What Is It and How Is It Treated

August 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Vertigo – a perception of movement in which the individual or the individual’s surroundings seem to spin and move – is, generally an unpleasant event. The feelings of vertigo occasionally include dizziness, spinning or falling. Any time vertigo impacts balance, it can lead to falls and accidental injuries – especially in older adults. More serious cases may also trigger nausea, vomiting, migraine headaches, fainting and visual irregularities called nystagmus.

There can be many causes for vertigo, but one kind of it – benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV – relates to hearing. BPPV occurs from calcium crystals that form naturally known as otoliths or otoconia, which in most people cause no problems. In benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, the crystals travel from their normal locations into the semicircular canals of the inner ear. When this occurs, and the individual with BPPV changes the orientation of their head relative to gravity, these crystals move around, resulting in an abnormal displacement of endolymph fluid, which leads to vertigo.

Everyday actions such as tilting your head, looking up and down or rolling over in bed can bring about the benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. The vertigo sensation comes on very suddenly and has a short duration. These symptoms can be made worse by lack of sleep, anxiety, or changes in barometric pressure, such as occur before rain or snow. The condition can manifest itself at any age, but it most commonly appears in people over age 60. The initial trigger for the benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is typically difficult to determine. A sudden blow to the head (for example in an automobile accident) is among the more well-known causes.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is different from other forms of dizziness or vertigo because the episodes are transient (typically under a minute), and because it is always triggered by head movements. Vertigo specialists may diagnose it by having the patient rest on their back and then tilt their head to one side or over the edge of the examination table. Additional tests which can be used to diagnose benign paroxysmal positional vertigo include videonystagmography or electronystagmography, which test for abnormal eye movement, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), whose primary role is to eliminate other potential causes, such as brain abnormalities or tumors.

There is no full cure for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, but it can be effectively treated using canalith repositioning (either the Semont maneuver or the Epley maneuver), both of which use bodily movements to shift the crystals to a position in which they no longer cause trouble.Surgical treatment is an option in the exceptional cases in which these treatments are ineffective. See your health care provider if you have felt symptoms which sound as if they could be related to BPPV, especially if they persist for more than a week.

Filed Under: Common Conditions of the Ear Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Curious about the Speech Banana? Discover What It Is and Why It Is Important

July 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

“Speech bananas” are not mid-day snacks for hearing specialists.The thing that the term “speech banana” represents is a particular pattern found in the results of an audiogram, which is a graphical chart used to measure someone’s hearing proficiency within a set range of frequencies and volume levels. Audiograms are typically charted with the frequency level ( in Hertz) on one the x axis and loudness level (measured in Decibels) on the other axis.

When the standard sounds of human speech – or phonemes – are plotted on this kind of audiogram, they tend to all cluster inside an region of the graph that is shaped like a banana. The spoken sounds of nearly all letters of the alphabet plus the letter combinations th, ch, sh, and ng all cluster within this area.

For those who have normal hearing, you can hear sounds inside this area, but can also hear higher-frequency sounds such as a mosquito or leaves rustling and lower-frequency sounds such as tubas or machinery. However the sounds that are most critical to our communications with other individuals are the sounds we generate when speaking. Hearing loss often strikes this speech banana area, which results in people having trouble hearing or understanding the letter combinations ch, sh, th and ng.

As a result, audiologists are most focused on hearing loss that happens within the region of the speech banana. Whether the individual is old or young, if they are having difficulty hearing sounds within that frequency and volume range, they are almost by definition having trouble hearing speech, and thus have problems communicating properly with other people.

The range of spoken sounds captured by the speech banana is so critical to communications, that many school districts mandate hearing checks using audiograms to identify hearing impairments in this region. Since this range of sounds is so essential to human communications it is the range that most hearing aids are tuned and programmed for. Irrespective of whether you presently wear hearing aids or not, contact us if you have questions about your hearing ability in the speech banana frequency and volume range.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology Tagged With: , , , ,

How Can Shooters Safeguard Their Ears and Hearing?

July 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment

America’s passion for guns is almost unique in the world; we were raised with movies and TV about police and cowboys and heroes who were all totin’ guns and firing them all the time. The impression from these images was definitely powerful, because America continues to have millions of gun owners who shoot them on a regular basis, at firing ranges or while hunting. The downside not fully conveyed to these millions of gun owners is that the folks firing guns on TV and in motion pictures probably ended up deaf, or battling with serious hearing disabilities.

