Narrow ear canals?

June 24, 2008

I just got a call from my husband who says he just noticed that our 3.5

year old son has one ear canal that is narrower than the other. Now,

when we first noticed his speech was not increasing at the " normal

rate " at 20 months... we had him checked by an audiologist who said he

checked out fine.

My question is... does anyone else's child have narrow ear canals...

and/or should I be concerned? Should I make him another appointment

with the audiologist to have him rechecked?

Thanks,

June 26, 2008

, I have the same suspicions about my daughter's ear canals. One appears

narrower, visibly so, she was born with deformational plagiocephaly from early

descent in my pelvic bones and lower than normal amniotic fluid--but not low

enough to red flag her for being at risk or anything. I just pieced this

together retrospectively and my husband who was present at the moment of birth

did confirm that my water broke just as the head crowned, in fact the sac came

out intact right before and there wasn't that much in it. So her head was

deformed slightly but not the cone shape, in fact aside from the flattened back

right and left side front and bumped right side front it was pretty round.

Anyway that part though still visible to the parents'eye is not as visible

anymore, her forehead filled in and her ears though still asymmetrical somewhat

both in shape size and orientation as her head was pretty smushed from the back

and bumped in the right front and flattened in the

front left and right back where the pressure I think was to begin with. The

American Journal of Pediatrics has articles with suggests these kids are at

higher risk of developmental disorders than their peers, and I assume that

includes speech and I know it includes hearing/auditory processing and those

disorders define higher risk in these populations with head asymmetry as well.

Anyway, yes her left ear and ear canal is visibly smaller still, the audiologist

had no opinion, they only deal with the auditory part, the ENT said she was fine

has " pristine ear canals " meaning no infections and i could have told her

that--she was breast fed until 14 months and never had an ear infection so I

already knew that. So their recommendation was not to worry, and that all ears

are asymmetrical in some way. So now I know that the size shape of the ears and

plagio is was born with all do put her at a higher risk for Auditory Processing

Disorder and other learning disabilities, but most of those can't be tested for

until the child is at least 6-7 yrs. So there's really no easy answer. My gut

feeling is that yes, she is affected somehow by the difference in shape and size

of ears including ear canals just as the plagiocephaly may have at least in part

caused her apraxia. I fear that APD may be the next hurdle and it may of course

be affecting her even now, but

definitely not the sole cause of her speech disorder but rather an additional

problem we will have to deal with later as accommodations are the only thing

that can be done and some auditory training, but no magic cure or therapy per

se.

Doctors say they don't want to speculate and can't test so we've been left with

no answers and it's not like the cause really matters at this point, the

treatment is the same and what she hears exactly given that we know she has

normal hearing in at least one ear (that's all they were able to tell because

she refused to cooperate, but either way they couldn't have told me more, it's

just not possible and it's speculative) So anyway, your question most likely

can't be answered too easily, maybe if you struck gold and found and ENT who

really cared to tease these things out and somehow offer early intervention and

not just pay lip service to the idea which I feel a lot of these professionals

do. It's really not their fault, but there's just no way to really test for APD

sooner and most audiologists aren't even trained to test for it, so it really

takes a specially trained one and it's a much older kind of thing, provided the

child has enough speech by then to be able to say

what s/he is hearing. And that's what really counts, not so much her hearing in

general which very often is just fine in APD kids.

Sorry I can't give you any easy or encouraging answers. it's been very

frustrating for us too, but that's been our journey and we've unfortunately

found that many of the professionals we've gone to to diagnose and treat our

child are pretty clueless about speech apraxia in children, auditory processing

disorder, deformational plagiocephaly from the womb, just about everything she

has though many offered to diagnose her with what she doesn't have--autism

PDD-NOS- the catch all diagnosis for " we don't know whats' wrong with this kid

mom " . But of course doctors who know, and I mean really know autism can tell

she's not autistic as can we her parents, but those who don't really know and

don't really know much else just take a whack at it anyway and it can be very

discouraging. We've been to audiologist, neurologist, SLPs, psychologists,

OT's, developmental pediatrician and regular pediatrician and so far the SLPs

and OTs have the best handle on it but not all, only the ones

who work on a regular basis with apraxic kids.

