Hearing Loss Help  

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

Hard of hearing people are impatient for hair cell research to bring forth positive results so they can have their hearing restored to normal or near normal. That is their desire, but this reality is still far in the future.

In spite of all the advances that have been made in recent years, hair cell regeneration in humans is still at least 20 years away according to Dr. Douglas A. Cotanche, an Associate Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, and Anatomy & Neurobiology, at the Boston University School of Medicine in MA.

Dr. Cotanche explains, “We are still in the very early stages of developing techniques for inducing hair cell regeneration in damaged mouse and guinea pig ears. To date, we have not yet perfected a technique that leads to full, or even partial functional recovery in a damaged cochlea. We need to accomplish this before we can think of trying therapies in humans. I would project that a potential therapy will not be available for at least 20 years.”

Before human trials can begin, according to Dr. Cotanche, “We would need to be able to show that the therapy did not somehow cause a reduction in the surviving hair cell population and lead to further hearing loss.”

You see, some unexpected negative results have shown up in the animal research undertaken so far. As Dr. Cotanche explains, “We know that mammal cochlear hair cells will not regenerate on their own when the native hair cells are lost. But experimental models have shown that we can induce some levels of regeneration by stimulating genes that cause cells to divide. So we do see an initial burst of hair cell regeneration, but then the ear somehow senses that these new hair cells are not normal—that this should not happen—and eliminates these cells.”

Dr. Cotanche continues, “Now we need to find a way to keep these newly regenerated hair cells in the mammal ear from dying off, and determining if they can regain function.”

As a result, hair cell regeneration in humans is not just “around the corner”. At present we need to use the hearing aids and cochlear implants that are available to us, and not wait for the possibility of hair cell regeneration to give us better hearing.

Although hair cell regeneration is still a long way in the future, Dr. Cotanche confidently asserts, “We’re getting there slow but sure!”

To read the full November 9, 2009 chat transcript with Dr. Cotanche, point your browser to the Hearing Loss Association of America web page.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady asked:

Can HCTZ cause the constant roar I now hear in my ears?

Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) is about the least ototoxic of all the diuretics. It is listed as sometimes causing dizziness or vertigo, but is not listed (as far as I have ever seen) as causing tinnitus.

However, one lady told me that whenever she takes HCTZ, her tinnitus gets louder. Thus, it could be the cause your constant roar (tinnitus) too.

Think back to when you started taking HCTZ. If you didn’t have the loud roar before you began this drug, and your tinnitus started soon after (in the following 14 days or so), then this is strong circumstantial evidence that Hydrochlorothiazide is indeed causing your tinnitus.

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.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man wrote:

I have mild to moderate hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus and some hyperacusis. There’s no rhyme or reason to the hyperacusis. Some days it’s stable and other days it gets worse. Likewise with my hearing loss—it fluctuates—sometimes in the morning I feel I can hear fine and after a busy day at work or home life, I feel cotton got into my ears and my hearing is worse at night as well as the tinnitus—like I used my ears to much during the day. That type of feeling.

My problem is what can I do about telephone use. It seems that whenever I talk on the phone my tinnitus gets worse after I hang up. I started using my cell phone with the speaker, so my ear is not against the phone itself. But it still increases the level of my tinnitus after the phone call.

This is baffling me because I really enjoy speaking with people, but now I cut my calls short for fear of the intensity of the tinnitus later on. I wish there was some solution for phone use. I think that my response is hyperacusis after using the phone.

Is there any solution to this, or do I just suffer with it? I am trying to protect my hearing. I have nerve damage and this close noise bothers it. Recovery usually takes a few hours back to the same level.

You are not alone in this. My tinnitus gets worse from using the phone too. I wonder if your problem is the same as mine.

Incidentally, I think you have recruitment rather than hyperacusis.

For me, the louder parts (spikes) of each syllable are too loud and cause my recruitment to kick in, which aggravates my tinnitus. However, if I turn down the volume so these spikes do not recruit (and aggravate my tinnitus), then I can’t hear the softer parts of the syllables and thus don’t understand what the person on the other end is saying. It’s sort of a Catch-22 situation.

That is part of the problem. In addition, I need enormous amplification in order to hear the other person (I have an 80 dB loss right where our voices are pitched). Since the phone’s side tone amplifies my own voice even more than the other person’s voice, my voice in the handset is then much too loud for me. However, if I turn down the volume, then I can’t hear the other person, and if I speak softer, the other person can’t hear me. The result is that after talking on the phone for a while (and I often am on the phone for an hour or more at a time), my tinnitus is louder for 10 or 15 minutes after I hang up.

The obvious solution to this problem is to wear hearing aids that have their compression set such that no louder sounds can reach your recruitment threshold. Then, since no sounds will recruit, it won’t aggravate your tinnitus. (At least, that’s my theory.) The compression not only keeps the lid on the louder sounds, but at the same time, it increases the volume of the softer parts of speech so you can hear and understand the other person.