Hearing loss from noise exposure, named noise-induced hearing loss or NIHL, is among the most widespread types of hearing disability. The damage done to the ears by loud sounds has two primary types – damage caused by sustained high noise levels (e.g. heavy machinery sounds) and damage caused by transient high noise levels (e.g. explosions or gunfire).

Noise levels are measured on the decibel scale. Zero decibels is complete silence. A library is around 40 decibels. A normal conversation measures around 50 to 60 decibels. The logarithmic nature of the decibels scale is tough for many people. A value of 50 is twice as loud as 40, 60 is four times as loud as 40, and 70 is eight times as loud as 40 decibels. Prolonged exposure to sounds over 90 decibels (for example a motorcycle) can cause permanent hearing loss within weeks. Hearing damage can also arise in a much shorter time (minutes) from exposure to higher decibel noise levels, for instance the 120 decibels you experience around close to a jet engine or rock concert.

A typical gunshot measures 140 decibels.

One topic that most gun owners and hearing specialists agree about is that nobody should be firing a gun without using some form of ear protection. Finding the best suited ear protection depends upon the form of shooting you plan to do.

With regard to outdoor or indoor firing ranges, a “muff” type headphone that fits over the ear is recommended. The muff-type headphone has the ability to shield your inner ear and also the cochlear bones from the gunfire sounds. Numerous shooters augment the over-the-ear muffs by also using in-the-ear foam plugs with a NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) of 30 or higher. For even greater protection, go with headphones with electronic noise-cancelling technology. They are the costliest choice, but also provide maximum level of protection. Electronic noise-cancelling headphones have the additional advantage of permitting you to hear normal-volume conversations while blocking out the transient gunshots.

If you like shooting guns, before your next outing to the range, talk to a hearing care specialist about hearing protection. Then stick to the advice they give, while you can still hear them saying it.

Filed Under: Hearing Loss

Can Lower Cost Personal Sound Amplifiers Substitute for Hearing Aids?

July 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Have you noticed advertisements for inexpensive personal sound amplifiers (PSAs) on television or in magazines lately? These advertisements are contributing to confusion about the difference between hearing aids and personal sound amplifiers. The reason you don’t see very many ads for hearing aids is because they are medical devices, supervised by the Food & Drug Administration, and therefore not available for purchase without a prescription from a properly licensed doctor, hearing instrument specialist or audiologist. Hearing aids are for individuals with hearing loss ranging from modest to extensive. They are adjusted for each individual to precisely address their distinctive hearing loss as determined by the audiologist or hearing aid dispenser.

Personal sound amplifiers also increase the volume of the sounds you hear, but they are intended to do this for individuals with normal hearing. Some personal sound amplifiers look very much like hearing aids, but they aren’t; the only thing that they do is take in sound and increase its volume. PSAs are not capable of correcting the subtle types of problems that hearing-impaired individuals have.

The low price of personal sound amplifiers (under $100, in contrast to thousands of dollars for hearing aids) may make them sound appealing to people on a tight budget. The vast variation in price is one good reason the Food & Drug Administration has gotten involved developing information campaigns and websites to make sure that buyers understand the distinction. Their guidance is straightforward: if you’re having trouble hearing sounds at what other people consider normal volumes, have your hearing tested by a professional audiologist or hearing instrument specialist before you think about buying a personal sound amplifier. Using a PSA when you actually need a hearing aid has many disadvantages. First it might delay proper evaluation and management of your hearing condition. Second, it may further hurt your hearing if the PSA is used at very high volumes.

So, before you make any final decision about buying a device to help your hearing, see your audiologist. Some hearing problems (say for example a blockage of the ear canals caused by a ear wax accumulation) can be corrected in one office visit. Other varieties of hearing impairment may be more serious or even permanent, but they too can be effectively treated using good quality hearing aids that have been correctly prescribed and adjusted. A hearing instrument specialist or audiologist can pinpoint the root cause of your problem. In certain scenarios you won’t need a hearing aid or a PSA.

After a hearing exam, if your hearing is determined to be normal, you may choose a PSA if you still have trouble with particular sounds. When looking for one, read the device’s specifications, and only consider those that satisfactorily amplify sounds in the range of human speech (between 1000 to 2000 Hz). Additionally, don’t purchase any PSAs that don’t include volume controls and electronically-enforced volume limits that don’t allow their volume levels to surpass 135 decibels. There is a place for PSAs in the marketplace when used by the right individuals. They can be helpful for individuals with normal hearing to hear faraway or faint sounds better. They simply should not be confused with genuine hearing aids, or be used as an alternative to them by people with true hearing loss.

