Hearing Loss Help  

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A number of hard of hearing people have asked me to explain exactly what the difference is between hearing dual mono sound and hearing stereo sound.

With mono sound, there is only one microphone involved in picking up the sounds. Since there is only one microphone picking up the sound, there is only one sound amplifier, and one sound heard in the earphones.If you are wearing dual earphones, you hear exactly the same sound in each ear. This is dual mono.

With stereo, there are two microphones picking up the sounds, Since there are two microphones picking up separate sounds (with some overlapping to be sure), there are two sound amplifiers and if you are listening to a stereo device and wearing stereo earphones, you will hear different sounds in each ear. This is true stereo sound.

Stereo is what gives sound directionality–sounds seem to be coming from one side or the other or in front of you.Mono sound has no directionality associated with it. It is just “there.”

Most assistive devices are mono devices, so you will hear the same sound in both ears. However,in the hearing world, most audio devices–radios, TVs, DVDs, CDs, iPods, MP3 players, etc are all stereo devices.

If you want to hear true stereo sound, you need to learn how to couple your hearing aids to the various portable stereo devices. The article, “Using T-Coils to Couple Your Hearing Aids to Various Audio Devices” explains what you need, and how to do this.

This article also explains what you need to do if you want to use a mono coupling device (such as a neckloop) to couple to a stereo system so you don’t accidentally short out one of the stereo amplifiers.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady asked:

I am interested in coping with my hearing loss. What all does it involve?

Successfully coping with hearing loss includes all the things we do in order to communicate as well as possible in spite of our hearing losses. There are 5 basic steps or areas of coping that are necessary for you to include in your coping strategy program.

These five steps include:

1. Grieve for Your Hearing Loss

Hearing loss throws your emotions into a turmoil–especially if your hearing loss is quite rapid. In order to get yourself on an even keel again so that you are ready to successfully cope with your hearing loss, you first need to grieve for your hearing loss.

This step is very important–yet often overlooked. I strongly recommend reading the article “Grieving for Your Hearing Loss,” or even better, the short, easy-to-read book “Grieving for Your Hearing Loss–The Rocky Road from Denial to Acceptance” to help you through this process.

2. Get Hearing Aids

The next step is getting and wearing properly-fitted hearing aids. Be aware there is an adjustment period. To help you adjust I highly recommend reading the excellent article “Becoming Friends with Your New Hearing Aids.”

3. Use Hearing Assistive Technology

Because hearing aids do not work well in all situations, you need to supplement their use with various assistive listening devices (ALDs) and alerting devices. Two such ALDs are personal listening systems such as the PockeTalker and Room Loops. You can learn more about the value of the PockeTalker in the article “Hear In Noise? You Bet You Can! Here’s How” Room loops are explained in the article “Loop Systems–the Best-Kept Secret in Town.”

4. Learn to Speechread

Speechreading (the old term was lipreading) is watching a person’s face to “see” what they are saying. Speechreading is most valuable for filling in the gaps you miss with your hearing aids, or for when you are not wearing them. Learn more about speechreading in the article “Speechreading (Lip-reading).”

5. Use Everyday Coping Strategies

Everyday coping strategies include all the little things you need to do in order to best understand what people are saying. Many of these coping strategies are explained in the short book, “Talking with Hard of Hearing People–Here’s How to Do It Right!” Still more are contained in the article “Practical Coping Strategies for Hearing Loss.” These coping strategies are all free and just involve a bit of effort.

Following all the above will let you communicate ever so much easier than if you do not follow them. The difference is like night and day. I know. I’ve used them every day of my life!

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A mother asked:

What is a conductive hearing loss?

There are two main kinds of hearing losses. One is called conductive and the other is called sensorineural.

Conductive losses are “mechanical” hearing losses, that is, something prevents the eardrum and/or the 3 tiny bones in the inner ear from vibrating freely. Conductive losses occur in the outer and middle ear.

In contrast, sensorineural hearing losses occur in the inner ear and are more “electro-chemical” in nature.

There are two common causes of conductive hearing losses. The first cause is wax or other “stuff” blocking the ear canal and preventing sound from getting to the eardrum. A variation of this would be wax or other material touching the eardrum preventing it from vibrating freely. Incidentally, a hole in the eardrum or scar tissue on the eardrum can also prevent it from vibrating as freely as before, thus resulting in some degree of conductive hearing loss.

