September 28, 2009 Issue
HEARING
LOSS HELP E-zine
"The premier e-zine for people with hearing loss"
Volume 4, Number 5 September
28, 2009
Publisher: Neil Bauman
neil@hearinglosshelp.com
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com
Copyright Center for Hearing Loss Help 2009
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"Hearing loss may change your life,
but your life need not be any less
rewarding and fulfilling
because you have a hearing loss."
— Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
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================================================== In this issue ==================================================
1. News Items
— Hundreds of Genes Can Cause Deafness
— Loud Music Can Blow Out Your Lungs. Imagine What It Can Do to Your Ears!
2. Beware of (Ototoxic) Drugs That Can Damage Your Ears
— Is the New "Statin" Drug "Crestor" Ototoxic?
— Potassium Gluconate and Hearing Loss
3. Answers to Your Questions
— Did My Stint in the Navy Cause My Hearing Loss?
4. Tinnitus & Other Phantom Sounds
— Here's Why Chronic Anxiety Can Result in Tinnitus and Hyperacusis
5. Effective Coping Strategies
— Classroom Coping Strategies for Hard of Hearing Teachers
— Don't Make the #$%& Bell Ring!
6. Information on Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants and/or Assistive
Devices
— Easy Way to Keep Stereo and Mono Jacks Straight
— Can't Hear Cell Phone Ringing
— Flashing Lights for Cell Phones Revisited
===============================================
1. News Items
===============================================
Hundreds of Genes Can Cause Deafness
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
From time to time the news media reports that scientists have
identified yet another gene that causes deafness, and always
there is the statement that this will help end hearing loss, as
though a cure for hearing loss was right around the corner.
Here's an example of one that just came out, "Scripps
research scientists identify genetic cause for type of
deafness. Discovery could lead to new therapies for
progressive hearing loss."
The article begins: "A team led by scientists from The Scripps
Research Institute has discovered a genetic cause of
progressive hearing loss. The findings will help scientists
better understand the nature of age-related decline in hearing
and may lead to new therapies to prevent or treat the
condition.
The findings were published September 3, 2009, in an
advance, online issue of the
American Journal of Human
Genetics, a publication of Cell Press."
This release is like many before it—sounds good, but
promises little. However, this article contains an interesting
gem of information. A bit further down it states, "It is thought
that mutations in several hundred genes can lead to
deafness," said team leader Ulrich Mueller, a professor in the
Department of Cell Biology and member of the Skaggs
Institute for Chemical Biology at Scripps Research.
"However, for many forms of deafness, we don't know what
effects the genes have."
The truth is, hearing loss is a complex condition. There are not
just one or two or even a few genes associated with hearing
loss, but hundreds of genes and combinations of genes.
At present, scientists are nowhere near close to identifying all
these numerous gene combinations, let alone understanding
how they cause deafness, or how they can use this
information to reverse or prevent hearing loss in the future.
I'm glad researchers are busy investigating the many genetic
causes of hearing loss. Every little discovery is a step in the
right direction, and I'm all for it. However, just don't hold your
breath believing that a cure for your hearing loss is going to be
forthcoming any time soon.
**************************************************
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**************************************************
Loud Music Can Blow Out Your Lungs. Imagine What It Can Do to Your Ears!
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
Did you know that loud music can blow out your lungs? It's
true. I recently came across a scary news item entitled "Loud
music lung collapse warning" (1). It explains the cases of 4
young men that literally blew their lungs apart from being too
close to big loudspeakers when they were playing loud music.
One man was driving around in his boom box car—with a 1,000
watt "bass box". Another man was standing next to a
loudspeaker in a club. A third man was standing near several
large loudspeakers while attending a pop concert. The fourth
man blew out his lungs, not just once, but several times, while
attending heavy metal concerts. (Talk about a slow learner!)
These are just a few of the many people that have damaged
their lungs from being too close to loudspeakers.
These four men suffered what is called a "pneumothorax" or
"collapsed lung" in lay terms. A pneumothorax is when air gets
into the space between the lungs and the membrane that
covers them when breaks occur in the lung walls. Doctors
think that the intense pulses of low-frequency, high-energy
sound causes the lungs to rupture.
Since these loud sound waves are bursting people's lungs,
imagine the damage they are doing to the sensitive structures
in their ears. These people are foolishly sentencing
themselves to a lifetime of unrelenting tinnitus, and ever-increasing hearing loss.
