Hearing Loss Archive

Therapy, exercises, and changes in eating habits will help keep you safe.

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It used to be so easy to munch a handful of nuts: chew, swallow, enjoy. Now, you avoid them or make sure there's a glass of water nearby when you eat nuts or any other foods that seem to get stuck in your throat. "It's normal to have some age-related changes with swallowing or occasional difficulty swallowing. What's not normal is when food or liquids get into the lungs regularly," says Semra Koymen, a speech-language pathologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Causes and symptoms

Treatment

Nasal irrigation using a neti pot was more effective than inhaling steam in relieving chronic sinus symptoms in a large randomized study.

Many people with hearing loss also have tinnitus, commonly known as ringing in the ear. This phrase is misleading, however, because some people hear ringing while others hear whistles, chirping, or a combination of sounds. Regardless of the particular sound, the distinguishing feature is that it doesn't have an external cause. People with tinnitus hear sounds that people around them don't hear. This isn't to say that tinnitus isn't real—researchers at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders have detected changes in brain activity that occur with tinnitus.

Strategies that can help

Some people with hearing loss and tinnitus find that both problems improve after they get a hearing aid or have a cochlear implant. Others find that their tinnitus symptoms improve somewhat when they cut down on caffeine and alcohol, reduce the amount of fat in their diets, and quit smoking. The following techniques may also help reduce your tinnitus symptoms:

Some simple techniques can make big pills go down more easily.

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If you have trouble swallowing a pill, you're in the majority. In a Harris survey conducted a few years ago, 51% of women said they had experienced difficulty swallowing tablets or capsules. "We often see people who can swallow food and liquid just fine, but have difficulty with pills," says Denise Ambrosi, director of the Speech-Language Pathology Department at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Ambrosi notes that some people have physical issues that affect their ability to swallow, while others have an aversion to taking pills.

How swallowing can go awry

Ask your spouse or partner if it might be time for a check-up.

If it soundes like everyone around you is always mumbling, it may be a sign that you need a hearing test. 
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Most people tend to ignore clues that their hearing isn't what it used to be. But your spouse or partner may be fully aware of the change. "I see this all the time. Often the person with hearing loss is not the first to realize the problem. It's a family member or friend who'll bring the issue to the person's attention," says Dr. Felipe Santos, a hearing specialist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

If you're missing a few words but not ready for a hearing aid, a few simple strategies and smartphone apps may help.

 Image: iStock

Are you avoiding certain restaurants because they're too noisy? Do you catch yourself wondering what you just heard the radio announcer say? Are you wearing out the volume control on your remote? Chances are you have a bit of hearing loss.

It's easy to ignore a hearing loss because it can be subtle and gradual. And you may be in denial because you don't like the idea of wearing hearing aids. Yet struggling to hear can erode your quality of life.

News briefs

A recent study suggests that the more hearing impairment you have, the more your health may be at risk. A study published online Sept. 24, 2015, by JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery found that mild hearing impairment was linked with a 21% increased risk of death, and moderate-to-severe hearing impairment was linked with a 39% increased risk of death, compared with people who did not have hearing loss. Researchers combed through large surveys of about 1,700 adults ages 70 or older who had undergone hearing tests and adjusted the results for heart disease and other risk factors. "The findings do not indicate that hearing loss causes an increase in mortality, or that hearing aids might reduce that risk. Instead, age-related hearing loss reflects accumulated stresses and damage of a lifetime, so perhaps we should not be surprised that hearing loss is not the only health impact of those stresses," says Dr. Steven Rauch, an ear, nose and throat specialist and the medical director of the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Balance and Vestibular Center.

Antibiotics often don't help inflamed sinuses. Take steps to ease symptoms and let the problem heal itself.

The hollow spaces in your facial bones—the sinuses—are prone to infection by microorganisms of various stripes. Usually, the invader is a virus. In response, the sensitive linings of the sinuses swell up and start to pour out mucus, triggering nasal stuffiness, a runny nose, and facial pain.

Once upon a time, many sinus sufferers headed straight to their doctors to get an antibiotic. But we now know that strategy is usually a waste of time. Most cases of sinusitis are associated with viral infections, which are bulletproof to antibiotics. According to a research review by the Cochrane Collaboration, 80% of people with sinusitis improve within two weeks without taking antibiotics.