 Nearly 2.5 billion people around the world are estimated to have some range of hearing loss by 2050. Hearing loss usually occurs slowly, so it’s difficult to figure out there’s any loss until it becomes a little more severe. High-frequency hearing loss is more common than low-frequency hearing loss. Examples of high frequencies are children’s voices and domestic fire alarms. Examples of low frequencies are deep voices and diesel engines.
Primary Causes of Hearing Loss Hearing loss usually gets worse as you age. Here’s why:
The Inability to Hear Certain Volumes A normal, healthy ear can harness sounds that range from a single decibel to sounds in triple decibels. As hearing abilities worsen, the volume that is needed for the ear to pick up sound rises. If there’s mild hearing loss, a person will not be able to hear sounds under 20 dB (decibels). A person with moderate hearing loss cannot hear noises between 41 to 55 dB. When a person cannot recognize sounds between 55 to 70 dB, it can negatively impact their quality of life. The average volume of human speech reaches 65 dB. Not being able to hear others speak can cause confusion, and create isolation because one or both parties are unaccommodating. As a result, this can lead to loneliness and depression. Those with profound deafness cannot hear any sounds under 90 dB. Having a verbal conversation is nearly impossible. Loss of Sound Frequencies A young person with healthy hearing abilities can hear from 20 to 20,000Hz. The higher frequencies are harder to hear as people age. On average:
Most sounds that we hear on a daily basis range between 2,000 and 5,000Hz. The sounds of birds singing can range between 1,000 to 8,000Hz. The majority of human speech frequencies range between 2,000 to 4,000Hz. When a person can no longer hear frequencies below 7,000 to 8,000Hz, their hearing abilities have significantly declined and should be tested. The inability to hear frequencies is why some struggle to hear a conversation when there’s any background noise. What Are Early Symptoms of Hearing Loss? It’s tough to notice early symptoms of hearing loss. A person’s ability to hear high frequencies will start to worsen when a person reaches their 30s, but no negative effects will be noticeable. Here are early symptoms of hearing loss:
If you notice any of these signs in yourself or a loved one, schedule a complimentary hearing test and consultation with us at Pure Sound Hearing. The appropriate solution will be recommended by our providers.  According to a 2021 study that the JAMA Psychiatry published, the relationship between tinnitus and mental health was studied among over 6,000 middle-aged Rotterdam residents for five years.
Participants were examined in order to evaluate age-related conditions and health problems like tinnitus. Test subjects who had tinnitus (those who found it bothersome and not bothersome) had more concerning issues than those who did not have the condition in three main areas: symptoms of depression, anxiety, and their quality of sleep. Tinnitus and its Impact on Your Mood Just like with any new diagnosis, patients can become devastated by their new symptoms. This can be irritating when a person develops or already has another chronic illness. Mild chronic tinnitus and other comorbidities can overwhelm patients, and that can lead to emotional/mental health problems. Tinnitus can also be a sign of hearing loss, particularly presbycusis (age-related hearing loss). Hearing loss that goes untreated can worsen and cause even more isolation, loneliness, and depression, along with cognitive decline caused by brain atrophy. People with tinnitus need to be reassured that they’re not crazy because they can hear sounds that nobody else can, but it can impact their mental health. Treating Tinnitus There is no cure for tinnitus but in addition to counseling or support groups, there are ways to manage it. Don’t mistake an incurable symptom with no treatment options. If you also have hearing loss in addition to your tinnitus, hearing aids feature a tinnitus masking option that can be programmed into your devices. Simply using other masking techniques, such as white noise machines, can also be helpful in tuning out the tinnitus. Contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a hearing test and consultation from one of our hearing aid providers.  There are many different root causes of tinnitus, but the symptoms are nearly universal. Everyone who has it described hearing a “phantom sound” that has no external source. Each patient who has tinnitus would handle it differently. Sound machines, a different diet, sleep routine, or hearing aids may be recommended to make the noises bearable. Let's go over some of the signs and symptoms.
Phantom Sound Hearing sounds, such as buzzing, clicking, hissing, humming, or ringing that have no external source is the primary symptom of tinnitus. The noises can be constant or intermittent. Your hearing care professional can determine what type of noise you are hearing, the underlying cause, and proper treatment options. Tinnitus tends to lead to depression and insomnia, due to its consistent and bothersome nature. Some can train themselves to ignore the sounds through sound therapies or meditation, while others may need a white noise machine or a masking feature through hearing aids. Sleepless Nights A poor night’s rest can worsen symptoms of tinnitus. A very quiet environment can make tinnitus more noticeable. Most patients can go about their day without noticing the noise. But once they find themselves in a quiet space, for example, when they wind down for bedtime, it can become unbearable. Insomnia is not only dangerous for your health but it can worsen symptoms of anxiety and depression. Ear Pressure An obvious indication that a patient’s tinnitus is caused by earwax buildup would be pressure that is felt in the ear canal. When there is more pressure on the eardrum, tinnitus, hearing loss, and vertigo can occur. This can be found in one or both ears. Tinnitus that goes untreated can become permanent. When hearing health declines as you age, there’s also a higher chance of experiencing tinnitus. Slowing the process of hearing loss is important for your overall health. If you or a loved one experiences symptoms of tinnitus, contact us at Pure Sound Hearing immediately for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  There are still so many unknown factors about tinnitus, and there isn’t much proof that there is a link between the two. There have been some complaints from people who have tinnitus that reported their symptoms got worse when they consumed specific foods or drinks.
We know that consuming alcohol can be a primary factor in worsened tinnitus and hearing issues, but there are other things that we consume that can also worsen these symptoms. Consuming caffeine and sodium can also exacerbate symptoms of tinnitus for some individuals. For others, those things might actually help. Everyone is different, and so are their tinnitus symptoms to certain foods. Reports on Tinnitus and Nutrients It’s difficult to do research and analyze how nutrients impact tinnitus, but a study from the U.K. made an attempt. Over 34,000 residents completed a questionnaire about their challenges with hearing, tinnitus, and diet. Researchers observed patterns among the three. They concentrated on vitamins and minerals. Salt consumption was not analyzed. A Diet that is High in Fat can be Detrimental Generally, consuming foods that are high in calcium, fat, and iron are linked to a higher risk of tinnitus. On the other hand, higher intakes of B12 and meat consumption were connected to lowered risks of tinnitus. Consuming too many foods that are high in fat may affect blood vessels, which provide healthy circulation throughout the body, including the ears. Unhealthy blood vessels are the reason why heart disease and diabetes are connected to hearing loss. Limits of this Research The study was unable to determine the cause and effect of tinnitus. It was not made to test if adding an abundance of vitamin B12 will ease hearing problems. Rather, it was created to distinguish patterns in the self-reported diets and symptoms of tinnitus. There would then be a controlled trial that was randomized. In this scenario, test subjects’ diets were rigidly controlled for a certain amount of time, and tinnitus symptoms were measured. It’s important not to completely change your diet based on this report, but you may want to start keeping a journal or record of what you eat on a day-to-day basis while taking note of how the tinnitus symptoms sound and how your ears feel. Adjust your diet and find out what works for you. Things like alcohol, caffeine, dark chocolate, red meat, cheese, or salty foods might need to be avoided. Tinnitus and hearing loss tend to occur simultaneously. If you are experiencing tinnitus and or hearing loss, contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  Hearing loss is the third leading chronic physical condition in the U.S., following high blood pressure and arthritis. Hearing loss is the most prevalent work-related illness, due to dangerous noise levels in these environments. Here are some recommendations to reduce the risks of exposure to noise in the workplace.