Unfortunately, they don't seem to care because they are
clueless, or think they are invincible.
Don't be like them. As a minimum, when in places where loud
music is played, keep well back from the big
loudspeakers and wear ear protectors. It's that important to
your physical and aural health!
(1)
Loud music lung collapse warning. BBC News. August 31, 2004.
===============================================
2. Beware of (Ototoxic) Drugs That Can Damage Your Ears
===============================================
Is the New "Statin" Drug "Crestor" Ototoxic?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady explained: "Because of high blood pressure, some
previous mini-strokes and a family history of high cholesterol, I
have been taking Lipitor [Atorvastatin]. My doctor feels my
cholesterol needs to be under better control and has switched
me to Crestor. I cannot find Crestor in your Ototoxic Drug
book. Could you give me some information on it's side
effects? I would certainly appreciate any help."
Crestor (Rosuvastatin) is fairly new and not a lot of information
about its ototoxic properties is readily available. The PDR lists
dizziness as the only ototoxic side effect.
I suspect it has other ototoxic side effects that will become
apparent in the future. This is because all the "statin" drugs
belong to the same general drug family—i.e. they have similar
chemical compositions. Thus you would expect them to have
similar (not identical, but similar) ototoxic side effects.
On page 502 of my drug book, in the comparison table
(section 11.3.2) you can see that all 6 "statins" listed there
have dizziness as a side effect, just like Crestor has.
However, 5 of the 6 also have vertigo listed, 2 have tinnitus, 2
have hearing loss and 1 has ataxia listed. So those are the
most likely ototoxic side effects that Crestor may have.
Therefore, you might experience dizziness and/or possibly
vertigo if you take Crestor, but only time will reveal whether
Crestor will also cause side effects such as hearing loss and
tinnitus in some people.
To learn which drugs are (or can be) ototoxic, see "Ototoxic
Drugs Exposed". This book contains information on the ototoxicity of 763
drugs, 30 herbs and 148 chemicals.
**************************************************
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hear beautiful, clear, interference-free sounds in both ears!
Click here to learn more about the T-Links.
**************************************************
Potassium Gluconate and Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady asked: "Have you heard about potassium gluconate
having ototoxic effects? I have been diagnosed with
Meniere's Disease. My ENT put me on a diuretic and a daily
dose of 550 mg of potassium gluconate, Almost as soon as I
started on it, my tinnitus started to roar and I was hearing very
little. I experienced slight to severe vertigo at least two out of
every three days during that time. When I stopped taking the
potassium gluconate, I noticed an improvement in my tinnitus
after only one day. After 2-3 days it was back to its familiar
hiss. The vertigo stopped completely the first day, and has not
come back in the week I have been off the potassium
gluconate. Also, my hearing rebounded almost back to normal
in the week I have been off the potassium, but an audiogram
confirmed I have lost a bit more hearing. My ENT doesn't think
there's a connection. Do you know if there is any evidence
beyond my anecdotal experience that potassium gluconate
could be the cause?"
One reference says that taking potassium gluconate can
cause ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and sudden hearing loss so
obviously you are not alone. (1)
Also, in the same article it explains “Potassium gluconate can
decrease blood flow to the optic nerve of the eye, causing
sudden vision loss.”
If potassium gluconate can do this to our eyes, it seems likely
that it also does the same to the tiny arteries in our inner ears.
This would starve the hair cells of oxygen, causing them to be
"sick" (to use a fancy medical term). The result could be
instant tinnitus and a temporary sudden hearing loss, as well
as balance problems such as vertigo when taking potassium
gluconate in higher doses.
When you stop taking potassium gluconate, inner-ear blood
flow (hopefully) returns to normal. As a result, some/all hearing
returns and the tinnitus goes away or decreases. However,
this is only true if the hair cells were "sick" from lack of
oxygen. If they actually died (and some may die) then you
would be left with some degree of permanent hearing loss. I
think the longer you take this medication, the weaker the hair
cells become and some begin to die—thus resulting in
permanent hearing loss. That is why the sooner you stop
taking the drug, the better your chances are for near-normal
recovery.
Adequate potassium intake is necessary to a healthy body.
However, it seems that the potassium dose you were taking
was too high for you. From what I can gather, 500 mg a day is
about the safe upper limit. After that, ear damage can begin. A
more conservative dose is 100 mg, 3 times a day as the
maximum.
