April 5, 2006 Issue

             HEARING LOSS HELP E-zine
"The premier e-zine for people with hearing loss"


Volume 1, Number 1                           April 5, 2006
Publisher: Neil Bauman      neil@hearinglosshelp.com
            http://www.hearinglosshelp.com
    Copyright Center for Hearing Loss Help 2006

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                      "Hearing loss may change your life,
                        but your life need not be any less
                                rewarding and fulfilling
                        because you have a hearing loss."

                                                               -- Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

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If you wear hearing aids that have t-coils in them, try the dual
T-Links and hear beautiful clear sounds in BOTH ears! Click on
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http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/products/earlinks.htm#t_links

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In this issue
==================================================

1. What's New Regarding Hearing Loss?

2. Tips for Successfully Coping with Hearing Loss

3. Beware of (Ototoxic) Drugs that Can Damage Your Ears

4. Current Subscriber-only Special

5. Answers to Your Questions

6. Information on Hearing Aids and/or Assistive Devices



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1. What's New Regarding Hearing Loss?
==================================================

"Sudden Hearing Loss--Medical Emergency or Just a Cold?"


You have a cold and now you notice you can't hear well out of one
or both ears. It/they feel plugged up, and you can't hear well.
Now comes the million dollar question. Is this hearing loss just
because you have a cold (resulting in fluid in your middle ear)
and will resolve itself in a week or two as your cold goes away?
Or is this sudden hearing loss caused by a virus attacking your
inner ear--in which case this is a medical emergency and needs to
be treated now?

For years, most primary care physicians have assumed that it was
the former case and told their patients to come back in a couple
of weeks if their hearing had not returned. As a result, those
people that actually had a viral attack wasted their precious
golden hours when treatment could be successful, and now are
tragically left with a permanent hearing loss.

Now, fortunately for us, Dr. Jeffery Harris, chief of
otolaryngology/head and neck surgery at the University of
California, San Diego Medical Center has come up with a quick
test to separate these two conditions.

Here is all you need to do, assuming that only one ear is
"blocked." Hum out loud. If you hear your voice louder in the
blocked ear, the problem is congestion (fluid in the middle ear)
and is probably temporary until your cold goes away and your ear
clears.

However, if you hear your voice louder in your good ear, this
probably indicates a viral attack causing permanent hearing loss
if left untreated. If this is your case, seek treatment
immediately. This is a true medical emergency and needs to be
treated now if you want a chance of getting your hearing back.
According to Dr. Harris, your chances of getting your hearing
back with immediate treatment are greater than 50%.

If both ears are blocked equally, this little test isn't going to
work (unless you can remember how loud humming sounded before you
got the cold). Thus, it is better to err on the side of caution
if you have reduced hearing in both ears and seek competent
medical help now.

In addition, read the articles:
"Sudden Hearing Loss Is a Medical Emergency"
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/medicalemergency.htm
and, "Finding the Right Doctor for Sudden Hearing Loss and Other
Ear Problems."
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/rightdoctor.htm
on the hearinglosshelp website. They will help you make informed
decisions on what you should do next.



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2. Tips for Successfully Coping with Hearing Loss
==================================================

"Job Interviews and Hearing Loss"


A man that was laid off and is now seeking a new job asked: "In a
job interview how does one bring up, explain or otherwise relate
one’s hearing loss to a possible job, especially when hearing is
critical to the job?"

Excellent question. This is where having learned good coping
skills will stand you in good stead, IF you also have the right
attitude and skills.

In spite of whatever the law might say regarding asking about
disabilities, employers still want to know whether your hearing
loss will affect your ability to do the job you are applying for.

To put the odds in your favor, you need to demonstrate that you
have already figured out how you will effectively cope with your
hearing loss on the job. When you do this, your hearing loss
basically becomes a non-issue. Now your prospective employer can
focus on your knowledge, skills and experience in trying to
select the best qualified candidate for the job.

When you show that you know how to successfully cope with your
hearing loss, and that you have already figured out work-arounds
for those difficult hearing situations, the interviewers may
think, "This guy knows what he needs and knows how to overcome in
spite of his hearing loss. Bet he will do the same in other areas
of his work too. This is the kind of guy we want!"

So, in my opinion, it is best if you be up-front and tell them
you have a hearing loss. Then emphasize it is really a non-issue
because here you are successfully coping with hearing loss during
the interviewing process just like you will on the job, and that
all you will need is... (e.g. special phone that only costs
$x.xx, etc.)

Put yourself in your prospective employer's shoes. Prospective
employers like to know ahead of time how much they will be on the
hook for in order to meet your special needs. If you show them
that it is really a trivial amount compared to your worth to the
company, they will be much more likely to hire you.



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3. Beware of (Ototoxic) Drugs that Can Damage Your Ears
==================================================

"Gentamicin IVs and Hearing Loss"

I recently received this revealing email from Anne. She writes:

"In your articles about ototoxic drugs, you do not
make any reference to a practice that I am learning is
pretty common, and where many hearing losses occur: in
the operating room, when Gentamicin is given by IV prior
to surgery to lower the risk of infection. This is a
procedure that is gaining in popularity, but it is not
monitored for ototoxicity when done! I lost my hearing
the night of my surgery on November 8, 2004. Several
nurse anesthetists have said to me: 'It is from
gentamicin, and the anesthesiologists are aware of the
dangers but ignore it.'

