{"id":33613,"date":"2023-09-14T07:53:33","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T07:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-ear-doctor-driving-change"},"modified":"2023-09-14T08:08:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T08:08:23","slug":"the-ear-doctor-driving-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/the-ear-doctor-driving-change","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018ear doctor\u2019 driving change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Teboho Frants\u030ci is one of a few audiology experts in Lesotho. And it was not even a childhood dream. In fact, it was a \u201cstrange\u201d field of study that Frants\u030ci had never heard about until circumstances nudged her to enrol for the course during tertiary education.<\/p>\n

Frants\u030ci had initially applied to study General Medicine at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Her application was successful, albeit temporarily after it was only discovered later that she had been wrongly accepted in the programme because it was offered exclusively to South African locals.<\/p>\n

So she had to find another programme that was open for international students within the same faculty of medicine and the only available option at the time was audiology and speech therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took it as a way to pass the time while I applied to other universities to pursue my dream career in General Medicine,\u201d recalls Frants\u030ci.<\/p>\n

However, she got absorbed in the study and took it more seriously. The detour has become a blessing in disguise for Lesotho as Frants\u030ci is among a crop of less than 10 registered audiologists in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalfway through the course, I fell in love with speech therapy that I completely forgot about General Medicine,\u201d Frants\u030ci says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unfortunate that upon graduating there were no posts in line with the profession and I had to practice in England,\u201d she says. Seven years later, Queen \u2019Mamohato Memorial Hospital came into being and there was a vacancy for an audiologist. Frants\u030ci decided to give it a go.<\/p>\n

While there, she realised that audiology had not yet come into the limelight and she decided to venture into the private sector where she would be able to spread her wings.<\/p>\n

She now runs Hearsense Hearing, Speech and Balance Clinic in Borokhoaneng, Maseru, which also has a branch in Hlotse, Leribe. Frants\u030ci explains the science behind the profession.<\/p>\n

The ears, she says, only play a receptive role in sound assimilation, with the actual hearing administered by the mind. \u201cThe role of ears is to hear and maintain head balance.<\/p>\n

Ears need regular check-up because signs and symptoms of illness take time before they show up, and when they do, it would be relatively late as the condition might be irreversible,\u201d Frants\u030ci says.<\/p>\n

Frants\u030ci warns that people need not poke into their ears with any object and should rather consult an audiologist if they feel any discomfort such as persistent itchiness as part of the safety precautions for ear wellbeing.<\/p>\n

Extreme noise is also another factor that can contribute to deteriorating ear performance. Sound is also the topmost stimuli to ear related impairment.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, stress and depression contribute to ear related ailments,\u201d Frants\u030ci says, highlighting that hearing is the cornerstone of communication in general.<\/p>\n

A hearing-impaired child cannot learn to speak unless the hearing problem is corrected, she says. Hearing loss is the leading cause of delayed speech and language development.<\/p>\n

Even adults who lose their hearing usually change the quality of their speech because they cannot monitor their output. The infections that often affect the ear, according to Frants\u030ci, are those that can occur in the outer, middle or inner ear parts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost common are otitis externa, which is an infection of the outer ear,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be caused by bacteria entering the ear canal, especially when there is not enough wax in the ear canal. Then, there\u2019s otitis media, which is an infection of the middle ear, which is caused by bacteria and other pathogens,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be a sequelae of colds and flu, throat infections, nose and sinus infections, which is usually aggravated by cold weather and stress which all require medical treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201d The mentioned ailments are mostly perpetuated by cotton buds, earbuds and headsets which are discouraged.<\/p>\n

They push dirty wax further into the ear canal and they introduce foreign material that can cause abrasions and infections. That, in turn, can perforate or damage the eardrum.<\/p>\n

In terms of headsets, as they are commonly known, they produce sound levels that are dangerously high and therefore pose a huge risk for noise-induced hearing loss.<\/p>\n

Frants\u030ci also notes that most common allergens that the ears are sensitive to are dust, pollen, cigarette smoke and smoke in general. They seem to irritate the lining of the middle ear space.<\/p>\n

She says the majority of people tend to begin to lose their hearing when they get older. \u201cAbout two thirds of people in any given population over the age of 60 have a hearing loss,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe contributing factors to this are heredity, history of noise exposure, history of recurrent ear infections earlier in life, head injuries, certain childhood illnesses or conditions such as measles and mumps and illnesses such as meningitis.
\nIt is common practice for people to take matters into their own hands whenever they feel discomfort with their ears, but Frants\u030ci warns that this is unsafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cHome remedies are vehemently discouraged in ear treatment. It is very dangerous to insert anything in your ears,\u201d she says. Frants\u030ci says ear and hearing care in Lesotho \u201cis almost non-existent\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ministry of Health has for long not appreciated or recognised hearing and ear care specialists, and until now, they haven\u2019t even created any posts for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Teboho Frants\u030ci is one of a few audiology experts in Lesotho. And it was not even a childhood dream. In fact, it was a \u201cstrange\u201d field of study that Frants\u030ci had never heard about until circumstances nudged her to enrol for the course during tertiary education. Frants\u030ci had initially applied to study […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":33612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233,246,227,245],"class_list":["post-33613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-health","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nThe \u2018ear doctor\u2019 driving change - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Teboho Frants\u030ci is one of a few audiology experts in Lesotho. 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