Tinnitus in Children
It sometimes surprises adults that children can and do suffer from tinnitus (a ringing, buzzing or whistling noise in the ear).
Medical estimates vary but suggest anywhere between 10-30% of children will experience this at a Nollamara child care centre or indeed any such centre anywhere. It’s most common at preschool ages but may continue up to around 10 years of age when its frequency typically declines.
Tinnitus: The background
Tinnitus in children is presumed by many medical experts to be under-reported. That’s because a child may quickly become ‘acclimatised’ to it and no longer consciously notice it or complain about it.
In children, the noise (or noises) itself may show a much greater range of variation than is found in adults. It may be buzzing, crunching, hissing, a whistle, humming, or almost any noise.
Symptoms
The most obvious one is a child complaining about noises in their ear that won’t go away or which do so for a short time and then return. However, as mentioned above, it’s assumed many such cases go unreported as the child may not realise that anything is wrong.
Other indicators when a direct complaint is absent are a child’s difficulty in concentrating or being too easily distracted. Children may also become inexplicably stressed and distracted in otherwise calm and peaceful surroundings. These symptoms can sometimes be mistaken for other conditions such as ADHD etc.
Causes
- Some childhood tinnitus is caused by ear infections or accumulations of wax. These can typically be easily treated after diagnosis.
- Another recognised cause is exposure to loud noises. Even if infrequent, this can lead to a short-term impact on hearing and tinnitus in children. Where such exposure is more regular, the chances of tinnitus being linked to indications of permanent hearing damage will be higher.
- Another though poorly-understood cause is stress. Children experiencing such have been shown to have a higher incidence of tinnitus.
- Although it is extremely rare, tinnitus can also be a symptom of other medical conditions.
Finally, this condition is also frequently found in children who have impaired hearing. There may be many medical causes for such an impairment but tinnitus is often a secondary effect of whatever the underlying condition is.
Diagnosis and treatment
Only a qualified medical professional, usually meaning an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist can confirm a diagnosis and, in some cases, also the probable underlying cause.
As stated above, if the cause is confirmed to be a localised and temporary medical condition such as a wax blockage or minor ear infection, treatment is possible and may be effective in removing the tinnitus.
Unfortunately, for other causes there is no universal treatment or cure and even the identification of the underlying cause may be difficult in some instances.
Where the causes are linked to stress or other psychological factors, there are therapies available that may help the child to manage the condition better. If the causal factors are eliminated, the tinnitus itself may disappear.
In situations where the causes are hard to identify or are linked to hearing impairment, there is something called Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) which can help a child to learn how to cognitively ‘re-categorise’ the noise as normal background noise which will make it easier to ignore in due course.
Sometimes tinnitus can be a transitory condition that arises as a by-product of say a bad cold and in such cases, it usually passes quickly. Where a child is suffering from it over an extended period, a consultation with a doctor is advisable sooner rather than later.