Nearly every industry can put employees at risk of work-related hearing loss Prevention is important because noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the only preventable type of hearing loss and it’s the easiest to manage.
Preventing Hearing Loss on the Job Find out whether the noise in your work environment is dangerous. Just like with any loud space, if you need to speak louder when the person you are talking to is just an arm’s length away, the noise level is too loud. Use a noise level meter app to determine the noise level in your environment. Discuss checking noise levels in your workplace with your manager or supervisor. Decrease noise from the source. Use quiet tools and equipment, or wear hearing protection - like earplugs or earmuffs - while using them. Reduce exposure to noise:
If you or a loved one are experiencing hearing loss, tinnitus, or both, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  Defining Hearing Loss
Hearing loss, or a hearing impairment, makes it difficult to hear or interpret sounds. It occurs as a result of a complication with one or multiple components of the ear, the nerves in the ears, or the part of the brain that interprets sounds. Some people with hearing loss are born with it. Hearing loss can happen suddenly, or gradually over time. Hearing loss can be hereditary, caused by birth defects, infections, or medications. If you know ahead of time that the medication that you need to take can induce hearing loss, try to look for an alternative before taking it. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is the only preventable form of hearing loss. Exposure to a sudden noise - like a loud explosion or frequently being around loud sounds over time can cause damage to the tiny hair cells found in the inner ear, making it challenging to hear clearly. You can tell whether your environment is too loud if you need to shout for someone close by to hear you. If you find yourself in a crowded area and have trouble hearing the person/people you are speaking to, you may have some hearing loss. Defining Tinnitus If you’ve ever noticed a ringing or buzzing sound in your ears after being at a loud concert, a sports stadium, or any other loud event, you’ve had tinnitus. It normally quiets down after a day or two. Continuous tinnitus or hearing muffled noises indicates that there is some damage to the hair cells in your ear. Hair cells harness sound waves and translate them into electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain. When hair cells become damaged, they can no longer transmit sound signals as clearly as they normally did. Tinnitus and hearing loss often, but not always, go hand in hand. Repeated exposure to loud noise or music can worsen symptoms of tinnitus and hearing loss. This is why musicians, construction workers, airport runway employees, and people who work in other noisy settings wear ear protection. Common tools and appliances like lawnmowers, power tools, or blenders are also loud enough to induce hearing loss and/or tinnitus. Preventative Measures Here are some of the best ways to prevent NIHL:
If you are noticing hearing loss, contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a free hearing test and consultation.  Everyone has been affected by the pandemic. In most instances stress from the current situation has exacerbated chronic conditions.
These circumstances - the social isolation, unpredictability, the news, financial troubles, an interruption in our routines, inaccessibility of or challenges with visiting healthcare providers, have caused hardships for everyone, including people with tinnitus. Stress and how it Affects Tinnitus Stress triggers many chronic conditions, like tinnitus. More stress can make tinnitus louder and more difficult to tune out. Here’s a simple way to mentally visualize this issue. Imagine the capacity of managing your stress in the form of a big glass tank. The tank symbolizes the amount of stress you can handle each day. When your stress rises and the tank overflows, you begin to have symptoms of anxiety or other negative health problems. Anyone with tinnitus can tell you that the stress that comes while living with this condition can flood the tank. Even if the stress that you associate with tinnitus is not flooding the tank, it can still be very distracting. Other stress factors that usually don’t affect you, may be enough to overwhelm you and induce anxiety. When people are able to habituate to their tinnitus and experience some relief, the ability to manage stress will be reinforced. Stress can come from anything, so it’s not just stress from the tinnitus that you need to take charge of. Other factors can be related to work, relationships, family, finances or lack thereof, health problems, the pandemic, etc. Reduce stress by checking out tips from these articles: How can Stress Lead to Hearing Loss? Soothe Your Stress by Listening to Nature How Can Art Therapy Help Patients with Chronic Conditions like Hearing Loss and Other Comorbidities? Do you have Hearing Loss and Anxiety? If you or a loved one experiences tinnitus and/or hearing loss, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  It doesn’t matter how old you are or what your background is. Hearing loss can affect anyone. There are different causes and ranges of hearing impairment. Detecting hearing problems early and receiving proper treatment is key to health management, preventing or slowing down a further decline.
1. Have Others Noticed a Change in Your Hearing? If other people complain about needing to repeat themselves or if you don’t hear them when they say something to you, this can be another sign of hearing loss. Your loved ones or other people that you frequently interact with are usually the first to notice there’s something wrong with your hearing. 2. Do You Have Difficulty with Hearing Consonant Sounds in Words? If you can’t clearly hear the beginning of words, especially consonants, this might be an early sign of hearing loss. If you have problems with differentiating some words from each other, like ring and sing, this can also be an early sign of hearing loss. 3. Do You find it Difficult to Hear in Loud Environments? If you avoid certain places, spending time with others, or frequently need to ask others to repeat themselves, particularly in busy or loud areas, you may be experiencing hearing loss. 4. Are You Cranking up the Volume on Entertainment Systems? This is one of the most common signs people experience when they start to lose their hearing. If others ask you to turn the volume down when watching or listening to something, you should get your hearing tested. 5. Do You notice a Phantom Ringing Sound? Tinnitus is a common type of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) among those who experience regular exposure to loud noises. Get a hearing test immediately if you notice consistent ringing noises that are difficult to ignore and have no outside/physical source. Tinnitus can be a sign of an underlying health condition, so get your hearing tested as soon as possible so that you can receive immediate treatment. 6. Do You Hate Talking on Your Phone? Hearing conversations through a phone is difficult for some people with hearing loss. Voices may not sound loud or clear enough. If you tend to switch to the loudspeaker option, this can be a sign of hearing loss. All modern digital hearing aids have Bluetooth® technology, so it’s possible to stream your phone calls directly through your hearing aids. 7. Do You Often Feel More Fatigued? If you feel tired more often, this could be due to the amount of energy you use to pay attention to what others are saying. Get a hearing test if this is the case for you. Listening fatigue is a real problem among those with hearing loss. Receiving adequate treatment can help you focus easier, and make you feel less drained. If any of these issues have occurred to you, or a loved one, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  Les Paul, has been bestowed with many titles including award-winning musician, innovator, creative genius, inventor of the solid-body electric guitar, multi-track recording, echo, over-dubbing, and other music advancements. He also wore hearing aids in both ears.
In 1969 his hearing started to deteriorate when a friend playfully smacked the side of his right ear, which led to his eardrum rupturing. It wasn’t a hard slap, but his friend’s open palm made contact with Paul’s right ear. The abrupt pressure popped his eardrum. A surgical procedure complicated his hearing, and he lost his ability to hear out of his right ear. A couple of years later, another guitar player slapped over his left ear, and again, that eardrum also popped. In total, he had five operations on his inner ear and eardrums. His hearing loss eventually became permanent, and he has been wearing hearing aids ever since. He always looked for ways to improve the quality of hearing aids and hearing health until he passed away in 2009. His work continues through the Les Paul Foundation, which provides yearly funding to Hearing Health Foundation’s Emerging Research Grants program to discover a cure for tinnitus. Contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation if you experience hearing loss and/or tinnitus.  Are you ever roused from your sleep by the sound of tinnitus? For 1 out of 5 adults, it’s a common problem that interferes with a restful night.
