How does a child get glue ear?
To understand how a child gets glue ear and how it affects hearing, you need to understand how the ear and hearing system works (see our leaflet Ears and ear health) . Sound waves enter the ear and move along the ear canal until they reach the eardrum, causing it to vibrate. A chain of three small bones (ossicles) in the middle ear link the eardrum to the inner ear. These bones transmit the vibrations from the eardrum to the cochlea in the inner ear, where there are thousands of tiny sound receptors. From here, the ‘sound message’ is passed along the nerve of hearing to the brain. The middle ear needs to be full of air to let the eardrum and small bones vibrate freely. Air reaches the middle ear through the eustachian tube, which connects the middle ear to the back of the nose and throat. The eustachian tube is closed for 95% of the time and only opens when you swallow or yawn. If the eustachian tube can’t open properly, you get a vacuum in the middle ear. Children have a smaller, more
