San José, Costa Rica. May, 2015.

Those who have suffered hearing problems know that it is annoying not to be able to hear properly and be able to enjoy a conversation with friends or family. However, this type of problem, although it makes hearing difficult, it does not make it impossible.

Among the main causes of loss of hearing are earwax plugs, seromucous otitis and hearing loss due to advanced age. In many cases it is possible to improve this condition with medical help and treatment.

“The first sign that makes people resort to medical consultation is the difficulty to communicate and understand speech. Other symptoms are a feeling of occlusion, pressure and in some cases pain and noise in the ears,” said Cinthia Azofeifa, a specialist in audiology of the Clínica Bíblica Hospital.

Hearing problems are diagnosed through an otoscopy, which is a visual inspection of the external hearing channel, a clinical audiometry or a tympanometry. An annual control is always important, but if you do not usually have one, you must consult your doctor at the minimum discomfort or symptom mentioned above.

Earwax plugs appear in children and older adults. The latter population suffers this type of problems with greater frequency and in the case of children, seromucous otitis is most frequent between 2 and 8 years-old.

“In children, it is important to observe their behavior, if the child does not pay attention, has difficulties following orders, speech difficulties (production or acquisition) or if there repeatedly appears a middle otitis”, commented the specialist.

Avoid hearing problems

The regular check-up by the physician is very important and if one already knows that the person is a great producer of cerumen, it is recommendable to resort to the physician every six months for the respective cleaning. Also:

•    Do not use medicines without a medical prescription
•    Avoid exposure to noisy environments
•    Perform a periodic check-up of hearing

In the presence of earwax, it is important not to use q-tips to remove it since we would be doing the contrary and compacting the earwax. If there is earwax present, the ideal is to go to the otolaryngologist for its extraction.

For further information or for requesting medical attention, please call the number 2522-1000, or write to the email citas@clinicabiblica.com or contact us via chat at the website: www.clinicabiblica.com.