From the carol singing to the ripping of paper wrapped around presents, the sounds of Christmas are a joy to Tillie Courtney-Bye, who until recently was likely to need hearing aids to hear the festive noises we take for granted.
Tillie, 10, of Newbridge, Bath, had a recurrence of glue ear, a common childhood condition where the middle ear becomes filled with fluid.
It’s estimated that one in five children around the age of two will be affected by glue ear at any given time and about eight in every 10 will have had it by the time they’re 10.
Mum and dad Kirstin and James said a simple operation to insert grommets have transformed their daughter’s life.
Kirstin, who works in Sirona care & health’s HR department, said: “Her hearing was so bad that last summer she chose some pale blue hearing aids as she was diagnosed with really quite severe glue ear and her hearing deteriorated.
“Fortunately the op date came through in October so she didn’t have to have the hearing aids.
“The operation has completely transformed her; her hearing is unbelievable – so much so that she had to leave a school disco early as the noise was too much for her.
“After she had the op she said “mummy I can hear the birds singing”, I didn’t realise how much she had missed out on.
“Her learning at school has improved hugely especially spellings as she is probably hearing words distinctly enough for the first time to be able to spell them properly.”
Tillie, who has a younger sister, Olive, six, had glue ear when she was younger but like many children seemed to have grown out of it.
Kirstin said: “It came back and she was missing out on so much; she wasn’t herself and was becoming quite introverted because she was bewildered by what was around her and couldn’t hear.”
Tillie, who is looking forward to opening her presents on Christmas morning, said: “People don’t have to shout in my ear now.”
Dr Adrian Dighe, Sirona’s consultant paediatrician, said: “Glue ear is a common childhood condition and can cause temporary deafness. For ears to work properly the middle ear needs to be kept full of air.
“The Eustachian tube, which usually does this, runs from the middle ear to the back of the throat; if this tube becomes blocked air cannot enter the middle ear.
“When this happens the cells lining the middle ear begin to produce fluid which can get thicker as it fills the middle ear.
“It then becomes harder for sound to pass through to the inner ear – it can be like listening to the world with both fingers stuck in your ears.
“Grommets are tiny plastic tubes which are put in the ear drum during a short operation after the fluid has been drained. They allow air to circulate in the middle ear and stop fluid from building up.
“Not everyone with glue ear needs grommets, however, when someone has hearing loss like Tillie, they make an incredible difference to their lives.
“Sirona performs hearing assessments for more than 2000 children each year and about 35 of whom will need grommets.”