A research team from the University of Oxford hypothesized the reason for this phenomenon, which may also hold the key to improving treatment options for tinnitus. Why does Tinnitus Stir You from Your Sleep? Researchers came up with a new model for how tinnitus interferes with sleep using current evidence. When a person falls asleep, the brain obstructs noises that are occurring in the room. For example, this is how people can fall asleep to certain music or a TV that’s playing something. It’s uncertain how this occurs. It is also unknown how a person’s sleep patterns change when responding to internal experiences of pain or tinnitus. There are five stages that your brain repeatedly goes through when you sleep. Non-REM sleep falls under stages 1, 2, 3, and 4. The fifth stage is REM sleep. The stages where you do not dream make up about 75% of your total sleep time. The brain produces different kinds of wave activity that gradually disperse throughout the brain during that time. Initially, the wave activity might repress the brain signals that cause tinnitus. When the wave is less severe, tinnitus symptoms might worsen and then wake you up or interfere with a deeper rest. Tinnitus might cause the Brain to Stay Awake This can cause wakefulness in a resting brain, which can stop you from starting the dreaming stage known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Night terrors, which have been connected to adults with tinnitus, also occur during this transition stage. Sleep patterns are connected to the way tinnitus develops. This information will help researchers figure out a moment when providing tinnitus treatment will be the most effective before it becomes permanent. The research will also help them find out how the quality of sleep is affected by tinnitus. This may evolve into other research about whether better rest can help repair irregular activity in the brain that is connected to tinnitus. Tinnitus and Poor Rest Those with tinnitus tend to be light sleepers. In a survey of over 14,000 Japanese residents between the ages of 45 and 79, roaring tinnitus nearly tripled the risk of insomnia. Even a mild case of tinnitus made it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or feel rested. Sleep apnea was another condition connected with tinnitus. It can cause snoring, sleepiness during the daytime, high blood pressure, stroke, and other health issues. Difficulties with sleep are different for each age group. Night terrors, which are common in young boys, are connected to adults (age 20-44) with tinnitus. Poor rest can lead to difficulty in managing tinnitus symptoms or any other chronic conditions. Women with tinnitus and bad rest are more likely to experience headaches, neck pain, or feelings of anxiousness, whereas men are more likely to experience depression. Even though there’s no cure for tinnitus, counseling and different therapies - including sound therapy - can reduce the severity of the problem and make sleeping easier. Tips for Better Rest First of all, stop looking at your phone, computer, and TV screens. The blue light from your devices causes your brain to remain active. Try listening to restful music for two hours. It’s important to only listen for two hours - after that period of time, the white noise may over-stimulate the brain. This technique was tested on 30 patients with tinnitus by an audiology and speech specialist at Gaziantep University in Turkey. Some patients claimed they stopped noticing their tinnitus, and others heard quieter tinnitus noises after six months. These patients’ symptoms of depression also felt eased. The objective was to help patients “fall asleep with less exposure to the disturbing effects of tinnitus”, instead of stopping them from waking up. On average the length of the first non-REM sleep cycle is 70 to 100 minutes, therefore it should only take about two hours to cover up your tinnitus. If these techniques did not prove to be effective, try hearing aids. Hearing aids feature a tinnitus masking technology, so the symptoms won’t be noticeable as long as you are wearing them. Contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a hearing test and consultation from one of our providers.  You may have experienced hearing a wide range of noises from the softness of a loved one’s voice to the sirens on a fire truck, or a more soothing sound of your favorite music. These sounds are measured using a decibel. This is a ratio between power, sound pressure, and voltage.
Measuring the Intensity of Sound Sound moves in the form of energy waves. It is measured via frequency and amplitude.
The Increase in Decibels is Exponential A 10 dB increase indicates that the sound is 10 times louder, and a 20 dB increase indicates that the sound is 100 times louder. A List of Decibels for Common Sounds Simply being told a number for a decibel measurement probably doesn’t mean anything, unless you are a hearing healthcare professional or someone who frequently uses a decibel meter app. Hearing loss can occur with decibels as low as 70 (that’s after frequent or prolonged exposure). These noises can lead to immediate and permanent hearing loss after one exposure at close-range: 150-160 dB - A shotgun/firearm 140 dB - A jet engine as it departs a runway/fireworks 120 dB - An emergency vehicle siren/concerts These noises can lead to noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) after regular, prolonged exposure: 110 dB - A rock concert 105-130 dB - Sports events (based on the size and style of the arena/stadium) 105 dB - Playing music through earbuds or headphones at the highest volume 100 dB - A motorcycle 90 dB - Power tools/lawn mower 80-90 dB - Heavy traffic Anyone with untreated mild-to-moderate hearing loss tends to struggle with hearing these softer sounds: 70 dB - Vacuum cleaner 60 dB - Normal conversation with one other person 50 dB - A conversation among a group of people 20 dB - Rustling leaves 10 dB - Breathing How are Decibels Measured? Hearing loss is measured according to the lowest range of decibels that you can hear. A person with normal hearing can hear leaves rustling or water dripping into the sink or on the ground (~10 dB), but someone with mild hearing loss would not be able to hear that sound. Frequency and pitch are other parts of hearing loss. Loss of hearing in higher frequencies is more common than in lower frequencies. There are different combinations of decibel and frequency loss. Normal hearing ability: 10-20 dB Mild hearing loss: 25-40 dB Moderate hearing loss: 40-55 dB Moderately severe hearing loss: 55-69 dB Severe hearing loss: 70-89 dB Profound hearing loss: 90-120 dB How can You tell if an Environment is too Loud? If you are in a noisy area and concerned that you could lose your hearing, here are a few things you can do:
Be Cautious, especially if You Have Hearing Loss. If you wear hearing aids, you need to be aware of the noise levels in your environment. Hearing aids amplify sounds, so you are still at risk of hearing loss just like everyone else. You can ask your hearing instrument specialist to program a special setting for these occasions. Do not turn off your hearing aids as a way to try and protect your hearing. If they are not snugly fit in your ear canal, they will not be able to block out harmful sounds when switched off. Instead, you won’t be able to hear the sounds that you want/need to hear. Work with a professional hearing instrument specialist to establish the correct hearing protection for the event that you will attend or the activity that you will be participating in. If you or a loved one are experiencing hearing loss, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  Work plays a significant role in your social status. A general sense of achievement and self-worth is felt in us when we work. Tinnitus Hub, a group of people with tinnitus who work for the tinnitus patient community, focus on patient support and education, promote research, and raise awareness, gathered data indicating that over a third (38 percent) of employees have expressed that their symptoms had a negative impact on their work.
This doesn’t just disrupt the workflow of the employee, but it can affect their income and the economy in general. Tinnitus Talk is a worldwide online community for tinnitus patients. Volunteers who run this organization are pushing to raise awareness so that it’s taken more seriously as a problem that can impact work environments. Tinnitus Hub Statistics from 2018 A survey with 1,800 participants asked, “Has tinnitus affected your job or work prospects?”
