Everything You Need to Know About Ear Candles

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Dr. Hawkins
 

I just had a patient ask me about ear candles the other day, so I think this topic is worth revisiting.

Ear candling is an alternative health treatment advocated for ear wax removal.   A lighted,  hollow candle made of beeswax is inserted into the ear.  This is supposed to create a vacuum in the ear canal and draw out excessive earwax and toxins.  Proponents say candling can relieve tinnitus, sinus pressure, migraines, chronic earaches, TMJ, and stress as well as other conditions.

Most medical professionals strongly advise against the use of ear candles, finding them ineffective and possibly dangerous. In 2004, The Journal of Laryngology & Otology published an article “Ear candles: A Triumph of Ignorance Over Science”:
“A critical assessment of the evidence shows that its mode of action is implausible and demonstrably wrong. There are no data to suggest that it is effective for any condition. Furthermore, ear candles have been associated with ear injuries. The inescapable conclusion is that ear candles do more harm than good. Their use should be discouraged.”

A  1996 study by the Spokane Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic found that “Tympanometric measurements in an ear canal model demonstrated that ear candles do not produce negative pressure. A limited clinical trial (eight ears) showed no removal of cerumen from the external auditory canal. Candle wax was actually deposited in some.  A survey of 122 otolaryngologists identified 21 ear injuries resulting from ear candle use. Ear candles have no benefit in the management of cerumen and may result in serious injury.”

Unfortunately, there has also been at least one fatality due to ear candles. In 2005, Naomi Ardean Selby of Bethel, Alaska died in a house fire started by an ear candle.

Numerous researchers have demonstrated that the “earwax” that can be found in the burned ear candles is instead beeswax residue.  I love the following post at jimmeruk.com where the author tries out ear candles for himself (even going so far as to taste the wax residue from the burnt candles): http://www.jimmeruk.com/jim-reports/ear-whacks.html Great pictures too!

The FDA even weighs in on the topic, stating “FDA has found no valid scientific evidence to support the safety or effectiveness of these devices for any medical claims or benefits. FDA has received reports of burns, perforated eardrums and blockage of the ear canal which required outpatient surgery from the use of ear candles. “

So now that we’ve determined ear candles are NOT the way to go, what should you use to safely remove wax from your ears?  You can put a few drops of mineral oil on the tip of your finger (NOT a Qtip) and rub it around in your ear canal, which helps keep your skin moisturized and will help any excess earwax slide out of your ear naturally.  You can use a bulb syringe of warm water to help flush out wax but you need to first be sure that you don’t have a hole in your eardrum or other condition that would contraindicate flushing your ears with water.  Over-the-counter ear wash kits are available in most drug stores, or your physician can remove excess wax.  Remember, earwax is protective so there’s no need to get rid of all of it.

For those who find the warmth of ear candles soothing, a better approach would be to use a hair dryer on a low setting directed towards the ear, a heating pad, or a product such as Mack’s Ear Dryer: http://www.dryear.net/,

To wrap it all up, stay away from ear candles!  They don’t work and can be dangerous. Save your money for better things!

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Listen up: MP3 players may be harmful to your hearing

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Dr. Hawkins
 

Today’s relatively inexpensive and convenient MP3 players allow users to listen to music virtually around the clock.  People, of course, have been listening to music players of various types for decades. One key difference is that today’s players work for longer periods than those in the past, when batteries would run out after a short time.

A recent study of teen use of MP3 players found that eighty percent of teens use their MP3 players regularly, with 21 percent listening from one to four hours daily, and eight percent listening more than four hours consecutively.  Regularly listening to personal music players at high-volume settings when young often has no immediate effect on hearing but is likely to result in hearing loss later in life.  An article in the journal Pediatrics estimated that 12.5% of children aged 6 to 19 — about 5.2 million – already have noise-induced hearing loss.

Currently, maximum decibel levels on MP3 players can differ from model to model, but some can go up to 129 decibels, as much noise as an airplane taking off nearby.  Long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss. The louder the sound, the shorter the time period before hearing loss can occur.  Hearing loss caused by continuous exposure to loud noise is a slow and progressive process. People may not notice the harm they are causing until years of accumulated damage begin to take hold.

