Hearing Loss Help  

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. with Bob Eldridge

Bob Eldridge has been a teacher for many years. He is also hard of hearing. Here is how he warns his students about protecting their ears from hearing loss.

As a hearing impaired teacher I make it my business, when I introduce myself to new students, to talk about hearing loss.

I ask them if they like to listen to their I-pods with the volume turned up loud. I share with my students that as a kid I liked to listen to music loud. As a teen I got one of the first transistor radios with headphones. I outfitted my cars with pumped up sound systems. When I played with a live band, I did not protect my ears from microphone feedback and loud noises.

Then I tell them that about 5 years ago, I started not being able to understand what my students were saying. I tell them about going to the doctor and being sent to a practitioner who fitted me for hearing aids. I take out my hearing aids and show them. I tell them that hearing aids help but are not replacements for natural hearing.

Usually there is a ventilator fan running in the classroom and I ask them to notice the fan noise. They do and are amazed that their brains tend to block out that noise. I tell them with hearing aids, my brain can no longer block out the fan noise. (I do have a setting to reduce it.) Then I ask them, “Do you think I told you all of this so that I could show off my hearing aids?”

“No, Mr. E”, comes the reply ‘You don’t want us to make the same mistakes you did.’ And they are absolutely right.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A chaplain to seniors asked:

Do you know where I can get a doorbell type device that can activate a vibrator worn by a fairly deaf senior?

There are a good number of alerting systems available that flash lights and shake beds, but to my knowledge, there are only three systems that have wearable vibrating receivers. Of the three, I can only recommend two, as I found the third very unreliable when I purchased it.

Both of the two I can recommend are made by Silent Call. The legacy system uses a vibrating pager you typically wear on your belt. When the doorbell (or any of the other alerting devices that are available) goes off, it vibrates and a light comes on to let you know which device is trying to alert you.

The newer system uses a vibrating wristwatch instead of a pager. I am wearing this vibrating wristwatch as I type this. I love it! Besides vibrating, it shows an icon on the watch face. For example, when the doorbell goes off, it shows a “door” icon at the same time.

Both of these systems are flexible. Besides alerting you to the doorbell, they can alert you to the phone, your alarm clock, to smoke detectors, CO detectors, sound monitors, fire alarms, window and door burglar alarms, weather radios, etc.

When you are in bed you can put them in their charger/docking stations and with bed vibrators plugged into the docking units, they will alert you while you are asleep too.

You can start with a basic system and add to it whenever you want. For example, you can start with just one transmitter (e.g. doorbell) and one receiver (e.g. pager or watch depending on the system) and if you want to, add more transmitter modules as you find the need for them. I use the doorbell, telephone, smoke detector, fire alarm, CO detector, and sound monitor modules at present, although I also have the weather radio module as well.

You can learn about (and purchase) the newer Signature Series modules (wristwatch series) here, and the older legacy series (pager series) here.

Besides the body-worn receivers, both series also have bed table (and other) receivers that flash lights and have bed vibrators. I use them too. I love how flexible these systems are. I have tailored them to fit my exact needs. I’m sure you will find they will do the same for you.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

If all of a sudden you feel dizzy and your balance is off, has something just happened to the balance parts of your inner ears, or have you just had an ischemic stroke in your brain? Your doctor needs to determine what has happened right away.

Up to now, doctors typically ordered MRIs to look for a blood clot in your brain which would indicate a stroke. Unfortunately MRIs are both expensive and do not always find tiny blood clots, especially at the outset.

Now researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Illinois have discovered a fast, accurate, low-tech way to determine which is which. Your doctor can tell in under a minute whether you’ve just had a stroke or not. Here’s how he can do it.

Your doctor gives you a three-part eye test called H.I.N.T.S. (In case you’re interested, H. I. stands for “head impulse”, N.T. for “nystagmus test” and S. for “skew”.)

