by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Most people know that if you have diabetes, you run the risk of microvascular complications that can affect the retina of your eyes and your peripheral nerves, especially in your feet. Diabetes can also damage your hearing. That is not new. What is new is just how many people with diabetes […]
Seven Myths Hearing People Harbor Concerning Hard of Hearing People
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Hearing loss is typically misunderstood by the general population. Thus, it is not surprising that many hearing people have bought into the following 7 myths regarding hearing loss and the people with these losses. Myth No. 1. Hard of hearing people are less intelligent than “hearing” people. Thus, they attach this […]
Sound Therapy: Is It For Real?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man wrote: I was browsing on a website and want to know whether what it said about sound therapy is true. The website said that: ‘The Sound Therapy Program is a rehabilitation of the inner ear muscles, thanks to high frequencies. It can help in all ear disorders as: · […]
Lip Reader ~ A Novel About One Family’s Hearing Loss Journey
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Shanna Groves, herself hard of hearing, and one of our HearingLossHelp eZine readers has just completed her first novel about a hard of hearing family. Here’s your chance to read this brand new novel. (She just finished the final chapter on December 24th!) You’ll find the first chapter grabs you, and […]
Aldosterone Revisited
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. In the March, 2008 issue, I reported on an interesting treatment for hearing loss. There has been a fair bit of interest in this treatment as evidenced by the various comments on the HearingLossHelp blog. You can read the original article and comments here. In part, here is Rick Walter’s comment […]
Where Do the Dead Hair Cells Go?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked: When the microscopic hair cells are damaged and break off in the cochlea, what happens to them? Are they harmlessly absorbed, or do they float around and impair the action of the remaining hair cells? Great question. Most people have the misconception that the tiny hairs “break off” […]
“Kiss of Deaf” or “Reiter’s Ear Kiss Syndrome” (REKS)
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Kissing causes hearing loss? You’ve got to be kidding! Actually, it’s true. Not all kissing, mind you, but kissing someone on their ear can be dangerous to their hearing health. Here’s the incident that brought this fact to light. A mother and her 4-year-old daughter were sitting on the floor watching […]
Hearing Loss Much More Common Than Previously Thought
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A recent study revealed that the incidence of hearing loss in the USA has been grossly under-reported. Four or Five years ago when everyone was quoting 28 million hard of hearing people in the USA, I proclaimed that the true incidence of hearing loss was about double that (56 million). As […]
Adjusting Hearing Aids for Reverse Slope Losses
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady asked, My son is 5 years old and will be entering Kindergarten in the fall. We are currently trying to fit him with new hearing aids. His left ear has reverse slope loss. 65db @ 250 60db @ 500, 45 @ 1000, 25 @ 2000-8000. His current ear mold […]
Hearing Loss and Personal Space
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A hard of hearing lady wrote: I have always been a person that has to have my “space” and feel personally violated if people stand too close (any closer than arm’s distance). I will literally get very uncomfortable, start sweating, panicky, if it is not a situation that I can remedy […]
Tinny Sounds, iPods and Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man wrote: I’m curious about some increased ringing in my ears and a peculiar off again, on again, sensation that is quite distressing, namely when I am at work, if I open a map for instance (I work with maps all day), just the process of opening the maps, can […]
How Can I Improve My Poor Discrimination?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man asked: Is anything that can be done about poor discrimination (word recognition) besides learning techniques for coping with it? I have worn hearing aids for many years but have never received a plain answer to that question. There’s really not all that much that can be done for poor […]
Hearing Loss isn’t the Only Problem—Discrimination is Important Too
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady wrote: My mother has been losing her hearing for quite some time now. We have to speak very loud in order for her to hear us. She has tried various hearing aids and sound magnifiers (for church), but she is very frustrated because they don’t quite do the job. […]
Cure for Single Sided Deafness?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A mother wrote: I read your article on the Internet concerning sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL). My daughter lost her hearing in her right ear when she was 12 years old. We believe it was due to a virus. The Doctor told us at the time, that she could have an […]
Hearing Loss (Needlessly) Adversely Affects Marriages
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Hearing loss in a spouse adversely affects marriages. This should be no surprise. In fact, according to a recent survey of baby boomers with hard of hearing spouses, 48% “of the respondents feel that their marriage has suffered because of their spouse’s hearing loss.” (1) This does not have to be. […]
Hypothyroidism and Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man wrote: I recently was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid). I have also been noticing an increased hearing loss. My doctor tells me that there is a connection between hypothyroidism and hearing loss, but I haven’t had other symptoms associated with the problem such as fatigue, lethargy and weight […]
Alcohol and Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Did you ever wonder why as people become more and more inebriated, they talk louder and louder? You probably thought they were just losing their inhibitions—and rightly so—but that is not the whole story. The surprising truth is that the more intoxicated people become, the worse their hearing gets. That is […]
Aldosterone—A New Treatment for Hearing Loss and Meniere’s Disease?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. I get some very interesting email at times. A man wrote: I’m under the care of Dr. Jonathan Wright of the Tahoma Clinic in Renton WA. He’s been working with Professor Dennis Trune (U of OR Hearing Sciences Center) on an aldosterone therapy trial on a human patient. His previous research […]
Why Do People Still Have Problems Understanding Speech When Wearing Hearing Aids?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man wrote: My question is about hearing aid effectiveness. I notice that some people talk about having hearing aids but still having problems hearing. At the price that hearing aids go for, while I don’t expect to have Superman’s hearing, I thought I would be getting rid of the […]
Folic Acid May Prevent Age-Related Hearing Loss—Let’s Get Real!
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Supplements of folic acid may prevent age-related hearing loss in older men and women, says a new double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial from the Netherlands. (as reported in Health Truth Revealed, January 3, 2007.) Sounds wonderful and pretty authoritative, doesn’t it? Now we will be able to prevent hearing loss as we […]