The University of Michigan Risk Science Center created a survey that they gave to more than 4,500New York City residents.  Researchers then estimated how much noise the subjects were exposed to based on previous research into how much sound is produced by transit, music players and other sources.  The researchers found that almost two-thirds of the subjects mainly risked being exposed to noise through listening to music.

Ten percent of those who used transit were at risk of hearing loss from transit alone. Also, nine out of 10 of New Yorkers are at risk of hearing loss when you look at their total noise exposure: MP3 players plus work plus riding transit.

Researcher Richard Nietzel said “I do think it’s a serious problem, there aren’t really any other experiences where we would tolerate having nine out of 10 people exposed at a level we know is hazardous. We certainly wouldn’t tolerate this with another agent, such as something that caused cancer or chronic disease. Yet for some reason we do for noise.”

The take-home message is to enjoy your music but try to limit your exposure by reducing the volume and/or limiting the time. Custom or noise-cancelling earphones may help to reduce background sounds so that you won’t need to turn up the volume as high.  Be aware of your hearing health and just remember that if you lose it, it won’t come back.

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10 Tips for Better Hearing This Holiday Season

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Dr. Hawkins
 

 

With the holidays upon us, you may find yourself in groups where hearing may be difficult.  Here are some tips to help make things a bit easier:

 

  1. Reduce the clatter of dishes and silverware by using tablecloths or placemats (plus they look pretty too!)
  2. Keep background music low
  3. Make quiet areas available for conversation
  4. Make sure you are facing the person you are talking with and that you have a clear view of their face
  5. When asked to repeat something, rephrase your statement instead of simply repeating the same thing
  6. Don’t shout.  It adds distortion and can actually make things more difficult to understand
  7. If you didn’t hear something, tell the speaker what you didn’t hear so they don’t have to repeat the entire message (“What time are you going to dinner on Saturday?” vs. “Huh?”)
  8. Write out important information
  9. Gently suggest that those who seem to be struggling have their hearing checked to make sure they’re hearing their best (they may simply need to have their ears cleaned)
  10. When in doubt, ask for suggestions of ways to be better understood.

Above all, relax and enjoy your friends and family!

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Watch Out For These Noisy Toys

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Dr. Hawkins
 

December is the biggest toy-buying month of the year. Unfortunately, many well-intentioned parents may be purchasing potentially harmful toys for their children. Any sound above 85 decibels (dB) can cause hearing loss over time.

The danger with noisy toys is greater than the sound level they produce implies. Children often hold toys directly to their ears which actually exposes them to more sound. A toy rated at 90dB can produce as much as 120 dB of sound at the ear, the equivalent of a jet plane taking off. Noise at this level is painful and can result in permanent hearing loss.

Every year the Sight & Hearing Association and researchers from the University of Minnesota test a variety of toys for potentially dangerous noise levels. This year, 19 of 24 toys tested produced sounds in excess of 100 dB. That’s louder than a chainsaw! Workers would have to wear hearing protection for similar noisy sounds on the job.

This year’s top offender was Disney’s Cars 2 Shake n Go! Finn McMissile car, blaring at 124 dB, loud enough to risk instant hearing damage. Number two was another Disney product, Princess Video Play-a-Sound Follow Your Dreams book coming in at 118 dB. For the complete list, visit Sight & Hearing Association.

To protect your children, follow these tips:

  • Before purchasing a new toy, listen to it. If a toy sounds loud, don’t buy it
  • Check the toys you already have at home. Remove the batteries or put masking or duct tape over the speakers of noisy toys. This will help reduce their volume.
  • Look for toys that have a volume control or an option to mute the volume.
  • Report loud toys. Contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission or the Sight & Hearing Association.

Remember, your child’s hearing is precious (just like them!).

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Why Are Certain Sounds Annoying?

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Dr. Hawkins
 

I’m currently reading a fascinating book, “Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us” by Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman. The two science journalists take a look at the literature in various disciplines (psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology and others) to try to discover why certain things drive us crazy.

Of course, I was drawn to the chapter on annoying sounds, with no surprise that fingernails on a chalkboard clocked in as the number one annoyance as compared to others sounds. Various researchers have attempted to discover what it is about this particular sound that makes it so irritating. First, they filtered the high frequencies of the fingernail sound (their hypothesis was that high-pitched, “screechy” frequencies might be to blame). Surprisingly this only muffled the sound but did nothing to make it more pleasant. When they filtered the frequencies from 500Hz to 2000Hz, that did the trick.

