Ask the Experts Blog

While conditions of the ear, nose and throat are a year round problem, the cold winter months can be especially aggravating. February is Kids Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) Health Month—helping raise awareness about common conditions children face. Pediatric ear, nose and throat disorders are one of the main reasons children visit a doctor – ear infections ranking at number one.¹

ENT specialist Dennis Thompson, MD, shares four tips for parents to help keep their children healthy and happy:

1. Back away from the cotton swabs. Many people may be surprised to know that the ear cleans itself. By trying to clean the ear out with a cotton swab you can actually end up pushing the wax farther down and cause a buildup that can impair hearing. If you are too rough with a cotton swap or insert it too far into your ear it can also cause damage to the ear drum.
2. Know when to get your child’s hearing tested. Most newborns are screened at birth to identify hearing loss. In some cases, problems don’t emerge until later because of infections, trauma, or high noise levels. Kids who seem to have normal hearing should have their hearing evaluated at regular doctors' appointments. Hearing tests are usually each year from ages four through six and then at eight and ten.
3. If you are worried about a child’s speech or language development—consult an ENT doctor. Not every child develops their speech at the same rate, but if a child’s language skills seems to be stuck in one place or don’t progress as the child ages, an assessment can help to determine if the issue is due to a structural problem in the mouth or related to the ability to hear sounds.
4. Don’t ignore snoring. It’s can be common for a child to snore when they have an illness that is causing congestion. However, if snoring is happening every night, or if the child sounds like they have pauses in their breathing (called apneas), it can have a significant effect on their health and quality of life. It can also cause headaches and affect attention spans and performance in school.

“The number one thing I stress to the parents of my pediatric patients is the importance of physical activity,” said Dr. Thompson. “Overweight children have a much higher chance of developing sleep apnea which can have severe effects on learning, physical fitness, athletics, and emotions.”

Lakeland Ear, Nose and Throat offers a full range of services, including medical and surgical management of disorders, help with sinus and snoring issues related to sleep apnea, as well as allergy testing and immunization, in children and adults. Learn more here.

1 http://www.entnet.org/KidsENT