Hearing problems do not only affect the elderly. They are more and more common among the youngest. One in five elementary school students with hearing loss. Meanwhile, parents often do not notice that the children are starting to turn up the volume of the TV and have communication difficulties.
The Warsaw Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing has been implementing for over 10 years hearing screening program for children. This program covered almost 500 children starting education in primary schools located in rural municipalities and over 160 students of grades I and VI of Warsaw primary schools. It turned out that the scale of the problem of hearing disorders is large and increases with age. Children of congenital hearing impairment they come into the world once or twice in a thousand births. However, hearing problems affect every fifth primary school student. Over 30 percent children and adolescents suffer from tinnitus – temporary or permanent. Noise is the first sign that something is wrong with your ears. In the case of older people, the situation is even worse – the percentage of people suffering from hearing loss is from 50%. up to 75 percent (after the age of 70).
Children with hearing impairment at school
IFiPS findings show that children who have an abnormal hearing screening test result more than twice as often as students with normal hearing admit that they have understanding problems with the teacher standing at the blackboard. Moreover, they are twice as likely to achieve poor and very poor academic performance. The most important role in the quick recognition and correction of the defect is the role of parents and the immediate environment. However, over 60 percent. parents of children diagnosed with hearing loss during the IFiPS tests were unaware of the problem at all.
What is harmful to hearing?
Hearing impairment, both in children and adults, can have various causes.
– The first cause is birth defects that show up after some time. The second group, quite numerous, are conditions related to infections of the upper respiratory tract. Often, if left untreated, banal catarrhs lead to chronic, inflammatory changes that make hearing deteriorate. We must then be treated surgically, not conservatively – says in an interview with RMF24 prof. Henryk Skarżyński, director of IFiPS.
Temporary or permanent damage to the inner earo ototoxic drugs, including some antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, can also be caused. Another dangerous factor is listening to music through headphones, especially earbuds. Music that is too loud and reaches the ear canal disrupts the mechanism that protects against acoustic trauma. Meanwhile, according to the World Health Organization, up to half of children and adolescents are exposed to harmful decibel levels from audio devices. Unfortunately, this percentage is rising regularly. Excessively loud music, apart from hearing damage, causes difficulties with concentration, fatigue, insomnia, irritation and even aggression.
Also read: Earplugs – what should you know about them?
Noise, to which young people and children are the most sensitive, pose an even greater risk. Important sources of noise include sound systems in cinemas, concert halls, clubs and discos. School corridors are also a detrimental environment for hearing. According to prof. Skarżyński the noise level during breaks at school may exceed 95 dBwhile the safe sound intensity is no more than 85 dB. Specialists point out that after such a break, the child needs a whole teaching hour for his hearing performance to return to normal.
– We will not rebuild all schools, we will not make them looser, but being aware of this phenomenon, we can eliminate what is within our reach – says prof. Skarżyński in an interview with RMF24.
The most important thing you can do for your hearing is avoiding noise and listening to music safely and consciously, without clogging your ear canals and exceeding the permitted decibel standards. Regular hearing tests and careful treatment of upper respiratory tract infections are also important.
The editorial board recommends:
- A moment of relaxation, or soothing music
- Sudden deafness of unclear origin
- Ear sticks. Hygiene causes deafness
For a long time you have not been able to find the cause of your ailments or are you still looking for it? Do you want to tell us your story or draw attention to a common health problem? Write to the address [email protected] #Together we can do more
The content of the medTvoiLokony website is intended to improve, not replace, the contact between the Website User and their doctor. The website is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Before following the specialist knowledge, in particular medical advice, contained on our Website, you must consult a doctor. The Administrator does not bear any consequences resulting from the use of information contained on the Website.