You may find you can take potassium gluconate, but at a lower
dose. It is something you might want to try if you think the
potassium gluconate was helping your body (apart from your
ears).
In any case, whenever your tinnitus suddenly increases when
you start taking a drug, consider it a warning that the drug is
causing ear damage at that dose. You need to pay attention to
that warning before other ear damage also becomes
apparent. Either reduce the dose or stop taking the drug, but
run this by your doctor first of course.
(1)
Potassium gluconate.
===============================================
3. Answers to Your Questions
===============================================
If you have a question, or if something has been puzzling you
concerning your ears, email it to
mailto:neil@hearinglosshelp.com
and put "e-zine question" as the subject. Suitable questions will be answered here.
Did My Stint in the Navy Cause My Hearing Loss?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A veteran asked: "I have a hearing loss now. In my earlier
years after finishing High School I joined the Navy. I spent
most of my 4 years in the Navy in an engine room aboard a
ship. After the Navy, I spent most of my working life in
situations that did not expose me to any excessive noise. I am
now in my senior years, and for the last 15 years have noticed
a hearing problem. Could the years in the engine room be a
possible cause for my hearing loss?"
Look at it this way—your years in the engine room probably
caused some hearing loss back then, but probably not
enough that you or anyone noticed, but it "used up your
reserve" so to speak so that when other contributing factors
began affecting your hearing, it didn't take much to make the
hearing loss obvious.
There are lots of likely contributing factors besides your navy
stint. Here are a few of the more common ones.
1. The loud sounds your ears are exposed to in daily life. For
example, traffic, sirens, horns honking, loud music at parties
and receptions, lawnmowers, chainsaws, snowmobiles,
motorcycles, shooting guns, and so on over time all take their
toll on your ears.
2. All the drugs and medications you have taken over the
years (assuming you have). There are hundreds of drugs that
can cause hearing loss. As you get older, typically you take
more and more drugs. Their combined effect can result in
increasing hearing loss.
3. Simply getting older negatively affects our ears and
hearing.
4. The cumulative effects of our lifestyles affects hearing. For
example, when our arteries get clogged up, less oxygen gets
to our inner ears and the result is loss of some hearing acuity.
5. Smoking and drinking can, and do, cause hearing loss in
some people.
These are just 5 possible factors—but you can see that a little
bit of hearing loss here from one cause, and a bit there from
another cause, added up over a lifetime results in major
hearing loss. No doubt, your initial hearing loss began in the
navy, but your hearing loss continued throughout your life from
other causes. Now that you are a senior, you really notice how
bad your hearing has gotten. It's not fair to place the blame
solely on any one factor because that is not how things
typically work in real life.
===============================================
4. Tinnitus & Other Phantom Sounds
===============================================
Here's Why Chronic Anxiety Can Result in Tinnitus and Hyperacusis
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady explained: "I find that my tinnitus is worse if I am
stressed about something. Sometimes the pitch changes and
sometimes I can hear more than one sound at a time. My
tinnitus is always worse when I'm trying to get to sleep and
that's when I get anxious. I can hear it in the day too, so it's
there all the time. When I wake up in the morning it can be
very loud and I have to get up straight away or I can become
panicky. I have always been noise phobic from when I was a
small child. I just can't handle fireworks or loud noises. When I
was very young I became very upset by the scratching of the
needle on a record. Is this part of the profile of someone with
tinnitus?"
Very much so. Stress and anxiety are two triggers of tinnitus.
If you are a high-strung, anxious type of person, often you will
find that not only do you hear tinnitus, but you also may have
hyperacusis—where you hear some/all sounds louder and
more intrusive than normal.
I was helping a lady recently that had much the same
experiences as you—she was high-strung, anxious and had
just gone through a very stressful situation. Her tinnitus was
now much louder than normal, and she was worried that it
would stay that way. In the past when she would stress over
something, her tinnitus would get louder, but subside in a day
or two. This time it wasn't—hence her call to me for help.
I explained to her that when we are anxious, this puts our
bodies in the "fight or flight" mode. Extra adrenaline surges
through our arteries giving us more strength to fight or flee. At
the same time, our senses become more acute. Thus we
actually hear better than normal during such events—especially
fainter sounds.
