Tot's Kiss Leaves Mom At Hearing Loss

Woman Left Severely Hearing-Impaired In One Ear; MDs: It Very Rare, But Possible

(CBS)  A Long Island, N.Y. woman was left severely hearing impaired in one ear when her four-year-old daughter greeted her with a kiss on the ear.

At first, the woman was deaf in the ear, but now some hearing has returned, but it's distorted, she says.

The woman, who lives in the town of Hicksville and wants her identify concealed, wants others to be aware that such a thing can happen, reports Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith.

"It was a long, sucking kiss in my ear," the woman says. "I couldn't push her away. I was almost frozen. When she stopped, and the kiss ended, I realized I had no hearing in that ear. Nothing.

"I got very upset and yelled for my husband, 'I can't hear out of this ear! I can't hear!' "

Now, says Smith, she can't even hear a dial tone.

"Until that time," the woman added, "and I'd had it tested -- my hearing was perfect."

How could such a thing happen?

Audiology Professor Levi Reiter of Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. says, "It's not the kiss. It's the suction from the kiss."

He says the loud sucking pulled her eardrum and damaged the delicate inner workings of her ear. And while Reiter could find only one other documented case, and that was from more than a century ago, he agrees with the woman that it should serve as a warning to others.

What to do, then?

"Avoid that little hole," Reiter says. "It's a big ear! Concentrate on a different part," if you give someone a buss there!

Meantime, the woman is worried because her daughter, now six, is still traumatized by what her kiss did to her mom.

Dr. Anil Lalwani, an ear specialist at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen Friday it's much more common for hearing loss to result from a slap to the ear, or having an air bag release against it, or an exposure to an explosion, or even from the pressure changes from scuba diving. He added that high noise levels can also sometimes lead to hearing loss.

Extreme pressure changes, he said, can be like "a tsunami" in the inner-ear, destroying its very delicate structures.

Steroids, other medications, perhaps even surgery, might be needed or tried in cases like this, he concluded.

[momov2]

Credibility: Apparantly you are not a parent, because any parent would tell you that their children are worth everything to them.

[momov2]

Obviously the child did not intend on damaging her mother''s eardrum. And the child was probably "emotionally punished" by her mother''s angry screaming for the husband. Some children are just very loving like that. Although I do believe when the mother realized the child was going for the ear, she should have pulled back and offered her cheek instead.

[bretster7]

If Bush, Cheney, and the Repugnicans had not made their draconian cuts to education, maybe the little child could have been taught that a kiss like that could do severe damage to the inner ear.

[spadeisspade]

Oneworld:

Once again, I''ve pointed out how difficult it is for people to get through an entire news article before their knee jerk reaction knocks them in the face.

The woman, who is anonymous, made it clear that her intention for publicizing this bizarre accident is to prevent it from happening namely because her daughter is still traumatized by what happened. I took it to mean that she knew it was an accident, that is why more awareness needs to be raised about the delicate structure of the ear, not to punish her already traumatized daughter. She chose to remain anonymous, doesn''t that mean something to you?

[oneworldusa]

Furthermore, why did she even bother to report this to the news and pretend to blame an innocent 4-year old for her problem? A 4-year old, I do not believe is capable of inflicting intentional harm. If nothing else, if it was true to begin with, it was simply an accident, nothing more. I would never nationally scold my 4-year old over the public newswaves for something they couldn''t have possibly assumed would happen. There was no malicious intent here by the child, obviously.

[oneworldusa]

I just have ta:

She''s from Hicksville...think about it.

She can''t control her child from inflicting bodily harm on an adult.

She wants people to know this can happen, but only will do so in the dark.

She''s hiding something else.

[missybelle-2009]

Posted by Credibility2
.. .. ..

Credibility zero.


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

Posted by bhoogren at 01:56 PM : Jun 13, 2008

You know, after reading the story and every comment posted, I''ve decided I''m not going to comment either.

[Latrocinor]

Posted by Credibility2
.. .. ..

Credibility zero.

Credibility2, you are a complete moron for making that statement.

[toolmangler-2009]

This is news worthy.... because?????
Posted by shawnp1968 at 12:40 PM : Jun 13, 2008



If it had happened to you, you would be screaming your head off, "WHY DIDN''T SOMEBODY TELL ME THIS COULD HAPPEN?"



question answered:

[obicera]

So even tho it "is not a story" you took the time to read it and make your comments. Q.E.D. it is a story.

[shawnp1968]

This is news worthy.... because?????

[iwillbecause]

kids are more trouble than they are worth

[credibility2]

If the mother in fact tried to pull her kid away from her ear, evidently it wasn''t forceful enough. The mother should have forcefully, even to the extent of hitting and throwing the kid to the floor as the kid continued to hurt the mother. No kid is worth losing one''s hearing over because of a prolonged kiss. The kid also hasn''t been properly raised to stop doing something when ordered to do so.

[credibility2]

This tragic story emphasizes the general ignorance of many on the sensitivity and delicate nature of the olfactory. Under no circumstance whatsoever should anyone ever allow anyone, child or adult, to kiss them in the vacinity of and especially over the ear and pull the opening with their kissing motion. That''s like placing a vacuum cleaner over the opening and hoping that nothing is jarred or affected. I''m never amazed at the stupidity of many individuals and this sad story proves it.

[jetlizhan]

well now i''ve heard it all (no pun intended)!!!!!

[cerberusii]

CBS...why don''t you publish a story on how much faster the grass grows at lower altitudes than at higher altitudes!! This is not a story!! are you running out of stuff to publish? Print something that the masses can benefit from instead of just adding junk for the rest of ignorant america to discuss.

[barbaraf4]

This isn''t a story.