Children’s Hearing

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Little girl smiling near a hearing test machine

Are You Concerned About Your Child’s Hearing?

Hearing loss is most common as we grow older, but it can affect us at any stage of life even in childhood Nothing is more important to a parent than the healthy growth and development of your child.

Because we’re also parents, we share your worries and concerns when you suspect that your child is not hearing well or struggling to communicate. We’re also concerned about making sure the process of diagnosing and treating your child’s condition is as easy and stress-free as possible.

Every step of the process is designed to be friendly, welcoming, and relaxing for you and your child, allowing for greater accuracy, helping provide the best possible solutions, and ensuring that your child keeps a smile on his or her face throughout the process

Common Types of Hearing Loss That Effect Children

Otitis Media

Otitis media is the most common cause of hearing loss in children, involving inflammation of the middle ear, just behind the eardrum.

It typically involves a buildup of fluid in the Eustachian tube between the middle ear and the back of the throat, which is both smaller and less angled than it is in adults and can be blocked more easily.

The fluid buildup leads to “conductive” hearing loss, which blocks sound from being conducted through the inner ear to the brain. Infectious otitis media is often easier to detect since an earache and fever are often involved. Arnold Hearing Centres, Hearing Health Clinics in Guelph, Kitchener, Simcoe and Waterloo specialize in the treatment of otitis media.

Congenital Hearing Loss

While the sense of hearing becomes active in most people by around 16 weeks in the womb, some people are born with hearing difficulties or “congenital” hearing loss.

50% or more of congenital hearing loss cases typically stem from genetic issues.

Other causes of congenital hearing loss might include prenatal infections, illnesses, toxins consumed by the mother during pregnancy, infection within the womb, premature birth, gestational diabetes, toxemia during pregnancy, and lack of oxygen (anoxia).

Acquired Hearing Loss

When hearing loss occurs after birth, it is referred to as acquired hearing loss, which is not child-specific. Several risk factors associated with acquired hearing loss in children include frequent ear infections, ototoxic drugs known to affect hearing, meningitis, measles, encephalitis, chickenpox, influenza, mumps, head injuries, and noise exposure.

Noise exposure deserves special mention because it is among the primary causes of acquired hearing loss in children.

The advent of earbuds, video games, and an endless stream of media via smartphones pump damaging sound at excessive volume directly into your child’s ears, making it necessary to monitor your child’s use of earbuds.

The Arnold Hearing Centres professionals in our Guelph, Kitchener, Simcoe and Waterloo clinics specialize in these other types of hearing loss that affect children of all ages

A young girl having a hearing test at Arnold Hearing Centres

Little girl having a hearing aid fitted at Arnold Hearing Centres

Complete Hearing Assessment
$60

For children 5 years of age and older

Our hearing assessments are a professional and comprehensive evaluation of your hearing health, which includes the following:

Includes:

Full review of your hearing health background
Current hearing device performance check (if applicable)
Otoscopy to observe:
- ear wax, infections, abrasions, growths, perforations of the ear drum, or other obvious disorders
Pure tone air conduction testing, speech testing, word recognition scoring, and bone conduction testing

All these tests combined will give us a full picture of your hearing health done by a certified hearing professional.

Central Auditory Processing Assessment
$185

For ages 8 years and older

Includes:

Complete Hearing Assessment
Central auditory testing
Review of results
Discussion of recommendations
Comprehensive report
Letter and prescription for the school board

How To Detect Hearing Loss In Children

Knowing if your child is displaying the warning signs of hearing loss or is at risk of developing hearing loss is an important part of helping them get the help they need as soon as possible. To help you recognize the symptoms of hearing loss in children, here is a list of questions to consider:

Does your child get frequent colds and ear infections?
Does your child not understand people without facing them?
Does your child speak loudly, as if having trouble hearing himself/herself?
Does your child always turn up the volume on the TV or radio?
Does your child often not respond when called?
Does your child need to have things repeated?
Is there a history of hearing loss in your family?
Was your child born prematurely? (sooner than 37 weeks)
Did your child have a low birth weight?
Did your child experience a lack of oxygen at birth?

Early detection is critical to dealing with hearing loss. If you suspect that your child, age 4 or older, has a hearing problem, contact Arnold Hearing Centres for a thorough and comprehensive hearing evaluation.

If your child is under the age of 4, please let us know, and we can provide you with information on who to contact.

Schedule a Children’s Hearing Assessment

The starting point for restoring hearing loss or preventing it is a comprehensive hearing evaluation.

If others complain about the volume of your television, you no longer enjoy a night out or family gathering due to background noise, friends and family tell you to get your hearing checked, or you simply want to add hearing care to your healthcare checklist, take the first step.

Submit our “Schedule a Comprehensive Hearing Assessment” form, and a member of our team will call you to assist in scheduling your appointment.

Schedule a Children’s Hearing Assessment

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My 3 year old daughter had to get fitted for some swim plugs as she had tubes in her ears, and was extremely nervous and scared. Once we got there, the staff did such an amazing job of walking my daughter through what they were going to do and ensuring her that she had nothing to be scared of. The process of taking the ear impression went without issues or tears. I would absolutely recommend this place to my friends and family.

Glenn L

We have been using Arnold Hearing Centres for years for our kids. Their professionalism, expertise, and excellent approach to children sets them apart. I highly recommend!

Lynn C

Patient Stories

All of the audiologists I've had at Arnold have been really good at customer service. It may be in part because there has been so much improvement in technology, but my most recent audiologist was simply extraordinary

- Larry Martin