Coping
Good Design Trumps All Else, Even In The Portable Bed-Shaker Market
OK, I finally bought the bed shaker I was stressing about in a post a few weeks ago. I’d been planning to buy Shake Awake, because several people had recommended it to me. But I went with the Sonic Shaker portable vibrating alarm clock from Sonic Alert instead. Read more
In Memoriam: Jack Kilby Made Today’s Hearing Aids Possible
It’s a little-known fact that Jack Kilby, the inventor of the microchip, was also a hearing-aid pioneer. The Texas Instruments engineer and Nobel Prize winner’s death yesterday at the age of 81 has spurred a slew of stories about the invention of the integrated circuit and the dawn of the computer age. Read more
A Plug For Earplugs (And For Newsweek, Too)
The recent Newsweek hearing-loss cover story (“A Little Bit Louder, Please”) was the biggest, most complete and most prominent coverage of this vital issue in the 21st century so far. With nearly half the story devoted to the many simple steps people can take to prevent hearing loss now and in the future, Newsweek actually made the deadly dull topic of prevention interesting — a near-impossible feat. Read more
Newsweek Hearing-Loss Cover Story: I Guess Half A Loaf Is Better Than None At All
While the Newsweek cover story this week is notable for the attention it gives to hearing loss as a major societal issue, it’s also notable for what it doesn’t cover. But at least the cover picture is worth a million words. Read more
Did Someone Say Those Noises In My Head Are Real? Or Am I Hearing Things Again?
A few weeks ago I posted an item about the noises I constantly hear in my head. These aren’t the usual hissing or ringing noises commonly associated with tinnitus. I’m talking about distinct sounds such as dump trucks and payloaders working at a hallucinatory construction site outside my window, a chain saw whining in the distance, several orchestral arrangements of “God Bless America” that played in my head without a break for two full days…. the list of real sounds heard distinctly goes on. Read more
Okay, It’s Time To Get A Portable Bed-Shaker. Any Recommendations?
When my family toured Washington, D.C., in 1964, we stayed in a Holiday Inn where one of the beds was equipped with something called “Magic Fingers.” My brother and I scraped together two quarters and shoved them into the sliding arm that dropped the coins into a metal box above the headboard, and the entire bed started vibrating. Read more
Excuse Me, I Have To Fall Down Now
Right after college, I had three roommates in their first year of medical school. Once a week, one of them would run up from the mailbox shouting, “MMWR is here! MMWR is here!” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the newsletter from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), chronicles every known malady afflicting the populace, providing graphic details of the latest horrific diseases and extensive weekly documentation of Who and How Many are Dying from What and Why. Read more
Carbon Monoxide Speeds Up Hearing Loss
I knew carbon monoxide was bad for your health and in large quantities can kill you. But I never knew it was bad for your hearing too. Two researchers from the University of Montreal have conducted a long-term study of workers in industries where high noise levels and high levels of carbon monoxide are common. Read more