It seems that a boy in the UK has been miraculously "cured" of deafness, when the sudden exit of a "cotton wool bud" (end of a Q-tip, to Yankees) from his ear restored his hearing and raised questions about the diagnostic abilities of his pediatrician! Jerome Bartens became suddenly deaf on the right side at the age of two, and has spent nine years with no hearing in his right ear.
According to the boy's father, "He was cured as suddenly as he became deaf. I had always suspected Jerome had stuck something in his ear when he was little and that was causing the problem. But the doctors and hearing specialists said it was wax and he would probably grow out of it. I am amazed they didn't spot something as obvious as a cotton wool bud."
So, multiple doctors, including specialists, ignored a father's suspicions about the source of his mischievous toddler's sudden hearing loss? Perhaps the kid was uncooperative and did not hold still for examinations, but one would think that regular hearing checkups would uncover a cotton swab in the ear canal eventually, right? I wonder how long it will take his friends to get un-used to yelling every time they want to talk to him? I wonder if he will have headaches from all the noise now?
But mostly, I wonder what the doctors have to say about missing something white (well, one presumes it started out white- it certainly isn't anymore) stuffed in his ear canal!