Others were as clueless as the pediatrician who at 2 was telling me she's fine

even though she couldn't say mama or anything else when asked to repeat, she

barely had 5 words and even those were not always consistent or at will.

Anyway, we'll see what others reply and good luck. Let me know what you find

out.

Elena --mom to Ziana age 3.10 --severely apraxic but otherwise a happy healthy

child, and progressing well since appropriate speech therapy, diet/supplements

have been implemented

Craine <kacraine@...> wrote: I just got a call from my husband

who says he just noticed that our 3.5

year old son has one ear canal that is narrower than the other. Now,

when we first noticed his speech was not increasing at the " normal

rate " at 20 months... we had him checked by an audiologist who said he

checked out fine.

My question is... does anyone else's child have narrow ear canals...

and/or should I be concerned? Should I make him another appointment

with the audiologist to have him rechecked?

Thanks,

------------------------------------

June 26, 2008

My 10 year old daughter has the same issue in one ear..we still have bouts

with them getting clogged in fact yesterday I very dangerously pulled out

crusty wax and then put some water in both to soften them her ENT wants us

to put vitamin E in them to keep them soften but I really am not sure if

that is the best as it is very messy maybe once everything is cleared out

then put the E in. My son who is a paramedic says they used hydrogen

peroxide in his ears in the hospital and it helped him greatly. If you find

out something better I'd love to hear it.

Roxanne

_____

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of Craine

Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:31 AM

Subject: [ ] Narrow ear canals?

I just got a call from my husband who says he just noticed that our 3.5

year old son has one ear canal that is narrower than the other. Now,

when we first noticed his speech was not increasing at the " normal

rate " at 20 months... we had him checked by an audiologist who said he

checked out fine.

My question is... does anyone else's child have narrow ear canals...

and/or should I be concerned? Should I make him another appointment

with the audiologist to have him rechecked?

Thanks,

June 26, 2008

Elena,

That's a very interesting theory because I also suspect APD in my

son. He understands, but only if you make sure he's paying attention

to you and what you are saying. Drives us nuts!

Anyway, I did not have the same birthing issues that you did. I was

on blood thinners during my pregnancy because I am prone to blood

clots. Doctors wanted to ensure that I did not give birth while still

on blood thinners, so they scheduled an induction and instructed me

to stop taking the blood thinners 24 hours previous.

Once I became dialated enough... they burst my water for me. Later I

became stuck at 7cm dialation (no progress for 3 hours) and my son

did not move from 0 station. So, after 16.5 hours of active back

labor (because my son was faced " sunny side up " ), they wheeled me in

for a c-section.

Not sure if that ... coupled with my husband's family history of

speech and learning disroders sealed my son's fate or not.

I hope you stay on this message board. This is going to be a long

journey and I need to hear from other parents going through the same

thing.

I just got a call from my

husband who says he just noticed that our 3.5

> year old son has one ear canal that is narrower than the other.

Now,

> when we first noticed his speech was not increasing at the " normal

> rate " at 20 months... we had him checked by an audiologist who said

he

> checked out fine.

>

> My question is... does anyone else's child have narrow ear

canals...

> and/or should I be concerned? Should I make him another appointment

> with the audiologist to have him rechecked?

>

> Thanks,

>

> ------------------------------------

>

June 26, 2008

We have narrow ear canals in kid#1. They are on dad's side. She has a

budding APD thing that TLP and lots of exercises are at least keeping

at bay. The bigger issue is watching for viral and bacterial growth.

For that we use unrefined, organic coconut oil. We are hoping to

avoid tubes but you never know.

I just got a call from my

> husband who says he just noticed that our 3.5

> > year old son has one ear canal that is narrower than the other.