The second common cause of conductive hearing losses is middle ear infections–often associated with getting a cold. When you have a middle ear infection, the middle ear, normally an air-filled cavity, fills up with a thick puss-like fluid. This fluid prevents the bones of the middle ear from vibrating freely. The result is reduced hearing of a conductive kind. The fancy medical term for a middle ear infection is “otitis media.”

Having your doctor clean your ear canals typically fixes the first kind of conductive loss.

Fixing the second cause is not as easy. Typically, once the cold goes away, the fluid in the middle ear slowly drains away via the Eustachian tube that connects the middle ear to the back of the throat. This process can take from a few days to a couple of months. When the fluid drains completely, hearing generally returns to normal again.

If this fluid won’t drain away on its own, doctors often intervene and put “tubes” in the ear drum to let the fluid drain into the ear canal.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A woman wrote:

I read your article on the Pocketalker and found it helpful. I am encouraged by the fact that although you have a severe hearing loss, (and my loss is “moderate to severe”) yet you are able to use the Pocketalker with earbuds. Although I hear well through headphones, I would prefer to use earbuds, as you do.

I have dual earbuds, but they keep falling out of my ears. And I only hear through one of the earbuds. What do you suggest? I would certainly appreciate your advice.

PockeTalkers and other similar personal amplifiers are certainly wonderful little devices for some difficult listening situations.

You have two separate issues. First is the fact that you only hear from one earbud. This could be caused by a broken wire going to one of the earbuds. In that case, you need to get new ones.

However, assuming that both of the earbuds are working properly (and you can hear in both of your ears), this problem is most likely caused by plugging stereo earbuds into the mono jack on the PockeTalker. When you do this, you short out one earbud to ground and thus hear nothing in that ear.

The earbuds that come with the PockeTalker have mono plugs so you can hear in both ears. In contrast, almost all earbuds sold in consumer stores have stereo plugs.

You can easily tell whether you have mono or stereo plugs. Just look at the plug. If it has two metal sections separated by one plastic ring, it is a mono plug. If it has three metal sections separated by two plastic rings it is a stereo plug.

If you have stereo earbuds, the solution is very simple. Just go to any Radio Shack store and pick up their little stereo to mono adaptor (Part no. 274-882, $3.99, or Part no. 274-368, $2.99). Plug the adaptor into the PockeTalker and the stereo earbuds into the adaptor and you will hear in both ears.

Your second issue is keeping the earbuds in your ears. Earbuds just don’t seem to stay in some people’s ears. You may be one of these. You need to try various earbuds and find the ones that best fit your ears.

My favorite earbuds of all time came with my Sony Walkman a number of years ago. They have a shape more like a hearing aid ear mold. Not only are they very comfortable, but also they stay in place and never fall out. Unfortunately, I have looked high and low to find similar earbuds but can’t find any.

I suggest you go to Radio Shack, Walmart and other consumer electronics stores and actually try out their different earbuds until you find a pair that fits your ears comfortably and stays in place. Any of these stereo earbuds will work with your PockeTalker with the above-mentioned adaptor.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A woman noted:

I saw this in a catalog. Anybody hear of it? The ad reads:

“Bio-Ear $16.95. Stop the ringing in your ears. End that constant hum that’s driving you up a wall. Bio-Ear nourishes nerve endings in the ear, providing natural relief for symptoms caused by tinnitus. Regular use stimulates blood flow and helps relieve annoying ringing or buzzing. Safe, all natural herbal remedy used by thousands for continual relief. It’s fast, easy and effective. Buy a bottle and feel better fast!”

The problem with ads like this is that they are both true and false at the same time.

Yes, it is true that such formulations may reduce or eliminate tinnitus in those people whose tinnitus is caused by a lack of adequate blood flow to their ears. (These people are definitely not the majority of tinnitus sufferers.)

No, it is not true that this kind of formula will help all people with tinnitus. The lie of this ad is making you believe that there is only one “kind” of tinnitus, and that this formula fixes it.

The truth is that there are a number of “kinds” of tinnitus–about 12 or so–depending how you define them. Each “kind” requires a different cure. So this formula may cure one of the 12 kinds–but not the other 11.

