Dealing with any type of birth defect your child has can be a tough road. Kids that are born with microtia fall within this group, but fortunately, there are solutions available to remedy this problem.
When a child is born with an underdeveloped ear, also known as microtia, it can be heartbreaking to parents. That's because this issue is not only a physical defect, but can also cause hearing loss. The ear is also known as "little ear" since the outer area is so small. In addition, the eardrum or even the bones in the ear are also deformed.There are various types of microtia treatment that doctors can perform in order to help improve the appearance of the ear as well as help hearing. One of the easiest ways to fix hearing loss is with hearing aids. A skilled audiologist will conduct a hearing test to determine how bad the hearing loss is. This can entail setting up an appointment for your child, where he or she will be placed in a room and given a headset to put on.
Then, the audiologist will provide a series of sounds at various levels, in which your child will be asked to press a button or something similar. This way, the audiologist can provide an accurate assessment of your child's hearing level. In the end, your child may simply need a hearing aid or possibly an implant.
In addition, if the ear is severely deformed, you can get cosmetic surgery as a microtia treatment. Oftentimes, it's good to wait until the child is about six years or older. Once they're of age, the surgery can involve an array of details. For example, the surgeon can take cartilage from the child's rib cage and use this to help form the ear. This way, it's more likely that your child's body will accept this cartilage and the surgery will be a success.
Some parents would like to assist their child and offer their cartilage, but many doctors get better results using the child's own cartilage. In addition, some doctors use artificial materials such as plastic; however, it's more likely that your child's body will reject it. Plus, plastic results in more risk of infection.
Once surgery is complete, kids generally recover well. During the surgery, anesthesia is used so pain is not felt. Then, once everything's done, many children are feeling well enough to play in a couple of days. About a week after their microtia treatment, children are just about 100%. If there is any pain, children's pain reliever is often all that's needed to sooth their discomfort. Furthermore, your child's rib cage will be bandaged for a while and it can be helpful for them to sleep in an upright position and not aggravate the area.
Article Tags: Microtia Treatment, Hearing Loss
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