Did you ever wonder why young children are more prone to ear infections?
It’s because the eustachian tube ““ the narrow tube that connects the middle ear to the back of the throat and helps with fluid drainage ““ tends to be more horizontal and smaller in younger kids than in their older counterparts. When fluid doesn’t drain well, it is retained inside the middle ear. This allows for an overgrowth of bacteria, which thrive in the warm moist middle ear space.
Usually, ear infections in children are associated with a cold, other respiratory infection or allergies; basically, anything that can produce fluid in the head.
Ear infections can be difficult to diagnose because children often present with different symptoms. For instance, some kids may have problems sleeping with an ear infection while others sleep just fine but run a fever.
In general, the American Academy of Pediatrics lists six symptoms to look for:
- Pain
- Loss of appetite
- Trouble sleeping
- Fever
- Ear drainage
- Trouble hearing
If your child has one or more of these symptoms, call your doctor. He or she will check for an ear infection by looking in your child’s ear with an otoscope to see if there is inflammation and fluid build-up.
Luckily, as your child gets older, ear infections generally become less of an issue. By age 3 or 4, the eustachian tubes usually have grown big enough to efficiently drain fluid, and children usually have fewer colds. Beginning preschool could cause some setbacks, but typically, by the time your child is in kindergarten or first grade, recurrent ear infections shouldn’t be a problem, said Dr. John La Count, a pediatrician with St. Elizabeth Physicians’ Florence office.
If your child has frequent ear infections, your pediatrician may refer him or her to an ear, nose and throat specialist who might recommend inserting small drainage tubes in your child’s ear to help remove fluid. Currently, La Count said, the recommendation is for children to see an ENT if they’ve had seven ear infections in a single season. Additionally, close observation of speech and language should occur. Children with ear infections may have variable conductive hearing loss due to the retained fluid.
