Eyes, Nose and Ears
There are many common problems associated with these sensory organs. In the following pages, I tried to answer most of the common problems associated with these important organs of the human body.
Your ?s My Answers:
My son is 5 years of age. I have short sight. Is my son also going to have short sight? I give him plenty of carrots to eat.
Your son too has a chance of developing short sight. Is he complaining of head ache while looking at the black board? Anyway it is better to get him examined by an eye doctor (ophthalmologist) periodically; may be every 6 months to 1 year or so. Short sight is due to excessive convexity of the eye ball. Vitamin A doesn’t help in reducing the convexity. Therefore do not think that by giving plenty of carrots to eat you are going to prevent him from developing short sight. Nevertheless you should continue giving him good amounts of vitamin A containing vegetables and fruits because vitamin A is essential for sharper vision and good night vision.
My son has squint. What should I do?
Some types of squint do not cause any problem with vision; whereas some cause problems with vision. Some types can result in gradual loss of vision from one eye. Some types of squint may be associated with other problems of the eye, nerves, brain etc. It is imperative that you meet an eye specialist and get your son thoroughly examined.
My daughter bleeds from the nose frequently. What should I do?
Look at the ‘First Aid’ section to know what to do when she bleeds from the nose. Meet the paediatrician and the ENT doctor to rule out conditions like high blood pressure and foreign body in the nose etc. Discourage your child from nose picking.
My son is 2 years of age. He keeps getting cold frequently. How do I treat him at home?
Is he sneezing frequently? If so his cold is due to allergy to dust, pollen etc. Meet a paediatrician to get appropriate medicine. Keep the house dust free and avoid exposure to pollen if the problem is severe. Instill Normal Saline nasal drops (2 drops in each nostril) at least 4 times a day to relieve his nose block. Keep him in your lap on his back and hold his head slightly lower than the rest of the body for instilling the drops. Hold him like that for a few seconds after instilling the drops.
Observe if he is breathing with his mouth when he is free of cold also. If so he might be having adenoids i.e. enlarged tonsils behind the nose. Meet an ENT doctor in such a case.
Do not keep giving antibiotics by yourself unnecessarily without a paediatrician’s prescription for conditions like common cold.
My son sleeps with his mouth open. He even snores some times. He gets cough and cold very frequently. What do I do about it?
He is most probably having an enlargement of adenoids (tonsils behind the nose). Consult an ENT specialist and get him treated before the problem worsens.
How do I get rid of wax from my son’s ears?
Wax from the ears gets expelled periodically by itself. You don’t have to do anything about it unless it is very hard. In that case you can buy ear drops for dissolving the wax and instill them in both the ears. Let the child lie on the bed in such a way that the ear in which drops have to be instilled is facing upwards. Pull the child’s ear lobe down and back to straighten the ear canal.
Instill 2 or 3 drops, close the ear flap and let the child remain in that position for a minute or two till the drops get absorbed.
The wax will automatically be expelled out once it becomes soft. You should wash your hands with soap and water and dry them before instilling the drops. Do not touch the tip of the dropper with your hand. Do not try to remove the wax using safety pins and hair pins; otherwise you may puncture the ear drum.
How should I remove an insect that gets into my son’s ear?
Do not try to remove any foreign object that gets into the ear all by yourself. Let an ENT specialist do it.
Whenever my daughter develops cold she also complains of ear pain. What can be the problem?
There is a tube connecting the ear to the nose. Whenever your daughter develops cold this tube gets blocked; thus making the ear stuffy and painful. The ear may even get infected if proper care is not taken. Treat the cold appropriately. Instill Normal Saline nasal drops in the nostrils as I have explained in one of the previous answers to relieve the nose block. Subsequently the stuffiness and pain of the ear will decrease. Whenever a young child cries excessively without being able to tell you what the problem is, then ear pain is one of the problems that you should immediately think of. The child might be having ear infection; and needs immediate treatment. Ear infection should never be neglected; otherwise it may result in deafness.
There is watery discharge from my son’s ear for the past 1 month. What do I do?
Meet an ENT doctor immediately. He/she will advise you appropriately. He is most probably having an ear infection and also a hole in his ear drum. Plug his ears with cotton during bath so as to avoid water from going in.
My son had ear infection last month. Doctor said there is a small hole in his ear drum. Will he become deaf?
No. Most of these small holes heal by themselves. Large holes may need further treatment.
My daughter is 9 months of age. She doesn’t respond to sounds many times. What should I do?
Meet an ENT doctor and get her hearing assessed. Any treatable problem needs to be tackled at the earliest; otherwise it will be difficult for her to learn speech later on.
How do I ensure that my daughter’s ears do not pain during flight journey?
Plug her ears with cotton. Make her chew upon something during take off and landing.
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