Difficulty with Concentration The main effect of tinnitus on the job is the inability to focus. There’s a spectrum of how patients with tinnitus struggle. According to the survey, tinnitus affected concentration mildly (41 percent), moderately (33 percent), or severely (20 percent). Only a small percentage reported a lack of problems with concentration. This is significantly different from the “concentration/listening fatigue” that individuals with hearing loss may encounter. In some cases, their brain needs to make an extra effort to interpret what they heard. It’s due to constantly hearing the tinnitus in their head while refocusing it to the background in order to concentrate on something else. Anyone who struggles with tinnitus can find coping mechanisms from sound machines or hearing aids, to meditation. Patients with severe forms of tinnitus generally experience anxiety and/or insomnia, which can affect their performance at work. Most people cannot grasp the daily stress of constantly hearing a high-pitched sound. Difficult Work Environments There are certain jobs that frequently expose people to loud noises that can damage hearing or induce tinnitus. These include construction, manufacturing, military service, and the music industry. Low-level exposure to sounds on a regular basis for hours at a time, like in a call center, school, or restaurant can cause some harm to a person’s hearing health. Anyone with tinnitus may notice more sensitivity to sound (hyperacusis). As a result, normal office work environments can lead to ear pain or loud instances of tinnitus. Commuting to work can be a struggle for someone with hyperacusis. Traffic noises can spike tinnitus symptoms. Potential Negative Reactions from Employers and Coworkers Many people with tinnitus have pointed out the ignorance of employers or colleagues, along with how unwilling they are to make changes that would benefit a person with tinnitus. Some are hesitant to reveal this information for fear of discrimination. How to Help Every employee should be accommodated. If the tinnitus is stress-induced, the anxiety tends to pass for most people. It can take weeks, months, or even years to obtain habituation. Others may turn to permanently adjust their situation by working a less demanding job. If you’d like to consider using hearing aids to mask tinnitus symptoms, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  June is National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month.
Hearing loss isn’t a symptom of migraines, but tinnitus and other problems with the ears can be connected to migraines. A migraine attack can induce a change in your vision, but a lot of people are not familiar with hearing problems or complaints about the ear. Nearly 40 percent of patients with migraines also have bouts of vertigo and dizziness. These symptoms can develop due to an illness within the vestibular system - including the areas of the inner ears. It is common for anyone who gets a migraine to experience more sensitivity to sound when they have a migraine attack. This is known as sonophobia or phonophobia. Do Migraines induce Hearing Complications? Hearing loss and problems with hearing are uncommon symptoms of migraines. Migraines do not cause hearing loss. Some general hearing loss issues are linked to migraines, but the exact connection is unknown. It is not evident whether one condition drives the other or if they coexist. There are cases that suggest those who have hearing loss are more prone to migraine attacks, but there aren’t enough studies for this to be conclusive. Vestibular Migraines This type of migraine stems from the inner ear and the area of the brain that helps with balance. Vestibular migraines can cause motion sickness, dizziness, and possible changes in hearing during an attack. These changes may include hypersensitivity, a loss in hearing, and tinnitus. A Fluctuation in Hearing and Headaches Can be Caused by Pressure in the Brain There’s a different kind of headache linked to tinnitus known as idiopathic intracranial hypertension. It is caused by an overproduction of cerebrospinal fluid, which is fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension can lead to a severe headache and loss of vision. Some have described their tinnitus as a “gushing sensation in the ear” as if they were by the ocean while waves are crashing onto the shore. It’s a rare condition that affects 1 in 100,000 people. It’s common in women within the age range of 20 to 45, who are also obese. According to the National Organization for Rare Disorders, there have been 20 out of 100,000 incidents. Migraines and Sudden Hearing Loss If sudden hearing loss occurs in a person, migraines are usually not a primary reason for the underlying cause. It can, however, be considered something to examine. The sign of a potentially serious health problem is sudden sensorineural hearing loss. A healthcare provider would rule out other conditions like Ménière's disease, or even a clot in the veins draining from the brain that can lead to problems with hearing. Ménière's disease occurs due to fluid buildup in the inner ears. It normally affects one ear. Migraine headaches may occur with Ménière's disease, in addition to changes in hearing, tinnitus, and hearing loss; in rare instances, it can cause sudden hearing loss. There are variations in the symptoms of Ménière's disease. You may feel better for several months at a time, and then you may notice that your ears are feeling full again or the hearing loss has returned. It’s rare to have sudden deafness, but the Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology revealed that people with migraines had a higher risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss than those who did not have migraines. If you, or a loved one, are experiencing hearing loss for any reason, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  Tinnitus levels can vary each day for different reasons. Sometimes it’s a physiological condition within your body, your surrounding environment, or the type of tinnitus management that you practice. We’ll go over some factors that can affect the sounds of this phantom noise.
Stressors can Affect the Volume of Tinnitus Stress is one of the primary agents of tinnitus. Tinnitus symptoms may become bothersome during a stressful moment in life, or when we’re having a stressful day. When there’s a significant shift in life, whether it’s at home or with your job, stress lets the body react and respond mentally, emotionally, and physically. Prolonged periods of stress can lead to an imbalance which can trigger louder tinnitus on some days over other days. Common causes of stress can include life-altering circumstances such as grieving a loved one or losing a job. A steady flow of stress that is caused by ordinary circumstances such as deadlines for work, or caring for loved ones, can worsen tinnitus symptoms. Living through these situations can make your tinnitus sound louder on some days and quieter on other days. Conditions caused by stress are also associated with tinnitus and make the phantom noise worse. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and tinnitus have comparable structures and can bring attention to one another. Taming Internal Stressors Even though external stress can impact the perceived loudness of your tinnitus, the way you manage the stress (a.k.a. internal stress) is just as important. If your body is not sufficient or healthy enough to deal with external stress, tinnitus symptoms can get worse. In order to better manage stress, you need proper nutrition, exercise, and an adquent amount of sleep that’s consistent. Your Diet’s Influence on Stress It’s easy to ignore the persistent messages from experts encouraging you to eat healthily, but it’s one of the crucial elements to lowering your stress levels and keeping them down in order to better manage your tinnitus. Processed foods should be left out of your diet, as consuming them makes it harder to manage stress. These foods are often high in sugar. If there’s too much change in your blood sugar levels, the sympathetic area of the nervous system becomes stimulated. This is the area of the brain that handles our fight or flight and makes us ready to react. When this occurs, stress hormones are released which can lead to symptoms of stress. These could include anxiety, irritability, nervousness, and interruptions in sleep patterns, which can be common while experiencing symptoms of tinnitus. A healthy and well-balanced diet also lets us replace nutrients and vitamins, which may be expended during stressful moments. For example, vitamins B complex, iron, magnesium, and zinc can help aid with stress. Tinnitus can seem worse after consuming caffeine, alcohol, or smoking cigarettes. These tend to raise your adrenaline. It doesn’t need to be a permanent change, but it’s helpful to let your body get used to this new diet to see if it has any impact on your symptoms. Sleepless Nights and Stress Sleep is VERY crucial in keeping a healthy body and mind. Less sleep = more stress and louder symptoms of tinnitus. A good night’s rest allows you to better handle stress. Giving your body a chance to recover and rest is important to properly manage stress. Poor rest can affect your mood, memory, and judgment. Exercise to Manage Stress Struggling to manage your stress, can make tinnitus worse. And tinnitus itself can be stressful. It’s a vicious cycle. This can trigger the sympathetic part of our autonomic nervous system. That indicates that there are more stress hormones moving throughout the body like adrenaline, cortisol, and noradrenaline. Try to lower these hormones by engaging in a relaxing exercise, like yoga. The more relaxed you feel the quieter tinnitus symptoms can be. Quiet Environments and Tinnitus Tinnitus can seem louder because of your surroundings. If your environment is too quiet, tinnitus will be more noticeable. Lower noise levels in the background that are meant to mask tinnitus can actually make the symptoms seem louder. Also, silence can activate a response to stress in the body which increases internal auditory sensitivity. Your hearing can become more perceptive while getting yourself ready for a possible threat. This form of hearing can make internal noises, like tinnitus, louder. Going from a loud environment to a quieter area can make it seem like the tinnitus has gotten worse. Give yourself time to adjust. This might involve rubbing our ears, doing breathing exercises, and practicing mindfulness when we respond to symptoms of tinnitus. Treatment Options Focus your attention on something else, meditate with music in the background, use a sound machine, or if you are also noticing difficulty with hearing in addition to tinnitus, try hearing aids. Contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a free hearing test and hearing trial.  Seniors are at a higher risk of a number of health problems. It’s important to take care of your overall health and make better decisions about your diet, exercise routines, and lifestyle. This can help you better manage any potential health problems that stand in the way.