Filed Under: Choosing a Hearing Aid Tagged With: , , ,

Buying Advice for Kids’ Headphones

July 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

One thing you can look forward to if you have kids is that sooner or later they will ask you to buy them some headphones to work with their music players, game systems and computers. And there are valid reasons for this, because headphones can enhance the experience with these multimedia, but at the same time there are certain characteristics you should look for when you buy.

An important feature that most buyers would not normally consider is making sure that the headphones fit correctly. Headphones which are intended for grownups are made for their full-sized heads, and will not simply not fit the right way on kids, they won’t provide a complete spectrum of sound to them. You should not rationalize the size difference by believing that the kids will grow into them. In reality, the constant fidgeting and adjusting will probably result in a shorter life due to breakage. Headsets made for children are developed with a growing child in mind. Most have an adjustable head band which allows your child to obtain a perfect fit now and for years to come.

The most crucial characteristic you should look for, however, is that the headphones are equipped with some type of Sound Limiting Technology. By nature, children will use the highest possible volume settings to completely immerse themselves in the experience. Parents recognize that this is a very terrible idea which could contribute to future loss of hearing. Seeking out headphones that have a volume limits built in – somewhere around 80 to 85 decibels – is the most effective way to combat this tendency. This recommendation is just as true for ear buds or similar devices that one inserts into the outer ear canal as it is for over-the-ear headphones.

A different thing take into consideration is durability and sturdiness, because kids are hard on delicate things, and certain headphones can be very fragileindeed. Refer to consumer guides or parents’ magazines to learn which models of headphones have a reputation for durability and for lasting a long time. Make sure you balance this desire for durability with a bias toward light weight, however because you don’t want your kids to be wearing headphones that are too heavy for their body and head.

Whichever model headphones you go with, make an effort to restrict your children’s use of them to just a couple hours daily. Being inundated by sound all day, even if the earbuds or headphones restrict the volume level, can still create subtle damage to youngster’s sensitive ears.

Filed Under: Preventative Care Tagged With: , , ,

Swimmer’s Ear Prevention and Treatment

June 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Swimmer’s ear, officially known as acute external otitis, is an infection of the outer ear canal (the area outside your eardrum). It was given the name “swimmer’s ear” because it is frequently a result of water remaining in the outer ear after swimming, which creates a damp environment which promotes the growth of bacteria. Swimmer’s ear can also be triggered by putting your fingers, cotton swabs, or other foreign objects into the ears, because they can scuff or injure the delicate ear canal lining, leaving it open to an opportunistic infection. Luckily for us swimmer’s ear is easily treated. If untreated, swimmer’s ear can cause severe complications so it is important to identify the signs and symptoms of the infection.

Swimmer’s ear develops due to the ear’s natural protection mechanisms (which include the glands that secrete ear wax or cerumen) becoming overloaded. Moisture in the ears, sensitivity reactions, and scrapes to the ear canal lining can all encourage bacterial growth, and cause infection. Specific activities will increase your likelihood of getting swimmer’s ear. Swimming (obviously), use of inside-the-ear devices (including hearing aids or ear buds), overly aggressive cleaning of the ear canal and allergies all increase your risk of infection.

Itching inside the ear, slight discomfort or pain which is worsened by pulling on the ear, redness and an odorless, clear liquid draining from the ear are typical signs of a mild swimmer’s ear infection. Severe itching, heightened pain and discharge of pus indicate a moderate case of swimmer’s ear. Extreme symptoms include severe pain (occasionally extending to other regions of the face, neck and head), fever, redness or swelling of the outer ear or lymph nodes, and actual blockage of the ear canal. If left untreated, complications from swimmer’s ear can be very serious. Complications might include short-term hearing loss, long-term ear infections, deep tissue infections which may spread to other parts of the body, and cartilage or bone loss. Therefore if you experience even the milder indicators of swimmer’s ear, it’s a wise decision to visit your doctor immediately.

Doctors usually diagnose swimmer’s ear after a visual exam with a lighted instrument called an otoscope. They will also check at the same time to see if there is any damage to the eardrum itself. Physicians usually treat swimmer’s ear by first cleaning the ears thoroughly, and then by prescribing eardrops to fight the infection. If the infection is serious, your physician may also prescribe oral antibiotics to help combat it.

To avoid swimmer’s ear, dry your ears completely after showering or swimming, avoid swimming in untreated water resources, and do not insert foreign objects into your ears to clean them.

