What You Need To Know About Ear Infections: Part I

 

Buddy (4) and Mikey (2 1/2) rarely, if ever, get ear infections, and neither had one until they were well over a year old.  So, when Matthew had his first ear infection at exactly a year old with no symptoms whatsoever, it was new to me as a mother.  Although I know about the ear, how we hear, and how detrimental it can be for speech and language development, it still shook me up a bit.  Sure it can be as simple as getting your little one on an antibiotic and being done with it but it doesn't always work that way - and it didn't for Matthew.  One Saturday afternoon, we noticed some crud on the side of Matthew's face.  We figured out that it was coming from his ear.  I immediately called the pediatrician and brought Matthew over there.  Low and behold, without a fever, no signs of irritability or discomfort, and only a day of a clear runny nose, Matthew not only had a double ear infection, but the crud that was outside his ear?  It was due to his ear drum rupturing.  It's actually not a scary as it sounds, but it shouldn't be taken lightly either.  My pediatrician put him on an antibiotic and I went home and made an appointment to see the ENT.  So how do ear infections occur?  How do they affect your little one's ability to hear speech sounds?  And what exactly does it mean that his ear drum ruptured?  Finally, what do we as parents need to know to ensure that our little ones are ear infection free and hearing normally?  I'll be answering these questions and more in a 3 part series.  So, here's part I....

To fully understand how ear infections can impact your little one’s speech and language development, you first have to know “how we hear.”  So here’s a quick lesson…

Before your little one even entered the world, he/she could hear sounds from outside of your growing belly.  He/She even responded to those sounds.  Hearing is a complex process that requires the many tiny parts of your ear to function appropriately and then your brain to apply meaning to these sounds.

The ear can be divided into three parts:

1.       The outer ear:  This consists of the pinna (the part that you can see) and the ear canal (which is where wax is produced).  The outer ear doesn’t do much more than “collect” sounds from the environment.

2.       The middle ear:  This very important part of the ear is comprised of three of the smallest bones in your body, called ossicles, and the Eustachian tube.  The three ossicles named  the malleus, incus, and stapes form a chain connecting the eardrum to the inner ear.  Sounds create vibrations that are carried from the eardrum and cause the ossicles to vibrate.  This middle ear vibration causes movement of the fluid in the inner ear.   The Eustachian tube connects the middle ear with the nose.  The Eustachian tube is generally closed but can open slightly to let a msall amount of air through to equalize pressure between the middle ear and the environment.  (Think about the feeling you get when taking off in an airplane which is a time that environmental pressure is changing.)  The Eustachian tube also serves as a drain for the middle ear, getting rid of any mucus that may accumulate due to a cold or allergies. 

3.       The inner ear:  The sound travels as vibrations into the inner ear and enters the cochlea.  The cochlea is a small, curled tube that is filled with liquid.  This is the liquid that is set into motion by the vibrations of the ossicles.  The cochlea is lined with tiny hair cells which play a crucial role in our hearing.  The vibrations (sound) sent from the ossicles causes the hairs to move, which creates electrical signals that travel up the auditory nerve to your brain.  Your brain then interprets these electrical signals as sound.

Now that you have an understanding of how the ear works, we'll be digging a little deeper in Part II.  Stay tuned!

~Marisa