For example, this formula will not help the kind of tinnitus caused by wax touching your eardrum. Nor will it help the kind of tinnitus caused by your heartbeat (pulsatile tinnitus). Nor will it help people who have the kind of tinnitus caused by moving their eyes (gaze-evoked tinnitus). Nor will it help the people who have tinnitus, but have their auditory nerves cut–so all the “nourishing the nerve endings in the ear” until the cows come home won’t make a bit of difference. You see the obvious lies here. In addition, I seriously doubt it helps people like myself that have tinnitus as a result of severe hearing loss.

Thus, before responding to ads such as this, you need to become an educated consumer and know what kind of tinnitus you have, then seek the appropriate treatment for that particular “kind” of tinnitus.

To learn more about the various kinds of tinnitus and the many different treatments that are available, I suggest you read the book “When Your Ears Ring” Cope with Your Tinnitus–Here’s How.” This book will put you far down the road towards becoming a truly educated person on the various kinds of tinnitus and what you can expect from various tinnitus treatments.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man asked:

What is your opinion regarding ear candling? Do you consider it to be safe or not?

The plain truth is that ear candling is not effective. Proponents claim it can cure conditions such as hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, Meniere’s disease and a host of other conditions.

A number of years ago, I investigated ear candling. In the course of my research, I couldn’t find any proven good that it does. As a result, I don’t recommend anyone wasting their money on ear candling.

As to its safety, you are literally playing with fire–and when you play with fire you can get burned as a result. Don’t kid yourself, it does happen.

Audiologist Heather Shenk has written an excellent article on ear candling called “Ear Candling: A Fool Proof Method, or Proof of Foolish Methods?” Her article gives the history of ear candling from ancient times to the present, its supposed benefits and what really happens when you ear candle. Read this article before either your wallet or your ears get burned.

Her article is at http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/arc_disp.asp?article_id=1501.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady asked:

What I would like to know is how would I find a local class that teaches speechreading. I am on a fixed income and cannot afford the CD.

The best way to learn to speechread is to find a class that teaches speechreading. Unfortunately, these are few and far between in my experience.

I suggest that you ask around at the HLAA (SHHH) chapter nearest you. If there are any speechreading classes going on, they should know about it. Go to http://www.hearingloss.org/StateChap/states_and_chapters.html and click on the state you live in. It lists all the chapters in that state. Contact the chapter of your choice for more information.

Apart from a live class, I think the next best solution is to get the CD called “Seeing and Hearing Speech“. This is an excellent tool to learn speechreading right in the privacy of your own home. All you need is the CD and your computer. You can also learn more about speechreading in my article at Speechreading.

If you cannot afford the above excellent CD, I suggest that you join the Captioned Media Program at http://www.cfv.org. The only requirements are that you live in the USA, and that you are either deaf or hard of hearing.

If you have a VCR, you could borrow their 6 tape set of speechreading videos called “Read My Lips” (#9366 in their catalogue). A nice thing is that they pay the postage both ways so won’t cost you a cent!

I suggest that you just borrow one or two of these tapes to start with to see what you think. There is a lot of stuff on them–and you want to practice with them quite a bit before you advance to the next tapes.

You can register and then watch these tapes on-line too if you like. I have tried it in the past, but wasn’t successful in getting it to work then. You may have better luck than me.

You’ll find these tapes are helpful, but to me they are quite boring in contrast to the versatile CD mentioned above, but at least the price is right!

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man explained:

I had a hearing test conducted last week where an audiologist used a Tympanometry test. When he did this test in one of my ears there was a loud popping noise that occured and I felt pain in my ear. Can this type of test cause any damage the ear drum?

It shouldn’t. Here is what I suspect happened. Your eardrum normally is slightly concave. However, your eardrum may have been slightly convex (bulging out)–typically indicating that your Eustachian tube is clogged. If this was the case, then the slight increase in air pressure during this test may have pushed your eardrum back into its rightful concave position and forced your Eustachian tube to open–hence the loud popping sound you heard. The pain you felt would likely be from the temporarily increased air pressure in your middle ear as this was happening.

