Children's Private Hearing Tests | Your Hearing Experts

Can My Child Hear Normally?

As parents, we all want to make sure that our children meet their full potential in everything that they do.

Most children will have some trouble with their ears or hearing during their childhood and you’re right to want it investigated if you have any concerns.

Good hearing is essential to a child’s development and general wellbeing. Without good hearing, development of speech and language can be affected. Additionally, it can also have an impact on development of social skills and impact on educational attainment. Similarly behavioural and emotional issues can also arise from an undiagnosed and untreated hearing loss.

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Click Hearing is one of the only private audiology practices in the country that is registered with the CQC and so, allowed by law to see children.

Our Audiologists are fully trained and experienced NHS audiologists who have close working links with several Ear, Nose & Throat Surgeons in the local and surrounding areas.

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Signs that Your Child may have a Hearing Loss.

For babies a checklist can be found in the baby’s personal child health record which can be used to help you check your child’s hearing as they grow.

Common Causes of Hearing Loss in Children

There are several causes of hearing loss in children. Some of them are temporary hearing losses that resolve themselves such as following a cold. Others are more long-standing hearing losses that require medical assessment and intervention.

The most common causes for hearing loss in children can be very effectively managed with medicine or minor interventions. If your audiologist feels that there is a permanent hearing loss, they will be able to guide you through the next steps.

Excessive Earwax

The ears are self-cleaning and any wax that makes its way towards the outer part of the ear can simply be wiped away. Please do not be tempted to push q-tips, baby buds, or anything else into the ear; it will simply create more problems, and over time cause an accumulation of compacted wax. Your GP may recommend ear drops to soften the wax and we should be able to remove any excessive wax using microsuction with a tiny hoover. Microsuction does need the child to remain completely still for a short while though, so is not possible on children under 5 or if they are very anxious.

Glue Ear

Glue Ear (Otitis Media with effusion)

Otitis media effects most children at some stage and, in many cases, it will resolve spontaneously over time. When it doesn’t clear on it’s own, the fluid can become very thick (like glue) and may need treatment. You can help your child clear it themselves by practicing blowing their nose (to pop their ears). Otovent is also available to buy as a treatment for glue ear and involves the child using a nasal tip to inflate a small balloon. If time and these conservative treatments do not work, middle-ear ventilation tubes or ‘grommets’ may be recommended by your ENT doctor. These keep the middle-ear ventilated and stop the fluid from accumulating. Grommets usually come out on their own after 6-18 months.

Ear Infections

Ear Infections (Acute Otitis Media)

Unlike glue-ear, acute otitis media is caused by an infection and so you might notice that as well as reduced hearing, your child may be under the weather, have a temperature and complain of ear ache. Treatment for acute otitis media is best managed by your GP and often involves antibiotics and pain relief. If the ear drum bursts you might notice a foul-smelling discharge from the ear or on the pillow. Usually the pain and temperature will then disappear and in almost all cases, the ear-drum will soon heal over.

How we test Children’s hearing

There are many different hearing tests that can be selected and carried out for children. One of our fully qualified and experienced Audiologists will be able to advise which tests are best suited for your child taking into consideration their age and development. Not all tests will be required and we’ll usually decide where to start when we meet you, but we have all the tools and experience to ensure that you get the most from your visit.

Some tests that may be used are as follows: –

Visual Reinforced Audiometry (VRA)
Play Audiometry
Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA)
Tympanometry
Oto-acoustic Emissions (OAE)
Auditory Steady State Response (ASSR)
Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR)

Visual Reinforced Audiometry (VRA)

This test is usually performed on children from 6 months of age up to 2.5 years. During the test your child will sit on your lap or a chair whilst sounds are played. Your child will be taught to link sound to a visual reward such as toy or computer screen lighting up.

Once your child can associate the sound and the visual reward the volume and pitch of the sound will be varied to find out the quietest sounds your child is able to hear.

Play Audiometry

Is best suited to children aged 2 to 5 years old. Play Audiometry involves your child listening to sound either through headphones or speakers. Your child will be asked to perform a simple task (such as putting a toy in a bucket) when they hear a sound.

As with VRA, the volume and pitch of sound will vary to find the quietest sounds they are able to hear.

Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA)

Children aged from 4 years and older might be asked to perform Pure Tone Audiometry. Sounds will be played through headphones and your child will be asked to respond to the sound when they hear it by pressing a button. The sounds will be varied in pitch and volume to allow the Audiologist to detect the quietest sounds your child is able to hear in each individual ear.

Tympanometry

Tympanometry is a test used to detect if the ear drum is intact and moving as freely as it is supposed to. For good hearing the eardrum needs to be flexible to allow sound to pass through it.

During the test a soft rubber tip will be placed at entrance of your child’s ear to measure the function of the middle ear. It’s not uncomfortable at all and simply requires the child to sit fairly still for a few seconds.

Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE)

This test relies on your child sitting still and quiet but does not require a response from your child. A screening version of this is the test that newborn babies receive shortly after birth. Your audiologist will place soft silicone tip into the ear canal and play a sound. The sound travels through the auditory pathway to the organ of hearing where an echo is produced. By recording this echo it is possible to assess the function of the cochlea.

Auditory Steady State Response (ASSR) & Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR)

These advanced tests can be performed on a person of any age or ability; but does require them to be completely still, and so are best done under natural sleep or anaesthetic. The test uses some sticky electrode pads to record the brains activity in the presence of sound. A clicking or tone sound is played through earphones and varied in intensity to find the quietest sounds your child can hear.