Filed Under: Common Conditions of the Ear Tagged With: , , ,

Should You Repair Your Old Hearing Aid or Replace It?

June 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

One of the most common questions we hear is, “My hearing aid is damaged or is not functioning the same way it used to – do you think I should replace it and buy a new one, or have it fixed?” Provided with only that much information, we have to answer truthfully, “That depends.” It is really an individual choice, and the “correct answer” is as individual as the individuals who ask it.

It is worthwhile to state upfront, that all hearing aids, irrespective of their original price or quality, can be expected to break down at some point. Why? Primarily due to sustained use in an inhospitable environment containing moisture and ear wax. Ear wax is normal and necessary because it safeguards the sensitive lining of the outer ear, but it can be hard on hearing aids; water that is left in the ears after showering or swimming can be even harder on them. Additionally, there is always the chance of breakage from an accident or dropping the hearing aids, and the inner tubing and other parts inevitably wear out with time, so after several years you can count on your aids needing repair or replacement.

Likely the major thing you should consider when making the “repair or replace” decision is how you feel about your current hearing aids – do you like them, and the sound they deliver? If you like them and are familiar with the sound that they generate or really like the fit, repair could be the better option for you.

One more consideration, of course, is cost – brand new hearing aids might cost thousands of dollars, but fixing your present aids may cost only a couple of hundred dollars. The part we can’t answer in this article is the influence of insurance. A few insurance policies cover replacements, but not repairs or have different policies on full or partial coverage.

If you decide to pursue a repair, the next logical question is “Should I take them back to where I purchased them?”Although you could choose to deal with a remote repair laboratory directly, your local audiologist is a marvelous resource. To begin with, they can establish if repairs are in fact necessary. Second, they may be able to get the repairs done on-site decreasing the amount of time you do not have your hearing aid. For hearing aid repairs that cannot be completed locally, your hearing professional will take care of the shipping, paperwork and lab directions for you. Because they work in volume with suppliers, their prices may be the same or better than you could get yourself.

Far more options are open to those who choose to replace their existing hearing aids. It is advisable to be open-minded about new designs and technologies understanding that anything different takes some getting used to. Newer hearing aids are more compact and offer superior programability to achieve the sound quality you want. So the choice whether to “replace or repair” is still yours to make, but we hope this information will assist you.

Filed Under: Caring for Your Hearing Aid Tagged With: , ,

Tinnitus in Your Ears? Music Can Help You

June 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Sound is an integral part of our world, but like most things, its impact on us depends on both the quality of the sounds we hear, and the quantity of them. Listening to music can be soothing and relaxing, but it can also be annoying and irritating if the volume is excessive.

When it comes to music and other sounds, quality is subjective, one that depends on individual preferences; the quantity of it (as measured by volume, in decibels), however, is incredibly objective, and can be measured. We know that when people are exposed to very loud sounds or music above a specific decibel level for prolonged amounts of time, those sounds can harm the miniature hair cells in our ears, and cause noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). It has been estimated that in our raucous society, as many as one in five Americans have developed some amount of tinnitus (a constant ringing in the ears) or other forms of hearing loss as the result of NIHL. Even muted sounds below 10 decibels (half the volume of a whisper) may cause stress and anxiety if you are exposed to them long enough; have you ever been kept awake at night by the sound of a dripping faucet or ticking clock?

But despite the fact that sound can be a cause of stress and hearing damage, it can also be a tool to treat the effects of hearing damage. Many people have experienced the soothing effects of soft music, the relaxing sound of falling water or ocean surf, or the meditative sounds of chanting or Tibetan singing bowls. Increasingly, these types of sounds are being used by psychologists to treat anxiety rather than create it, and by audiologists to treat hearing problems such as tinnitus rather than cause them. In hospitals and clinical situations, music therapy has been successfully used to accelerate recovery from operations, to aid stroke victims during their recovery, and to impede the development of Alzheimer’s dementia. People have successfully used white noise generators (which create a blend of frequencies similar to the sound of ocean surf) to help people conquer insomnia and sleep disorders, and to reduce their perceived awareness of background sounds in noisy environments.

More specifically related to hearing loss, sound and music therapy is being used more and more to treat tinnitus by creating what specialists call a threshold shift, which allows tinnitus patients to psychologically disguise the constant buzzing or ringing sounds they hear. By using specialized tones or carefully chosen music tracks, hearing specialists have been able to teach tinnitus patients to retrain their minds to choose the sounds they want to hear over the ringing sounds caused by the tinnitus. It’s not as if the ringing disappears; it’s more that the music therapy has allowed them to focus their attention somewhere else, and thus no longer feel the anxiety and stress that tinnitus causes.

