Experts Urge Early Hearing Detection to Prevent Childhood Hearing Loss

Early detection of hearing difficulties, if any, in infants is vital to prevent future hearing problems. An estimated 1,000 children require Cochlear Implant (CI) surgeries in Andhra Pradesh, every year, says Dr. S.K.E. Appa Rao and Dr. S. Susruta of Susruta ENT Laser and Cochlear Implant Centre.

The lack of awareness among people, delay in detection of the problem and the high cost of implants come in the way of parents approaching hospitals for treatment, the ENT specialists told the media on the occasion of World Hearing Day on Tuesday.

“In the good old days, soon after the birth of a baby, grannies would clap to watch for the baby’s reaction. If the baby turned his/her head in the direction of the sound, or if they did not respond, a hearing problem would be suspected, and parents would take the baby for testing. An unborn baby can hear outside sounds/music right from the 6th week. Unfortunately, many modern young parents are not even aware of the good old practices and neither do they take their babies to an audiologist for scientific testing,” opines Dr. Appa Rao.

On the contrary, many parents think that their parents or relatives started responding to sounds at a late age and the same could be the case with their children. Once a hearing problem is detected in a child, CI should be done at the earliest, preferably below three years of age for best results. Though the implants are expensive, the government is providing them free of cost to eligible children under various schemes.

KIMS Hospital:

Dr. T. Sai Balarama Krishna, senior ENT Surgeon and HOD of Otorhinolaryngology, KIMS Hospital, emphasised the urgent need for strengthening ear and hearing care services for children, in keeping with this year’s theme, “From Communities to Classrooms – Hearing Care for All Children.”

Dr. Sai Balarama Krishna stated that hearing is fundamental to speech development, education, and social integration, and that unrecognised hearing impairment remains a significant but preventable cause of delayed learning among children. Early identification and timely intervention can prevent permanent disability and ensure normal language development and academic progress, he noted in a statement.

Dr. Balarama Krishna stressed that parents and teachers should be vigilant for early warning signs such as delayed speech, inattentiveness in class, poor scholastic performance, and frequent requests for repetition. Unsafe practices such as self-medication and unscientific ear cleaning should be strictly avoided.