Geriatric community care
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Geriatric community care

Our health care clinic has been in operation for 80 years, and some of our patients have been coming here since they were children. We pride ourselves on providing balanced medical care that looks at all aspects of a patient's wellbeing, including their mood, mental health, social connection as well as their physical health. As many of our patients are older, we've become specialists in geriatric care and help patients to stay at home as long as possible. We find that happy and connected seniors tend to be healthy. Our blog is all about holistic care for older patients in a health care clinic.

Geriatric community care

How to Tell If Your Baby Has Hearing Problems… And What To Do About It

Jane Brown

Babies can't talk and don't understand language, so how can you tell if they can't hear? There are some subtle signs of hearing loss in infants, but you have to pay close attention to spot them. Use these tips to assess your baby's hearing and learn what to do if he or she can't hear well.

Know What Normal Hearing Development Looks Like

Babies that can hear normally show strong reactions to sounds, such as looking toward the source. Loud noises can wake babies from sleep, which might make the baby cry or appear startled. As your baby gets older, you may notice her becoming quiet and attentive when she listens to speech or music. Around the age of eight months, you may start to hear your baby uttering some simple words.

Test Your Baby's Hearing

If you don't see any signs of your baby reacting to sounds, you might want to try deliberately provoking a response. Babies often aren't very interested in sounds they hear every day, so it could be that your baby is simply bored with the noises occurring in the environment. Try introducing an interesting and complex sound, such as an unfamiliar piece of music, to see whether your baby reacts.

Look For Signs Of Pain

Infections can sometimes cause hearing loss in babies. If your baby has an ear infection, he or she will feel pain, which they may express by pulling on the ear and crying a lot more than usual. You might also notice pus coming from the ears. Contact a doctor if you think your baby might have an ear infection.

Know the Treatment Options

Children with very mild hearing loss often manage well without any treatment. However, infants that have at least 40 decibels of hearing loss can benefit from using hearing aids in both ears. It's good to fit these hearing aids early, preferably before your baby is six months old, so they can get used to hearing language and other sounds at a young age. Hearing your voice clearly helps your baby learn to interpret language and begin to speak her own words.

Seek Professional Help

If you are worried about your baby's hearing, let their regular doctor know. Your doctor can examine the child and refer you to a children's hearing clinic, where an audiologist can perform a full assessment of their hearing and fit them with hearing aids if necessary.


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