Most parents have whisked an infant or toddler to the pediatrician at least once seeking treatment for an ear infection. In fact, 90% of children will have one before age 2. For 30% of those, the ear infections are recurring and many parents find themselves at an ear nose and throat doctor seeking relief for their little one. Although an ear infection is easily treated with antibiotics, it can pose a serious threat to a child’s middle ear. Certainly no parent wants to risk hearing loss. Chronic ear problems are sometimes solved with surgery that involves placing tubes in the ear to keep the pressure equalized and to ventilate behind the eardrum.
My Kid Snores
You’re not imagining it. The reality is, 10% of children snore and about 2% to 4% of them have a condition called obstructive sleep apnea. OSA is diagnosed when a child experiences repeated instances of partial or complete blockage of the airway during sleep. Today 80% of tonsillectomies are performed to treat obstructive sleep problems rather than tonsillitis. The reason is that children with enlarged tonsils are 3.7 times more likely to suffer from sleep disordered breathing, which is a general term for breathing difficulties that occur during sleep.
Hypernasality
A less common condition but one requiring an ENT specialist is hypernasal speech treatment following surgery to correct a cleft palate. According to the Center for Disease Control, about 2,650 babies in the United States are born each year with a cleft palate. Since cleft palate repair is generally done before a child is 18 months old, hypernasal speech may not truly present itself until the child is a little older.
Hypernasality is a persistent opening between the mouth and nose during speech that will require hypernasal speech treatment. Essentially, too much air is escaping through the nose during speech. An ear nose and throat doctor will first perform a video nasal endoscopy to determine the exact location and the size of the persistent opening that is causing the increased airflow through the nose during speech. This procedure involves threading a flexible fiberoptic endoscope through the nose while the patient is speaking so that the back of the nose and soft palate can be examined. Both video and audio are recorded to aid in diagnosis.
