What Is Auditory Deprivation?
Hearing loss is a progressive condition, meaning it develops slowly over time. The signs may be subtle: maybe your family complains you turn up the TV too loud, maybe it seems like everyone around you is mumbling because you have trouble understanding them even though you can hear their voices, or maybe after social interactions…
Tips for Helping Your Child with Hearing Loss Develop Social Skills
One of the greatest concerns parents of children with hearing loss have is whether they’ll make friends and develop social skills alongside their normal-hearing peers. While treating hearing loss is an important first step, there are other strategies you can employ as well. Below we’ve compiled tips for helping your child develop these necessary skills…
Evidence Suggests COVID-19 Can Infect the Middle Ear, Cause Hearing Loss
It seems that every day brings new information about COVID-19 and its potential complications to the human body. Once considered primarily a respiratory virus that could affect the nose, throat and lungs, there is new evidence that indicates the coronavirus may be able to infect the ears, as well as the mastoid bone of the…
A Healthy Ear is a Healthy Mind
Cognitive abilities amongst those with hearing loss decline 30-40 percent faster than in people with normal hearing. Troubles with thinking, remembering, reasoning—this is what is referred to as subjective cognitive decline, which has been associated through study after study in patients with signs of hearing loss. The more severe the hearing loss, the greater the…
Importance of Regular Hearing Tests
We tend to take our hearing for granted, assuming it will always be there for us, even though hearing loss affects 1 out of 3 adults aged 65 or older. Hearing impairment often develops so gradually that many aren’t even aware of the changes until it has advanced beyond an easily treatable stage. This could…
How to Recycle Your Hearing Devices
Hearing devices represent a major investment for many Americans. Some who could benefit from wearing them delay or skip treatment due to cost concerns. Because hearing ability constantly changes, even with treatment, those who do wear hearing devices will likely need to upgrade to new ones at some point. Rather than simply tossing them in…
Is Coronavirus Making Your Tinnitus Worse?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that over 50 million Americans – about 15% of the population – experience tinnitus (ringing in the ears). About 20 million of these have chronic tinnitus that affects their daily life, and 2 million are debilitated by their tinnitus. Unfortunately, the pandemic has exacerbated this symptom for…
New Research Highlights Role of Protein in New Ear Hair Cell Development
Exposure to loud noises and aging can damage the delicate hair cells within the inner ear. Once damaged, these hair cells cannot heal or regrow, leading to permanent hearing loss. New research out of the University of Maryland School of Medicine reveals the important role a specific protein plays in the development of these hair…
What Causes Sudden Deafness?
Sudden deafness, also called sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL), is a rapid loss of hearing that occurs either all at once or over a period of several days with no apparent cause. Most commonly, it presents in just one ear. The source of sudden deafness is usually a problem in the sensory organs of the…
Ways to Protect Your Hearing Aids from the Elements
Now that we are many months into the pandemic, many of us have adopted the new normal we find ourselves in. This involves figuring out how to get exercise and see friends and family while still being safe through social distancing and wearing a mask. In addition to keeping yourself healthy, it is important to…