So I now have a severe hearing loss in one ear,
profound distortion, extreme tinnitus and some
exaggerated loudness of certain sounds (like the
refrigerator running and the dog getting a drink). I can
hear these sounds 40 feet away from the source!

You could be very helpful to physicians and patients
alike to raise awareness and caution re IV antibiotics.
I know low infections rates play a real role in high
quality ratings of hospitals, so there is a tendency to
overdose, as in my case. If I had known it was such a
high risk, I would have kept my bum knee AND my hearing!"

You've been warned. If you take ANY Aminoglycoside antibiotic
(which includes drugs such as Gentamicin, Neomycin, Streptomycin,
Tobramycin, Amikacin, and a number of others), you are putting
your ears at risk.

You would be wise to learn about these drugs and their possible
damaging effects on your ears and your life BEFORE you end up in
Anne's shoes.

You can see a complete list of the Aminoglycoside antibiotics
(and the rest of the 720 plus known ototoxic drugs) in the book
"Ototoxic Drugs Exposed." Learn more about how you can protect
your precious hearing from the ravages of Gentamicin and other
ototoxic drugs and medications by clicking on the following link.
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/products/ototoxicdrugbook.htm



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4. Current Subscriber-only Special
==================================================

If you are new to hearing loss, you often don't know exactly what
to do, nor where to go for the effective help you really need.
Here's some good news. The new book, "Help! I'm Losing My
Hearing--What Do I Do Now?" safely guides you step-by-step
through the hearing loss mine-field.

You will learn:

-> How your ears work.
-> The common causes of hearing loss.
-> Why some normal sounds are now too loud for you.
-> Why your ears ring (tinnitus) and what you can do about it.
-> What to do if you hear strange phantom sounds.
-> How hearing loss and balance problems often go hand-in-hand.
-> The necessity of grieving for your hearing loss.
-> How hearing loss affects you emotionally and psychologically.
-> The steps to getting your hearing loss properly evaluated.
-> How hearing aids can help you.
-> What you can reasonably expect hearing aids to do for you
     (and what hearing aids will not do for you).
-> About the wonders of assistive technology to help you hear
     in difficult listening situations.
-> How speechreading (lipreading) can be a real lifesaver when
     you lose your hearing.
-> Many simple yet highly effective coping strategies to help
     you communicate better (and they won't cost you a cent either)!
-> Hearing loss organizations that are there to help you.
-> Where to go to get good assistive technology at reasonable prices.
-> and much, much more!

For the month of April, 2006 you can get this book and save 10%
at the same time, but only if you click on the following link
(available to Hearing Loss Help e-zine subscribers only)
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/bonus/ezinespecials/apr06h.htm.



==================================================
5. Answers to Your Questions
==================================================

If you have a question, or if something has been puzzling you
concerning your ears, email it to neil@hearinglosshelp.com
and put "e-zine question" as the subject. Suitable questions will
be answered here.
______________


A man asked: "Can you tell me where to find a comprehensive list
of definitions of terms used in the hard of hearing community?"

Sure thing. I know of two such (on-line) lists.

The first one contains short simple definitions. It is put out by
audiologist Brad Ingrao, AuD. You can view it at
http://www.bradingrao.com/hearterm.htm.

The second one contains much more comprehensive definitions, but
unfortunately, it is only about half completed at this time. It
is slowly being complied by Steve Barber on the HLAA-NC website.
You can view it at http://www.nchearingloss.org/gloss.htm?fromncshhh.
(Note: Any terms with a asterisk (*) after them have not yet had definitions
written for them.)



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6. Information on Hearing Aids and/or Assistive Devices
==================================================

"The Importance of T-coils in Hearing Aids"

T-coils are one of the best-kept secrets in hearing aids, and one
of the most useful. Unfortunately, these wonderful gizmos were
only included in 39% of the hearing aids sold in the US in 2004.
This is only up slightly from 37% in 2002. In other words, almost
2 out of every 3 hearing aids sold still don't have t-coils in
them! This is a crime in my opinion.

One reason for this is that currently only 56% of hearing aids
sold are big enough to have t-coils installed. Fortunately, more
and more people are buying behind the ear (BTE) hearing aids and
in the ear (ITE) aids as opposed to the tiny in the canal (ITC)
and completely in the canal (CI)C aids that do not have enough
room in them to contain t-coils.

The percentage figures for 2004 as compared to 1999 (in brackets)
are:

BTE 25% (16%)
ITE 31% (32%)
ITC 26% (29%)
CIC 18% (21%) (Hearing Review, June 2005. pp. 26,28.)

This trend is good news. However, unless there is a very good
reason not to, I recommend that you NEVER purchase hearing aids
that do not have good t-coils in them. They are just that useful!

For example, in addition to using them on telephones (hence the
name t-coil), they are wonderful devices to connect to earlinks,
neckloops and room loops.



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                       HEARING LOSS HELP E-zine

Neil Bauman, Publisher               Center for Hearing Loss Help
49 Piston Court                       Stewartstown, PA 17363 USA
Phone: (717) 993-8555                       Fax (717) 993-6661
http://www.hearinglosshelp.com     neil@hearinglosshelp.com

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