Hearing and vision loss are two of the most prevalent health conditions that seniors experience. More than 42% of individuals over 50 years of age have some hearing loss, and about 71% of individuals over 70 years of age have some range of hearing loss. There are a lot of preventative measures, treatments, and daily habits to help you live a healthier life, even with presbycusis (age-related hearing loss). With knowledge and ways to manage health concerns, you can help your condition from getting worse. Preventative Care Taking precautions now can make a huge difference. Listening to music or media at a low volume can help lower your risks of hearing loss. If you are in a noisy environment for an extensive period of time, wear earbuds or, if possible, move yourself to a quieter space. Wear earbuds when using loud tools or any motor-powered devices. With age-related hearing loss, you may notice tinnitus, you may struggle to keep up with conversations, or have memory issues. Built-up earwax can obstruct sounds and should be softened and removed by a professional, not by inserting cotton swabs in the ear canal. Diabetics should be attentive when taking care of their blood sugar. A healthy weight can help reduce the chances of hearing loss, along with regular exercise and eating healthily. Immediately seek help if you begin to notice hearing loss. Alleviating the Symptoms of Hearing Loss To help manage your hearing loss, hearing aids can, and should, be worn. Hearing loss can deteriorate brain function because the brain is not reacting to sounds like it used to. Listening is a brain exercise that needs to be worked out on a regular basis. Managing your hearing loss also means that you need to communicate your needs to family, friends, and coworkers so that they can better understand your situation and adapt accordingly. Maybe you’ll need to tell them to face you in a well-lit room when they speak, or they need to talk louder in certain situations. Communicating these things will help a great deal. Those with hearing loss may need to be patient with them, as they work through this new normal with you. Make a plan. If you, or a loved one, are experiencing problems with hearing, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  Spring is here! If you have a green thumb and your own garden, maybe you’ll be interested in planting homegrown produce that supports healthy hearing. If you’re a local Lancastrian, did you know that our county has the most productive non-irrigated farming in the entire country? Why not try some of the bountiful produce that our county has to offer while improving your hearing health?
Asparagus It takes time and patience to grow asparagus. The first harvest might take a few years, but it will be worth it! Asparagus is a great source of folate, which is great for hearing health. Folate has been found to possibly lower the risk of hearing loss in elderly men. Blueberries Blueberries are delicious on their own, in a smoothie, in pie, or scattered over pancakes. They are full of vitamin C, which when combined with magnesium and vitamins A and E, can help treat worsening symptoms of noise-induced hearing loss. Kale Kale is great on its own, or as an addition to lasagna, salads, or soups. This leafy green also has folate. Pumpkins If you plant pumpkin seeds around late May, the pumpkins should be ready for harvesting by the summer or fall season. Fresh pumpkin seeds are a great source of zinc, which helps the immune system - and taking a medicated oral form may help treat symptoms of tinnitus. Tomatoes Tomatoes are vine-grown fruit that is rich in potassium - which helps regulate blood and tissue fluids. This includes fluid in the inner ear, which is crucial for hearing health and balance. If you’re trying to eat healthier for your ears, and/or overall health, try to incorporate these foods into your diet. Another way to improve your hearing health is by getting your hearing tested on a regular basis. Contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation at one of our office locations in Elizabethtown, Lititz, or Strasburg.  April is Stress Awareness Month, and we’re highlighting the correlation between stress and hearing loss, along with how to manage it.
Stress can be harmful to your overall health. It can lead to serious health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and obesity. Some tips to reduce your stress levels include regular exercise, spending time with people you love, getting an adequate amount of rest, and treatment for your hearing loss. Anyone with hearing loss experiences daily stressors that are connected to hearing loss. It’s called listening fatigue. This is when the concentration from listening to speech, focusing on reading lips, and social cues physically and mentally exhaust you. It’s a common feeling among anyone with hearing loss, but these symptoms can be reduced by wearing hearing aids. Stress from Tinnitus Tinnitus is connected to stress and is usually an underlying symptom of hearing loss. People with tinnitus may experience louder and more consistent ringing sounds when feeling stressed. A study found that 53.6 percent of patients with tinnitus reported that their symptoms worsened when they felt stressed. Another study from hearing healthcare providers revealed that nearly 60 percent of their patients had minor to significant tinnitus relief while wearing hearing aids. One out of five experienced major relief. Stress is almost impossible to avoid, but there are techniques that can help you manage from meditation to exercise, or simply taking a moment to laugh at something. If you or a loved one are experiencing tinnitus, hearing loss, or both please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation with one of our hearing aid providers.  Pictured: Dave Grohl We’ve discussed many work environments that can contribute to hearing loss from construction zones to gyms. Well, it should be no surprise that musicians, especially rock musicians, are also vulnerable to hearing loss. Lots of famous musicians have hearing loss, tinnitus, or both. Research suggests that they are four times more likely to have hearing problems than the general population.
1. The former Nirvana and current Foo Fighters band member, Dave Grohl, recently revealed that he has had hearing loss for years. He cannot hear out of his left ear and crowded restaurants are the worst spots for him to visit. Masks make things worse for him. He read lips for 20 years, and has to remind people that he is a rock musician, he’s deaf, and he cannot hear what others are saying. 2. Pete Townshend of The Who has been open about his hearing loss for many years. He pinpointed the problem to studio headphones, not from playing live music. 3. Another member of The Who, Roger Daltry, said that he is “very, very deaf”. 4. Danny Elfman, who scored Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and numerous other films, lost his hearing and developed tinnitus after playing frontman in his band Oingo Boingo. 5. Alice Cooper dons hearing aids after losing his hearing from being around loud rock music for 55 years. 6. Huey Lewis talked about how hearing loss and Menière’s disease cut his singing career short and recommended hearing aids. 7. Sting admitted that he has hearing loss, but still refused to get hearing aids. 8. Mick Fleetwood revealed that he has hearing loss, and played a “quiet” rock concert to raise awareness about hearing loss. The concert took place at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with 100 people in attendance. There were mixed responses. The band Eagles of Death Metal played two songs without amps. The audience listened with miniature radio receivers. Most just smiled. Later the band played three songs that were amplified through speakers, and the crowd jumped and danced around while waving their arms. The unamplified sound reached 62 decibels (dB) - which is normal - and the amplified sound reached 124 dB, which is the same noise level of a jet engine. Fortunately, there’s more awareness about this issue today. Musicians can even wear customized earplugs that are specially designed to wear while performing at concerts. If you are a musician, or someone who you know is a musician, with hearing loss please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  Hearing loss can be frustrating, isolating, and depressing. In addition to a better diet, routine exercise, and getting help for your hearing loss, scientific studies have proven that listening to sounds of nature can be therapeutic for all living creatures.
