For an adult, hearing loss or loss is a very serious problem. But hearing loss in a small child is much more dangerous. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. At the first signs of hearing loss or deafness in a child, it is necessary to visit a pediatric otolaryngologist.
Children learn to talk by imitating adults, therefore, normal hearing is an indispensable condition for a good psycho-speech development of a child. A kid who is hard of hearing or does not hear at all, as a rule, lags behind in mental development from peers. Difficulties in communication are inevitable for such a child, it is difficult for him to study in a regular school. Untreated deafness at an early age can lead to dumbness and disability.
There are two types of deafness: congenital and acquired. The congenital form is when the formation of hearing organs in the embryo is impaired. This form of deafness is subdivided into hereditary and non-hereditary. Acquired deafness is the consequences of damage to the hearing organs by all kinds of adverse effects. Acquired hearing loss can be caused by ear and brain injuries, tumors, noise trauma. Various diseases also contribute to hearing loss in childhood. Adenoid vegetation, tonsillitis, hypertrophic posterior rhinitis, measles, scarlet fever, etc. For example, with scarlet fever, the inflammatory process of the throat easily passes to the middle ear and causes dangerous, often irreversible consequences.
The cause of the congenital non-hereditary form of deafness is damage to the auditory organs of the embryo. Basically, this deafness is a consequence of exposure of the fetus during pregnancy to various infections and viruses (syphilis, rubella, cytomegaly). This deafness is not inherited.
Half of all cases of deafness in children are hereditary forms. The causes of congenital hereditary hearing loss are disruptions in genes that carry information about the development of the fetal hearing organs. Often these failures are present in the parents' organisms, the baby only inherits them. Hereditary deafness is passed down from generation to generation.
