by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady wrote: I have a progressive loss rated at “severe” currently. At the rate I’m going, I’ll probably not be helped by hearing aids within 10 years. Many of the ALD’s I have purchased have not really been enough help, I am getting more desperate about means to stay in […]
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Invisible (Completely Implantable) Hearing Aids Are Coming
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Clinical trials for invisible (internal) hearing aids are underway. They are seen as a boon to those people who refuse to get a hearing aid because of the negative social stigma attached to wearing hearing aids. In addition, these hearing aids are also waterproof (unless your head leaks!) and obviously will […]
Room Loops and Spillover
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady explained, Our Senior Center has two rooms looped: the computer room where people learn computer skills, and the “lipreading room” where a lipreading class is held. These rooms are next to each other. Each has a separate loop that was installed a few years ago. My friend that is […]
Hearing “Stereo” with One Ear
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady wrote, I am almost deaf in one ear. I have trouble hearing music via headphones that play different parts in each ear piece—specifically when I am listening to my iPod with the earbud headphones. Is there a product out there for people who can only hear out of one […]
Finding Real Time Captioning (CART) Providers
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Real-time captioning (CART) at meetings and events is a blessing for those of us who can’t hear/understand everything the speaker is saying. Sometimes we just glance up at the screen to catch the odd word we miss. Other times, we rely almost exclusively on the words magically appearing on the screen […]
Tinnitus and Sugar—You Mean There’s A Connection?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. I received this interesting email, I’ve had tinnitus for about two years caused by a combination of noise exposure and an over-zealous nurse giving an ear lavage. It can be a real problem at times, especially when I don’t watch the sugar intake in my diet. The only thing that I’ve […]
Tinnitus from Ear Syringing and Middle Ear Infections—What’s the Score?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. An audiologist wrote, I am a newly qualified Audiologist who frequently sees patients that suffer from tinnitus. Most of the patients I see have had tinnitus for quite some time (more than 6 months). We have a very long waiting list at the hospital at which I work, and sadly patients […]
Sudden Hearing Loss from a Virus—Is It Catching?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Recently a man phoned me and explained, My boss suddenly lost the hearing in one ear due to a virus. My question to you is—is he contagious? In other words, can I lose my hearing from being near him? I’ve answered thousands of questions related to ears, but this is the […]
Can Beta-Blockers Cause Tinnitus?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady wrote, While I was on beta-blockers for inappropriate sinus tachycardia I developed tinnitus. Initially it seemed intermittent, but as I had to increase my dose the ringing became constant. The ENT doctor tells me that he has never heard of beta-blockers causing tinnitus, but upon his evaluation found that […]
Is Augmentin Ototoxic?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. December 21, 2007, Revised January 29, 2015 A lady explained, I have an ear infection, tinnitus, and a history of hearing loss in my family. My MD has prescribed a medication that I can not find any information about, ‘Augmomyn’. He says it is a “type of Amoxicillin”. Do […]