Heal Yourself by Hearing Elements Stress caused by work, living in a bustling city, or everyday life can take its toll on a person. The ability to go outside to breathe in the fresh air, see verdant landscapes, and hear lush waterfalls and animals feeds your mind, body, and soul. How Nature Sounds Effect Us In addition to the beautiful countryside, fresh scents of nature - minus the manure, if you live in Lancaster County - one part of nature has a serious effect on humans: sound. Compare the racket from a construction zone or loud music that’s blasting, to the sounds you hear while out on a hike in the forest or by the mountains. Nature sounds are much more soothing and have been proven to impact the way a human brain functions. Published Study on Nature Sounds Impact the Brain According to a survey from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School that was published in “Scientific Reports” in 2017, there was evidence of the positive impact of hearing natural sounds. Dr. Cassandra Gould and her team used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on a test group. While the participants were presented with artificial and natural sounds, their brain activity was measured with an MRI machine. The activity of the automatic nervous system was measured through a person’s shift in heart rate. The results showed that based on the sounds that each participant heard, the activity changed in their Default Mode Network, in other words, the region of the brain that remains active when a person rests. Nature Sounds Help with Focus and Lowers Stress When participants heard artificial sounds, the activity in their brain signified that their attention was changing inward. Noises that sound good can be a cause for concern: inward focus is also found in individuals who have clinical depression, anxiety disorders, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The participants in this study actually focused their attention outward while listening to nature sounds, which indicates that they were wide awake and focused. However, at the same time, they relaxed. The sympathetic nervous system, which controls the fight-and-flight response was at rest, whereas the parasympathetic system, which controls metabolism, recovery, and development of the body’s resources, was activated. Appreciate Ordinary Nature Sounds Everyone can benefit from listening to nature sounds. You don’t need to go to a secluded part of the world or go hiking outdoors every weekend. It just takes a little bit of time spent around some fresh air. If it’s nice out, your lunch break outdoors. Notice the sounds of animals, breezes, or falling rain. You’ll feel the rewards. If you can’t go outdoors when you want to, you can listen to sounds of nature through a CD, various streaming services, and apps. The Sea Sounds will let you create your own mix of ocean sounds. Nature Sounds give you a wider selection and offer water, fields, and forest sounds. A Soft Murmur provides noises like fire, rain, wind, and white noise. Even though white noise is not from nature, it can help if you have tinnitus. Do You Have Hearing Loss? Listen to some Natural Sounds. People with various types of hearing loss can also find relief with natural sounds. Please be aware that not all sounds are enjoyable for each person. One person’s relaxation sounds can induce stress in others. It’s important to find what works best for you. If you or a loved one experiences hearing loss and/or tinnitus, contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  What happens during Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS)?
You have most likely experienced this after leaving a concert: the noises you hear sound muffled, you notice feelings of fullness in your ears, and you might even hear tinnitus. The tiny hair cells in your ears came in contact with very powerful sound waves. This is known as temporary threshold shift (TTS). Hearing is usually recovered in these cases, and tinnitus goes away. If you have symptoms of clogged ears or tinnitus, this could mean that your hearing is damaged. If you have recurrent episodes of TTS, permanent hearing loss could ensue. How does the Ear become Damaged from Loud Noise? Loud noises, whether it’s from a concert, earbuds with high volume settings, or a work environment, can seriously damage your hearing health. To better understand this, let’s go over how hearing works. Essentially, sound travels into the ear and then stimulates the fluid located in the inner ear (A.K.A. the cochlea). The fluid produces waves across microscopic rows of hair cells. Every single hair cell is arranged in a tonotopic (tuned) manner to a particular frequency. This provides the best transmission of the sounds you hear. There is Damage in Your Ear’s Cells When loud sounds come in contact with your ears, the hair cells become distressed by becoming permanently bent over. This occurs even if there’s no noise. As a result, you may notice tinnitus, feelings of fullness in the ears, and temporary hearing loss. High sound frequencies are affected when TTS occurs. This impacts the way you hear consonant sounds. In the English language, you may not be able to hear the difference between certain words, like “car” or “far”. This is an example of being able to hear, but not understand. When it comes to TTS, your hearing threshold will recover to normal after a brief period. Is TTS Serious? The answer to this question isn’t clear-cut, because it’s a short-term symptom and for some people, things may seem normal for a while. Even if the hearing loss is temporary, it’s not an excuse to regularly attend concerts, work environments, or loud recreational activities without protecting your hearing. If you experience too many instances of TTS, it may turn into a permanent threshold shift (PTS). If you only experience TTS once, you probably won’t have permanent damage to your hearing. Why does TTS Happen? Overexposure to loud noises causes TTS. Concerts are a major culprit. Being near the speakers at a concert can endanger your ears to 110 decibels (dB). It only takes over 70 dB to induce hearing loss. TTS is a type of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), but its impact is fleeting. Other circumstances that can cause TTS are exposure to loud noises, like listening to music through earbuds/headphones, fireworks or an explosion that goes off near you, a gas-powered lawnmower, or an ambulance/police car siren. How long can TTS Last? TTS is a temporary symptom that can last anywhere from a couple of hours, a few days, or maybe several weeks. The longer and more intense the exposure is, the stronger and longer-lasting the TTS could be. Other influences could make an impact, such as an individual’s age, sex, history of noise exposure, frequented environmental settings, smoking, or diabetes. How do You know when an Area is Too Loud?
Preventative Measures for TTS It is unlikely that TTS will occur unexpectedly. The only cause is exposure to loud noise, so avoid these loud areas or be prepared to protect yourself. It sounds simple but in the modern world, you may encounter many unexpected situations that could be a danger to your hearing. Loud machines or movie theaters can reach anywhere between 74 to 104 dB. You can still enjoy the movies by wearing earplugs that tune out most, but not all noises. For earplugs that cancel out almost all noises, get earplugs that feature the highest noise reduction rating (NRR). If you are going to watch a movie in the theater, you can try earplugs that are designed for musicians. If you are noticing hearing loss and need a hearing test, contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  The sale of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids is meant to lower the cost of hearing aids, which sounds like a good way to make sure that everyone who needs hearing aids will be able to afford them. But a salesperson who is promoting OTC hearing devices does not have the knowledge and expertise of a hearing instrument specialist. Receiving a proper fitting, professional experience, and long-term care for the devices is crucial in getting the most out of your hearing aids. Investing in a local business, like Pure Sound Hearing, ensures quality service. Here are six reasons why you should work with a hearing instrument specialist.
1. Tech-savvy Hearing instrument specialists are licensed to sell hearing aids. They know the technology, are versed in proper care, repairs, and maintenance. Problems regarding feedback noise, corroded batteries, or anything else can be resolved with their help. 2. The Fit Comfort and performance are important factors in hearing aid usage. Standard hearing aid domes or a customized hearing aid that fits the contours of your ear ensures that you are not only hearing at your best but are also wearing devices that are securely fit. A secure fitting also ensures that feedback noises (the whistling sounds) are not blaring from the hearing aids. Customized programming for the hearing aids is also done by a hearing instrument specialist. They will base the programming on your preferences, lifestyle, and the environments that you frequent. Monitoring your progress, while making adjustments as needed can ensure that you’ll get the most out of your hearing aids. After receiving a new pair of hearing aids, you may notice discomfort, or feel like the hearing aids aren’t working. It’s important to remember this: adapting to hearing aids takes time. 3. Your Relationship with Your Provider Hearing loss is complicated. There are many types and causes, along with comorbidities that are connected to hearing loss. It can initially be difficult to become accustomed to hearing aids. Our providers at Pure Sound will be here to guide you and answer your questions along the way. 4. Tinnitus Hearing loss and tinnitus (the constant ringing, clicking, or whistling sound) often, but not always, go hand in hand. Ongoing research is helping professionals in the hearing healthcare world understand more about it. Providing support and solutions through hearing aids can help patients make their tinnitus symptoms more manageable. 5. Reliability Other than receiving the best support from a hearing instrument specialist, there is evidence that programming hearing aids on your own, or selecting a one-size-fits-all device (basically an amplifier) can cause more damage to your hearing. At Pure Sound Hearing, a series of tests will be performed to assess your hearing loss and make sure that the hearing aids provided will be tailored for your range of hearing loss. Too much amplification can do more damage to your hearing, and a poorly-fit hearing aid can lead to earwax build-up. 6. Hearing Aids are an Investment Even though OTC hearing aids may save you money at first, over time, the poor quality of the technology and services (or lack thereof) will become evident. A hearing instrument specialist will provide warranty protection, professional hearing aid cleanings, advice on upgrades, and any advice you need on hearing aid care and maintenance. If you or a loved one are experiencing hearing loss, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation.  There is still much to learn about the impact of menopause on hearing health. This is also the case with hormone therapy (HT). Research on mice and early human studies have suggested that taking estrogen can help protect your hearing. However, a different study with the current biggest data pool found the opposite to be true.