> Now,

> > when we first noticed his speech was not increasing at

the " normal

> > rate " at 20 months... we had him checked by an audiologist who

said

> he

> > checked out fine.

> >

> > My question is... does anyone else's child have narrow ear

> canals...

> > and/or should I be concerned? Should I make him another

appointment

> > with the audiologist to have him rechecked?

> >

> > Thanks,

> >

> > ------------------------------------

> >

June 26, 2008

To the original poster, which ear canal? My oney is on the right one?

Anyway, unrefined organic coconut oil swabbed on the ears helps keep

things clear. Daughter has this (Oddly son with speech thing does

not). ENTs pick this up, not audiologist. It can be congenital, seen

in preemeies, or when for whatever reason they did not grow big. Milk

is contraindicated in this kid due to risk of infection and other

stuff unrelated to the condition but it does help keep ears clear. In

the other kid he actually hasthe allergy.

>

> My 10 year old daughter has the same issue in one ear..we still

have bouts

> with them getting clogged in fact yesterday I very dangerously

pulled out

> crusty wax and then put some water in both to soften them her ENT

wants us

> to put vitamin E in them to keep them soften but I really am not

sure if

> that is the best as it is very messy maybe once everything is

cleared out

> then put the E in. My son who is a paramedic says they used hydrogen

> peroxide in his ears in the hospital and it helped him greatly. If

you find

> out something better I'd love to hear it.

>

> Roxanne

>

> _____

>

> From:

> [mailto: ] On Behalf Of

Craine

> Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:31 AM

>

> Subject: [ ] Narrow ear canals?

>

> I just got a call from my husband who says he just noticed that our

3.5

> year old son has one ear canal that is narrower than the other.

Now,

> when we first noticed his speech was not increasing at the " normal

> rate " at 20 months... we had him checked by an audiologist who said

he

> checked out fine.

>

> My question is... does anyone else's child have narrow ear

canals...

> and/or should I be concerned? Should I make him another appointment

> with the audiologist to have him rechecked?

>

> Thanks,

>

June 26, 2008

Hi Liz,

In Ziana's case it's only one ear canal that is slightly narrower, the ear is

smaller, it's the side of her head that was smushed prebirth, or so I thought,

but having read more about plagiocephaly I now know that the pushing was from

the back, which bumped up the right front (sure enough that was a big bump) and

flattened out the left misaligning the ears and creating a difference in shape.

From the fact that the ears are so different, it means this must have happened

for several months before birth, best time for brain development and growth--but

that pediatrician was refusing to accept the fact that this asymmetrical shape

was NOT from the freaking birth canal, it wasn't the cone shape, it was from the

womb, pressure on the skull from pelvic bones. He was just so reassuring that

everything will fill in and there will be no aesthetic issues, and he was mostly

right about that but I kept asking about the BRAIN, and he kept saying how well

protected the brain was and

that's why it can fit through the birth canal but it bounces back in all kids

after birth--completely ignoring what I kept telling him NOT FROM THE BIRTH

CANAL, NOT FROM THE BIRTH CANAL>>> prebirth, prebirth...

But so few doctors have heard about deformational plagiocephaly. They don't

read their own journals I tell you, much less the avangard stuff.

At the time I wanted to believe him and the child seemed normal except for the

inability to feed properly until I brought my own milk in by pumping and taking

mega lactation enhancing herbs. But after the malformed head shape that should

have been my second clue that something was wrong with her sucking, but you

know, first time mom, she started gaining weight once I got the milk started so

I thought all was well. But I should have typed the skull deformity search into

google sooner, perhaps we could have addressed it cranio sacarally somehow in

time and caught on about the speech disorder sooner too.

Oh well. So now yes, that still another possible cause of her speech disorder

possible APD/language processing along with the genetic predisposition due to

gluten casein intolerance etc. which also affect the brain and cut off blood

supply since the brain sort of barricades itself to avoid the invasion. So many

things to explore and all of them unheard of by most of the doctors i consulted

at well renowned universities etc. If it's not too common or in their field

directly they just don't know. Thank GOD for the Internet!

