Many parents of children may have the experience that when their child visits the hospital for ear pain or hearing loss, the doctor’s prescription after examination often includes medication for the nose, or sometimes even only nasal medication. Therefore, many parents wonder if the doctor’s diagnosis and treatment are correct. Will not giving the ear medicine delay the child’s condition? In fact, there is a reason for such treatment by doctors. So, why is this? There is a tube between our ears and nose, which we call the “eustachian tube”, and this is the only way for the ears to communicate with the outside world, and it is through the constant opening and closing of this tube that the internal air pressure in the ears is consistent with the external atmospheric pressure, so that we do not feel the discomfort of stuffy ears. Under normal circumstances, the opening and closing of the eustachian tube is automatically regulated by the human body, and our actions such as swallowing and chewing can cause the opening of the eustachian tube. Since the eustachian tube is the only way for the ear to communicate with the outside world, problems with the eustachian tube will cause a reaction in the ear, and the external exit of the eustachian tube is located at the back of the nasal cavity, so when there is an obstruction or inflammation in the nose, it will easily spread to the external exit of the eustachian tube and cause an obstruction. When the eustachian tube is blocked, the ear becomes a closed space, and when the air inside is absorbed, a negative pressure inside the ear is formed. The negative pressure inside the ear will cause stuffiness and discomfort in the ear, and as time goes on, it will further cause inflammatory edema and exudation of the surrounding mucosa, resulting in fluid accumulation in the ear, thus causing hearing loss. When there is acute inflammation in the nose, bacteria can also enter the ear retrogradely through the eustachian tube, causing acute otitis media, which in severe cases can cause pus in the ear and rupture of the eardrum. In these cases, treating the nose is the only way to cure the ear at the root. In addition to nasal inflammation that can cause ear problems, there is another common childhood disease that can also easily cause ear problems: adenoid hypertrophy. The adenoids are a mass of lymphatic tissue located at the back of the nasal cavity that acts similarly to the tonsils, and are more developed during childhood to help boost the immune system. However, when the adenoids become overly enlarged, they can compress and block the outer opening of the eustachian tube, causing obstruction of the eustachian tube and the corresponding symptoms in the ear. In addition, due to the obstruction of the enlarged adenoids, the drainage of nasal secretions is blocked and the self-cleaning ability is reduced, resulting in nasal inflammation, which causes edema of the mucous membrane and further aggravates the obstruction of the eustachian tube. So, how can parents tell if their child has adenoid hypertrophy? Adenoid hypertrophy can also cause sleep snoring and open-mouth breathing in children, and this sleep snoring and open-mouth breathing itself can also have a great impact on the growth and health of children. Therefore, when children have symptoms such as snoring, open-mouth breathing, recurrent “rhinitis” and hearing loss, they should go to the hospital for specialist examination and timely treatment to avoid affecting their growth and development and hearing.