by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. February 8, 2017 Perhaps you have heard the relatively-new term “hidden hearing loss” (coined in 2009) and wondered, “What in the world is hidden hearing loss?” After all, aren’t all hearing losses hidden? Since you can’t see a hearing loss, of course it’s hidden. So why are researchers finally […]
Have I Permanently Damaged My Ears?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A young lady explained, About a week ago, I went to hear a band I like. It was a small venue, but I was in the back of the crowd. When they paused between sets, I immediately noticed that my hearing felt dull. When I got out my ears were ringing. […]
How Loud Is That Sound?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. You are in a noisy venue and say to yourself, “Wow! It sure is noisy in here. I wonder just how loud it really is?” Few people own sound level meters to measure the volume of sounds around them, but wait—you have a smart phone don’t you? With the right app, […]
Noise Exposure and Time: A New Way of Looking at It
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. It’s no secret that you need to protect your ears from louder sounds if you want to preserve your hearing over your lifetime. However, for the average person, the decibel (dB) scale makes in difficult to understand the actual impact of increasingly loud sounds on their ears. For example, a sound […]
Loud Noise Really Does Damage Your Hearing!
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A young lady explained: I have been noticing for about 12 months now that I am really finding it hard to hear in bars, restaurants and noisy environments. Because of this, I yell when I am talking to those around me because I think the people I’m talking to can’t hear […]
Ten Questions Teens Ask About Hearing and Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A high school teen wrote: Thank you for taking the time to answer 10 questions which I hope will enrich my knowledge on the subject of hearing loss in teenagers. I would love to learn some new information to not only better my understanding on the topic, but to better the […]
Students Heed Hard of Hearing Teacher’s Warning on Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. with Bob Eldridge Bob Eldridge has been a teacher for many years. He is also hard of hearing. Here is how he warns his students about protecting their ears from hearing loss. As a hearing impaired teacher I make it my business, when I introduce myself to new students, to talk […]
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss and Our Children
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. If you had to guess, what percentage of children between the ages of 6 and 19 years of age would you think have noise-induced hearing loss? (Note: this is not hearing loss from causes such as middle ear infections, heredity, etc., but just noise-induced hearing loss.) According to the Centers for […]
Did My Stint in the Navy Cause My Hearing Loss?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A veteran asked: I have a hearing loss now. In my earlier years after finishing High School I joined the Navy. I spent most of my 4 years in the Navy in an engine room aboard a ship. After the Navy, I spent most of my working life in situations that […]
Loud Music Can Blow Out Your Lungs. Imagine What It Can Do to Your Ears!
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Did you know that loud music can blow out your lungs? It’s true. I recently came across a scary news item entitled “Loud music lung collapse warning” (1). It explains the cases of 4 young men that literally blew their lungs apart from being too close to big loudspeakers when they […]
Will Extreme Sensitivity to Sound Ever Go Away?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man wrote: I have extreme sensitivity in my hearing and some distortion as well. My ears buzz slightly to my own voice and others that have a deep tone in their voice. I believe this was sound-induced from my iPod and loud video gaming with head phones. My hearing is […]
Vitamins A, C & E Combined with Magnesium Help Prevent Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. According to an animal study at the University of Michigan, “a combination of high doses of vitamins A, C and E and magnesium, taken one hour before noise exposure and continued as a once-daily treatment for five days, was very effective at preventing permanent noise-induced hearing loss.” (1) Here’s why researchers […]
Noisy Kindergartens Are Damaging Hearing
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A recent report out of Norway (September 11, 2008) revealed a shocking statistic. “One in six children are affected by kindergarten noise.” One in four employees suffer permanent hearing loss for the same reason (1). Figures published by the pre-school teacher’s union and work safety authorities indicate that stress, headaches, tinnitus, […]
Distorted Hearing After Listening to an iPod
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady wrote: I have an iPod. Music on the iPod sounds very good to me. The other day I downloaded many tunes from the iTune Store and was excited about being able to listen to all the oldies from the 50’s. I did a lot of listening with ear buds […]
Will My Tinnitus Ever Go Away?
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A man wrote: I do not expose myself to high noise levels either in my occupation or leisure. I do not listen to iPods etc. However, 5 days ago after a night out, when leaving a bar with loud music, my hearing felt dull. While my hearing appears normal, I now […]
Hearing Loss Increasing in Mexico (and here too!)
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Hearing loss among younger people is reaching alarming proportions. Here are some excerpts of a recent report out of Mexico showing the conditions there—and we here in the USA are probably not all that much different—at least in regards to excessive noise. The report begins: The excessive noise found in the […]
Learning about “Dangerous Decibels” the Fun Way
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Loud sounds damage our ears. But how loud is too loud? Which devices produce sounds that are too loud? What can we do to protect our ears from loud sounds? Excellent questions. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Oregon Health & Science University have put together a […]
Attending Hockey Games Can Harm Your Hearing
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Loud sounds damage your ears. That is no secret. Furthermore, the longer you expose your ears to loud sounds, the greater the chances of damage. That is just plain common sense. What has this got to do with hockey? Canadians (and Americans too) love their hockey games. Unfortunately, the sound levels […]
Smoking and Noise Team Up to Destroy Your Hearing
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. In December of 2006 I wrote about smoking and hearing loss and pointed out that smoking in the presence of loud noise makes your ears even more susceptible to hearing loss than either smoking or loud noise alone. Now, researchers have published the results of a study on workers in one […]
Hearing Loss and Air Bags
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Air bags save lives—and for that we are definitely thankful. They also destroy hearing—and that is not so nice. Here is Lisa’s story. Last week I was involved in what should have been a minor car accident. I wasn’t paying attention and “gently” hit the car in front of me stopped […]
