Dr. Muddazir Ali Ibrahim EAR NOSE AND THROAT (Specialist)

If a normal Ear Infection is gut-wrenching, then what if your toddler gets chronic or recurrent ear infection that does not go easily! If ear infection keeps coming back in your children, nothing is more excruciating than that. In case your child gets three episodes in six months or four in a year, then he/she has got a case of chronic ear infection. This blog will highlight some of the real facts about chronic ear infections in children along with its types and symptoms, and how to deal with it. Let’s put a flash!

What exactly is an Ear Infection in children?

An Ear Infection is said to be an inflammation of the middle ear in children that is usually caused by the attack of a bacteria, which occurs when fluid formulates behind the eardrum. Children are more prone to such kind of infections as compared to adults. Ear Infection, in medical terms, is stated as an Otitis media (OM).

Types and Symptoms of Ear Infection in Children

There are three main types of ear infections, and each of them carries a different combination of symptoms.

⮚ Acute Otitis Media: It is the most common Ear Infection in which parts of the middle ear gets infected in a way that fluid traps behind the eardrum which eventually causes pain, commonly known as earache. This results in a mild fever in children and it usually develops along with cold and upper respiratory infections.

⮚ Otitis Media with Effusion: It occurs when an Ear Infection has gone but fluid remains trapped behind the eardrum. Your toddler might not have any symptoms or can experience fullness in the ear or decreased hearing and but an experienced ENT specialist with his special instruments may be able to see the fluid present behind the eardrum or may advice for a hearing test called tympanometry which can detect fluid behind the ear drum

⮚ Chronic Otitis Media with Effusion: This conditions occurs in your child when a fluid stays in the middle ear for a very longer time and returns over and over again. It happens even when there is no infection. Chronic Otitis Media with effusion makes it difficult for the toddlers to combat new infections and the most severe outcome of this is that it affects their hearing.

The child characterises with cranky mood, runny nose, mild fever, twitching on the ear, fussiness, fluid draining out of ear, clumsiness, trouble hearing, loss of appetite as well as difficulty in sleeping. But, this is really important to know how to deal with it when your toddler keeps getting ear infection after ear infection.

What causes an ear infection in Children

An Ear Infection is usually caused by the bacteria and initiates when a child has sore throat, cold or other upper respiratory infections. In case, upper respiratory tract infection is bacterial, then it spreads to the middle ear. If it is caused by a Virus like cold, bacteria may be drawn to microbe-friendly environment and goes into middle ear as a secondary infection. Due to the infection, Fluid formulates and accumulates behind the ear drum.

Eustachian tubes in children are small and more levelled as compared to adults which makes it difficult for the fluid to drain out of the ear. Also, child’s immune system is not that strong as it is in the developing state and makes it difficult for children to fight infections. Adenoids, most of the times, respond to bacteria that passes through nose and mouth. Bacteria gets trapped in the adenoids causing a chronic infection and which eventually passes on to the Eustachian tubes and the middle ear.

How to treat chronic or recurrent Ear Infections in children?

An expert ENT specialist knows how to treat a chronic middle ear Infection in your children effectively. Every ENT specialist boasts different standards of treatment. The very first line of treatment when a toddler has an earache is to wait and watch or give antibiotics.

If ear infection persists after antibiotics, affecting the hearing of the child,then ENT specialist suggests surgically creating a slit like opening over the tympanic membrane(Myringotomy) and draining fluid from the ear as well as inserting ear tubes (Grommet or Ventilation tube) to ventilate the area in order to normalize the pressure in the middle ear. After twelve months, the tubes usually fall out on their own.

Another treatment an ENT specialist opts for is removing adenoid(Adenoidectomy). Adenoid are the lymphoid tissues situated at the back of the nose in the upper part of throat which blocks Eustachian tubes leading to accumulation of fluid behind the ear drum. But before, proceeding for this, it is necessary to discuss the pros and cons of the treatment to be done.

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How to prevent Ear Infections in babies?

⮚ The most appropriate way to prevent ear infections in babies is to minimize the risk factors linked with them.
⮚ Vaccination against Flu. Make sure your child gets influenza or flu vaccine every year.
⮚ Vaccinate your child with 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-13). It protects against various types of bacterial infections.
⮚ Keep your child away from the cigarette smokers. Smoke promotes ear infections in toddlers.
⮚ Keep your child away from the infected or sick children.

