Parents, friends and family often ask me about hearing and how often they should be getting their ears tested and their child’s ears tested. Hearing allows us to connect to our world. Communication is founded in hearing, especially since we live in a primarily auditory world.
The picture of my niece and nephews playing (above) shows how important hearing is. We get all of our other essential senses, such as vision, tested every year or two because we need our eyes to see. In the same way, we should be getting our ears tested every year or two as well, because we need our ears to hear.
As a Toronto-based audiologist and a new mom, I think about this a lot. My husband and I are always thinking about what’s best for our daughter and how to ensure that she is and remains healthy, as I’m sure many other parents do. We spend so much time and energy thinking about what to feed her – not too many sweets, not too much salt, good fats, balanced meals with veggies and protein. We also spend a lot of time focusing on her sleep – make sure she naps in her crib everyday and that bedtime is set for a reasonable time. We attend all of her doctor’s appointments together. Make sure she receives all of the immunizations she should be getting. And of course, we make sure that life for her remains a paradise of fun, by taking her out to the park, to the splashpad, to wonderland, swimming, making bubbles, going to classes, interacting with other kids, etc… Since it’s so important to give her the best and happiest quality of life that we can and keep her healthy, whenever she rubs her ears (usually because she’s tired), I think ‘Oh, oh, does she have an ear infection? Should I take her to the clinic to get her ears checked?’. I find myself always thinking about this, because even though she has normal hearing, as an audiologist, I know that anything can happen at anytime, and the best intervention to me, is the preventative one.
According to the world health organization, over 5% of the world’s population (i.e., 360 million people) suffers from a hearing loss. Children make up almost 10% (i.e., 32 million) of that statistic, worldwide. In Canada, more than 2,000 babies are born with a hearing loss each year – this means that approximately 6 out of every 1,000 newborn babies will have some degree of hearing loss. The prevalence of hearing loss increases with age as progressive and acquired hearing losses develop during childhood and adolescence (Mehra, Eavey et al. 2009; Shargorodsky, Curhan et al. 2010).
Hearing loss in children can have a congenital cause, which means that babies are born with the loss or acquire it during birth or soon after birth; or it can also have an acquired cause, which means that it can develop at any time and at any age. Causes for hearing loss vary and can include genetic factors, non-genetic factors, infections, bacteria, virus, trauma, pharmacologically-induced ototoxicity, noise, etc… These many factors that can affect hearing means that our children are quite vulnerable, all the time! It’s important to protect them in the best way that we can, and as far as hearing goes, in my opinion, that starts with an annual hearing test.
We get our eyes tested, our teeth cleaned and an annual physical done; so we should be testing ours and our children’s ears too for the same reasons, don’t you think?
Learn more about the hearing services we provide at AudioSense, including our hearing tests and comprehensive audiological evaluations.
About the Author
Salima Jiwani is the Founder/Director and Lead Audiologist at AudioSense Hearing, Balance & Concussion, an audiology clinic in Yorkville, Toronto. Salima has a keen clinical and research interest in disorders of the external, middle and inner ear, including hearing loss, auditory processing difficulties, tinnitus, sound sensitivities and post-concussion auditory deficits. Salima is passionate about understanding how the brain responds to sound after injury and in post-surgical management of cochlear implants. Salima works with children and adults of all ages at AudioSense, and provides her patients with industry-leading audiological care by leveraging her clinical, research and industry experience. She firmly believes in a holistic cross-collaborative team approach to audiological care and is always looking for outside-the-box evidence-based innovative ways to offer care to her patients. Outside of work, Salima continues to be engaged in advocacy initiatives to elevate the profession of audiology, give audiologists a voice and promote optimal audiological care for her patients.
