School may be out for the Summer, but learning doesn’t have to stop the minute your children leave the classroom. Every parent knows that when learning is fun, kids retain more and do better overall in school. That is why I am recommending that parents have their kids check out my favorite subject---ears—on Kidshealth.org. The [...]
Just as new technology has transformed the way we listen to music, so has it revolutionized the movie-going experience. Surround sound, IMAX and digital 3D each offer such an all-encompassing theatrical performance, many movie-goers feel they are actually in the picture. But my latest visit to a local theater left me with a very [...]
Longtime surfers on the West Coast are more prone to a condition called Surfer’s Ear, a condition in which bony growths appear in the ear canal, blocking the eardrum. If the bony growths—called exostosis--block most of the ear canal, infections can develop and cause earaches and hearing loss. Very often, there is a persistent feeling [...]
As if you needed another reason to quit smoking: researchers at my Alma Mater, Vanderbilt University, have concluded that smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to suffer complications and worse hearing following middle ear surgery. In a study of more than 1,100 people who underwent surgery to fix chronic ear problems during the period 1990 [...]
The internet has become one of the primary ways that people locate health-related information. The problem is: can you trust what you read online? How do you know if you are reading solid, credible medical advice or hearsay? Many medical society websites have tackled that problem by posting reliable medical information in terms laypeople can [...]
An interesting article about a project from Stanford University was recently released detailing how the sensory "hair" cells in the inner ear are able to convert the mechanical energy of sound to an electrical impulse that is relayed to the brain through the hearing nerve. This occurs at a molecular level in which charged particles [...]
One of the most common ear conditions I see in my office is patients suffering from vertigo. They often describe vertigo as a sensation of dizziness or spinning, a feeling of falling, lightheadedness or feeling woozy, visual blurring and disorientation. Sometimes, it may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and/or sweating. Pinpointing the cause of vertigo [...]
An interesting blog was posted April 8 on the Newsweek website by health care reporter Sharon Begley. It reports on the results of a study on Neuromonics, a treatment for tinnitus, or ringing in the ears. The results were presented in April at the American Academy of Audiology.According to the study, 45 patients who were [...]
My patients with hearing loss often ask me if there are any new medical ear treatments on the horizon. One promising study is being conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis and focuses on the possible use of stem cells from another part of the brain that can develop into cells that perform [...]
I often hear from my patients that they are reluctant to fly in airplanes because of the ear pain they experience during take-off or landing. Aerotitis is the medical term for ear problems during flight. It interferes with the periodic opening and closing of the Eustachian tubes, which regulate the air pressure between the middle [...]