We have addressed on several occasions the relationship between colds and the appearance of otitis in children. The symptoms are quite evident in the case of otitis mediagiven the exudation or presence of fluid in the ear. Sometimes it even causes fever and pain (acute otitis media). But you have to be careful with the serous otitis, since it is not usually accompanied by infection, so it hardly shows symptoms. We explain to you How is it detected and how to treat it.
The serous otitis is the silent otitis. And it is because it barely generates associated symptoms, as happens with otitis media: No infection is detected, there is no pain, no fever or suppuration. The clue in this case is always the same: generate Hearing loss while it is in force.
This asymptomatology becomes the main handicap for detecting the disease. serous otitis in children. That is why parents and family members should be especially attentive to possible signs that they do not hear well (television, a conversation, in class…). Precisely the fact that it is not detected and affects the hearing ability of the little ones could cause them language development problems And till school failure.
Treatment of serous otitis in children
The doctor Juan Royocommunity hearing health specialist Living the Soundpoints out that serous otitis is a disease that does not always require treatment. What’s more, he assures, “In many cases the healing is spontaneous and the most commonly accepted attitude is ‘watchful waiting’, but always with continuous monitoring of the child”.
Royo recommends that parents be attentive to possible warning signs that make it advisable for the child to be visited by a specialist:
• When we suspect that there is hearing loss.
• When it persists for more than 3 months.
• When there is suspicion of language delay.
• When there are symptoms that make us doubt the diagnosis.
When serous otitis does not go away on its own, the most common way to deal with it is surgery and implantation of transtympanic drainssmall tubes that allow the elimination of that accumulated mucus.