{"id":27494,"date":"2019-11-11T08:47:48","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T15:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=27494"},"modified":"2023-06-23T11:52:34","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T17:52:34","slug":"ear-infections-in-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Ear infections in kids"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"A
The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever. Photo by Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With winter fast approaching, parents of young children are likely girding up for the dreaded ear infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re entering the season,\u201d said Dr. Jason Sigmon<\/a>, an otolaryngologist at UCHealth Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic in Steamboat Springs<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s a higher incidence of ear infections during fall and winter months, due to the increase in upper respiratory and nasal infections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below, Dr. Sigmon outlines what you need to know about ear infections in children.<\/p>\n

Why ear infections happen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Children, especially those under the age of three, tend to accumulate fluid underneath their eardrums. That moist environment creates prime conditions for a virus or bacteria to take hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe virus or bacteria gets to the ear from the nose, which is why most children who have ear infections will have some associated nasal symptoms,\u201d Sigmon said. \u201cAdults aren\u2019t as susceptible in part because our sinus and nasal infections usually stay in our sinuses and nose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who is at risk<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cThe biggest risk factor is age,\u201d Sigmon said. \u201cAs kids get older, risk of ear infections decreases.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"This
Dr. Jason Sigmon is an otolaryngologist at UCHealth Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic in Steamboat Springs. Photo courtesy of UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are not any known, clear genetic links to increased risk of ear infections, and there aren\u2019t recognized preventative measures that can stop an ear infection from taking hold.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised if children develop more upper respiratory<\/a> and nasal illnesses when entering a daycare or school setting for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s very normal, and is necessary for their immune systems,\u201d Sigmon said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean a child is going to develop chronic ear infections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diagnosis and treatment<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a child has persistent symptoms that last more than 72 hours, or symptoms that worsen, they should be seen by their pediatrician or family medicine doctor,\u201d Sigmon said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important to have that regular relationship with a primary care provider. They\u2019re well versed in how to treat and monitor your child\u2019s ear infections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ear infections are typically treated with oral antibiotics, as well as ibuprofen or acetaminophen to help relieve pain.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to get ear infections addressed quickly, not just to help relieve your child\u2019s discomfort.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn rare cases, chronic ear infections that aren\u2019t diagnosed can result in some speech and language delays, and even some hearing loss,\u201d Sigmon said. \u201cBut most hearing loss associated with chronic ear infections is reversible once infections have been treated medically or with placement of ear tubes.\u201d<\/p>\n

What about ear tubes?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If ear infections become chronic, a child may be referred to a specialist like Sigmon, who may consider putting in ear tubes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe typically put in ear tubes only after the pediatricians and family medicine doctors have exhausted all methods of managing those infections,\u201d Sigmon said.<\/p>\n

The tiny plastic tubes help prevent the buildup of fluid, which staves off ear infections.<\/p>\n

\u201cEar tubes equalize pressure across the eardrum and prevent fluid from accumulating underneath the eardrum, as that fluid is a reservoir for recurrent infections,\u201d Sigmon said. \u201cPlacing a tube helps break the cycle of recurring ear infections.\u201d<\/p>\n

A child is typically sedated for the quick procedure. Then, a small incision is made in his or her eardrum, and the tube is inserted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very quick procedure,\u201d Sigmon said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s very successful, without a lot of side effects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tubes typically come out on their own over time, and most children just need one set. \u201cMost of the time, as children get older, they outgrow their need for tubes,\u201d Sigmon said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article first appeared in the Steamboat Pilot & Today on Nov. 4, 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With winter fast approaching, parents of young children are likely girding up for the dreaded ear infection. \u201cWe\u2019re entering the season,\u201d said Dr. Jason Sigmon, an otolaryngologist at UCHealth Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic in Steamboat Springs. \u201cThere\u2019s a higher incidence of ear infections during fall and winter months, due to the increase in upper […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2163,"featured_media":27495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9138,1112,202,351],"class_list":["post-27494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-ear-nose-and-throat-care","tag-ear-nose-throat-care-otolaryngology","tag-pediatric-care","tag-primary-care"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEar infections in kids - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ear infections in kids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-11T15:47:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-23T17:52:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/11080319\/GettyImages-878336612resize.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270\"},\"headline\":\"Ear infections in kids\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-11T15:47:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-23T17:52:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":678,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/11080319\\\/GettyImages-878336612resize.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Ear nose and throat care\",\"ENT\",\"Pediatrics care\",\"Primary care\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Healthy living\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ear infections in kids - UCHealth Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/11080319\\\/GettyImages-878336612resize.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-11T15:47:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-23T17:52:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/11080319\\\/GettyImages-878336612resize.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/11080319\\\/GettyImages-878336612resize.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever. Photo by Getty Images.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/ear-infections-in-kids\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ear infections in kids\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/\",\"name\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"description\":\"UCHealth Today\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UCHealth\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24135149\\\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/24135149\\\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"UCHealth\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/uchealthorg\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/uchealth\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/uchealth\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/school\\\/14839\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/uchealthorg\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270\",\"name\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth\"},\"description\":\"Susan Cunningham lives in the Colorado Rocky Mountains with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys science nearly as much as writing: she\u2019s traveled to the bottom of the ocean via submarine to observe life at hydrothermal vents, camped out on an island of birds to study tern behavior, and now spends time in an office writing and analyzing data. She blogs about writing and science at susancunninghambooks.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/author\\\/scunningham\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ear infections in kids - UCHealth Today","description":"The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ear infections in kids","og_description":"The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/","og_site_name":"UCHealth Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","article_published_time":"2019-11-11T15:47:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-23T17:52:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/11080319\/GettyImages-878336612resize.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@uchealth","twitter_site":"@uchealth","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/"},"author":{"name":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270"},"headline":"Ear infections in kids","datePublished":"2019-11-11T15:47:48+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-23T17:52:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/"},"wordCount":678,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/11080319\/GettyImages-878336612resize.webp","keywords":["Ear nose and throat care","ENT","Pediatrics care","Primary care"],"articleSection":["Healthy living"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/","name":"Ear infections in kids - UCHealth Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/11080319\/GettyImages-878336612resize.webp","datePublished":"2019-11-11T15:47:48+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-23T17:52:34+00:00","description":"The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/11080319\/GettyImages-878336612resize.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/11080319\/GettyImages-878336612resize.webp","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"The most common symptoms of an ear infection include irritability, poor sleep, nasal congestion, nasal drainage, ear tugging and a low-grade fever. Photo by Getty Images."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/ear-infections-in-kids\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ear infections in kids"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","name":"UCHealth Today","description":"UCHealth Today","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization","name":"UCHealth","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/24135149\/UCHealth-square-logo-1000x1000-1.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"UCHealth"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/x.com\/uchealth","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/uchealth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/14839\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/uchealthorg\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC41SJI79yjZIe96OajzN22g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/f2737182b44781de4109fdd5dd464270","name":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2db43e0d22b905337f1ddcc62a7f5e48147be6c9309eea5dfab24196477dd71?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth"},"description":"Susan Cunningham lives in the Colorado Rocky Mountains with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys science nearly as much as writing: she\u2019s traveled to the bottom of the ocean via submarine to observe life at hydrothermal vents, camped out on an island of birds to study tern behavior, and now spends time in an office writing and analyzing data. She blogs about writing and science at susancunninghambooks.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/scunningham\/"}]}},"coauthors":[{"id":2163,"name":"Susan Cunningham, for UCHealth","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/author\/scunningham\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27494"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70489,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27494\/revisions\/70489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}