If you currently do not experience hearing loss, taking HT may increase your risk. This may occur whether it’s in pill or patch form and for formulas that contain estrogen on its own or when mixed with progesterone. When the researchers studied data for over 47,000 female nurses over the course of 22 years, they determined that a course of HT for five to 10 years raised the risk of hearing loss in women by 15 percent compared to a woman who did not take HT. There was a higher risk, the longer a woman continued taking HT. The study indicated that women who went through menopause later in life had an increased risk of hearing loss. Hearing Loss and Tinnitus during Menopause It is possible that your hearing abilities might change, or you might develop tinnitus as you reach menopause. This happens when estrogen creates menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes. Estrogen has an important role in your bones, brain, heart, muscles, and reproductive system. Estrogen receptors are located in hair cells and auditory pathways in the ear, but researchers are still learning how estrogen impacts hearing health. Sex hormones become altered during a menstrual cycle and during menstruation, so your hearing abilities may become less sensitive. In the perimenopause phase - the years before the ovaries stop releasing eggs and your menstrual cycle ends - your ovaries slowly produce less and less estrogen. During the last year or second to last year of perimenopause, the drop in estrogen becomes more and more rapid. After your period ends, normally after you reach 45 years of age, the ovaries will produce only a small amount of estrogen, but you still receive some from your adrenal glands and fat tissue. Low levels of estrogen can lead to hearing loss due to changes in blood flow to the cochlea - the hollow tube located in the inner ear. Another study measured hearing and blood levels of estradiol (a form of estrogen) in 1,830 postmenopausal women. In this research, it was found that the test subjects with less estradiol were more prone to experience hearing loss. Does the Age of Onset Menopause Impact Your Hearing? The connection between low estrogen levels and hearing loss indicates that women who enter menopause later, at age 50 or more - 51 is the average age of menopause in the U.S. - may have lower risks of hearing loss. The data in 81,000 nurses showed that women with late natural menopause had a 10 percent higher risk of developing hearing loss. It’s uncertain as to why this occurs. Advice on Hearing Health and Hormone Therapy If you start hormone therapy, you should monitor your hearing and take HT only as necessary. Some women have had sudden hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo as a result of HT. Contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible if this happens to you. How can Women Protect Their Hearing Health? Engage in exercise, have a healthy diet, and keep a healthy weight. People who followed these diets have had significantly lower risks of hearing loss. A Mediterranean diet of fish, vegetables, and whole grains - while reducing meat and snack foods - is recommended. Be aware of medications that can induce hearing loss, and make sure you reduce your exposure to dangerous noise levels by wearing hearing protection or avoiding loud areas altogether. For a complimentary hearing test and consultation, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing.  Stress Factors that Impact Auditory Processing
Can experiencing stress early in life impact the way children interpret what they hear? A grant of $2.3 million was awarded by the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders at the National Institutes of Health, which will be used by Northeast Ohio Medical University to research this subject. Included in the study will be an examination of how stress that occurs early in life, impacts auditory processing. It would also focus on children with conductive hearing loss. This research will help analysts concentrate on potential experiments to determine the best way to reduce these emotional issues in children. On Hearing Loss and Tinnitus There are some chemotherapy drugs that can save a patient’s life, but they can also damage the ears. A U.S. National Cancer Institute grant of $5.7 million will be used to investigate and research this topic. The study will focus on surveying “long-term health outcomes for cancer patients who receive platinum-based chemotherapies”. This will help determine whether certain cancer treatments cause or worsen hearing loss or tinnitus. Not only will identifying the potential risks be determined but how to reduce those risks will also be determined. Hearing Health and Effects from COVID-19 There have been more and more reports of possible connections between COVID-19 and hearing loss. The University of Manchester in the U.K. is doing a more thorough study on this. The school’s Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness is analyzing the long-term impact of COVID on an adult’s hearing abilities. Over 10% of test subjects who were treated for COVID-19 had reported tinnitus or worsened hearing in a previous study by the same analysts. The conclusion to these studies has yet to be made public, but they will hopefully offer better solutions for protecting and preserving hearing health. If you or a loved one are having trouble with hearing or experience tinnitus, please get in touch with us at Pure Sound Hearing for a solution.  Hearing loss can happen suddenly or gradually and remain undetected until you or others need to repeat themselves around you.
How can you determine whether you have hearing loss? The symptoms are based on the type of hearing loss and its severity. 1. Are you having trouble with hearing consonant sounds? Symptoms of presbycusis (age-related hearing loss), may include the inability to hear high frequencies. The sounds of F, K, P, S, Sh, Th, V are the usual consonant sounds that become tricky to hear. These are crucial sounds that help distinguish the differences between words that sound similar like “keep” and “sheep” or “fan” and “van”. You may misunderstand important information during a conversation or a medical-related appointment, or other people sound like they’re mumbling. You may be experiencing the ability to hear, but not understand. 2. Nature and other sounds are on mute When was the last time you heard birds, crickets, or other critters? Are you aware of the sound of your car’s turn signal when it’s blinking on? Is it difficult to hear women and children when they speak? Higher pitched sounds and voices reach 2,000 Hz or more. Anyone with high-frequency hearing loss tend to have a hard time hearing these ranges of noise. 3. Do you have difficulty with following along during conversations when there’s too much background noise? Another sign of high-frequency hearing loss is not being able to separate speech sounds in a noisy environment. You might turn down get-togethers and socializing with others because it takes too much energy to focus on conversations. 4. Listening fatigue can lead to depleted energy, so you might avoid going out altogether. Conversations may resemble a low-volume stereo that’s slowly breaking down or a poor phone line where some of the words in the conversation are missing. Hearing is a signal that is read by your brain. When your auditory system isn’t working properly, your brain uses more energy so that it can process sound from the inner ear. Basically, having hearing loss is a broken signal that isn’t transferring all of the sounds to the brain. Untreated hearing loss can lead to auditory pathways to the brain becoming atrophied. As a result, dementia can begin to set in. 5. Ringing ears The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has estimated that over 50 million people have some range of tinnitus. This makes it one of the most prevalent health issues in the U.S. Age-related and noise-induced hearing loss can lead to tinnitus. Researchers on this subject believe that tinnitus could be the brain’s way of replacing missing frequencies that it is not receiving from the auditory system. A solution High-frequency hearing loss is generally a form of sensorineural hearing loss. This indicates damage to the tiny hair cells located in the inner ear. These hair cells turn sounds into signals that are sent through the auditory nerve to the brain so that they can be interpreted. Sensorineural hearing loss can be caused by exposure to noise, disease, infection, or genetics. There is no cure for sensorineural hearing loss, but hearing aids can treat it. Contact one of our hearing instrument specialists at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation. Whether you have hearing loss, tinnitus, or both, our providers will help you find a solution that is suitable for you. Do You Have Tinnitus and Plan to Travel? Here are 10 Tips to Help You Manage it During Your Trip.2/8/2022  When you have disruptive tinnitus, the added stress from traveling can make it worse.