When you are anxious all the time, your body becomes stuck
in this fight or flight mode, which includes the increased acute
hearing. The result is that you perceive certain sounds to be
annoyingly loud such as your phonograph needle. At the same
time, loud sounds are then much too loud (such as fireworks).
The usual reaction to this increased sensitivity to sound is to
avoid all noisy places and wear ear protectors most of the
time. This actually proves counterproductive because when
you wear ear protectors all the time, you brain becomes
"starved" for normal sounds. As a result, it cranks up its
internal volume control. This just makes the situation even
worse—because when you take the noise protectors off,
sounds are louder and even more annoying than before.
On top of this, your tinnitus is also louder because, with the
increased internal volume, your brain is now hearing more of
the random firings of the neurons in your auditory system—which some researchers think we hear as tinnitus.
The way to resolve this problem is not to overprotect your
ears. Yes, clap your hands to your ears if there is a sudden
loud sound around you (a siren going past you, or a truck
blasting his air horn), but otherwise do not overprotect your
ears so your auditory system will always have adequate
stimulation. This will cause your brain to turn down the internal
volume.
At the same time, you need to learn how not to be so anxious.
You need to learn to be calm and "hang loose". That will get
you out of the "fight or flight" mode. This alone will let your
brain turn down its internal volume.
When you do this, you will find that your tinnitus often
becomes less intrusive and fades into the background. You
will also find hat those sounds you found annoying before now
don't bother you much, or at all.
I'm not saying this is easy to accomplish, but it is necessary.
There are a number of books available that teach you how to
relax and calm down. If you need further help, see a therapist
that specializes in helping people work through their anxiety
problems without using drugs.
The end result will be reduced tinnitus, reduced hyperacusis
and more enjoyment in your life. That makes it all worthwhile,
doesn't it?
If you have tinnitus, my book, "When Your Ears Ring—Cope
with Your Tinnitus—Here's How"
teaches you a number of things you can do to help yourself
successfully live with your tinnitus.
===============================================
5. Effective Coping Strategies
===============================================
Classroom Coping Strategies for Hard of Hearing Teachers
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A new teacher with a profound hearing loss wrote: "I am a
hearing impaired student teacher. I have a profound hearing
loss with a speech recognition of 12 percent. I was wondering
if you could assist me with some strategies for teaching
normal hearing students in a Middle School environment. I
would need procedural and instructional strategies that work.
Can you assist me with this, as I do not know of any hearing
impaired educators locally."
Since your discrimination is so poor, my first suggestion is to
consider getting cochlear implants.
As for coping strategies there are many. In truth, many of the
coping strategies you used as a student are the same ones
you need to use as a teacher. After all, hearing loss is hearing
loss.
For example, continue to use your speechreading skills that
I'm sure you have used all your life. If you want to improve
your speechreading skills, may I suggest the Seeing and
Hearing Speech CD program. You can get it at
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/products/seeinghearingspeech.htm.
I assume that you know many of the tricks to help you hear
better such as get close, have the light on the speaker's face,
cut out background noise, etc. My short book, "Talking with
Hard of Hearing People, Here's How to Do It Right!" gives a lot of help in
this respect..
Do you use any assistive devices? I think you'll find the
super-directional microphone plugged into a PockeTalker, will
help you hear your student's better. In actual fact, this
microphone was originally designed for a hard of hearing
teacher. I find it most useful. To use the
PockeTalker with
your hearing aids, plug in a
neckloop instead of ear buds.
To learn more, read the article I wrote called "Hearing in the
Classroom: An Assistive Device for Hard of Hearing
Teachers", and another article along the same line called "Hearing in
the Classroom or in Other Noisy Places".
If you have trouble hearing your student's replies, then I'd tend
more to written answers, rather than verbal ones.
If you can't hear a student there are a number of strategies
you can employ, such as:
1. Arrange your classroom so the soft-spoken students all sit
near the front of the room so they are closer to you. That way
you can hear them better.
2. Walk down the aisle so you are closer to the student you
are trying to hear. That way you can hear him/her better and
speechread better too. Combined with the Super-directional
mic/PockeTalker combination, this can really work well.
3. Have a student who you can hear well sit at the front of the
room and "interpret" what someone said that you just can'tget. At times I do this when speaking to groups. I ask
someone that I know I can hear/understand to repeat what
someone just said. Don't do this too much as you are
imposing on the goodwill of the person doing the
"interpreting". It is better to learn to cope on your own, rather
than "using" other people as much as possible.
