Posts filed under 'Musings and Thoughts'
Noisy Toys — Shop Smart
Noisy toys can cause hearing loss
Continue Reading Add comment December 9, 2009
Hearing Loss… Preventable
The following quote from world-renowned otolaryngologist, Thomas J. Balkany is directed to young readers of “Listen Up!,” a fun breezy book recently incorporated into the curriculum of Palm Beach County schools:
“Everyday I work with young people who have severe hearing loss, and the one thing we find is that many of them could have been prevented. I always wonder why taking care of our hearing isn’t highlighted as much as the other very real issues facing (young people) today. Important issues like peer pressure, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders and adolescent obesity.
We work and play in a world of wonderful gadgets that we are discovering for the first time. Most people don’t even know what effects these emerging technologies will have on our hearing in the years to come. The thing most people are shocked by, when they’re sitting in my office and the damage is done, is that many forms of hearing damage are preventable.”
I was in so much denial about my hearing loss that I didn’t even want to discuss causes and prevention. Today, we know that noise is a big factor and that protecting our ears from high decibel noise helps prevent hearing loss.
Empowerment Through Hearing published ‘Listen Up!’ to help warn young people about the alarming increase of hearing loss caused by noise. As founder of this nonprofit, it was my mission to save others the years of pain and denial I went through growing up with this condition.
There are certainly better protection products out there now than I ever knew about while I was growing up. In 2006, there was praise for Apple’s new iPod volume control, http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/03/apple_volume.html. Today there’s everything from inexpensive foam ear plugs in rainbow colors to sophisticated custom ear molds. In addition, we’ve come across the iHearSafe earbuds and headphones that keeps volume below 85 db, where the damage can begin.
Have you got any cool ways to protect your hearing? Any new products you’ve heard about? Let me know…
Write soon. I look forward to hearing from you.
Kathlyn
Add comment February 24, 2009
Hearing Loss — Personal… Painful… Pertinent
Kathlyn Maguire - Founder, Empowerment Through Hearing
I suppose I should make some bow to the New Year; but let’s just say that I did and get right into the reason I’m sitting at this computer on a nationally-proclaimed holiday, while all my neighbors are out enjoying the fruits of a sunny 74-degree Thursday:
.
35 million Americans suffer from hearing loss — that includes 1 in 8 students — so it’s hard to believe this condition remains so personalized. I can only tell you from my own experience through decades of hearing loss that I didn’t want to acknowledge it. I thought it was a ‘disability’ reserved for the old folks and I did everything I could to stay in denial. I really didn’t think I had a hearing loss per se because I could hear the sound of a voice, music or background noise, but it became increasingly difficult to understand all the words. I was famous for singing the wrong lyrics to popular rock in the 60’s. I was a pretty good lip reader and thought I could get the general gist of most conversations. But too often my comments were totally unrelated to the subject at hand — this would send friends into a paroxysm of giggles and me into increased isolation. I lived in New York City, where the walk and talk are fast-paced. So it was double-tough to keep up with what everyone was saying.
6 comments January 2, 2009
