Many of my patients ask me what they can do to minimize hearing decline in later years. Apart from protecting the ears against excessive noise, the next best thing one can do, is to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle. While this answer may not satisfy those patients looking for an elusive pill or supplement…
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The link between diabetes and eye disease is well established in the literature. While the effects of diabetes on hearing are less commonly known, there are modest correlations between diabetes and hearing loss. Diabetes mellitus is a group of conditions characterized by an alteration of the body’s ability to  regulate blood sugar (glucose) levels. Type…
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Keratosis obturans is an uncommon disorder characterized by the formation of a keratinized plug in the inner half of the ear canal.  Keratin is a fibrous protein which gives strength and rigidity to skin and nails. Highly keratinized skin provides the basis for callus formation, as seen on the fingers of guitar players. Callused skin…
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In this technological age we live in, it is all too easy to view hearing aids like any other household appliance. You plug it in and away you go. Manufacturers’ constant marketing of new wiz-bang features serves to perpetuate this expectation. In reality, being fitted with hearing aids is nothing at all like buying a…
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Sudden sensori-neural hearing loss (SSHL) is defined as a hearing loss which develops in under 72 hours. In most cases symptoms arise within minutes or hours, and may even occur instantaneously with an abrupt ‘pop’ heard in the ear. SSHL results from damage to the neural structures of the inner ear, and is not associated…
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Cauliflower ear is a deformity of the pinna (outer ear structure) resulting from inflammation of the fibrous tissue overlying the ear cartilage (auricular perichondritis) This form of perichondritis is usually caused by blunt trauma from contact sports, such as boxing, wrestling, martial arts and rugby. On occasion ear piercing can also result in infection and…
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A question on the lips of many hearing aid wearers, is whether the high-tech hearing aids of today really do cut out the background noise. The answer to this million dollar question is: “It depends”. It depends on what exactly you consider to be background noise, and it depends on the lengths you are prepared…
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Normally when we hear the word levitation, we associate it with the art of illusion or electro-magnetism. We know that some high speed trains float at incredible speeds with the assistance of electro-magnetic levitation.  It seems less probable to associate levitation with soundwaves. Acoustic levitation is real however, and it is used by high tech industry…
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By now most of us will have heard the statistic, that people wait an average of seven to ten years before seeking assistance for a hearing deficit after initial symptoms. While it is easy to dismiss this delay in getting help as a simple denial of a problem, there is oftentimes legitimate cause for an…
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Older generations may still shudder at hearing the word ‘mastoiditis’, an infection of the air cells located behind the ear. Prior to antibiotic therapies, mastoiditis was an all too frequent complication of bacterial middle ear infections common in children. Just behind the ear lies a bony protuberance called the mastoid process. The mastoid bone comprises…
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