First, is the Head Impulse Test. Here your doctor rotates your head while you keep your eyes focused on his nose. If you have had a stroke you cannot do this. However, if you have an inner ear balance problem, you can keep focused on his nose.

Second, is the Nystagmus Test. You follow your doctor’s finger as he moves it. If you have a balance problem, your eyes will jerk in only one direction. However, if you have had a stroke, your eyes will most likely jerk in both directions.

Third, is the Skew Test. Here your doctor looks at your eyes to see if one eye appears higher than the other. If one eye is higher than the other, you have had a stroke. If they are the same level, then it could be inner ear balance problems.

According to David E. Newman-Toker, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and coauthor of this study. “These three eye tests tell, with 96% certainty, whether or not the patient has had a stroke.”

According to Bottom Line’s Daily Health News, December 14, 2009, “Dr. Newman-Toker advises seeking attention for any dizziness that comes on unexpectedly and has no obvious explanation, particularly if it lasts more than a few seconds. In situations where you still feel dizzy when you arrive at the ER, request the eye tests, he says, but be aware that not every doctor has the training and experience to perform them.”

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A short article in the November, 2009 issue of the AARP Bulletin recommends that you do what most people don’t do—and that is, haggle over the price of your next hearing aids.

The worst that can happen is that they say no, but if they want your business, they may sweeten the deal, and you’ll save some of your precious dollars as a result.

Apparently, only about 15% of shoppers in general ever ask for a discount, but the good news is that of those that do ask, close to half get a better price, according to this article. You may find that a bit of haggling gets you a better price on your next pair of hearing aids too. It’s certainly worth a try.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A mother explained:

My son has had a few bouts of tinnitus followed by a hearing drop in one ear. This always seems to be as a result of, or following, strenuous exercise. So far the ear has always recovered to its old level. I reported the last episode to my doctor who has now raised the question that it could be “labyrinthine hydrops.” The drugs that he recommended we consider are Betahistine or Cinnarizine, but the side effects seem severe. Up until now, these episodes only occur when my son has congestion, and this has thrown even more questions into the pot! I’d appreciate your advice.

Strenuous exercise can raise the internal pressure in the head, just like a blow to the head can. If your son has large vestibular aqueduct syndrome (LVAS), this can cause hearing loss. This is nothing new. Actually, it doesn’t even have to be exercise—any form of extreme straining can cause this in people with LVAS if they are susceptible. Fortunately, not all people with LVAS are susceptible to this.

It’s great that his hearing comes back after each episode. Of course, there are no guarantees that his hearing will always return, but it seems you can go by your son’s previous history—which is, it is a temporary hearing loss.

It could be labyrinthine hydrops or anything else, but if your son has LVAS, that would be the most likely cause. Maybe your doctor considers LVAS to be a form of labyrinthine hydrops?

Personally, I’d not take either Betahistine or Cinnarizine if I were in his shoes. To me, the solution is much simpler—just don’t strain so much when exercising. He should be able to find the level below which this doesn’t happen, and then limit himself to that much straining effort.

Incidentally, labyrinthine hydrops is an inner ear condition, whereas congestion is a middle ear condition.

If his hearing loss only occurs when he is congested, then it could be that the strenuous exercise is causing “gunk” (to use a fancy medical term), to clog up his Eustachian tubes and middle ears causing some degree of conductive hearing loss. When the gunk drains out, his hearing returns to normal. If this is the case, it has nothing whatsoever to do with LVAS.

One way to determine which is which is to go to an audiologist and have an audiogram done as soon as he loses some hearing from straining. If the audiogram shows only a sensorineural hearing loss, then it is LVAS (or another inner ear condition). If it shows a conductive loss, it is likely gunk in the middle ear or Eustachian tube. If he already has a sensorineural hearing loss from LVAS, and it is gunk in his middle ear, the audiogram should show an air-bone gap indicating the conductive component. Once you know what the audiogram shows, then you’ll better know how to proceed.

