This is the first in a series of fact-filled health columns that will touch on many issues affecting the health of students.
Our living organism operates on four levels: the intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical. At school it is essential to ensure that all these levels are balanced because a deficit in one affects all others. So even though teachers may see their role as stimulating the intellect of youngsters, it is essential to have healthy students who can concentrate and respond effectively.
This column will look at child health in a holistic manner, touching on issues from basic hygiene to nutrition and giving some pointers on how to spot ailments.
So let’s find out how we can deal with those aches, growing pains and infections so commonplace in our classrooms.
This month we focus on those two weird-looking extensions on the side of our head — yes, our ears.
Hearing loss or deficiencies often go unnoticed in small babies (and larger children too), but can be detected at an early stage. Signs include the child failing to respond unless spoken to face to face. ‘The volume of the television will be turned way up and the child will be slow to respond to questions,” says Rehana Davids, a speech and hearing therapist.
Davids says it is common practice for children who are sent to speech therapists to also go for hearing tests. ‘It is relatively easy for speech therapists to pick up speech problems that are related to hearing issues,” she says. A child needs to be sent to a speech therapist if he/she is having difficulty in pronouncing words or reacting to sounds or voices.
Sometimes, the ear can fill up with wax, impairing a child’s hearing. A doctor can easily help, using a syringe to gently fill the ear canal with warm water and float out the wax plug.
Acute otitis media is the medical term for the common ear infection. When a child has a cold, swelling in the nose may impede the drainage of the eustachian tube that connects the ear and the nose. Germs can enter the middle ear causing increased fluid in the ear. Antibiotics are generally prescribed to remedy this, but an alternative is the observation option (as long as there is no pus discharged from the ear and the child is over two years old). The observation option means keeping an eye on it and letting the infection clear without medical intervention.
Glue ear is what happens when the ear fills up with thick fluid and can develop after a middle ear infection. If antibiotics can’t clear the pus, an operation might be needed. A tube called a grommet is inserted in the ear to help drain the fluid. Glue ear in younger children especially can cause hearing loss and learning difficulties.
Another issue that teachers should be aware of is the embarrassment that some infections can cause learners because of the smelly pus that seeps out of the ears. Magdelein Ntikinca, a nurse and manager of Phelophepa Health Care, says most children who develop ear infections plug their ears with cotton wool or tissue. But Phelophepa nurses who visit schools find that by doing this the infection gets worse because the pus is not allowed to run out. ‘We tell teachers to look for these signs and send the children to the doctor. We also destigmatise ear infections by explaining that they will get better if they unblock their ears,” she says. If not treated, ear infections can cause problems.
I remember when I was in Grade 5, my teacher would grab me by the earlobe and say, ‘Nawaal, do you listen with these or are they just ornaments on your head?” I always wanted to reply, ‘Ma’am, perhaps it is your ears that are ornaments because you never listen to what we have to say.” Therein lies the secret to a healthy attitude in the classroom: teachers learn from their students in the same way they teach students — by listening. If our ears are not doing their job, then we have a problem.
Are there health issues you’d like information on? Please send your queries to Nawaal Deane’s Health Kicks, PO Box 91667, Auckland Park 2006; Fax: (011) 727 7111 or e-mail: [email protected].