Hearing Loss Archive

News briefs

As we reported in March, the FDA has been debating whether to create a class of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids to inspire new products costing hundreds, not thousands, of dollars. Congress and the president pushed the effort forward over the summer, approving the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act in August. It gives the FDA three years to establish the OTC hearing aid category and develop safety and labeling rules for the devices. Last December, the FDA said it would no longer require adults to receive a medical evaluation or sign a waiver before purchasing most hearing aids. So now people with mild to moderate hearing loss don't need a doctor's prescription to get an OTC hearing aid, and don't need to see an audiologist for a fitting. OTC hearing devices aren't the same as prescription hearing aids, however. They're amplification devices, and they may not be right for your particular type of hearing problem. Without an evaluation by a doctor, an underlying condition may go undiagnosed. Discuss the risks and benefits with your primary care doctor.

The inflammation of chronic sinusitis can be more than just an annoyance. Here's what you can do about flare-ups.

Stuffy nose? Constant blowing? A head on the verge of exploding? Everyone battles clogged sinuses at times, and often the discomfort goes away after a few days. However, if the condition lingers or becomes more severe, you could be battling chronic sinusitis, which can affect your quality of life.

"Besides the stress of dealing with the symptoms, the condition can interfere with your sleep, lead to depression, and keep you from being active," says Dr. Ahmad R. Sedaghat, an otolaryngologist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

In the journals

Hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars, but a study in the July 4, 2017, Journal of the American Medical Association found that less expensive over-the-counter personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) might be a good alternative for some people.

PSAPs resemble hearing aids and help amplify sounds the same way, but are not regulated by the FDA and thus cannot be marketed as a correction or treatment for hearing loss. They often are advertised as being helpful in noisy places like crowds and meetings, and are sold online for about $200 to $400.

Ask the doctors

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Q. A friend and I both recently had ear blockages caused by impacted earwax. Is this something that becomes more common with age, or is it just a coincidence?

A. It's not just a coincidence. Earwax blockages definitely increase with age. While blockages affect only 5% of healthy adults, they occur more often in older people, with 57% of nursing home residents experiencing this problem, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

On call

Q. I am 72, and over the past year I have begun to lose my sense of smell. Is this a normal part of aging?

A. Some loss of sensitivity to smells — also known as anosmia — is normal as we get older, but there may be another explanation. The ability to smell depends on a healthy lining of the nasal cavity, open nasal passageways, and normal function of the olfactory (smell) nerves. A problem with one or more of these can lead to loss of smell. The most common causes are nasal problems, like nasal polyps, blocked sinuses, and seasonal allergies. These can be detected by a routine examination, although you may need to see an ear, nose, and throat specialist for a more extensive exam.

Ask the doctors

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Q. I suffer from vertigo and have heard that taking a magnesium supplement might help. Is that true? If so, how much should I take?

A. Vertigo can be caused by almost anything that interferes with the normal function of the inner ear, which is instrumental in preserving balance. The most common form of vertigo — benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) — results when tiny calcium carbonate crystals migrate from one part of the inner ear to the semicircular canal in another part of the ear, triggering a false message to the brain about the direction in which the head is moving and the speed of its motion. Dizziness is a result of the brain's attempt to resolve the conflicting messages from the ear and the other senses.

Research we're watching

It was once thought that hearing loss in older women might be linked to loss of estrogen and progesterone following menopause and that hormone therapy might reduce that risk. Recent results from the Nurses' Health Study II indicate just the opposite — that late natural menopause and the use of oral hormone therapy are linked to a higher risk of hearing loss.

Researchers enrolled 80,972 women ages 27 to 44 in 1991. All completed periodic questionnaires on their health status and lifestyles. By 2013, 18,558 participants had reported hearing loss. When the researchers analyzed the results, they found that women who underwent natural menopause at age 50 or older had a 10% greater risk of hearing loss than women who reached menopause before 50. Compared with nonusers, women who used hormone therapy — either estrogen alone or estrogen and progesterone — had a 15% greater risk of hearing loss if they used hormones for five to 10 years and 21% higher risk if they used them 10 years or longer.

Your health can go downhill after you lose your driving skills. Here's how to stay behind the wheel as long as possible.

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One of the best ways to stay healthy is to keep driving. "Driving makes you more independent so you can get out of the house more to socialize, visit your doctor more often, go exercise, or simply enjoy the outside," says Dr. Anthony Zizza, a gerontologist with Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Losing the ability to drive can have the opposite effect. Research published online Jan. 19, 2016, by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reviewed health-related data for drivers 55 and older and noted that their health worsened after they stopped driving.

Some personal sound amplification products may perform as well as costlier hearing aids.

 Image: © shironosov/Thinkstock

If you're hearing more about hearing lately, there's a reason. In October 2015 the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology issued a report on the sorry state of hearing in the United States. In June 2016, the National Academy of Sciences came to similar conclusions. Both acknowledged that as many as 85% of people with hearing loss aren't wearing hearing aids, citing two significant barriers to better hearing — the FDA requirement for having a hearing test before you purchase a hearing aid and the cost of the devices, averaging $1,000 to $3,000 per ear.

Why hearing aids cost so much

One of the reasons hearing aids have been so expensive is that the process of adjusting them is often bundled with the cost of the devices themselves. Medicare — and most other insurers — don't cover either hearing aids or the tests required to adjust them, but they do cover a hearing and balance exam that can distinguish age-related hearing loss from a hearing impairment that stems from an underlying condition. Dr. Mark Sanders, an audiologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, recommends getting that initial exam. "Anytime you suspect you have a hearing loss, it's always best to seek out a professional to get a legitimate diagnostic test. That way, you can determine if it's necessary to get a medical evaluation by an ear, nose, and throat physician," he says.