Clear Hearing Is Important in Young Children

Can you answer this question: What is Microtia? Well, I'll tell you what it is. Microtia is, simply put, the outer ear being abnormally small. In other words if someone has Microtia they have a deformed physical appearance of either one or both of their ears. This is noticed around the birth of a child, if they have it. Since the inner ear is not deformed and usually perfectly functional a doctor only has to fix the outer ear with surgery. Microtia does affect hearing ability so surgery is usually used to fix it up. Of course the doctor first talks to the parents about it but surgery is usually the pathway to take. The impact of Microtia on a child can range from teasing in school to significant hearing loss so having surgery earlier is the best thing for the child. Because reconstructing the ear involves taking cartilage from the child's ribcage, the ribs must be large enough and therefore the child must be a little bit older for the surgery to take place. The most common ages are between six and eight years old. Microtia doesn't have to permanently ruin a child's life because surgery can fix it. When a child has Microtia commonly only one ear is affected. But when both ears are affected surgery should be started as soon as possible. Clear hearing is important in young children so fixing at least one of the ears is almost necessary early on. Since Microtia involves hearing loss hearing aids may be needed to help a child or person affected by Microtia. But there are ways to help Microtia affected people to hear without aids and that would significantly assist children with the defect. Three different severities exist of this common birth defect. Doctors know how to treat and deal with each different one specifically. In a very very severe case of Microtia a person may not even have a physically ear. Less severe Microtia situations involve mostly the one ear being noticeably smaller than the other. This birth defect could also effect both ears and both would be under the normal size of ears. This Microtia birth defect involves certain ear reshaping where the ear is deformed or not developed completely. Parents, you should not feel guilty for the birth defect of your child if he or she had Microtia. It is a common birth defect to have an ear deformity and the cause is not really known at the time. The best thing for parents to do, if they have a child with Microtia, is to be loving and supportive of their child, do what they can to make their life happy and perhaps that includes paying for surgery, and to gently answer questions such as "What is Microtia?". When surgery becomes the course of action, make sure your child is not afraid. Be calm and gentle and help them prepare for it. As mentioned before, usually rib cartilage is taken for reforming an ear so that is usually what the doctor will use for fixing the Microtia. Either way, your child will benefit from surgery later in life and should be seriously considered, if not a given, to remove the effects and life changing problems that Mircrotia can cause.

Less severe Microtia situations involve mostly the one ear being noticeably smaller than the other. This birth defect could also effect both ears and both would be under the normal size of.... Learn more at Microtia and Microtia Before and After