She has never had ear issues of any kind, and that's all ENTs are trained to

look for. I hate to simplify their work like this, but when I asked about the

ear canal being smaller, I swear she just gave me the speech about us all being

different the one I'd heard so many times form the regular pediatrician, and she

said there's no way to measure exactly and more importantly no way to tell how

it is affecting her hearing/language processing since that's all in the brain.

There, another $500 down the drain to hear that she has no fluid in her ears.

I know about the coconut, but my daughter is unfortunately intolerant to coconut

too, and almonds and walnuts and cashews and peanuts and all the foods she was

eating at the time she had the leaky gut , but she may actually outgrow most of

these collateral ones. We just tested again today and we'll see if I can do

coconut again. I've been cooking with that for a long time and use it on her

butt, my face, hands that and organic olive extra virgin. I've stopped using

any lotions and creams a long time ago. So I'd love to go back to the coconut

for her too. I've started to reapply it on her scalp to see how it helps with

the psoriasis, hoping she won't react to it as much. We'll see what the lab

tests say, though they're not 100% conclusive but last time except for the

gluten it sure gave me back a list of exactly what I'd been feeding her and so I

know those intolerances were real.

Take care.

Say, what have you heard about Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy? There's a mom at

speech therapy who swears by it, she even bought a machine for home treatment,

$20K!!!! but says it actually comes out cheaper and less time consuming than

going for treatment and that I believe.

The biomedic/homeopathic pediatrician has mentioned it and I think after the

detoxification is under control we can begin to look at other treatments

potentially, but financially....I don't know, i think we may have to really

think about this one if insurance doesn't help us cover it. it's just too much

to take on on one salary and a mortgage in Silicon Valley no less.

ilizzy03 <lizlaw@...> wrote: We have narrow ear canals in kid#1. They

are on dad's side. She has a

budding APD thing that TLP and lots of exercises are at least keeping

at bay. The bigger issue is watching for viral and bacterial growth.

For that we use unrefined, organic coconut oil. We are hoping to

avoid tubes but you never know.

I just got a call from my

> husband who says he just noticed that our 3.5

> > year old son has one ear canal that is narrower than the other.

> Now,

> > when we first noticed his speech was not increasing at

the " normal

> > rate " at 20 months... we had him checked by an audiologist who

said

> he

> > checked out fine.

> >

> > My question is... does anyone else's child have narrow ear

> canals...

> > and/or should I be concerned? Should I make him another

appointment

> > with the audiologist to have him rechecked?

> >

> > Thanks,

> >

> > ------------------------------------

> >

June 26, 2008

Sounds familiar. Son has something similar on the left side which may

explain his swift comeback. Many specialists scratched their heads

even though the ped was right from the start (this one she caught but

celiac and gut stuff she turned a blind eye to). His is more front

left. That right side, that ear, so lose to language center, your

poor girl had a rough start. Our deal was likely in utero and some

other stuff. Oddly, daughter, who had the delivery similar to 's

first bioy, had few issues. Both kids are miracles. In researching

family history it seems my own start was not so simple. Blood

transfusion at birth due to severe jaundice. No wonder I had trouble

with milk. Celiac from the start I bet.

HBOT I have heard great things about. BUT, I have heard words of

caution for the immune compromised which we are. I still intend to

read more but for now I am enjoying the bliss.

Another disturbing trend is people sharing it and not doing

supervised dives. Like everything, research and common sense is the

rule.

Watch that ear. Our babysitter did not get tubes and a growh formed

requiring multiple surgeries.

