by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady wrote, I was recently chatting with a man about his tinnitus. He has suffered with severe ringing in his ears for over 15 years. About three months ago, he was in the hospital for surgery. They noticed his potassium and magnesium levels were very low and started him on […]
Ear Problems
Latest Tinnitus Research Findings
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. There is a lot of ongoing tinnitus research. Some of the findings are not new, but reinforce what we already knew about tinnitus. For example, a study about the efficacy of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy revealed that success rates strongly correlated to two things. First, the length of the treatment—meaning longer treatment […]
Microtia—Small, Deformed or Absent External Ears
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Some “kids”–I kid you not–are born with small, deformed or absent external ears. The fancy medical name for this is “microtia”. Microtia is composed of two Latin words—micro—small or tiny, and otia—from oto—ear. So literally, microtia is “tiny ears”. If there isn’t even the nub of an external ear present, the […]
Latest Research on Enlarged Vestibular Aqueducts
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Not much was known about enlarged vestibular aqueducts (EVA) when I first wrote about it in 2002. Back then, it was called Large Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome (LVAS). Now it is more-commonly referred to as EVA, but it is the same condition. In the intervening years, researchers have done a number of […]
Visual Triggers That Can Cause Balance Problems in People with Damaged Vestibular Systems
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. If your balance (vestibular) system has largely been destroyed by taking various ototoxic drugs, by viral attacks on your vestibular system, or from conditions such as Meniere’s disease, you typically have to work hard to keep your balance. However, certain movements, “busy” scenes and other situations can, without warning, […]
Low-Level Music and Tinnitus
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked, Does listening to music at low volume levels, but for 5-6 hours or more every day, make tinnitus worse? Is it better to listen via speakers or headphones? Listening to music at low volume levels should not bother your tinnitus (or make it worse). That’s a general rule […]