Since I don’t like wearing my hearing aids for phone use (never have, but that’s me), part of my solution was to get a binaural headset so both ears can hear at once. The advantage of hearing with both ears at the same time is that you can cut the volume in half and still understand the other person as well as before with one ear and twice the volume. By cutting down the volume, my own voice isn’t as loud and thus much easier on my ears (which is a blessing). It’s not the perfect answer, but is much, much better than before.

You can get this binaural advantage by wearing two hearing aids in t-coil mode and plug a neckloop (amplified or bluetooth) or T-links into your cell or landline phone. Then you can turn the volume down and yet still hear clearly since both ears are working together now. If you have the Oticon Epoq or Phonak Exelia (or equivalent) hearing aids with their remotes, you can use bluetooth phones and the sound will be piped into both your hearing aids automatically.

In summary, wearing two hearing aids with sufficient compression to control your recruitment would be the best solution to prevent your recruitment from kicking in and aggravating your tinnitus while on the phone (or anywhere else for that matter). Second best is to do what I do and wear a binaural headset. The wonderful binaural headset I use (for landline phones only) is found here.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady explained:

I am a Social Service Director at a healthcare facility. I work with elderly people and continually run into the problem of resident’s losing their hearing aids. I was curious as to whether there are any devices or adaptations that are being sold to secure hearing aids to clothes or glasses.

You bet. Mostly, they are used to keep small children from taking out and losing their hearing aids, but they work well for adults too.

One such commercial product is Ear Gear.

Another commercial product is Safe-N-Sound.

There are also “Huggie Aids”, “Critter Clips” and “Kids Clips”.

This Listen Up website page has a bunch more useful ideas you might want to consider. Just scroll down to the section starting with the “green dot”.

Now you have a number of solutions to try. See which works the best for any given person.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A firefighter wrote:

I am a 42 year old man. I was driving today at 10:00 AM and all of a sudden I felt like I was in a plane changing altitudes. I waited for my ears to pop like they usually do, but they didn’t, and I realized quickly that I had a dramatic loss of hearing in my right ear. I tried to find a physician, but to no avail. At about 2:00 PM I went to an audiologist and she confirmed my fears that I had a dramatic sudden hearing loss in my right ear. I finally got to an ENT and she said that I should start on steroids right away. I am a firefighter and within the past week got the N1H1 (swine flu) vaccine. Could this be a possible cause?

That was quite the unexpected experience, wasn’t it? They don’t call it sudden hearing loss for no reason!

If your hearing loss is thought to be caused by a virus, some doctors prescribe an antiviral drug such as Methotrexate (Rheumatrex) or Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) along with the steroid Prednisone. Sometimes these drugs work and sometimes they don’t, but you might think it worth a try.

No one seems to mention it, but sudden hearing loss can and does occur in some people from taking viral vaccines. I have received two such reports in the past few years. One boy lost significant hearing after getting a flu shot, while a girl’s hearing suddenly dropped 30 dB one week to the day after receiving her flu shot.

To be sure, these were not swine flu shots, but it seems that flu viruses can get into the inner ear and cause sudden hearing loss. I don’t see why the swine flu should be any different.

I wouldn’t be surprised if, in your case, the swine flu virus was the culprit, unless you have had a cold, other virus or flu in the past week or so.

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.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A man explained:

I am the father of a seven year old hard of hearing (moderate and profound) child. Recently he was diagnosed with enlarged adenoids and an Adenoidectomy was advised by the ENT. The Dr told me it would improve his hearing. My question is, in what way do adenoids affect hearing, and how will an Adenoidectomy help to improve his hearing?

Good question. The adenoids are a part of the body’s immune system in children. Therefore, it is generally not a good idea to take them out like they once did back in the 1950s because the child is then left with a somewhat weakened immune system. Incidentally, the adenoids naturally “disappear” as a child grows into a teen.

At times, the adenoids become enlarged from doing their jobs and “grabbing” any viruses that try to enter the child’s body via his nose. This is not a bad thing—they are just doing their jobs and should be left alone in my opinion.

However, sometimes the adenoids become so big that they interfere with a child’s breathing, or block the Eustachian tubes from draining properly. If this happens, doctors typically recommend taking them out. This procedure is called an Adenoidectomy. (Personally, I think you should strengthen the child’s immune system so they shrink back to their normal size.)

When the adenoids become sufficiently enlarged, they can prevent the Eustachian tubes from working properly. The result is that fluid cannot drain from the middle ears. When that happens, the child often has chronic middle ear infections. These infections fill the middle ear up with a thick mucus-like fluid. Temporary hearing loss occurs because the 3 tiny bones in the middle ear can’t vibrate freely in this “gunk”. When the fluid eventually drains away and is replaced by air, the bones again vibrate freely and hearing returns.

