My 5-year-old daughter has 60% hearing loss. Will she need hearing aid?

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I want to ask you certain questions before I jump into further investigations. Is your husband your close relative or is he from distant family (consanguineous marriage)? Did you observe there was developmental delay in any other form? Example delay in sitting with support, sitting without support, standing with support, standing without support, walking, etc? Have you observed decreased hearing in the child since birth? Was assessment of hearing done at birth? If so, what was the report then? Does the child snore? Does she open her mouth while sleeping? Have you observed her to be sleepy during the day? Are all other behavioral aspects normal? If your elder daughter has impaired hearing, was any study for syndromic or non-syndromic association or gene testing done for hearing loss? Please do let us know regarding these questions and we will get back to you soon.

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

The most common reason for hearing loss is due to genetic cause and you need to talk to a gene expert if you are planning for another child as the same hearing loss might present in that child also. For the child aged 5 years, it is better to use hearing aids as that is one option that can be considered. Hearing aids or cochlear implants are the best and give maximum benefit when used in children before the age of 5 years as the ability to learn the language is maximum during this time frame. After 5 years, the efficiency of these devices start coming down and start becoming less effective as far as the ability to learn the language is concerned. I hope this helps.