For tinnitus sufferers seeking new remedies, music therapy is worth looking at. Give us a call to go over your specific situation.

Filed Under: Tinnitus Tagged With: , , , ,

Are Hearing Impairment and Alzheimer’s Connected?

June 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

If you have some type of hearing impairment, do you ever find that listening to people speak is work, and that you need to try hard to understand what people say? You are not alone. The feeling that listening and understanding is tiring work is typical among individuals with hearing loss – even those that wear hearing aids.

Unfortunately, the repercussions of this sensation may not be limited to loss of hearing function; it may also be related to declines in cognitive abilities. In the latest studies, researchers have discovered that hearing loss substantially raises your chances of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia.

A 16-year research study of this link from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine included 639 participants between the ages of 36 and 90. The data indicated that 58 study volunteers – 9 percent – had developed dementia and 37 – 6% – had developed Alzheimer’s. The degree of hearing loss was positively correlated with the likelihood of developing either condition. For every ten decibel further hearing loss, the risk of developing dementia increased 20%.

A different 16-year research study with 1,984 participants revealed a similar connection between dementia and hearing loss, but also identified noticeable decline in cognitive function in the hearing-impaired. In comparison to individuals with normal hearing, those with hearing impairment developed memory loss 40 percent faster. A vital, but disconcerting, conclusion in each of the two studies was that the negative cognitive effects were not diminished by using hearing aids. A number of hypotheses have been put forth to explain this apparent relationship between hearing loss and loss of cognitive performance. One of these explanations is related to the question that began this article, about having to work harder to hear; this has been termed cognitive overload. The cognitive overload theory suggests that the hearing-impaired individual expends so much brain energy trying to hear, that the brain is tired and has a diminished capacity to comprehend and absorb verbal information. Maintaining a two-way conversation requires comprehension. A lack of understanding causes conversations to break down and might bring about social isolation. Another idea is that neither hearing loss nor dementia cause the other, but that they’re both linked to an as-yet-undiscovered disease mechanism – possibly vascular, possibly genetic, possibly environmental – that causes both.

Although the person with hearing impairment probably finds these study results dismaying, there is a bright side with valuable lessons to be derived from them.If you wear hearing aids, visit your audiologist regularly to keep them fitted, adjusted, and programmed correctly, so that you are not straining to hear. The less effort used in the mechanics of hearing, the more brain power available for comprehension. Also, if hearing loss is related to dementia, knowing this may bring about interventional techniques that can avert its development.

Filed Under: Hearing Loss Tagged With: , , , ,

In Truth, What is a Normal Life for Hearing Aid Batteries Under Real-Life Conditions

May 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Even though the battery life for hearing aids might seem a straightforward question to answer, in truth it varies according to a variety of factors. Just how long a battery lasts is dependent upon who manufactured it, and may even vary between different hearing aid models from the exact same manufacturer. How you use your hearing aid will also affect battery life; the more hours a day yours is turned on, the more often you will use up batteries.

Additionally, there are differences in battery life across battery manufacturers, and the exact same manufacturer may offer different lines of batteries, some that last for a longer period of time than others. Battery life also hinges on battery type; for example some varieties are only being drained when they are inside a hearing aid that is switched on, and other varieties (such as, zinc-air batteries) start losing stored energy as soon as you take away the adhesive strip on the bottom of the battery and they’re in contact with oxygen, whether the hearing aid is on or not.

If you are in the market for a new hearing aid, you may wish to do some research in advance to see which have the best ratings for battery life, because that could influence your decision about which type or which model of hearing aid to purchase. In the same way, a little time invested in research may help you uncover better batteries for your existing hearing aids. To make things somewhat easier for you, hearing aid batteries are available in 4 common sizes, each of which is marked with a specific color code, which is always the same no matter who the manufacturer is. The following list of battery life is an approximation, of course, but it may give you a general idea of how long hearing aid batteries of each size should last:

  • 80 hours – #10 – Yellow
  • 175 hours – #312 – Brown
  • 240 hours – #13 – Orange
  • 300 hours – #675 – Blue

To ensure the longest life for your batteries when they’re in the hearing aid, turn the hearing aid off when you are not wearing it. And to make sure batteries you’ve already bought but have not used yet stay fresh and retain their power as long as possible, store them indoors in their original unopened packages, and at room temperature.

Filed Under: Caring for Your Hearing Aid Tagged With: , , ,
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