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Porirua Children’s Mobile Ear Clinic
Supporting Wellington Pacific ECE Collective
Ear health
Kate Calvert, RN, Ear Nurse
Ear health
Our children
need healthy
ears to hear and
speak their
pacific language,
to learn well and
to succeed.
Ear health
Today I’d like to share with you
• Why ear health is important
• What to look for if you think a child cannot hear
well
• What you can do to help in your early learning
environment
• Supporting families to access help & support.
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If our children cannot hear clearly,
they will only
‘say what they hear.’
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Our children will only learn some of
the information we share with them
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If you cannot hear all the time
or
You do not understand
You become frustrated, angry, can’t hear instructions, get
upset, play alone, don’t sit on the mat and become
naughty.
There are other reasons why these behaviours happen
too, but it is easy to find out if it because of poor hearing
or unhealthy ears.
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2 types of hearing loss
Sensory-neural hearing loss
Permanent
Conductive hearing loss
Can be fixed, but if symptoms are
ignored may lead to long
term damage
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New born hearing
screening identifies
sensory neural hearing
loss.
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• Conductive hearing
loss
• ‘Glue ear’
• Injury/infection to
the ear canal or
drum
• Environmental
factors
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Your ear
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What does ‘fluid in the ear’ or ‘Glue ear’ mean?
– Middle ear, behind the eardrum
• Tube gets narrowed because of
swelling
• Air & moisture cannot flow freely
• Fluid gets stuck in ‘middle ear’
• It gets thicker
• Small bones & ear drum difficult to
vibrate
• Hearing is as if you are listening
under water
• Can be ‘one off’ or be ongoing.
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• A child with ‘Glue ear’
• May have a poor sleep
pattern
• May also get tired quickly
• May appear to hear you
when you have their full
attention, or are face to
face with you.
• May be lip reading
• May have ear ache.
May be behind his/her
age group with their
speech development.
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• May have difficult behaviour
• May not come when you call them from the next
room
• Families may be saying ‘he’s/she’s not listening!’
• May want the TV or music to be louder than
others.
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• What happens next?
• A GP or Ear nurse can refer a child who has had
glue ear for 12 weeks onto a specialist
• Needs to be evidence from looking at the ear
drum and pressure readings indicating fluid is in
the middle ear
• If a child has 4 ear infections in 6 months can be
referred
• Speech delay is also a significant factor
considered by referrer.
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• Helping a child &
family with possible
glue ear in your early
learning centre
• Children can have fluid
in their middle ear that
is worse in the winter –
variable
• It may or may not
impact on hearing
• This is where nose
blowing is so
important.
Its important hearing
concerns are fixed before
children go school.
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Experts
• Ear Nurse & Throat (ENT) Consultant
– May discuss grommet insertion
• Audiologist
– Carry out detailed assessments of how much a child
can here, both the volume and the tone
– Give advice and guidance, offer regular reviews its
important that these are attended.
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Blowing your nose really
helps open the tube, get air
into the middle ear and
move fluid out
Make it part of your
children's’ daily routine.
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Other reasons children
pull on their ears
• Leaky ears
• Itchy ear canals
• Unusual items in the
ear
• Teething
• Allergies
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Leaky ears….need help
• Maybe infection?
• Maybe a hole in the
ear drum?
• Maybe something
foreign in the ear that
needs removing?
• Hearing may be
damaged if we don’t
treat a leaky ear
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Leaky ears
• yellow/green or creamy
coloured fluid, sticky or
runny
• Often it smells because of
the bacteria in the fluid
• Support the family to see a
GP or Practice nurse.
• Needs ear drops
• Keep ear canals dry – even
when washing hair or in the
bath. Use bluetac
• Can be treated.
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Please, do not use ear buds
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Wax
• We all have it
• We think we have to
get it out
• Its there to protect our
ear canal & drum
• Wipe away what you
see – no going in!
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Softening hard wax
• Vegetable oil (eg
canola, olive oil, rice
oil)
• Fill ear canal
• Leave for 10 mins.
• Repeat on other side if
required
• Don’t use coconut oil/
massage oil
• Can do once a month
to keep soft
• Wipe away what you
see
• No digging or poking!
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Ear canals – where you
stick your finger!
• Can be itchy
– Flaky wax
– Dry skin
– ‘swimmers ear’
– Something unusual
in it!
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Attending Early Childhood
education isn’t good for your
ears!
Help to keep
infections/coughs/colds to a
minimum by:
•
•
•
•
Promoting hand washing
Coughing into your elbow
Regular nose blowing
Sick children are not at the
centre.
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Conductive hearing
loss increases when
children experience;
• Damp housing
• Smoking
• Ongoing chest
infections or ear
infections
• If not immunised.
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When to have ears looked at
• Lots of colds or constant runny nose
• 2 weeks after being treated for an ear
infection
• Sore ears but no fever
• Redness/soreness behind ears – serious seek
medical help
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What we do
• Listen to your concern
• Look, check eardrum vibrations &
middle ear pressures
• Treat using micro-suction to clear wax
and debris
• Give advice
• Refer on
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Other things to consider
If you can hear the sound from
their ear buds or head phones, it
is too loud and damaging tiny ear
hairs that do not regrow
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• Can they hear ? Think about….
– Unclear speech or delayed speech
– TV loud
– Demanding behaviour or shy
– Reading & writing difficulties
– Snorers!
– Very tired, a lot of effort to concentrate
or listen
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Preventing ear problems
Immunisation
Hand washing
Smoke free home and car
Breast feeding
Bottle feeding in an upright position
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• Leaky or sore ears need to
be seen by a nurse or
Doctor
• Do not use cotton tips to
clean your ears
• Blow your nose at least
twice a day. More if glue
ear
• Consider ear health if your
child is struggling with
learning
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Think about
Ears & Hearing
in your everyday
contact with children.
Ear health