When doctors remove the adenoids, they no longer block the Eustachian tubes so fluid can drain from the middle ears, thus hopefully not causing bouts of temporary hearing loss.

Doctors also typically take the adenoids out if a child has too many ear infections each year. However, removing the adenoids does nothing to reduce the number of ear infections a child has. That is why I believe you should strengthen the child’s immune system in the first place, rather than removing the adenoids. The adenoids are really part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Now that you know what is going on, you can make an informed decision together with your doctor.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

Many hard of hearing people lack successful role models and mentors, so they buy into the hearing world’s belief that hard of hearing people can’t do many jobs, and are thus relegated to low paying menial jobs.

The truth is, hard of hearing people can do many, many jobs with proper accommodation. In actual fact, the sky’s the limit for hard of hearing people, just like it is for hearing people. What you can do depends more on your talents, skills, training, education, drive, ability to get along with people, etc. far more than it does on your level of hearing.

For example, there are hard of hearing doctors, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, lawyers, accountants, machinists, race car drivers, baseball players, businessmen, scientists, technicians and audiologists.

Therefore, don’t let the hearing world try to tell you that you can’t do any of these things. You need to follow your dream and do what you have set your heart on. That’s what I have done in my life. You can do it too.

Karen Putz (who now has a profound hearing loss) has put up a website of successful role models for deaf and hard of hearing people of all ages. The various stories highlight different successful hard of hearing and deaf people in the workforce. As you read them, you will be encouraged that since they have succeeded in the working world, you can follow your dreams too! You can read these inspiring stories here.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

As prescription drugs proliferate, so do their weird and seemingly unpronounceable names. New drug brand names are bad enough, but some of the newer generic drug names are real enigmas to pronounce.

For example, how do you pronounce drug names such as “Abciximab” or “Ixabepilone” or “Pioglitazone” or “Zafirlukast”? Is “Abciximab” pronounced as “aye-bee-cee-icks-mab” or what?

If you have a hearing loss, your chances of correctly hearing these names being pronounced by anyone is almost nil. That’s the bad news.

Now for the good news. You don’t have to try to come up with your own pronunciations and embarrass yourself in the process.

For your convenience (mine too), I have put up a web page that shows the proper pronunciations of more than 700 generic prescription drug names.

You can access it on the Center for Hearing Loss Help’s website, then click on the third link down the left side: “Generic Drug Pronunciation Guide”.

In case you are interested, you pronounce “Abciximab” as “ab-SIX-ih-mab”. “Ixabepilone” is pronounced “ex-ah-BEH-pill-own”. “Pioglitazone” comes out as “pie-oh-GLIT-ah-zohn” and “Zafirlukast” as “zah-FLUR-luh-kast”.

This pronunciation guide is largely based on pronunciations given in the 2010 Nursing Drug Handbook.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

Audiologist Erin Newman, Au.D., is on the ball and goes the second mile to help her patients. She wrote,

A couple of years ago, while searching the Internet for articles I needed for an Au.D. course, I came across your wonderful article entitled: “Becoming Friends with Your New Hearing Aids.” I photocopied it, and have given it to all my new hearing aid users ever since.

“Becoming Friends with Your New Hearing Aids” has made a huge difference in hearing aid users understanding and acceptance of their hearing aids’ idiosyncrasies. Even though I always verbally explained these, having it written down in a concise, humorous, informative manner by a third party really brought it home for people.

One of my patients had purchased hearing aids a year before at the local hospital, only to return them for a refund in less than a week. I gave her your article to read after her hearing aid evaluation. When she returned two weeks later for the actual fitting, she said, “Wow, why didn’t anyone ever explain this to me before? I would have probably given those other hearing aids more time!”

If you are a first time hearing aid wearer, or are considering getting a hearing aid, you need to read this article. It will help you successfully adjust to wearing your new hearing aids as the above story attests.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network (DHHCAN) has just released their new Consumer Action Guide on Air Travel.

This guide is based upon the recent update of the Air Carrier Access Act regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation in May 2009, during one of the most comprehensive overhauls since the Act was enacted in 1990.

The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) sets out requirements for disability access at airports and on airlines. These ACAA rules give protection from discrimination by:

• Prohibiting U.S. and foreign airlines from discriminating against passengers on the basis of disability
• Requiring airlines to make aircraft, other facilities, and services accessible
• Requiring airlines to take steps to accommodate passengers with a disability

“Today’s travelers need information from the minute they arrive at the departing airport until they leave the destination airport. It is crucial that they have prompt access to information once they self-identify that they are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind,” says Barbara Raimondo, author of the DHHCAN Air Travel Action Guide 2009 and a mother of two deaf children.

The DHHCAN Action Guide on Air Travel is available online both as a summary and as a full document. This 7 page report is easy to read. The first page is a summary of the full text on pages 2 to 7.

One of the nice things about this Act is that it applies not only to all US airlines, but to any airlines flying to or from US soil.

Source: TDI News Release November 13, 2009