4. Pass a wireless FM microphone around and anyone who
wants to speak, talks into the microphone. You wear the FM
receiver and pipe their voices directly into your ears via a
neckloop and the t-coils in your hearing aids.
5. Have a student you can't hear/understand come up and
write key words on the blackboard.
6. Teach your students how to fingerspell so they can
fingerspell any key words you miss.
7. Give out a sheet at the beginning of each year that explains
your hearing loss and what you need the students to do. One
hard of hearing teacher did just that. You can read this sheet in
my article, "Coping Strategies for Hard of Hearing Teachers".
So there are 7 things you can do to help yourself successfully
live with your hearing loss in the classroom. They may "prime
the pump" and now you'll think of other things you can also do
in addition to using all the assistive devices mentioned above.
—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—
Don't Make the #$%& Bell Ring!
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
My friend Michele has a hearing loss. She explained: "I was in
Home Depot yesterday morning. While waiting for the nice
man who offered to cut a threaded rod for me, I was standing
near the entrance of the tool rental area. Evidently there is a
motion sensor that triggers a bell to let the tool rental
employees know they have a customer.
I kept seeing the gentleman that worked there coming and
going from the back room, but figured he was just busy with
his work.
Finally, he came over and asked me to move from where I
was standing, that it was me setting off the bell. Clearly he
was a little perturbed that I was so dense as to not realize I
was the cause of the bell going off repeatedly.
Long ago I might have apologized and felt bad that I had
irritated the employee, and given him the benefit of the doubt
for not knowing I can't hear, but I'm over it.
As the employee turned, without waiting for a reply from me, I
said (in a very nice tone), "I'm deaf, I can't hear the bell."
The man turned, and from the look on his face I expected him
to dissolve into a puddle at my feet. He offered a sincere
apology.
I gave him his moment of humiliation, then very nicely assured
him that it was okay—just as I did not know I was triggering the
bell, he did not know I was deaf.
I didn't take any pleasure in this mans' humiliation, but by
allowing him to experience it, he, hopefully, learned to think a
little further than "Boy, is she stupid not to know she is the
reason that d*** bell keeps going off!"
This is a right way of teaching people about your hearing
loss—and an excellent way of successfully resolving sticky
hard of hearing situations.
Thanks for the lesson Michele. Also, thanks for letting me
know there are bells hooked up to motion sensors. It never
crossed my mind that they did such things in stores. In my
experience, you have to physically "ring the bell" when you
want service—not just stand there.
***************************************************
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**************************************************
===============================================
6. Information on Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants
and/or
Assistive Devices
===============================================
Easy Way to Keep Stereo and Mono Jacks Straight
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady wrote: "I know a stereo plug has two rings, and a mono
plug only one. That is easy to see, but, how do you know
whether the device you are plugging into has a stereo or
mono jack?
One manufacturer of assistive devices says in their
instructions, "do not plug a stereo plug into this device,
because it will damage the product" (or something like that).
Not all devices come with adequate instructions (and in some
cases, no instructions). Also, some instructions that are
translated from another language into English can leave you
scratching your head as to what they mean."
As you know, you can't tell just by looking at a jack whether it is
made for a mono or stereo plug. The easy way to tell is, if ear
buds (for example) come with it, I check the plug on them, and
if it is a mono plug, then the jack will almost certainly be
mono as well. The same for stereo plugs and jacks.
Since you can't tell by looking, and its easy to forget later
whether the jack was mono or stereo, what I do with my
assistive devices, adapters and ear buds/neckloops is put a
color-coded dab of nail polish by each male plug and female
jack—a blue dab means it is mono and a pink dab means it is
stereo.
This way you always know which is which. When using any
assistive devices and adapters, it is very simple—you plug
blue to blue and pink to pink.
So when I use my PockeTalker (mono) with my stereo ear
buds (which I much prefer to the ear buds that come with the
PockeTalker), I have to use a stereo to mono adapter. I have
a blue dab beside the PockeTalker jack and a blue dab at the
male adapter plug. I have a pink dab at the female (stereo)
end of the adapter, and pink a pink dab on the stereo ear bud
plug. When plugging all this together, all I have to remember
is "blue to blue and pink to pink" and I never have to wonder
whether I've hooked it up correctly or not.
