Causes of Deafness

Last year my 9-year-old son started having trouble hearing. He would often ask us to repeat our sentences. This became too frequent that we started getting worried. We went to an ear doctor who told us to have his ear tested with an audiogram. Thru the test we learned that he had already lost almost 50% of his hearing and that he had a condition called otitis media. From what I understood, the cause of his partial deafness was mucus that goes to his ears whenever he blows his nose. My son was given antibiotics which didn’t improve his condition. We then decided to seek out another doctor. This doctor was quite strict and suggested unconventional remedies which she said we should follow if we wanted her to continue treating my son. After a month of inhaling steam every two hours, sniffing and swallowing mucus instead of blowing it out, sniffing nasal sprays and taking antibiotics my son’s sense of hearing got back to normal.

To a mother, being told that your child could go deaf is really scary. There is nothing wrong with a deaf child but of course, we as parents would want our children to have normal senses so that it would be easier for them to live normal lives.

For parents and those who are planning to have children, I have listed down several causes of deafness:

Prenatal causes:
Toxic condition – drug involved on the part of the pregnant mother who is
Taking medication especially those with abortive effect
Viral diseases – mumps, influenza, German measles, maternal rubella
Congenital malformation – such as lack/closure of the external ear
Maternal bleeding especially during the first trimester of pregnancy
Perinatal causes:
Traumatic experience during delivery such as pelvic pressure or injury, use of forceps and intracranial hemorrhage
Anoxia or lack of oxygen due to prolonged labor
Heavy sedation
Blockage of infant’s respiratory passage
Severe jaundice
Posnatal causes:
Diseases/ailments
- meningitis
- measles
- other viral infection like mumps, chicken pox, influenza and viruses from common colds
- impacted cerumen or hardened wax which may lead to infection Accidents/Trauma
Accidents
- falls
- head bumps
- undrained water in the ear
- overexposure to high frequency sound and externally loud explosions

Other Causes
- heredity
- prematurity
- malnutrition
- overdose of medicine
- aging