Sometimes, it seems like we love to deceive ourselves. Wikipedia has an entry named “List of common misconceptions” that contains hundreds of universally-held but false beliefs. Yes, I understand it’s Wikipedia, but take a look at the bottom of the webpage and you’ll see around 385 references to credible sources. For instance, did you know
You have just finished your hearing test. The hearing specialist is now entering the room and presents you with a graph, like the one above, except that it has all of these characters, colors, and lines. This is designed to highlight to you the exact, mathematically precise attributes of your hearing loss, but to you
We don’t need to tell you the signs and symptoms of hearing loss; you already know them all too well. You have a completely different kind of problem: persuading someone you care about to get their hearing screened and treated. But how are you expected to get through to someone who denies there is even
It takes the average person with hearing loss 5 to 7 years before getting a professional diagnosis, in spite of the fact that the signs and symptoms of hearing loss are transparent to others. But are those with hearing loss just too stubborn to get help? No, actually, and for a few specific reasons. Maybe
If the unfamiliar creates anxiety, then a trip to the hearing specialist is especially stressful. While the majority of us have experience with the family physician and the local dentist, the visit to the hearing specialist could be a first. It certainly would be useful to have someone teach you the process beforehand, wouldn’t it?
While the majority of us remain up to date with our yearly physical, dental cleaning, and eye examination, we generally forget to give consideration to the well-being of our hearing. And when our hearing does begin to diminish, it appears so slowly and gradually that we scarcely notice and neglect to take action. It’s this
Do you remember the Q-Ray Bracelets? You know, the magnetized wristbands that vowed to provide immediate and significant pain relief from arthritis and other chronic ailments? Well, you won’t see much of that marketing anymore; in 2008, the producers of the Q-Ray Bracelets were legally required to give back customers a maximum of $87 million
Hearing impairment is dangerously sneaky. It creeps up on an individual over the years so gradually you hardly notice, making it all too easy to deny it’s even there. And then, when you finally recognize the signs and symptoms, you shrug it off as inconvenient and irritating because its worst consequences are hidden. For approximately
Popularity, fortune, and screaming fans — these are a few of the words and phrases you’d select to summarize the life of a professional musician. In spite of this, what you probably wouldn’t take into account is “hearing loss” or “tinnitus,” the not-so-enjoyable side-effects of all that celebrity, fortune, and screaming. The unfortunate irony is,
85 decibels. That’s the noise intensity at which repetitive exposure can trigger significant hearing damage. 100 decibels. that is the noise degree reached by a rock concert, which is not-so-good news for performers or concert goers. It’s also a portion of a greater problem: According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), around 30
These days, millions of people wear hearing aids every day to be able to hear better. This is nothing new, even though the technology has certainly advanced significantly. Readily available in a large number of shapes, sizes, and even colors, today’s hearing aids only weigh a few ounces when they used to weigh several pounds!
Hearing aids have gone through a multitude of iterations in their 200-plus year history. The technology that is deployed in hearing aids has historically been developed by means of a devoted scientist who is either impacted by hearing loss or has a friend or family member affected by hearing loss. For example, Alexander Graham Bell’s