Hearing Aids and Hearing Protection

9/7 (CALIFORNIA) Senate approves Wiggins' workers' comp/audiologists' bill

The state Senate voted 37-0 Thursday morning to approve Senate Bill 557, a bill by Sen. Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) to add doctors of audiology to the list of medical professionals who may be appointed by the administrative director of the state Division of Workers’ Compensation as a qualified medical evaluator of medical-legal issues arising in disputed workers’ compensation cases. Passage means the bill now heads to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his consideration. SB 557 was approved by the Senate on May 29, but a subsequent vote was required for concurrence on Assembly amendments to the bill, according to a news release from Wiggins’ office. ... More from the Eureka Reporter

During last week's East Meadow Board of Education public meeting, Nancy Cave, the mother of deaf Clarke High School student John Cave Jr. told the board and local residents that her son's hearing dog, Simba, would be accompanying her son into the school building on Oct. 3. Simba's first look inside the school is being made possible by a rewritten state law that goes into effect next month. The statute bans discriminatory practices against hearing-disabled people who use guide, hearing or service dogs.

"On Oct. 3, we are bringing Simba to school, and it's time that the district accommodate my son's needs," Nancy Cave said at the Sept. 20 meeting. Since January, John, 15, has repeatedly attempted to enter the high school with Simba, and each time he has been denied entrance by school administrators, on the grounds that the dog's presence was contrary to school policy and might pose health risks to staff members and students who have severe allergies to dogs. The Caves responded with a $150 million lawsuit against the district, arguing that their son needs the dog in case of an emergency, and in order to be self-sufficient. Furthermore, the family claimed, John's right to use the dog is guaranteed by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Read the interesting full story of this legal matter in the Herald Online.

It doesn't take a blaring iPod to put a child at risk of hearing loss later in life. Things as seemingly innocent as using a hair dryer, playing a video game or being near traffic can do damage, too. That's the focus of "Dangerous Decibels: Defending Young Ears," a statewide education program launched last week in Surprise by the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The commission will provide classes from kindergarten through eighth grade with DVDs and activities explaining the hazards of loud noises. With many people in their 40s and 50s experiencing hearing loss, it's vital for children to be aware of noise pollution, said Sherri Collins, the commission's executive director. Learn about how this program worked with a class of 5-th graders in the AZCentral.com web site.

A basic hearing evaluation generally involves the use of tuning fork tests. In the Weber tuning fork test, the tuning fork is hit, causing it to vibrate, then placed on the midline forehead. Patients are asked if the sound forms in only one ear, or is midline. A person with normal hearing would hear the sound in the midline, but certain types of hearing loss will cause the sound to be heard in one ear more than the other. A new study presented at the 2007 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO suggests that an additional hearing test, the hum hearing test, is a reliable alternative to the Weber tuning fork test for initial hearing evaluation. Patients perform a hum test by simply humming to themselves, then determining whether they hear the hum in one ear, or if it is heard in the middle.The hum and Weber test had a 95 percent correlation to one another in diagnosing conductive hearing loss and a 70 percent correlation in diagnosing sensorineural hearing loss. Read more about these patient test trials in Medical News Today

U.S. scientists were developing a new technique to diagnose hearing loss to more accurately reflect real-world situations. "The traditional way to assess speech understanding in people with hearing loss is to put them in a quiet room and ask them to repeat words produced by one person they can't see," said Purdue University Professor Karen Iler Kirk. "The goal of our research is to develop new tests that reflect more natural listening situations with visual cues, different background noises, voice quality, dialects and speaking rates. Read more in the Sept 11 2007 Science Daily digest."This is a more accurate way to predict how people perceive speech in the real world and, therefore, can help us determine appropriate therapy and interventions, such as cochlear implants," Kirk added

Hearing loss may occur if you use your cell phone for more than 60 minutes a day, a new study finds. According to research presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation’s Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Washington, D.C. this week, people who used their phones for more than 60 minutes a day had a worse hearing threshold than those with less use. The study, Audiological Disturbances in Long-Term Mobile Phone Users, was presented at the conference by Dr. Naresh Panda, head of India's ENT department. Panda and his team found those who used their phone for more than an hour each day, for more than four years, had noticeable losses in high frequency hearing. Long-term use of a cell phone also may cause inner ear damage and can lead to high frequency hearing loss, researchers found. One hundred cell phone users took part in the study. Read about the
full study at FOX news.

