other hearing tests. The audiologist as well may apply a behavioral audiometry evaluation to check how all parts of your infant'due south ear work. For this test, the audiologist sees how your infant responds to audio past watching for changes in behavior. Your babe has to exist awake for this test. The audiologist plays a sound and checks to run across if your baby reacts. For case, your baby'south eyes may move or your babe may plow her head, suck on a pacifier, become quiet or seem to be listening for the sound. If your baby responds to the sound, the audiologist gives your infant a reward, like a toy with flashing lights. This is chosen visual reinforcement audiometry.

How can hearing loss affect your baby?

Early screening, diagnosis and treatment can assistance children with hearing loss develop speech, language and social skills. Without early treatment, hearing loss can atomic number 82 to:

• Delayed or limited linguistic communication and speech evolution. For example, babies and children with hearing loss may take trouble understanding things that other people say, learning new words and saying words the right mode. Children with untreated hearing loss may accept poor advice skills.
• Learning and social problems. Without early treatment, children with hearing loss may have problems learning in school. Hearing loss also may brand it hard for them to exist social with other children.

What causes hearing loss?

Nosotros're not sure what causes all forms of hearing loss. Possible causes include:

Genes. Genes are parts of your torso'due south cells that store instructions for the fashion your trunk grows and works. Genes are passed from parents to children. Genes may play a function in almost half of the cases of hearing loss in babies and children. If you lot or your partner has a family unit history of hearing loss, you may desire to talk with a genetic advisor before getting pregnant. This is a person who is trained to help you sympathise nearly how genes, nascency defects and other medical conditions run in families, and how they can bear on your health and your baby'southward health.

Sometimes the instructions in genes alter. This is chosen a gene change or a mutation. Gene changes tin can crusade two kinds of hearing loss:

1. Syndromic. The hearing loss happens with other wellness problems, like incomprehension.
2. Not-syndromic. This is when hearing loss is the but status a baby has. About 7 in 10 mutations causing hearing loss (seventy pct) are non-syndromic.

Premature nativity or low birthweight. Premature birth is birth that happens as well early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Premature babies oft have more health problems (like hearing loss) at nativity and later in life than babies born full term.  Low birthweight is when a babe is born weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces. Acquire more about things you can practise to help reduce your risk for premature nascency.

Problems with the manner the ears, head or face develop. If your infant has a birth defect that changes the shape or construction of his ears, caput or confront, he may have hearing problems.

Viruses and infections during pregnancy. You can laissez passer certain viruses and infections to your infant during pregnancy that may cause hearing loss in your infant. These include:

• Cytomegalovirus (likewise chosen CMV). This is a common virus that tin can crusade a sore pharynx, fever, swollen glands and fatigue (feeling tired all the time).
• Canker. This is an infection caused by a herpes simplex virus (also called HSV). Herpes infections can impact many parts of the trunk, including the eyes, rima oris, skin, buttocks and genitalia.
• Measles. Measles is an infection that spreads easily. It can cause rash, cough and fever.
• Rubella (also chosen German measles). This is an infection that causes mild flu-like symptoms and a rash on the skin.
• Syphilis. This is a sexually transmitted infection (also called STI) that at first causes sores and a rash. An STI is an infection you can get from having unprotected sex or intimate physical contact with someone who is infected. This means y'all get it from having unprotected sex with a person who is infected with syphilis. You also can go syphilis by having directly contact with (touching or kissing) an infected person'south syphilis sore. If you lot accept syphilis during pregnancy and don't get treated, it can crusade serious problems for your babe, including hearing loss.
• Toxoplasmosis. This is an infection you can go from eating undercooked meat or touching true cat poop. It can crusade issues like body aches, headache, fatigue (beingness really tired) or fever.

Infections your baby has later on nativity. Infections that can cause hearing loss include:

• Ear infections. These most often cause temporary hearing loss. Just if the infection damages your infant'southward eardrum, the bones of the ear or the auditory nervus, hearing loss can be permanent. This is rare.
• Other infections, like meningitis and measles. To protect your baby from infections similar these, make sure he gets all his vaccinations. Apply our vaccination schedule to find out when your baby gets each vaccination. Meningitis is an infection that causes swelling in the brain and spinal cord.

Other atmospheric condition after nascency. These include:

• Head injuries
• Jaundice that's severe enough to need a blood transfusion. Jaundice is when a baby's eyes and skin wait yellowish. A baby has jaundice when his liver isn't fully adult or isn't working. A blood transfusion is having new blood put into your body.
• Taking high doses of some medicines, similar an antibiotic called streptomycin. Antibiotics are medicines that impale certain infections.
• Buildup of ear wax or buildup of fluid behind the eardrum
• Injury to the eardrum
• Objects stuck in the ear canal, like food, toys or pieces of crayon
• Being around loud sounds, similar the sounds of machines

How is hearing loss treated?

