Severe Ear Conditions Can Avoid Surgery Now, Through An App

It has come to the awareness that a pair of headphones, known to be of a special kind, plus a free app, might now, help kids with the difficulty of hearing. This is all happening due to “glue ear”, a small scale, a new study, suggests.

What is Glue Ear? This is slang for Otitis Media with Effusion, which is a condition where thick fluid builds up in the middle portion of the ear.

Severe Ear Conditions Can Avoid Surgery Now, Through An App

It is known to be common among children but seems to hit older kids as well. This condition often comes after a cold or a sore throat. The fluid usually goes away by itself in around four to six weeks.

There exists a standard way to manage such cases, and that is by surgery, implanting a small tube in the opening of the eardrum which will eventually drain all the liquid from the back of it.

This tube stays in place for six months to a year and then is known to naturally fall out. Yet, according to the researchers, there is a need for other options, as in persistent cases, the middle portion fluid, of the ear generally goes away within 3 to 12 months, as per Dr. Tamsin Brown. Dr. Tamsin Brown is known to be a pediatrician at the Cambridgeshire Community Services, located in Cambridge, England.

She also seemed to notice that ear tubes do consist of some sort of risk factors. Around 1% of these tube operations tend to leave a hole in the eardrum, which might require further more operations to close, Dr. Brown added. The tubes do not drop out when they are meant to and are required to be surgically removed too.

Brown says, in the United Kingdom, a waitlist for tube insertion, exists. At that time, Kids who happen to have hearing difficulty might fall behind when it comes to development in language and school work. He adds, in short, it is quite obvious one would hand over their child a pair of glasses if they have difficulty seeing for a few months.

Brown and her colleagues had recruited around 26 children who were in the age group 3-11, who had OME, which caused hearing problems. Most were seen on the waitlist for ear tubes but during that time of the study, which was also during the first covid-19 wave, those services were about to stop. Hence Brown’s team members were seen sending parents a “kit” that would ease hearing issues, meanwhile. The “kit” contained the Hear Glue Ear, which is a headset to be used with a free app. This Kit was created with the help of Brown.

Many parents have complained or Brown n her team members have always heard complaints about how their kids always had some issue with hearing, at least 23 out of 26. Once these parents began using the kid, 22 children at the least, were known to face no issues in the hearing. That is what the review says about the Hear Glue Ear headset and app kit. This tactic sure will help families tackle hearing problems in children and other age groups. The concept of ear tubes is seen as a “self-problem solver” other than just targetting hearing problems, as per Dr. Meredith Lind. Dr. Lind is known to be an otolaryngologist, which is a doctor for ear, nose, throat, at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Experts in the US state that they are foreseeing the approach applying to be useful in particular instances. Parents are still advised to see their children’s doctor before they head on to the kit.