June 28, 2008

I had a very healthy pregnancy and relatively smooth birth and I praise the

Bradley diet and exercises for that because at 44 most of the other moms I know

had severe issues and most delivered at least 4 weeks sooner with C-sections and

a lot of NIU and problems for the child. We were on time to the minute of her

conception since I know that too --albeit a 36 h of labor, but once the doula

got me to do the repositioning exercises (that's another reason I think she was

somehow stuck in my pelvic bones in a weird position with her head) the

contractions stabilized and the birth was pretty normal after that and she came

out and nursed at my breast within minutes, we got that on tape. So ti never

occurred to me she had oral motor issues, but honestly, any lactation consultant

knows that if the child is not gaining weight properly in spite of nursing for a

long time, oral motor--latching difficulties are very likely the cause and the

baby is not stimulating the milk properly.

Without the doula I bet a C-section would have come our way 20-30 h later.

Anyway, I too feel that there's no way that pre birth pressure on her brain,

enough to change the shape and size of her ears and flatten out her skull in the

back and on the left and bump it up on the right front (a typical plagiocephaly

case) would NOT have affected her brain somehow. It may not be the sole reason

she is apraxic, but definitely contributed to it or sensitized the area that the

gluten peptides then attacked and the mercury amalgams and what ever else toxic

she was exposed to, because unfortunately there is a lot of toxic stuff floating

around in our bodies and a 44 year old accumulates much more than the 20 year

old mom.

And also the gluten peptides cross the placenta and into the breast milk, so she

could have been affected by those even before birth (BTW--did you know that

galactosemia, that very severe intolerance to the milk protein galactose--they

test for it at birth because it's pretty deadly, causes the child to waste away,

affects organs like kidneys and liver, severe mental retardation with speech

apraxia YES, speech apraxia from a milk protein. Just google apraxia and milk

intolerance and you'll get these links which explain it. Now why can't these

docs use a little common sense? If they know that the galactose affects the

intolerant child even as a fetus if the mom consumes dairy and they recommends

that the moms do not eat dairy if pregnant again after having a first child with

galactosemia; and we know from the kids who are lactose intolerant that the moms

can't eat dairy while breastfeeding because it affects the child--well how much

more proof do they need to deduce that

maybe all these gluten/casein + other peptides affect intolerant children prior

to birth even, hence all the developmental problems that so many of them have,

many of which are considered genetic, ---but I fell that's an oversight because

the interaction genes environment is what brings these things on or avoids

them--that epigenetics field I was mentioning-- it's not static, though most

genes are activated before birth, but some continue to be turned off and /or

activated all our lives. That's how we end up with all the chronic degenerative

illnesses that alopathic medicine is so clueless about.

Anyway, yes, all kids are miracles it seems if you think about it, even more so

those that have a rough start. Blood transfusion at birth?!! Yikes!!! That is

rough to be getting all that foreign stuff at an early age like that. Your

immune system must have gone into high alert for sure.

I'm waiting on the HBOT too. I've read some encouraging things, it makes sense

that these areas of the brain that are damaged are maybe not getting enough

oxygen, this also happens in Alzheinmer's, in many neurological afflictions so

it does sound like something potentially beneficial, but I'm sure there are

complexities that may not be immediately apparent as you said the immuno

compromised. I know this mom who swears by it, but yes, the idea of

unsupervised sessions is scary and I would not just do it like that. This mom

paid $20K for her machine and I assume she would share to recup some of that

high cost, but it's not the way I would do it and I'll wait for that to see if

and when it fits in-- and only do it under supervision, I've learned that, like

says, --go to the best only..

Our biomed doc. did suggest it but she said detox is the first step and we can

think about it until then. I know my husband would take a lot of convincing so

I'll treat it as a research project to see if I can convince him in the end.

Probably not, but them I'm not fully convinced either, I'd need to speak with a

doctor who does it and assures me that nothing can go wrong, shows me some

research, fully discusses the pros and cons--you know like any of the treatments

we've ever done. So far she is progressing very nicely, maybe if we feel we've

hit a wall later...

-Elena

ilizzy03 <lizlaw@...> wrote: Sounds familiar. Son has something

similar on the left side which may