If your ear is now hearing at its normal level, I don’t think there was any damage at all.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady wrote:

A few years ago I had a virus that apparently attacked my vestibular system. Besides various balance-related problems, I now have hearing issues. I was told that I had some hearing loss on the left (I don’t remember how much) but I also find that I am very sensitive to certain sounds and pitches (clapping, crowds, high pitches). Because of the hearing loss, my husband wants me to go to an ear specialist, but I feel that there is nothing they can do for me, and the sound sensitivity would be worse with any sort of hearing aid. I’m not sure whether to pursue these issues. If there is anything that can be done, and if I do peruse them, what sort or specialist I should see? Can you point me in the right direction?

You bet. I’ll tell you which specialist you should see in a moment, but first, I’d like to address some of the interesting points you bring up.

Viral attacks can indeed cause balance problems. In addition, they can cause hearing loss and distorted hearing. Sometimes the balance system is harder hit, and other times the virus mostly attacks the hearing system. In fact, viral attacks can result in massive hearing loss. Fortunately, your hearing loss isn’t as bad as that.

However, you have another problem besides just not hearing as well as formerly. You are now super-sensitive to various normal sounds that never bothered you before. This is a real pain–literally.

The fancy names for these kind of conditions are hyperacusis and recruitment. Recruitment accompanies hearing loss, whereas hyperacusis can occur whether you have a hearing loss or not.

In any case, the result is basically the same no matter which one you have–certain normal sounds now sound much too loud. If you want to learn more about recruitment see my article “Recruitment Explained.” In addition, you might want to read a short book called “Supersensitive to Sound? You May Have Hyperacusis.”

Recruitment is no fun. I know. I have severe recruitment myself. Just putting a glass on the table can blow the top of my head off (figuratively speaking of course) as it sounds so loud to me.

The hearing specialist you want to go to is an audiologist (Au.D)–not a medical doctor (M.D.) Your audiologist will do a complete audiological evaluation and can recommend (and fit) hearing aids if they are appropriate.

The surprising thing is that hearing aids (properly adjusted) can actually help your sound sensitivity–assuming you have recruitment associated with your hearing loss. Your audiologist can set your new hearing aids to “compress” the recruiting sounds so they no longer bother you.

For example, I just got new hearing aids in the last month or so, and for the first time in 50 years of wearing hearing aids I can now stand certain sounds that always were too loud before. I’m still working on “tweaking” them to cut out all recruiting sounds. So far, I’ve eliminated about 90% of the formerly troublesome sounds. You may find the same thing happens with you with the right hearing aids. The latest technology is amazing.

At the very least, you should investigate whether this will work for you too. I think its well worth a trip to an audiologist.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

One hard of hearing lady lamented:

For the last 3 years I have avoided like the plague a candlelight dinner that my husband and my friends go to each year at the holidays. Does a hard of hearing person hate anything more than a dark room with flickering candles and everyone talking at different tables while trying to eat? My heart is pounding as I type this even though everyone talks about how nice it is, how romantic, how fun, etc.

If I told my friends the reason I don’t go, they would immediately call for lights on and hang everybody else! This year they are planning it again, and I will again have to come up with a realistic excuse. That, or try it and see if I live through the experience. Should I advocate for me–one person, at the expense of everyone else?

I know how you feel. I used to feel the same. To answer your question, no you should not spoil it for everyone else, but yes, you should advocate for yourself. The trick is to find a solution that meets both needs.

Believe it or not, there are some tricks that can actually make a candlelight dinner a reasonably enjoyable experience in spite of the low light. Here’s how.

First, who said you could only use 1 or 2 candles per table? Use lots of candles, the more candles–the more light! (Let’s not get carried away and have an inferno burning on your table–but 6 or 8 candles gives you much more light than 1 or 2 candles and yet doesn’t spoil the romantic ambience.)

Second, the placement of the candles makes all the difference. Traditionally, you place candles in the center of the table. Unfortunately, this means that you you, the hard of hearing person, have a candle shining right in your eyes making it difficult to speechread the person across the table from you.

A much better way is to arrange the candles to the sides. For example, you could line up several candles in two rows–one on each side of you. Now you have adequate light in order to speechread your partner, and at the same time you don’t have any candles shining directly in your eyes.

One final tip. Try this out at home some time. See how many candles you need and their best placement for you. Then, when you are dining out, you can ask the waiter for the number of extra candles you need. As an added bonus, you now already know how to quickly arrange them for the best effect.

Just doing these two things can make dining by candlelight possible–especially if it is just the two of you. It works for me.