by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. © July, 2019   You may have thought that most hearing loss is caused by hair cells dying. You would have been right if you were just thinking about hearing loss due to exposing your ears to loud noises. At the same time, you’d be mostly wrong if you ignored […]

  by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. © August, 2018   Dementia linked to hearing loss has been in the news quite a bit lately. The media hype has left some hard of hearing people feeling that they’ll end up with dementia simply because they now have a hearing loss—as though hearing loss has to result in […]

  by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. February 18, 2017   A young lady wrote, I have a 30 dB hearing loss in my left ear although I still have 100% word recognition. However, my right ear has an 80 dB hearing loss, but only 8% word recognition. My doctor told me that due to this, my […]

  by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. February 11, 2017   A man wrote, I have sleep apnea and I use a CPAP machine every night. When I searched the Internet using Google to find out whether there is any link between sleep apnea and sensorineural hearing loss, I found many articles suggesting a link. I would […]

  by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. January 12, 2017   Doctors, audiologists and other medical professionals use medical jargon that can snow under the average person. When it comes to our ears and our hearing, they may diagnosis us with terms like paracusis, or dysacusis or hypoacusis and we don’t have a clue what they have […]

  by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. October 29, 2016   A person asked, How do you calculate the difference in sound intensity in decibels between any two sound intensities. For example, how do you calculate the increase in sound intensity between 0 dB and 15 dB or between 52 and 94 dB? There is a mathematical […]

  by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. March 1, 2016 A recent article (1) noted that people can’t use their eyes and ears well at the same time when they are intently concentrating watching one thing while listening to something else. This article began, Do you ever get accused of “not listening” because you’re glancing down at your phone? It […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. © August 2014 (updated January 2015) A concerned mother explained, “My daughter has mild to moderate bilateral hearing loss and wears hearing aids. In her Montessori classroom, they also use an FM system when appropriate. I have visited schools where they now use wireless soundfield systems. They seem great, especially for […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Humans are not the only creatures that use “hearing aids” in order to hear better. You may be surprised to learn that some animals do too. In Costa Rica, the Spix’s disk-winged bats (Thyroptera tricolor), named for suction-cuplike discs on their wings and feet, use leaves to funnel sound in a […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Who would have thought that hearing loss would be tied to sleep apnea? Yet that is exactly what researchers recently discovered. Sleep apnea (AP-nee-ah) is a disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds […]

  by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. ©  May, 2014 A man wrote, I am having to have a MRI scan done this week and when I went to look for ear plugs to wear under the muffs provided by the Imaging Clinic there was a pair that were a reusable gel type that had a protection […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. with Dave Myers, Ph.D. and Marjie Anderson Dave Myers wrote, The inspiring news stories about Seattle Seahawks’ ‘deaf’ player, Derrick Coleman, raises an interesting question. Do those of us who can hear and participate in conversation, albeit only with hearing aids (HAs) or cochlear implants (CIs), similarly regard ourselves as ‘deaf’? […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked, A product called “Reconnect” by IVL [Institute for Vibrant Living] and Dr. Devin Mikles, M.D. has my attention. Can you give me any information about the validity of this product? “RECONNECT” seems to be the latest “hearing support supplement” to hit on the market. You can read their […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady asked, I recently came across an ad for The Hearing Loss Pill. Do you know anything about it? The Hearing Loss Pill is one of several formulations out there that purport to make your ears healthy and restore some lost hearing. In actual fact, most of us have sensorineural […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. © July, 2013 Scientists have been uncovering more and more genetic mutations that result in hearing loss. In fact, genetic mutations are linked to about half of all cases of hearing loss. (1) The latest discovery, reported here, is by Dr. Karen Avraham at Tel Aviv University in Israel. She and […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man explained, Five years ago I suffered sudden sensorineural hearing loss in my right ear. I have a hearing aid and it offers some benefit, but I have trouble understanding conversation in a noisy environment. Prior to the hearing loss event, I enjoyed occasionally scuba diving. While scuba diving can […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. In my article, “Here’s How to Reduce Ear Pain When Flying“, I mentioned the Ear Ease. However, it needs to be filled with hot water. One reader responded, In today’s flight environment, obtaining hot water is not so easy. I have in the past used disposable hand warmers from an outdoor […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady explained, I suffer from hearing loss and a feeling of blocked ears. When going on a plane last week, when the plane took off I went completely deaf and my hearing stayed that way the whole journey. After landing, it has taken over a day to get my hearing […]