If you too are upset that there is the case of chronic ear infection in your child and you are looking for solutions, then Dr. Muddazir Ibrahim, an experienced ENT professional is there for you with his ultra-modern technologies and treatment. You will be suggested genuine and most effective solutions.
Contact now and fix an appointment to get best services immediately!

Have you ever experienced irritation in your throat with other cold symptoms like fever, running nose and watery eyes? You may have also experienced pain while swallowing. It could be the case of tonsillitis.

Children and adults, both have similar indications for tonsillectomy. But studies say that as tonsillitis become less common in adults as the tonsils shrink and infections are less significant.

Doctors describe that in several cases, tonsillitis can be treated with the antibiotics but in the severe cases, where patient’s day-to-day life and lifestyle gets affected, then it is best to have the tonsils removed.

How Do Tonsillitis Happen

It occurs when the tissue, called lymphoid, and which is located at the back of the throat become infected by a virus or bacteria. And, in some cases, this can cause severe infection which cannot be simply treated with the medicines. Tonsillitis is not contagious but it can spread easily in children in the schools or any outdoor camps. It’s common in children in the age group from 5 to 15 years, as it spreads like bacterial infections.

There are two tonsils at the back of the throat on both sides. It helps in swallowing and prevents the viruses and germs from entering through the mouth and nose. Tonsils make up the lymphatic system. However, due to severe cold and bacterial infections, tonsils get inflamed and swollen. And, when this happens, it is called tonsillitis. It occurs most commonly in children.

Some of the tonsillitis-related symptoms include fever, sore throat, a whitish or yellowish coating on the tonsils and also swollen glands in the neck. It is, therefore, best to seek medical attention if there is pain while swallowing or weakness and a persisting sore throat. Most probably, in that case, a patient has tonsils that need to be removed. Doctors diagnose patients with tonsillitis by checking for swelling on the sides of the neck, checking for the rashes, looking into the ears and nose as well as through blood test and throat swabs.

Advantages of Removing Tonsils

If tonsillitis is hampering your daily routine, then its best to have the tonsils removed as a best possible solution. If you are still not convinced, here are some advantages of removing tonsils which you should know to take a timely decision:

I) Sound Sleep: Several patients suffering from tonsillitis have complained of sleeplessness due to swelling of the tonsils which impacts the mood as well. Doctors suggest that swelling blocks the air passage therefore it results in snoring and uneasy breathing cases.

II) Better Health: The benefits of removing tonsils in adults is definitely to attain better health. Everyone wants a good quality of life, which is determined by health. Good health means a good life. With good health, one is able to go to the office, spend time with family, children and friends. Moreover, there will no longer be pain and discomfort.

III) Less Medication: Once the tonsils are removed, one doesn’t have to take any medication for tonsillitis. This means less medication and need not worry about healthcare-related expenses thus one also gets to save some money.

Continuous pain is a hurdle and often leads to depression. Removing the pain entirely gives you a sense of relief and also a feeling of lightness. Once tonsils removed in adults, they can easily concentrate on other important things like family and professional engagements. Furthermore, with tonsillitis, patients tend to skip school or work because of the irritating pain and the accompanying fever and fatigue.

The Right Time to Remove Tonsils

When it comes to surgeries, patients often run scared. But after consultation with the doctor, they know what needs to be done. As such, most patients are confused whether they really need to get their tonsils removed and ask themselves—should I get my tonsils removed’. Some doctors usually advice against the removal but then it depends on the condition of the patient. The patient’s health is important, and also most of them end up asking how you know your tonsils need to be removed.

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Patients need to have their tonsils removed if tonsillitis keeps coming back. Basically, it means that if they go through the same episode, it is about the time they took it seriously had it removed once and for all. They may be going through five to seven such episodes in a year and this definitely takes a toll on their life.

An Assistant Professor of Otology and Laryngology, Neil Bhattacharyya of Brigham and Women’s Hospital once said for people who get tonsillitis several times a year that, ‘the surgery makes sense, medically, financially and from a quality-of-life perspective.’ Bhattacharyya’s research showed that before tonsillectomy, patients spent an average of six and a half weeks a year taking antibiotics. And after the tonsillectomy, the same patients averaged less than a day, per year on antibiotics.