A few reasons why this is important:

  • The human ear can detect frequencies between 2000Hz and 5000Hz at lower volumes than other frequencies, which is good because this is where most of the important sounds of speech fall.
  • The ear is most sensitive to noise loss between 2000Hz and 5000Hz, so one hypothesis is that this is ear preservation in action. The most sensible way to protect hearing is to develop an aversion to damaging sounds.
  • The natural resonant frequency of the average adult ear canal is around 3000Hz.
  • Interestingly, the researchers found that the sound with the most amount of energy at 3000Hz is a human scream (men also scream at 3000Hz, since they break into falsetto). Babies cry at this frequency, and alarms are also often at 3000Hz.

So the sound that we can detect at the greatest distance is a scream, and when the energy the human ear is most sensitive to is removed from the fingernail sound, it’s easier to ignore.

Another factor that may contribute to the fingernail sound being annoying is that it is more rough (a subjective perception of rapid amplitude modulation). Basically, the fingernail grabs the surface of the slate, and as you continue to move your hand down it’s stuck and then suddenly will slip and jump to the next position. This produces a highly unpredictable, varied sound. The roughness is what seems to make people cringe the most.

Just some things to think about next time you hear that annoying screech!

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Hearing Aids & Cell Phones

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Dr. Hawkins
 

If you wear hearing aids, you may experience audible interference when using a digital wireless telephone due to radio frequency (RF) emissions from the phone, regardless of whether the microphone or telecoil settings on the hearing aids are used.

As a result, when you hold a cell phone (or other wireless device) up to your hearing aid, you often hear annoying interference. This interference can make understanding speech difficult, communication over cell phones annoying and—in the most severe cases—render the phone completely unusable to the hearing aid wearer.

Fortunately, new rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) require cell phone makers and service providers to make phones work better for people using hearing aids and cochlear implants. These rules require:

• Less static
• Less interference
• Better telecoil connections

The FCC defines Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) for cell phones in terms of radio-frequency (RF) emissions—the “M” (microphone) rating, and the “T” (telecoil) rating. The rating scale ranges from 1 to 4. The higher the “M” rating, the less likely the hearing aid user will experience interference when the hearing aid is set in the microphone mode while using the cell phone. A higher M number means the phone will sound clearer.

If you have a hearing aid or cochlear implant with a telecoil, look for a phone that has a telecoil (T) rating of T3 or T4. The higher the “T” rating, the less likely the hearing aid user will experience interference when the hearing aid is set in the telecoil mode while using the cell phone. A higher T rating will make your conversations clearer.

Thus, if you use your cell phone while wearing your hearing aids in the microphone (“M”) mode, look for one that is rated M3 or M4. If you use your cell phone while wearing your hearing aids in t-coil (“T”) mode, look for a phone that is rated T3 or T4. (T4 is better.) The higher the rating, the less likely it is that you will experience interference.

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Baby Boomer Men & Women in Denial About Hearing Loss

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Dr. Hawkins
 

A new survey finds that Baby Boomers think their hearing is just fine, thank you.

The children of those same folks, however, think mom and dad should be checked out for a hearing aid.

Siemens Hearing Instruments in a recent survey of 250 Baby Boomers and 250 of their children found:

  • 72 percent of the Baby Boomers survey believed their hearing is average or better;
  • 70 percent of children with a Boomer father have suggested that he have his hearing tested;
  • 64 percent have suggested the same for their Boomer mother.

“Older Americans are in denial about their hearing loss and are unaware of the negative consequences of an undiagnosed hearing loss,” Dr. Tom Powers, vice president of Audiology and Compliance at Siemens Hearing, said in a statement.

“By taking the proper steps to have their hearing tested and treated, Boomers can greatly increase their quality of life, not only through the increased sounds around them, but through greatly enriched relationships with their friends and family.”

The survey also revealed some social consequences of poor hearing:

  • 54 percent of respondents perceive depression in their father and 50 percent report the same for their mother because of a lack of hearing;
  • 53 percent of children perceive isolation on the part of their father and 49 percent for their mother;
  • 58 percent of children respondents perceive anger on the part of their father, while 50 percent feel the same about their mother.