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. with Dana Mulvany

A lady explained:

My cell phone contract is nearing its end, and I am looking at other carriers—trying to find a better phone for me. I’ve had several cell phones over the years, but have never had one that I was comfortable with except when making calls myself. Which is the best cell phone for hard of hearing people?

My friend, Dana Mulvany, herself hard of hearing, and like me, an expert in hearing assistive technology including phones explains:

There are actually quite a few issues you may want to consider when purchasing a cell phone. Some of these include:

• The audio quality of voice transmissions. It is important to assess how well your voice comes across on the phone in addition to how well you can hear on the phone. Unfortunately, some phones do a poor job transmitting all the frequencies people need in order to hear speech as well as possible. This is particularly important if the person you are talking with is also hard of hearing.
• The volume of the phone. Is the maximum volume enough so that you can hear people well?
• The M and T rating. Ideally, you want a phone that is rated M4/T4. This gives your hearing aids the greatest immunity from interference from the phone in both voice and t-coil modes.
• The availability of a 2.5 mm jack (for accessories such as a neckloop or T-links).
• Whether you are effectively alerted to the phone ringing. Is the ring tone audible to you. Is the vibration strong enough?
• Whether you can be alerted effectively to call waiting, text messages, etc.
• Whether or not Web CapTel will work on the phone
• Whether the phone will support Mobile CapTel (both voice and Web CapTel at the same time).
• Compatibility of the phone’s Bluetooth feature with hearing aid compatible accessories such as bluetooth neckloops.
• Access to text messaging.
• Ease of use of texting.
• Access to email.
• Access to web sites.
• The cost of voice and data plans.
• Video capabilities (in the future) for people who use sign language or lip reading.
• The availability of mobile TV with captioning (in the future).

No phones come with all the above features. You need to decide which features are important to you and get the phone that best meets your needs..

Is there one perfect phone for us? I’m afraid not at this time!

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A lady wrote:

I came across your extremely informative articles on the Internet, and I wanted to ask you a question. I was recently prescribed Aleve 220 mg and Soma 250 mg for a neck injury. I was instructed to take the two pills together in the evening for 7 days. I took the pills together (1 Aleve and 1 Soma) for 2 evenings, and then stopped because my ear was ringing very loudly, and I feel a significant loss in my hearing on my left side.

I always have tinnitus in my left ear due to damaging my ear in college from listening to a Walkman radio. However, since I took these medications the ringing is much louder, and I feel that I cannot hear as well.

It has been one week since I stopped the medicines, and the increased tinnitus and hearing loss has persisted. Is this permanent damage to my hearing? I am really worried, and regret having taken these medicines in the first place.

The good news is that Carisprodol (Soma) is not known to cause tinnitus or hearing loss. So Soma is off the hook.

The bad news is that Naproxen (Aleve) is known to cause both hearing loss and tinnitus (and a bunch of other ototoxic side effects as well). In fact the “official” figures (which I think are much too low) indicate that Naproxen causes hearing disorders in up to 3% of the people taking it, and tinnitus in up to 9% of the people taking it. It looks like you are one of the “fortunate few”.

It’s hard to know whether the damage will be temporary or permanent. In one study 40% recovered their hearing and 60% had permanent hearing loss after taking Naproxen. Tinnitus results are mixed too. In some people it is permanent, and in others it goes away after some hours or days.

As a very rough rule of thumb, the level of hearing you have a month after stopping the Naproxen will likely be your new “normal” hearing level.

If you remain emotionally neutral to your tinnitus, and ignore it by focusing on other things, hopefully it will fade into the background as you habituate to it.

I hear from numbers of people who say much as you have said, “I am really worried and regret having taken these medicines in the first place.”

The problem with any drug side effects is that you never know whether they will hit you or not, so you don’t know which drugs you need to avoid. For myself, I don’t take any drugs—not even an Aspirin. I use herbals and alternate medicine instead. That way, I never have to worry about ototoxic (or any other) side effects of drugs.

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.