KZN HEALTH CONCERNED ABOUT INCREASE IN HEARING PROBLEMS
Audiologists and other health experts from KwaZulu-Natal are seeing an increasing number of young people with hearing problems, due to excessive use of earphones and headphones, as well as exposure to “doof-doof” music from nightclubs and cars.
This emerged during a discussion hosted by KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane to commemorate World Hearing Day.
Hearing loss is the second most common sensory impairment world-wide, and affects more than 12 million South Africans.
It is, however, often entirely preventable, with the World Health Organisation estimating that over 75% of childhood hearing loss in South Africa is completely preventable or treatable.
With one in five children in South Africa having disabling hearing loss, awareness on prevention, screening and care is paramount.
Dr Lindokuhle Sibiya, head of Otorhinolaryngology (the study of diseases of the ear, nose, and throat) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, revealed that more than 80% of hearing loss is preventable or treatable, but the rate of people with hearing loss is rapidly increasing in Africa.
If nothing changes, the continent will carry the world’s highest burden of hearing loss by 2050, Sibiya added.
“Some of the causes of hearing loss are diseases that can be vaccinated against, or those that are linked with proper sanitation,” Sibiya said. “Other causes, such as HIV and TB, are diseases that can be managed through prevention or by taking medication correctly.
“The other big thing … is a growing trend of hearing loss that is becoming more prevalent, especially within the 18 to 35 age group, that is linked to listening devices … excessive noise from cars… noise from earphones, and noise from parties.
“We’ve started seeing younger people present with severe hearing loss from the ages of 35 and 40 … which is something that we’ve normally seen among elderly people.
“It’s a problem because these are young people who still need to work, travel the world, and see things, yet they have hearing loss that is quite significant.”
Sibiya also cautioned against the use of cotton wool, sticks and other objects to remove ear wax, saying that only medicinal glycerin is safe for such purposes.
“What we don’t realise when using cotton wool is that we’re actually stuffing the wax further into the ear,” Sibiya added.
“The way the ear is designed … is that it’s not a straight tube. Its canal actually decreases in size the deeper you go into it. So, by using cotton wool, you’re causing damage, and then problems arise. We’re seeing a number of people with problems that are caused by things like cotton wool.
“So, we always say there are a number of safe ways to clean the ear. You can put in drops of baby oil or medicinal glycerin … just one or two drops. It will then soften and come out on its own. But you don’t need to keep on poking the ear.
“If you think you have a problem, it’s best to visit your local clinic, where you’ll get assessed and then referred accordingly.”
The KZN Health Department has also launched the KwaZulu-Natal Auditory Implant Programme (KZN-AIP) - a collaboration of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology the Discipline of Audiology - which is spearheading the cochlear implant programme.
Cochlear Implants are life-changing devices that can offer some deaf patients the chance to hear. The device is surgically implanted and converts acoustic energy into electrical energy for the stimulation of auditory nerve fibres.
In August 2022, Sibiya and her team performed the first cochlear implant for a child in a public sector hospital in the province. On October 12 last year, the implant was “switched-on”, and there wasn’t a single dry eye among those who witnessed a two-yearold child hearing his mother and father’s voices for the very first time.
Since then, a total of eight patients have had cochlear implants, including two children.
Simelane said the department wanted to provide assistance to more people with hearing problems, especially those in rural areas.
“We’ve had a discussion, and agreed that we’ll go to rural areas and conduct assessments, to gauge the level of need for this kind of service,” the MEC for Health said.
“If there are those who require only audiologists, we will assist them. But if there are those who require cochlear implants, we will have to fetch them from their homes and send them to where they will receive help, be it at Ngwelezane Hospital or Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, but they will receive help.”