Traveling by air, land, or sea can aggravate symptoms of tinnitus. Whether it’s jet lag, various airplane engine sounds, airplane cabin pressure, or unhealthy food and drink options (over salty snacks, sugary drinks, or alcohol), tinnitus might be an extra thing that you need to worry about. You can plan ahead of time and avoid the most common problems with tinnitus when traveling. 10 Tips for Traveling with Tinnitus 1. Make sure you have a plan to help you manage tinnitus symptoms. Problems that may arise while traveling can cause stress, which can lead to distracting episodes of tinnitus. That can ruin your vacation or business trip. Planning for these scenarios can help. Worsening tinnitus - whether it becomes louder, becomes more intense, or creates an emotional reaction - can occur for a number of reasons. Sometimes tinnitus spikes can be identified easily, other times it can be too vague to pinpoint. Tinnitus spikes are some of the more problematic scenarios that just about everyone with tinnitus suffers from each day. What are tinnitus spikes? This occurs when the ringing sound abruptly changes or worsens. Causes of tinnitus spikes can include:
It can feel almost impossible to fight against an emotional reaction that is caused by a very bad case of tinnitus. Your anxiety and fear can set in, making the way you usually manage symptoms ineffective. Understand what triggers your tinnitus, and then immediately implement a coping mechanism if the symptoms arise while traveling. You can ask for help from fellow traveling companions so they can help you reduce the spikes as soon as possible. Even though you cannot turn down the volume of the tinnitus spike, you can calm yourself down by getting as comfortable as possible. If you wear hearing aids, you can ask your hearing instrument specialist to program your devices to mask the noise. Or, you can even listen to a meditation. Sooner or later the spike will pass. 2. Reduce the impact of jet lag Jet lag eventually goes away, but it can still create stress for a few days. Your body has a circadian rhythm, which adapts to a day to night cycle. So if travel from one time zone to another, your circadian rhythm is still following the previous time zone. This leads to temporary insomnia, fatigue, difficulty with concentration, changes in mood, stomach problems, and a general feeling of ailment. Symptoms of jet lag can worsen tinnitus, making it harder to manage. One way to reduce the effects of jet lag is to take melatonin. This will reset your sleep/circadian rhythm. Just like with any medication or supplement, discuss using it with your doctor. Melatonin is a hormone that discharges from the brain that signals to your body that it is nighttime and it’s time to sleep. Melatonin is available in pill form as an over-the-counter (or prescription) sleep aid in many countries, including the U.S. If you take it at your usual bedtime and then at a different time to adapt to your new time zone, it can help you sleep easier and also relieve jet lag by syncing up your circadian rhythm to the new time zone at a faster pace. 3. Pressure-equalizing earplugs can be worn during flights and drives that take place in higher elevations Everyone who has ever been in an aircraft that ascended into the sky or drove up any mountain has noticed that a quick change in elevation can impact your ears. The pressure levels in airplane cabins can reach from about 6,000 - 8,000 feet above sea level, and mountainous terrain can reach even higher levels. Based on the level of elevation that you start off on, this can equal a significant rapid change. Feelings of fullness, pain, and popping in the ear are normal experiences when there’s a quick pressure change. The pressure that occurs in your middle ear cannot change as quickly as the air pressure in the environment. As a result, the eardrum winds up swelling inwards or outwards. This doesn’t happen to everyone. If your ears are susceptible to elevation shifts, barometric pressure, or even changes in weather, it can negatively impact your tinnitus. A solution is wearing pressure-equalizing earplugs. You can find an affordable pair that uses filters to steadily equalize the pressure. Check out EarPlanes® or Mack’s FlightGuard Aviation Earplugs. 4. Pack different types of hearing protection so you’re ready for any noisy environment Everyone, no matter how good their hearing is, should be prepared to protect their hearing from loud noises. It’s even more important to do so if you have tinnitus. Dangerous noise levels can destroy your hearing and permanently worsen symptoms of tinnitus. Even if there isn’t permanent damage, just about everyone who has tinnitus has noticed spikes in symptoms when exposed to loud noises. If you know that your environment will be loud, remember to pack earplugs. There may be loud environments that where you were not anticipating to be in when traveling. To avoid potential hearing loss, always have two sets of earplugs that are easily accessible when traveling: a pair of regular foam or silicone earplugs (these are helpful in very loud settings) and another pair of high-fidelity musician’s earplugs (these reduce volume levels, but you can still hear music and other people’s voices when they speak to you). Customized earplugs that are perfectly contoured to your ears can also be made. You can talk to our hearing instrument specialists about getting them made. 5. Pack your own food and snacks The selection that is available for food at most airports and rest stops are generally fast food or junk food that is high in salt and sugar. If your tinnitus tends to worsen after consuming salt, sugar, or caffeinated drinks, it would be best to pack foods that are healthier for you. Even if these things do not trigger your tinnitus, consuming unhealthy foods can take its toll on your body and add unnecessary stress during your trip. You are allowed to bring your own food through airport security checkpoints. There are regulations when it comes to international travel - laws are different in each country, so you might not be able to carry on certain fruits and vegetables. 6. Shop in a local grocery store When you make it to your destination, go to a local grocery store. They’ll have healthy options for food and drinks that are less expensive than the stash that’s available in the hotel or their minifridge. 7. Preview restaurant menus It’s tempting to simply go to a fast-food restaurant, or picking just any restaurant if you’re really hungry. Following a low-sodium diet is going to be difficult in these places, which can add stress. Prior to each trip, do a little research and look at restaurant menus that will cater to your diet. You can even book a reservation so you know that you’ll have a place and time set aside. If you decide to rent a home or an Airbnb, you can simply cook your own meals and control the amount of salt and sugar that goes into your meals instead of worrying about what restaurants will serve you. 8. Give yourself some R&R While traveling, your health habits and daily routines may go out the window. Your sleep schedule will probably be disrupted. This could create stress, and stress usually equals spikes in tinnitus. Always make time for self-care. Rest and relax when possible. 9. Keep track of your medications and hearing aids So many things can go awry while traveling. Your bags get lost, plane delays, or a change in plans. Always keep important medications and devices with you, NOT in a checked bag or inaccessible suitcase. Make sure your hearing aids are fully charged or you have extra batteries with you. If you get stuck in a location, they’ll be easier to locate. 10. Proper sleep can go a long way Insomnia is a common cause of tinnitus spikes. Tinnitus can make sleeping difficult, which generates a vicious cycle. It’s not always easy to fall asleep, especially in unfamiliar places. Research indicates that the left side of your brain stays on alert during the first night, and possibly into the second night if you are in a new space. You can prioritize and protect your sleep routines by going to bed and waking up during normal hours. Use any means necessary to make sure you get enough sleep. You might want to use a sleep mask, sound machine, earplugs, or meditate before going to sleep. You might even want to bring your own pillow if it’s easy to store during your travels. If you have tinnitus and/or hearing loss, hearing aids could be a solution to get control of your tinnitus so that it’s more manageable. Get in touch with us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation. |
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