Causes & conditions
Glue ear, otitis media and ear infections in children
Fluid behind the eardrum causing hearing that comes and goes. The most common cause of childhood hearing loss, and the subject of Dr Alison Collins’s PhD.
The short answer
Why fluctuating hearing loss does the damage
During the years a child is learning to talk, the sound coming in needs to be consistent. With glue ear it is not — clear some weeks, muffled others. The child cannot build a reliable map of speech sounds, and the effect shows up as unclear speech, difficulty at school and behaviour that looks like inattention.
How we detect it
Tympanometry measures how the eardrum and middle ear respond to pressure change, and it detects fluid that a hearing test alone can miss. It takes seconds, it is part of every paediatric appointment here, and it is the single most useful test for glue ear.
Monitoring over time, not one snapshot
Because the condition fluctuates, one appointment tells you very little. We review children over months, building a picture of how often fluid is present and what their hearing is doing. That pattern is what an ENT needs in order to decide whether grommets are warranted, and it is what stops a child being discharged on a good day.
When to involve an ENT
Persistent fluid with a meaningful hearing loss, particularly where speech or school progress is affected, is when ENT referral becomes appropriate. We provide the pre-operative assessment and the post-operative review, with reports written for your specialist.
When to get your child’s hearing tested
- Repeated ear infections colds or blocked ears
- Speech that is late or unclear to people outside the family
- Only responding when facing you
- Turning the television up, or watching mouths
- Teachers describing inattention or being in a world of their own
- Before starting prep, if there is any history of ear trouble
Get a clear answer about your hearing
Independent audiology across Andergrove, Walkerston, Moranbah and Clermont.