Conductive Hearing Loss

in children with Down Syndrome is often easily resolved

Conductive hearing loss is the most common type found in kids with Down Syndrome. This type of hearing loss is usually caused by one of the following:

• Wax buildup due to the small ear canal
• Fluid in the middle ear caused by an increased number of respiratoy infections and ear infections
• An abnormally shaped ear canal

In this kind of hearing loss your child can usually hear but sounds in the affected ear are muffled. How much the child can hear depends on the degree of blockage and/or the amount of fluid present. Conductive hearing loss may not always be present in both ears. It is common for it to only affect one ear. Our son, Sam, has this type of in his right ear because of a build up of dead skin cells (oh yeah, that can cause blockage too in those very small ear canals), and constantly having fluid in his middle ear. His other ear, however, is fine. Have you ever had water in your ear and things were muffled? This happens because the sound is not conducted properly to the inner ear.

These things can usually be corrected by either antibiotic administration or surgical placement of Pressure Equalizing Tubes or PE tubes. Only your child’s doctor should ever attempt to clean your child’s ears. Never, never try to do this yourself. The risk of doing damage to your child’s eardrums is too great.

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