Robert Traynor

Robert M. Traynor, Ed.D., is a hearing industry consultant, trainer, professor, conference speaker, practice manager and author. He is a founding member of HHTM and had previously written a regular weekly column for the site for many years. He has decades of experience teaching courses and training clinicians within the field of audiology with specific emphasis in hearing and tinnitus rehabilitation. He serves as Adjunct Faculty in Audiology at the University of Florida, University of Northern Colorado, University of Colorado and The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Featured image for “Were Early Ear Treatments Quackery or Science?”

Were Early Ear Treatments Quackery or Science?

To those of us that have had the opportunity to study contemporary hearing, deafness, and its treatment, the products discussed below in this post seem, at first glance, to be quackery. Initial appearances suggest that these products were a con man’s idea of how to sell a device with no value to the hearing impaired. When considering the times and

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Sign Language Translation Devices

Occasionally, a signing deaf person comes to the clinic seeking services and while not totally lost, it is always a challenge for most of us. The deaf are so very kind to us and want to learn what we must say, but it is difficult to get our messages across. The problem is not a lack of professionalism in working

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Animal Models in Auditory Research

Most audiologists know that hearing impairment is the most common congenital sensory impairment. It affects up to 1 in 500 newborns, 1 in 300 children by the age of 4, and 1 in 1000 newborns will have genetically inherited hearing loss. In addition to aging, hearing loss in adults stems from exposure to chronic infection, noise, chemicals and other factors

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Tinnitus and Hyperacusis – 25 years later

This week at Hearing International we are pleased to have guest author, Dr. Richard Tyler of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Dr. Tyler has been working in the area of tinnitus research and treatment since the late 1970s and discusses how it was then and now and announces the 25th Annual conference on the Management of Tinnitus and

Featured image for “Marijuana and Hearing, Part II”

Marijuana and Hearing, Part II

Last week we discussed a bit about marijuana legalization and its general effects. For the effects of marijuana on hearing, however, the jury is still out. Probably due to the drug classification, there has been minimal study of marijuana and its effects on hearing, as well as on some other body functions. The data available in 2017 are largely anecdotal and

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Scarlet Fever Pandemics

The end of the year is usually a time of reflection and appreciation – for how far we have come from the dreaded days of disease that could snuff out a life before it got started and for the contributions to knowledge by those that suffered deafness through disease. Scarlet fever (also known as Scarlatina), with its pandemics in both Europe

Featured image for “Most Popular Post of 2016: The Culture of Earrings for Men”

Most Popular Post of 2016: The Culture of Earrings for Men

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy 2017 from all of us at Hearing Health Matters…… especially those of you that follow Hearing International. The most read post at Hearing International this year was from February 9, 2016. This post, The Culture of Earrings for Men , was actually a surprise. We did not expect it to be that

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Customized Hearing Health Care

This week at Hearing International we are pleased to have guest author, Dr. Nancy Tye-Murray of Washington University, St. Louis Missouri. Dr. Tye-Murray has been working in the area of Aural Rehabilitation for many years and now has designed a new Aural Rehabilitation Program called clEAR™ . —————————————————————————————————————————- In today’s changing hearing healthcare environment, more and more audiologists are adopting the philosophy

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Headphones: They have Come a Long Way, Baby!

While reading this on a computer, there is an excellent chance that you are wearing, or have within reach, a pair of headphones or earbuds. In the US and some other western cultures, there seems to be a movement to have and use some kind of “ear wear”. Probably not the ear trumpet from the 1950s pictured here, but something cool,

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Hidden Hearing Loss

Each day we all experience sound in the environment. Many of these sounds are low intensity, satisfying, and others are the mundane sounds of life, such as television, radio, household appliances, cars running, traffic, etc. Most of these sounds are at very safe levels and do not cause any danger to hearing. We also know however, that there are loud