Teenage boy's hearing lost due to excessive earphones use; doctors restore it with surgery

New Delhi: Those who switch to ear phones instead of using mobiles directly in their eyes may have to take note. Doctors at a private hospital here have restored hearing ability of an 18-year-old boy who lost it after excessive earphones use.

Prince, from Gorakhpur, has been an avid music lover and used to snugly fit the earphones listening to music for long hours.

In addition, he also used to share his earphones with his friends, which led to the development of an ear infection that started a few years back with pain and discharge initially.

The patient even underwent mastoid surgery twice, at a local hospital, of which one remained unsuccessful and the other caused a severe impact on his hearing ability.

Dr Ankush Sayal, ENT Specialist at Primus Hospital gave him a new lease of hearing through surgical intervention via mastoidectomy with ossiculoplasty (partial titanium ossiculoplasty implant placement).

"Since the infection was persistent for a long time, we first controlled the discharge with a course of antibiotics based on the culture sensitivity report. And then a CT scan was conducted which revealed that there was a residual from the previous surgeries and we cleared that via mastoidectomy and placed a German-made titanium implant to restore his hearing," Dr Sayal said.

"We often come across the majority of the population, especially teenagers, wearing earphones all day long, unaware of how fatal earphone usage for continuous long hours can prove. This case perfectly exhibits our increasing dependency on gadgets and negligence towards their permissible usage resulting in serious damage", he added.

The patient responded well and was discharged the following day of his surgery. Audiometry after 6 weeks confirmed significant improvement in hearing, the doctor said.

He also advised people to strictly limit the usage of earphones and avoid exposure to loud noise. Wearing earphones for a long time can cause humidity within the ear canal further resulting in local infections.

Extended use of earphones can adversely affect ears causing local infection to reach the middle ear and mastoid (bone behind the ear). Oftentimes, this infection becomes unresponsive to any medical intervention impacting hearing bones, ultimately leading to loss of hearing.

Therefore, it is imperative for parents to keep a check on the intensity of earphones being used by their children, the doctor said.

(Inputs from IANS)