Noise and Hearing Protection

Insight into maintaining auditory health Can noise hurt my ears? How does the ear work? How can I protect myself against noise? and more… One in 10 Americans has a hearing loss that affects his or her ability to understand normal speech. Age-related hearing loss is the most common cause of this condition and is… Read more »


Infant Hearing Loss

If your newborn child: does not startle, move, cry or react in any way to unexpected loud noises, does not awaken to loud noises, does not turn his/her head in the direction of your voice, does not freely imitate sound, or has failed a newborn hearing screening test, then he or she may have some… Read more »


Why Do Children Have Earaches?

To understand earaches you must first know about the Eustachian tube, a narrow channel connecting the inside of the ear to the back of the throat, just above the soft palate. The tube allows drainage — preventing fluid in the middle ear from building up and bursting the thin ear drum. In a healthy ear,… Read more »


When Your Child Has Tinnitus

Tinnitus is a condition where the patient hears a ringing or other noise that is not produced by an external source. This disorder can occur in one or both ears, range in pitch from a low roar to a high squeal, and may be continuous or sporadic. This often debilitating condition has been linked to… Read more »


What You Should Know About Otosclerosis

What Is Otosclerosis? The term otosclerosis is derived from the Greek words for “hard” (scler-o) and “ear” (oto). It describes a condition of abnormal bone growth around the stapes bone, one of the tiny bones of the middle ear. This leads to a fixation of the stapes bone. The stapes bone must move freely for… Read more »


Noise-Induced Hearing Loss In Children

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports approximately 28 million Americans have lost some or all of their hearing, including 17 in 1,000 children under age 18. Noise exposure is increasingly common in the age of iPods and other personal music players. Overexposure to noise can cause both temporary and permanent hearing… Read more »


Know the Power of Sound

Sound is measured in decibels (dB). Each decibel is one tenth of a bel, which is a unit that measures the intensity of sound. For every six decibels, the intensity of the sound doubles. At 90 dB of uninterrupted sound, the limit of safe noise exposure is eight hours. For each six dB increase of… Read more »


How the Ear Works

The ear has three main parts: the outer ear (including the external auditory canal), middle ear, and inner ear. The outer ear (the part you can see) opens into the ear canal. The eardrum (tympanic membrane) separates the ear canal from the middle ear. The middle ear contains three small bones which help amplify and… Read more »


Your Genes and Hearing Loss

One of the most common birth defects is hearing loss or deafness (congenital), which can affect as many as three of every 1,000 babies born. Inherited genetic defects play an important role in congenital hearing loss, contributing to about 60 percent of deafness occurring in infants. Although exact data is not available, it is likely… Read more »


Ear Infection and Vaccines

Researchers continue to look for help for children and parents of children who suffer from the most common type of ear infection, called middle ear infection or otitis media (OM). About 62 percent of children in developed countries will have their first episode of OM by the age of one, more than 80 percent by… Read more »