Neil Bhattacharyya further explains that when you factor in all of the sick time with the expenses associated with the antibiotics and the doctor’s visits, deciding to keep your tonsils can be the less attractive option for many chronic tonsillitis sufferers. Even when you consider that it takes a week to recover from the tonsils surgery, patients who had them removed were less sick, less often, for several years after the procedure, Bhattacharyya said.

Therefore, if you are suffering from tonsillitis, it’s advisable and best to consult a doctor for treatment without any further delays.

Are you worried about your child’s restless nights due to snoring problem? Does your child wake up feeling tired? If yes, need not worry anymore as you are not alone who is facing such issues. About 15%-20% of children in this globe actually snore! Let’s just know the real snoring causes in children and the best suitable ways to get rid of it. We has a team of best ent specialist doctors in Dubai, have years of experience with the ear, nose, throat & head.

What is Snoring?

Snoring is a kind of sound that occurs due to blocked air-flow while your child is sleeping. The tissues present at the top of the airway produces this sound when they strike against each other and vibrate. Just because of the relaxed state and position of body, it occurs during the sleep only.

Identifying the Causes of Snoring

When we breathe, air flows inward and outward in a steady stream between the lungs and nose. The air flows more quickly when we exercise, thus producing some kind of sounds while breathing. As the air moves more rapidly, it leads to the turbulence to the airflow, hence causing some kind of vibrations of the tissues in the nose as well as in the mouth.

While sleeping, as the muscles relax, the area behind the throat narrows down and sometimes close off. Through this minute opening, the air passes away quite quickly thus causing the surrounding tissues to vibrate which further leads to the emergence of the sound of snoring. Narrowing varies amongst the number of individuals. It can be in the mouth, throat or nose. Palatal Snoring is considered to be as the worst one that occurs when a person breathes via his mouth or has some obstruction in his nose.

Referring an expert ENT specialist near you can only help you determine the exact cause of such conditions. An ENT specialist or any highly experienced ENT professional near you would rule out any kind of blockages in your children that enlarged the tonsils or other structures like turbinates or sinus tissues may cause. An ENT specialist will thoroughly screen out the enlarged structures and remove them surgically as one of the potential diagnosis options.

Snoring can be a sign of Sleep Apnea

Snoring in children is also considered to be a sign of the most serious and devastating sleeping disorder, knows as Sleep Apnea therefore such syndromes shouldn’t be ignored. If you face any such disorder in your child, get them diagnosed at the right time to find out the best treatment options. Timely action will ensure that the case doesn’t turn severe.

The snoring cases in children are getting prevalent and might lead to inhibit breathing for a brief interval of time while sleeping, say for ten seconds or more than that. This eventually can even stop blood flow to the brain or heart due to lack of oxygen, resulting into the causes of mood disorders, depression, anxiety or even heart failure if not treated well on time. That is why timely treatment is important to avoid any worst circumstance in the future.

Common Causes of Snoring In Children

As we all know sleep is vital for a child’s growth and development. Sleeping disorders like snoring and Sleep Apnea might ruin your child’s sleep and eventually his growth and development. So, it is essential to know the real causes and treatment of Snoring in Children so that you may be able to best look out for the health of your children and help them get better sleep.

Number of factors causes blockages of the airways that inhibits the free flow of air at the back of the throat. In children, the most common Factors that causes Snoring involves Large and Swollen Tonsils and Adenoids.

The Tonsils as well as Adenoids are the collections of lymphoid tissue present at the back of the throat and are considered as the part of the body’s immune system. They trap bacteria as well as viruses that enter though the throat and produce antibodies against them. At the time, when infection of bacteria or Virus occurs in throat, they become enlarged. Enlargement of Tonsils and Adenoids can obstruct the airway, causing Snoring in Children.

Role of Tonsils and Adenoids in Causing Sinusitis

When Tonsils and Adenoids are enlarged, they obstructs nasal and sinus drainage and a poor drainage in sinus develops a perfect environment for bacteria to grow and breed. This eventually leads to the development of a Sinus Infection, known as Sinusitis. This effect happens over and over again causing recurrent Sinus Infection or Sinusitis.