by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A concerned mother explained: Our daughter is 8, and has a bilateral vestibular disorder. She has trouble reading and if she reads too much she will get horrible vertigo spells. Even her gait is affected. When she comes home from school on Friday, her stance is wider than normal and she […]
Loud Noise and Hard of Hearing People
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A hard of hearing person asked: Is the noise damage threshold the same for me as it is for a person with normal hearing? Do I just add my decibel loss (by frequency) to the noise damage threshold for normal ears? [approximately 80 to 85 dB] If sustained noise at 90 […]
Are Epidurals Given During Childbirth Ototoxic?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady asked: Have you ever heard of epidurals used during labor and delivery being ototoxic? The reason I ask is because I met a woman whose child was born deaf 6 months ago. She had received 4 different epidurals during her labor and delivery because none of them seemed to […]
Smoking and Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked: While it is common knowledge that smoking is harmful to the lungs, I have been told that smoking may damage hearing as well. Is this true? I could not find a reference to this in your list of ototoxic drugs on your website. The Hearing Loss Help website […]
Will Hearing Aids Work in Cases of Head Injuries?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A young lady wrote: My boyfriend and I were in a motorcycle accident in July. Since then he has had deafness in the left ear. His ENT told him he had a skull fracture and now has permanent hearing loss in the left ear, and that there is no chance of recovery. Would […]
Twinrix Hepatitis Vaccine–Ototoxic?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked: It seems like everyone is getting vaccinated with the Twinrix Hepatitis virus vaccine. Do you know how safe it is? Does it affect hearing? I have no information indicating Twinrix causes hearing loss. However, it can cause dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus and middle ear pain–so you might want to […]