If you have ever been to a noisy concert, nightclub, or sporting event, you might have walked out into the relative quiet and heard a loud ringing, buzzing, or humming in your ears. That sound probably went away by the time you woke up the next morning, meaning that you didn’t have tinnitus, exactly. Now, imagine if that sound didn’t …
Studies Show Higher Rates of Hearing Loss for People with Diabetes
Hearing loss is connected to a wide range of other conditions. In some cases, the connection is direct. For instance, those who work in a noisy industrial facility will likely have higher rates of hearing loss among the employees due to noise exposure over time. Other connections are more difficult to parse. Take, for instance, the connection between hearing loss …
Building Connections – May is Better Hearing and Speech Month!
One commonly stated adage is that healthy relationships are built on open communication. Anyone who has sought advice on a relationship issue is likely to encounter this principle. Easy as it may seem, open communication can be quite difficult to achieve, and any number of barriers can get in the way of a clear, honest conversation. Take, for instance, the …
Links between Tinnitus, Hearing Loss & COVID-19
The COVID-19 coronavirus has changed the world in the last year. The scientific community has risen to the challenge of understanding this mysterious condition, and information is pouring in day by day to help fill in the picture. One of the things that makes the condition even more difficult to understand is the wide array of symptoms that are associated. …
A Connection between Hearing Loss, Depression, and Dementia
Verbal communication might be more important than we realize when it comes to our mental, cognitive, and even physical wellbeing. When we have a conversation, much more is happening than simply exchanging information. We are experiencing a social connection, even when it is as fleeting as a quick conversation at the grocery store or bus stop. By sharing our understanding …
How Hearing Loss Treatment Can Lessen Loneliness
Which do you think is worse for your health, loneliness or smoking 15 cigarettes a day? Shockingly, it’s not the cigarettes – it’s the loneliness. Human connection is as essential to our health as food or water. We are biologically wired to need connection and belonging. In fact, this connection was actually essential to the survival of ancient humans. When …
March 3 is World Hearing Day: Hearing Care for All
In 2021 we are all looking for reasons to celebrate, and fortunately, we have a great cause with World Hearing Day on March 3! The World Health Organization has established this annual event to focus on a specific issue related to hearing, and this year’s banner topic is “Hearing Care for ALL!” Around the world, many lack the resources to …
How Quitting Smoking & Lowering Blood Pressure Could Support Healthy Hearing
There are about 48 million Americans today dealing with some form of hearing loss. The prevalence of personal listening devices and other major noise sources in our modern world account for much of the hearing loss we see, but it’s likely that smoking and high blood pressure are playing a role, as well. A Study on Smoking A Japanese study …
Why Do Masks Make it Difficult to Communicate?
This past year has been difficult for everyone, but people who experience hearing loss are perhaps among the most affected on a day-to-day basis. While Zoom meetings can sometimes make communication easier thanks to closed captioning and tight integration with hearing aids, being in public with widespread mask use poses significant additional difficulties for those with communication issues of all …
How Often Should I Get a Hearing Test
You may not be the first person to know that you have a hearing loss. Hearing loss is typically very gradual – it is almost impossible to notice changes in your hearing health. In the meantime, you might make unconscious adjustments that will help you hear, such as raising the volume on the TV. And you might not know that …