On this page we cover:
- Hearing Aids
- Cochlear Implants
- Surgically Implanted Bone Conduction Hearing Devices - BAHA and Sophono
Hearing loss can occur in children as a congenital condition (from birth) or develop as they grow up. Your ENT for Children specialist might recommend the following treatments depending on the degree and type of your child’s hearing loss:
Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are small amplifiers that allow a child to hear more clearly by making incoming sounds louder. The primary goal of the devices is to help your child take full advantage of their remaining hearing. Hearing aids are most often used for children with mild to severe degrees of hearing loss.
Your child’s Audiologist at ENT for Children will diagnose the severity and type of your child’s hearing loss with an audiogram or ABR before recommending an appropriate hearing aid. In some cases two hearing aids will be necessary if both of your child’s ears are affected.
Your pediatric Audiologist will fit your child with hearing aid by making a mold impression of the outer ear and ear canal. Then, they will send the ear mold to a lab where a high grade silicone ear mold is made that will later be attached to your child’s hearing aid. Your child’s ear mold will need to be re-made as their ear grows. An indication that your child’s ear mold is no longer fitting properly is if the hearing aid emits a squealing or high pitched whistling sound (feedback).
Cochlear Implants
If your child has a severe or profound degree of sensorineural hearing loss, hearing aids may not adequately correct their hearing loss. In situations where hearing aids are no longer of sufficient benefit to correct your child’s hearing loss we may recommend a cochlear implant.
A cochlear implant does not amplify sound or make use of your child’s native hearing. A cochlear implant bypasses the damaged inner ear (cochlea) and stimulates your child’s auditory nerve directly to allow them to hear at a normal level.
To learn more about cochlear implants and our Cochlear Implant Program at ENT for Children, please view our page on cochlear implants.
Surgically Implanted Bone Conduction Hearing Devices – BAHA and Sophono
Surgically implanted bone conduction hearing devices may be recommended for the following conditions:
- Children born without an ear canal (aural atresia)
- Chronic ear disease with a permanent conductive hearing loss
- Moderate to severe mixed hearing loss
- One-sided (unilateral) sensorineural hearing loss
These devices work by transmitting or conducting sound through the bone of your child’s skull directly to their inner ear. In children with conductive hearing loss the sound bypasses the cause of conductive hearing loss and directly stimulates the normal function of the inner ear. In children with one-sided (unilateral) sensorineural hearing loss the device is implanted on the side of the hearing loss. In these children the device then transmits or conducts the sound through the skull around to the normal hearing ear allowing the child to be aware of sound/speech that is presented to the side of the hearing loss.
Your pediatric ENT will perform either of these procedures (BAHA or Sophono Implant) under general anesthesia. The procedure takes less than an hour and is done on an outpatient basis.
The BAHA implant is completed as a staged surgery in children. During the first stage, your child’s Pediatric ENT will implant the bone integrated screw into your child’s skull. During the second stage surgery 3-12 months later the bone integrated screw is connected to a fixture that comes out through the skin that allows the hearing processor to attach. The length of time between the first and the second stage of surgery is based on the thickness of your child’s skull at the time of the first stage of surgery.
The Sophono implant is completed as a single surgery. During surgery your child’s Pediatric ENT will implant a set of magnets and small screws into a shallow well in your child’s skull. Four to six weeks after surgery your child’s Audiologist will teach you how to connect the hearing processor utilizing an external magnet that adheres to the internal magnet to secure the processor.