Handling depends on your infant's overall health and the cause of the hearing loss. If your infant has hearing loss, it's of import to start treatment as presently as possible and before she's 6 months old. This can help her develop speech, language and social skills. Treatment may include:

Cochlear implant. This is a small electronic device that can assist some babies with astringent or profound hearing loss. One function of the implant sits on the caput behind the ear. The other parts are placed inside the ear during surgery. The part behind the ear sends sounds to the parts inside the ear. Babies every bit young every bit one yr one-time may get a cochlear implant. Information technology doesn't give a baby complete hearing, just information technology can requite a baby a sense of sound. Hearing through a cochlear implant is different from normal hearing. Specialists, like audiologists and spoken communication therapists, can help your baby larn to hear through the implant and develop her speech, language and social skills.

Ear tubes. These are tiny tubes placed through the eardrum. Ear tubes permit air into the center ear and prevent fluids from building up backside the eardrum. Your child may need ear tubes if:

• She gets a lot of ear infections (about three or more in half dozen months or 4 or more in 1 twelvemonth)
• She has fluid buildup and inflammation (redness and swelling) behind the eardrum
• If she has hearing loss due to ear infections

Hearing aid. Hearing aids make sounds louder. Hearing aids tin help babies as young as one month old. If your baby has severe or profound hearing loss, a hearing help may not help.

Learning special language skills. Children with hearing loss may need special language skills to communicate with others. For example, some may learn American Sign Linguistic communication (too called ASL) to communicate. ASL uses the shape, placement and move of hands, along with facial expressions and trunk motion, to communicate.

Medicines, including antibiotics. If your child has an ear infection that causes hearing loss, her health intendance provider may prescribe an antibiotic like amoxicillin. Her provider likewise may advise over-the-counter (also called OTC) medicines to help with fever and hurting. These medicines may include ear drops, acetaminophen (brand name Tylenol®) and ibuprofen (make names Motrin® or Advil ®).

Speech therapy. This is therapy to teach your kid how to speak more clearly or communicate in other ways. Speech-language pathologists (also chosen speech therapists) are professionals who can assistance children learn how to make sounds, improve their voices and collaborate with others.

Surgery. Surgery can sometimes correct issues with the structure of the outer and middle ears.

How can you forestall hearing loss in your babe?

Some types of hearing loss, similar hearing loss caused by gene changes, tin can't be prevented. Only yous can help forestall hearing loss related to other causes, like infections and premature birth.  Here's what y'all can do:

Before pregnancy

• Get a preconception checkup. This is a medical checkup yous get before pregnancy to aid make sure you're healthy when you go meaning.
• Make sure your vaccinations are up-to-date. Talk to your provider near vaccinations you need before you get meaning. For case, yous may need the MMR vaccination that protects you from measles and rubella.
• Get checked for infections, like STIs. Early testing and treatment tin can assist you have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

During pregnancy

Become to all of your prenatal intendance checkups. Prenatal care is medical care during pregnancy. At each prenatal intendance visit, your health intendance provider checks on you and your growing baby. Getting early on and regular prenatal intendance can aid you lot have a good for you pregnancy. Go to all your checkups, fifty-fifty if you're feeling fine.

Protect yourself from infections. Here's what y'all tin can do:

• If you need vaccinations, get them. Ask your provider well-nigh vaccinations that are prophylactic to get during pregnancy.
• Launder your easily with soap and water after using the bath or blowing your olfactory organ.
• Have safe sex. This means having sex with just i person who doesn't have other sex partners. If you're not sure if your partner has an STI, utilise a barrier method of birth control. Barrier methods include male and female condoms and dental dams. A dental dam is a square piece of rubber that can help protect y'all from STIs during oral sexual activity.
• Don't eat undercooked meat.
• Don't touch cat poop.

After nativity

Have your infant to all his well-baby checkups. At these checkups, your baby's provider checks your baby'southward overall wellness, growth and development. Your baby too gets vaccinations to help protect her from harmful infections.

Get early treatment for ear infections. If you think your babe has an ear infection, call his provider right away. Signs and symptoms of ear infection include:

• Tugging on ears
• Having trouble hearing or sleeping
• Crying more usual, specially when your baby is lying down
• Having residuum problems
• Fever
• Headache
• Fluid coming out of the ears

Go along your baby away from loud sounds. Close windows and doors in your habitation to limit loud sounds most your baby. Keep TV and radio volumes low. Give your baby quiet toys or toys with volume control set to the lowest volume. Don't accept your babe to noisy events, like concerts or fireworks shows. If yous exercise take your baby to a loud identify, utilise earplugs or earmuffs to limit racket. If your baby is roofing his ears or looks uneasy in a noisy place, information technology's probably best to leave.

More than Data

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Human activity (IDEA)
• Hearing loss treatment and intervention services

Last reviewed: June, 2019

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Source: https://www.marchofdimes.org/complications/hearing-loss-and-your-baby.aspx

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