This is a great idea to use with elderly people and people that
are not "electrically" inclined. Put all the appropriate colored
dabs on the jacks and plugs of their assistive devices, and
then just tell them always to match colors and they won't have
problems.
—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—
Can't Hear Cell Phone Ringing
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady explained: "My mother-in-law is hard of hearing and
only has a cell phone now. She doesn't hear it ring all of the
time and I am trying to find something that will amplify the ring
on the phone, or something that will notify her that it is ringing.
Do you know where I may find something like this?"
If she is carrying the cell phone around with her—then set it on
vibrate mode and have her wear it close to her body
somewhere so she can feel the vibration.
Also, if she has the right cell phone and service provider, she
may be able to add flashing lights to her cell phone to get her
attention. (See the following article.)
If she basically leaves her cell phone on the counter or coffee
table, or bed table, or wherever at home then having the cell
phone on vibrate won't help. However, I have just the device
she needs in that case—the
Super Loud Cell Phone Ring
Alerter. It does three things—flashes a strobe, makes the ring much louder and at night with the optional vibrator to put
under her mattress, it will shake her awake.
In her case, probably a good solution would be for her to have
two Ring Alerters. Put one on her bed table in the bedroom
hooked up with the bed vibrator. Place the other one where
she spends most of her time. Have it sitting in plain sight so
she can see the strobe light when it flashes as well as hear
the loud ringer.
It is easy to use this Ring Alerter—just pull out the elastic at the
back—put the cell phone between the elastic and the back of
the Ring Alerter and let the elastic hold it in place there. That's
all there is to it. To answer the phone, you just pull the cell
phone out of the elastic and answer it normally.
This ring alerter also works for landline phones too. You plug it
into the wall phone jack and plug the phone into the Ring
Alerter. Whenever the phone rings, it will alert you just the
same as if it were a cell phone. In fact, I think it will work with
both phones at the same time.
—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—o—
Flashing Lights for Cell Phones Revisited
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
Last month a man wrote: "I am somewhat hard of hearing. I
can never hear my cell phone when it rings, even when it is in
my pocket. Do you have a remote little light that would blink
when my phone rings?"
I had written in part, "Sorry, I'm not aware of a portable blinking
light device for cell phones. "
Fortunately, one of our subscribers knew the answer. There
are indeed such devices—not remote lights, but lights that fit
on the phone itself.
Lynn explained, "I thought it would be nice to share
information about a portable light that flashes for cell phones.
These are available at many mall kiosks that sell cell phone
gadgets. It is a light of any design that fits in place of the
antenna on the cell phone. Mine was red/white and blue. In the
mountains one night, my husband thought a police car was
stopping us and pulled over. Twice it happened with no
policeman in sight! (I forgot to tell him I bought this "alerting
device" for my cell phone and in the dark car it really lit up!)
It did help when I just wanted to see the light without the loud
ring/vibration on a table, or did not have pants pockets. It was
easy to see inside my purse too....a really bright strobe light
the size of your cell phone antenna."
I did a bit of research and found that there are in fact two kinds
of lighted accessories you can get for your cell phone.
As Lynn explained above, there are light-up antennas for
some cell phones. Also, there are lighted batteries for other
cell phones. These lighted batteries come with a transparent
battery cover so you can see the light flashing through it.
Unfortunately, these accessories seem to be fast going out of
style and are harder to come by. I checked with two mall cell-phone accessory kiosks and both said they used to carry
them but not any more.
You can still find them on-line, but they only work for a limited
number of phones (probably older ones). If you are
interested, do a Google search for "light up antenna for cell
phone" for the antenna kind, and "light up battery for cell
phone" for the battery kind. Then check the search results for
your phone model and service. It seems the antenna light-up
accessories don't work with CDMA networks for example.
If you strike out there, all is not lost. As Wendy informed me,
some phones have flashing strobe lights built in. She
explained, When "the LG8100 rings a little strobe light
flashes, so even if I don't hear it, I can see it flashing! It’s
great for me!"
So if you want a phone that flashes to alert you, there are at
least three possibilities that may work for you if they don't all
go the way of the Dodo bird.
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HEARING LOSS HELP E-zine
Neil Bauman, Publisher
Center for Hearing Loss Help
49 Piston Court
Stewartstown, PA 17363 USA
Phone: (717) 993-8555
Fax (717) 993-6661
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com
neil@hearinglosshelp.com
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