Microtia is a congenital ear deformity. Microtia only affects 1 in 8000 people, so it is not very common. But if your child has microtia, you certainly want to know all that you can about it.
The first thing to know about microtia is that no one knows what causes it. Therefore, there is no need to be concerned that you as parents could have done something to prevent a child from having microtia. A person with microtia has an external ear that is very tiny or absent. Since the external ear begins to form only 7 weeks after conception, the situation is normally not detected until long after it has occurred. Even if early detection were possible, surgery on such a small part of a small child would not be possible. So, prevention is simply not an option, and thus all that can be done about micotia are the things that can be done once the condition is known.
Fortunately, microtia is not a serious condition. Yes it is an ear deformity of the external ear and it does affect the hearing in that ear. But it does not prevent a child from hearing in that ear, and many times the microtia is of only one ear. All infants are giving a hearing test within hours of birth. Often these results are not mentioned to the parents because they are normal. But children born with microtia need to have their hearing test done carefully and parents need to be aware of the results. Knowing the results from the very first test will help parents track a child's hearing throughout their life. Although a child's hearing ability should not change over time due to microtia, it is good to keep an eye on the results of further hearing tests just in case there are complications.
Children born with microtia can still hear in the ear that is affected. These children may in fact have 60% of normal hearing in that ear. So the hearing loss is rarely severe, but it may contribute to difficulty in learning language due to the subtlies of the sounds that compose words and phrases. Thus, parents with a child who has some hearing loss due to microtia should be sure to talk a lot with the child in order to make sure that he or she has every opportunity to learn language.
As for the physical condition, the microtia ear deformity can be partially corrected by surgery. Since the condition is at the external ear, it is easily accessible to surgery, so that an ear reshaping procedure could be performed when the child is old enough. It may also be possible for the ear canal to be opened by surgery if it is affected. Though microtia is not a common birth defect, it is not so unusual that the surgery is difficult to do.
So children born with mircrotia have an ear deformity that produces some hearing loss but which not severe hearing loss. The visual impact of this birth defect can be corrected by performing ear reshaping surgery. Thus, even though microtia is a congenital ear deformity, its affects on a child's life are not extreme, and the child should be able to live a happy, healthy life as well as any other child.
Facts About Microtia
The first thing to know about microtia is that no one knows what causes it. Therefore, there is no need to be concerned that you as parents could have done something to prevent a child from having microtia. A person with microtia has an external ear that is very tiny or absent. Since the external ear begins to form only 7 weeks after conception, the situation is normally not detected until long after it has occurred. Even if early detection were possible, surgery on such a small part of a small child would not be possible. So, prevention is simply not an option, and thus all that can be done about micotia are the things that can be done once the condition is known.
Fortunately, microtia is not a serious condition. Yes it is an ear deformity of the external ear and it does affect the hearing in that ear. But it does not prevent a child from hearing in that ear, and many times the microtia is of only one ear. All infants are giving a hearing test within hours of birth. Often these results are not mentioned to the parents because they are normal. But children born with microtia need to have their hearing test done carefully and parents need to be aware of the results. Knowing the results from the very first test will help parents track a child's hearing throughout their life. Although a child's hearing ability should not change over time due to microtia, it is good to keep an eye on the results of further hearing tests just in case there are complications.
Children born with microtia can still hear in the ear that is affected. These children may in fact have 60% of normal hearing in that ear. So the hearing loss is rarely severe, but it may contribute to difficulty in learning language due to the subtlies of the sounds that compose words and phrases. Thus, parents with a child who has some hearing loss due to microtia should be sure to talk a lot with the child in order to make sure that he or she has every opportunity to learn language.
As for the physical condition, the microtia ear deformity can be partially corrected by surgery. Since the condition is at the external ear, it is easily accessible to surgery, so that an ear reshaping procedure could be performed when the child is old enough. It may also be possible for the ear canal to be opened by surgery if it is affected. Though microtia is not a common birth defect, it is not so unusual that the surgery is difficult to do.
So children born with mircrotia have an ear deformity that produces some hearing loss but which not severe hearing loss. The visual impact of this birth defect can be corrected by performing ear reshaping surgery. Thus, even though microtia is a congenital ear deformity, its affects on a child's life are not extreme, and the child should be able to live a happy, healthy life as well as any other child.
Facts About Microtia
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Children born with microtia can still hear in the ear that is affected. These children may in fact have 60% of normal hearing in that ear. So the hearing loss is rarely.... Learn more at Microtia and congenital ear deformity
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