A study written up in the February 1 issue of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery reports that children with cochlear implants rate their quality of life as highly as children with normal hearing. It is one of the first studies that looked at children as well as their parents.
The latest trends in restaurant design are having an unfortunate side effect: ear-splitting noise. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal puts a spotlight on the problem: Restaurants housed in cavernous spaces with wood floors, linen-free tables, high ceilings and lots of windows—all of which cause sound to ricochet around what are essentially hard-surfaced [...]
There is great news for people suffering from hearing loss: On December 18th, an Advisory Panel of independent ENT experts unanimously recommended that the FDA approve the Esteem®, the first Fully Implantable Hearing Restoration System.The Esteem device had been in the clinical trial stage for over five years. Shohet Ear Associates was one of three [...]
According to a report released late last month by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), a nonprofit consumer advocacy group in Washington, parents should put safety first when toy shopping for the holidays. That includes checking for appropriate sound levels when buying toys with sound effects.Nearly 15% of kids from 6 to 17 show [...]
A recent article in USA Today reported on a helpful new resource for people who are considering the purchase of a hearing aid—or whose loved ones are. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has just published a primer on Hearing Aids that includes such useful topics as types of hearing aids, benefits and safety issues, and how to [...]
Cochlear implants may be an option for some babies who have been born deaf. We are seeing good results in infants as young as 10 months old who have received cochlear implants. To see news footage compiled by Channels 2 and 9 on one such case, click here. It tells the story of the Wensleys [...]
Consumer Reports recently conducted an exhaustive study on the process of purchasing hearing aids, and concluded that people are better off buying their hearing aids from a medical office headed by an otolaryngologist (an ear, nose, and throat physician) who employs an audiologist to fit and dispense hearing aids. Consumer Reports followed a dozen actual patients for six [...]
October is National Protect Your Hearing Month, providing a perfect opportunity to remind my readers about the importance of guarding their ears against potentially damaging, high decibel noises. The harmful effect of loud sounds is well documented, as anyone who has served in the military knows all too well. However, a recent news story on [...]
Shingles, also known as Herpes zoster, is a painful condition that is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. Shingles involves the nerve pathways in the area affected, and is characterized by skin blisters in the early stages of the infection. Some people also subsequently experience strange nerve sensations such as burning, itching, [...]
Misophonia, or hatred of sound, was first identified in 2000 when Pawel Jastreboff, a neuroscientist at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, found that some people had strong, negative reactions to specific sounds. Misophonia sufferers tend to focus on certain sounds to which they have a decreased tolerance, such as noises associated with eating, [...]