Ear, nose, and throat science isn’t anywhere near what it used to be, and parents all around the globe are thanking their lucky stars that it isn’t. So many amazing strides have been made over the course of the last couple of decades, and children everywhere are the healthier for it.
If you were to Google the keyword ear nose and throat problems in children and adole, you might wonder if anything would come up in the search results. The fact is, much will be revealed by hitting enter on your keypad.
Ear troubles can be quite common ent problems in newborns and infants. In fact, five out of every six children will have at least one ear infection by the time they blow out their candles on their third birthday cake. There are so many possible factors that can lead to hearing loss for a child. These factors can include complications during or after birth, environmental causes, or infections in the mother that occur during the pregnancy.
Throat problems often affect children, as well. Complications with the tonsils can cause a great deal of discomfort for children and, in the past, the removal of the tonsils was thought to be the only practical way to treat tonsillitis. As recently as thirty years ago, children with tonsillitis had their tonsils removed 90% of the time if they had a recurring infection. Now, infection results in their removal about 20% of the time, while 80% of tonsillectomies are done if a child is experiencing obstructive sleep problems or OSA.
Something that all parents worry about when their children are very young is sleep disordered breathing. Ear nose and throat problems that manifest themselves in sleep disorders can very easily lead to death if not treated properly. This is why many studies have been done over the last several decades not just on adults but children, as well. Breathing difficulties are measurably more dangerous in young children because their ear nose and throat problems occur in bodies that are not fully developed. A good number of breathing issues children experience are the result of not being fully developed. Many children grow out of them as they age.
Ear nose and throat problems in children and adole can often be treated with simple medications, breathing machines, and in fewer cases theses days, surgery. Doctors are learning more and more about what cause certain problems and are less prone to go straight to surgery. Instead, machinery is available for parents to monitor their child at home. Parents are also being taught how to treat their children in case of any flare-ups.
Ear nose and throat problems in children and adole might not be going away for good anytime soon but new treatments are giving parents much more hope that their children will one day breathe comfortably. And that makes any parent breathe more easily, too.
