Hearing Loss Help  

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man wrote:

I read an article on Dr. Jeffrey Dach’s website referring to the natural mood improving qualities of St. John’s Wort ["Beating Depression Naturally"], which also should have little or no side-effects when taking the recommended daily dosage (anywhere from 300mg-900mg).

I have been feeling “down” for the last year and a half, and thought I’d give it a try (mostly due to my hearing loss and adjusting to the new me). I also suffer from severe tinnitus and recruitment.

My question is this: “Is St. John’s Wort a non-ototoxic drug/herb? Is it safe to take?” I want to improve my mood, and would prefer to find a natural method; but don’t want to make my hearing loss any worse.

Here’s the scoop. Numerous studies have shown that St. John’s Wort is at least as effective as prescription drugs in treating mild to moderate cases of depression. (Just make sure it says on the label, “standardized to 0.3% (or 0.5%) Hypericin”. Hypericin is the active ingredient. If its not standardized to that amount, you don’t have a clue what you are really getting, and are likely just wasting your money.)

St. John’s Wort really works. My wife takes it as needed and has never had any ototoxic (or other) side effects like she had with prescription drugs. I know a number of others that have had the same experience.

Now for the really good news. St. John’s Wort is not known to be ototoxic in the least. So you can take it for as long as you need to without fear of causing hearing loss, aggravating your tinnitus, making your hyperacusis worse or wrecking your balance.

I’ve suggested to a good number of people that they ask their doctors to switch them to St. John’s Wort rather than the ototoxic prescription drugs they originally took in order to prevent further ototoxic damage to their ears.

However, don’t just start taking St. John’s Wort on your own. It is always wise to run this past your doctor because St. John’s Wort is known to interact with various medications. You don’t want to cause problems due to interactions between St. John’s Wort and any other medications you might be taking.

To learn which drugs and herbs are (or can be) ototoxic, see “Ototoxic Drugs Exposed“. This book contains information on the ototoxicity of 763 drugs, 30 herbs and 148 chemicals.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

Here’s some interesting information from the Taste Lab at the University of Florida. Researchers there found that compared to the general population, overweight people tend to taste their food less intensely. In other words, sweet foods don’t taste as sweet to them.

What’s this got to do with ears you ask? Just this. The researchers also found that “those over 35 who had suffered several ear infections had almost double the chance of being obese.” (1)

One theory why this happens is that middle ear infections can damage the taste nerve that runs by the middle ear. Thus, people who have had several ear infections now “have a higher threshold for sensing sweetness and fattiness.” As a result, they eat more to get the same level of satisfaction from their food. These extra calories each day add up over time, and so do the pounds.

Since most ear infections occur in young children, the key is to avoid these childhood ear infections in the first place. Such infections are typically brought on by colds. One thing that significantly reduces the incidence of childhood colds is avoiding passive smoke. In other words, don’t smoke around your children!

I can identify with this. You see, my dad was a chain smoker. As a young boy, I breathed in a lot of passive smoke. When my dad died suddenly, my health improved dramatically. Gone were my colds and ear infections. Since then, I have never had another ear infection.

However, one thing the above researchers don’t seem to have considered is that eating quantities of sweets suppresses your immune system so you are more susceptible to any colds going around.

Thus, the typical diet of sweets, candy and junk food paves the way to getting colds, and the resulting ear infections. It’s much better to change your diet and eat raw fresh fruits and vegetables. You’ll be able to say goodbye to most colds and ear infections, and the excess pounds too!

(1) Ear Infections Can Taint Your Taste Buds. In Reader’s Digest. January 2009. p. 92.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man wrote:

I’m interested in any recommendation you might have about hearing aid dryers. The local hearing aid office dries mine occasionally, but I must be running a wet ear season. Both of my digital Oticon aids cut out on a recent trip to Seattle, and then came back fine after drying. Now, the right aid drained the battery in one week rather than the usual two weeks. Then, today it drained a new battery in just three days.

In my opinion, the best device in the industry to look after your hearing aids is Dry & Store’s “Global” model. It dries your hearing aids via several means all at once. First it has a fan that blows the warm air around, evaporating all the moisture off your hearing aid. Second, the heating element warms the air to evaporate any condensed moisture. Third, it has “Dri Briks” that collect the moisture so it doesn’t just get re-circulated back to your hearing aids. The Dri Briks also reduce the moisture in the air so, at the molecular level, more moisture is “sucked” off the internal parts in your hearing aid. This triple whammy really gets the moisture out.

In addition to drying your hearing aids, the Global does even more. For example, the activated carbon in the Dri Briks collects any odors and neutralizes them. Also, the Global contains an ultraviolet light that comes one for a few minutes each time you use it. This kills any germs on your hearing aids and ear molds—which reduces itching and prevents your ear molds from reinfecting your ear canals the next morning when you put your hearing aids back on.

Incidentally, the Global is compact. It was designed to go with you on your travels (hence its name) as well as for home use.

Get a Global drier of your own here.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

Shanna Groves, herself hard of hearing, and one of our HearingLossHelp eZine readers has just completed her first novel about a hard of hearing family.

Here’s your chance to read this brand new novel. (She just finished the final chapter on December 24th!) You’ll find the first chapter grabs you, and before you know it, you’ll have read the entire novel in one sitting—all 30 chapters. At least, that’s what happened to me!

To read the pre-publication version, simply email Shanna and ask her for access to her “Lip Reader” blog, because access to this blog is “by invitation only”. She’ll gladly send you the invitation link so you can enjoy it too. Let her know you learned about her novel right here in the HearingLossHelp eZine.

Now, here’s the “official” blurb on “Lip Reader”.

Young Woman Shares Hearing Loss Journey in Book, Blog

OLATHE, KS – Most people don’t expect to deal with hearing loss until their old age, but one person has years of experience and she is in her mid-thirties. Shanna Bartlett Groves has dealt with hearing loss in online support groups, speaking engagements, relationships and now in a new novel.

Groves, a freelance writer, completed the novel “Lip Reader” based on her own experiences with hearing loss. “I wrote ‘Lip Reader’ to tell the story of a family dealing with hearing loss. This is a story that not only tells about their experiences with being hard of hearing in a hearing world, but also some of the reactions that other people have had with their deafness.

“My own hearing journey inspired the two main characters in the story, 12-year-old Sapphie Traylor and her mother Rea. The extended family—the grandparents, uncles, aunt and cousins—were inspired by my father’s family, some of whom still live in the Fort Cobb/Anadarko, Oklahoma, area where I was born.”

She has written about her hearing loss journey in Hearing Loss Journal, The Kansas City Star, MOMSense and the book “A Cup of Comfort For Nurses”.

Read the Full Story here.