According to a WebMD report: About 14 percent of people between ages 45 and 64 have hearing loss (an increase of 26 percent in this age group since 1971). And as the baby boomers continue to age, the incidence of hearing loss is expected to grow.

The WebMD report also captures the sense that a loss of hearing can affect a person’s place in society.

“The scenario is much too common — and often too painful — for men and women in their 40s and 50s,” it said. “They might sit silently at dinner parties, having difficulty following the conversation. They may feel completely lost when attending the theater, straining to hear what the actors are saying.”

From:

http://www.examiner.com/baby-boomer-in-national/boomer-men-and-women-denial-about-hearing-loss

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Florida Manatees: Silent Danger

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Dr. Hawkins
 

The endangered Florida manatee, Florida’s state marine mammal, is a large aquatic relative of the elephant. Manatees can be found in the warm waters of shallow rivers, bays, estuaries and coastal waters. Rarely do individuals venture into waters that are below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Well known for their gentle, slow-moving nature, manatees have also been known to body surf or barrel roll when playing.

The current main threat to manatees in the United States is being struck with boats or slashed with propellers. Manatees have enjoyed nearly three decades of protection policies that have focused on requiring boats to slow their speed in known manatee habitats (“no wake” zones). Despite this protection, however, manatee deaths from watercraft collisions have continued to rise, peaking at 96 in 2006.

Although manatees are normally very slow swimmers, they are capable of brief bursts of power when frightened. This fact has caused researchers to question why manatees cannot learn to avoid boats, even after repeated injuries. This led to their hypothesis that manatees may be unaware of impending danger because they are unable to effectively hear approaching boats.

Dr. Edmund Gerstein, PhD is one of the leading experts on manatee behavior and is director of marine mammal research at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science at Florida Atlantic University. His research suggests that the “no wake” zones designed to protect the manatee may be contributing to the increased number of propeller strikes because the animals cannot hear the propellers at idle speeds.

Peak hearing sensitivity for manatees lies between 16-18 kHz. Below 16 kHz, sensitivity decreases approximately 10 dB per octave. Below 2 kHz, hearing sensitivity drops precipitously and the low-frequency cut-off is approximately 400 Hz. The idle speed on boats is often around 600 Hz. These hearing thresholds were tested in quiet, captive pools but the manatee’s natural habitat is noisier and therefore manatees’ hearing thresholds are even higher in the wild to hear over the masking noise. Also, many of the lower frequency sounds do not propagate far enough to reach the manatees’ ears. Typical ambient sound levels of only 70-90 dB SPL can significantly interfere or mask the sound of boats.

Researchers are working on a sound-emitting device that can be placed on the front of a boat. The device incorporates a parametric design to produce multiple frequencies. The different frequencies produced fall within the animal’s best range of hearing. The device incorporates higher frequency elements of boat motor noise as a “carrier” signal to provide a sound that “ramps” up or down as the boat changes speed, which manatees can recognize and detect.

In field tests, the manatees are avoiding the alarm without any prior experience. If an animal cannot detect the danger they cannot learn to avoid it. Since speed laws have been enacted, there has been an increase in manatees with multiple boat scars, and the deaths from boat collisions have increased to record highs. In controlled tests, manatees have successfully avoided boat approaches with prototypes of the warning system. Without the warning device, it was necessary to veer away from the animals 97 percent of the time when approached with the same boat at the same speed.

From: Audiology Today Mar/Apr 2009

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Dental Fillings & Hearing Loss

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Dr. Hawkins
 

Rothwell and Boyd (2008) evaluated hearing thresholds and amalgam dental fillings across 39 non-smoking women, ages 40 to 45 years. When non-amalgam fillings were used, there was no correlation between fillings and hearing thresholds. However, in those with amalgam fillings, each additional amalgam filling was associated with a 2.4 dB decline in hearing threshold.

Tambs et al (2003)determined that much of age-related hearing loss can be accounted for by noise exposure, ear infections, head injury and gender, yet the remaining portion was possibly due to environmental toxins. Rothwell and Boyd suggest that perhaps the use of amalgam fillings and the well known ototoxic effects of amalgam may be a component of what is typically considered to be age-related hearing loss.

The ongoing trend to use composites and other non-mercury containing dental filling materials is encouraged.

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