Having to take your child to a specialist can be worrisome. You may fear that there’s something serious going on with his/her ears, nose, or throat. Just remain calm and know that whoever your primary physician referred you to see will find the problem that is plaguing your little person and start a treatment that will hopefully ease your little person’s symptomatic discomfort.
1 & 2: Adenoiditis and Adenoid Hypertrophy
What Is Adenoinitis?
The tissues of the adenoid can get infected and it can last up to months. Adenoiditis can cause a runny nose with a nasty case of post-nasal drip accompanied by headache or cough
What is Adenoid Hypertrophy?
In some kids the rather than stopping growing and shrinking in size, the adenoid continues to grow. It then makes it hard for the child to breathe through the nose. This can cause a lot of inner ear infections.
3. Cleft Lip/Palate
A child with a cleft palate has a gap in the tissue forms the lining of the top lip. A cleft palate occurs when a child is born with an opening in the palate that is at the top of their mouth.
4 & 5. Chronic Ear Infections and Cholesteatoma
Some children have more ear infections than others. Sometimes it’s because of oversized adenoids. Sometimes, it can be a deeper issue such a cholesteatoma. Cholesteatomas are cysts that can be congenital or stem from a tear in the eardrum and settle in the child’s inner ear.
6. Sinusitis
Frequent sinus infections can be painful for a child and a nightmare for Mom or Dad. With good antibiotic treatment, the sinusitis should be less frequent. If it continues, the ENT may recommend allergy testing.
7. Tonsilitis
Tonsilitis is an infection of the tonsils. Your child will tell you it’s a sore throat. Your pediatric ENT will tell you that the most common form of bacteria that causes tonsilitis is the one that most of us know as “strep.” Viruses can also cause tonsilitis.
8. Epistaxis
Epistaxis is the fancy way of saying “nose bleed”. A nose bleed happens. Your toddler may bump his/her nose. You may have nicked the inside of your baby’s nostrils pulling out mucous. These nose bleeds are explainable. But when nose bleeds occur for no reason and they either don’t stop or they keep coming back, it is time for a visit to the pediatric ENT.
9. Hypernasal Speech
When too much air blows through the nose when you talk the resulting sound in your speech is called hypernasal speech. There are a number of reasons this can occur possibly involving the adenoids and/or the palate. An ENT can get do a nasal endoscopy to examine your little person’s anatomy and see what may be causing the problem.
10. Pediatric Sleep Disorder
Sleep Disordered Breathing is evident by the symptoms such as snoring, waking up frequently through the night, apnea episodes, and resulting behavioral issues during the day accompanied by sleepiness. The most common cause is enlarged adenoids and/or tonsils.
No matter what the reason may be that your child has to see a Pediatric ENT, he/she will take good care of your child.