When John Deere tractors are assembled in Waterloo, workers are required to wear hearing protection. When the green machines get in the field, it's up to the farmer to decide. And according to health experts, too many are not wearing earplugs or muffs, causing permanent hearing loss and putting them at greater risk for farm accidents. Loud conditions created by tractors, combines, grain dryers, chainsaws, livestock and other things create a hazardous work environment. According to a University of Iowa College of Public Health study earlier this year, farmers who had difficulty hearing normal conversation are 80 percent more likely to suffer an injury related to a fall. Those wearing hearing aids were twice to more than five-times more likely to get injured depending on the task or activity. Read the full article in the Cedar Valley WFCcourier online web site

Hearing loss has become the number one disability in the world with loud music, recreational equipment and noisy workplaces causing one-third of all such cases, according to a new study. The study, which came ahead of World Deafness Day on September 24, estimates that around 500 million people worldwide suffer from some form of hearing loss. People are now losing their hearing at a much younger age than they used to 30 years ago, the study compiled by the Hearing Institute of America said. The revelation has raised concern among experts in India, who feel such ailments are increasing rapidly. About 1-2 per 1,000 children across the world are born hearing impaired. In India, the figure is likely to be higher at about 3-4 children per 1,000, said Ameet Kishore of the Apollo Indraprastha Hospital. “Out of the total deaf population of 6.3 per cent in India, about one per cent suffers from noise induced deafness.” Source:
Hindu Times

With increased usage of portable music devices, both adults and youth alike are becoming more susceptible to potential premature hearing loss. While it is not a widespread epidemic, tinnitus is one of the possible side effects of exposure to the loud music heard from portable listening devices. Tinnitus is a ringing or buzzing heard in the ears or head on a regular basis, and is often the result of exposure to loud noises. The
Rocky Mountain News has some valuable pointers on practices to help reduce the likelihood of developing tinnitus.

Hearing aids have serious lifestyle limitations: the hearing impaired can't wear them while showering or swimming, and most models are hard to wear while sleeping. Now, a new kind of hearing aid that aims to overcome these problems is in clinical trials. It's invisible and waterproof because all of its circuitry--including its battery and microphone--is in the user's head. Developed by Otologics, of Boulder, CO, the device picks up sound with a microphone implanted underneath the skin behind the user's ear. The signal is processed by electronics and sent to a tiny vibrating piston implanted against the small bones in the middle ear. Staff at the MIT Technology Review discuss the latest results of this hearing aid that requires surgical intervention!

Picture a time when you can go order hearing aids online, emailing the manufacturer your hearing test, ordering a state-of-the-art digital hearing aid and having it shipped directly to your house. When it arrives, most hearing aids will be ready to use right out of the box. If it is not properly adjusted, you sit down in the comfort of your own home with your free, manufacturer- provided software and, with the help of some virtual guidance, tweak the hearing aid until it is just right. Sound like the future of hearing aid delivery? It is called the patient-focused hearing aid delivery model, and thankfully, the future has arrived. Read about this new method of delivering solutions to hearing aid wearers in the American Chronicle

Computer technology is improving the sound quality of hearing aids, as well as the ability to customize the devices. The looks of these devices are incredible - sleek designs in many colors. Devices can be programmed to tune out sounds like high-pitched clanking of silverware and the dull hum of voices at a noisy restaurant. Some devices let users hear their Bluetooth cellphones through a hearing aid. And many newer hearing aids are so tiny as to be hardly noticeable.

Also, increasingly, people buying hearing aids are rejecting the old-fashioned "custom-fitted" mold, which fits into the ear like a giant flesh-colored ear plug. "They try to make them blend in with your skin, but they look terrible, like a glob of wax in your ear," says Craig Kuhns, a 56-year-old operating-room nurse from Dallas. He recently chose a set of red-and-black Audéo devices from Switzerland's Phonak AG, which perch behind his ears and extend into the ear canal via a clear, nearly invisible tube. Read more on the latest technological innovations in the Wall Street Journal