Hear In Private Practice

By Robert L. Martin Scientific understanding of aging is changing rapidly. We used to believe that people got weak and forgetful as they aged. We also used to believe that the neurons in the brain could not be replaced if they were damaged. We thought that brain cells could not re-grow and that the synaptic interconnections between neurons could not

What is Misophonia?  Basically, it is being extremely sensitive to background sounds that most of the population can ignore.  These individuals are unable to block out the offending stimulus (sound), which acts as a “trigger” to an acute negative emotional response by the person due to this sound.   One site describes a type of Mysophonia as  4S (Selective Sound Sensitivity),

By Robert L. Martin If you have never worn hearing aids, it will take some time before you understand them. They are not like any other medical or electronic device. Some people try to compare hearing aids to cell phones or computers, but these comparisons are not valid. In writing this article, I asked one of my female patients how

Earlier in the year I wrote a blog on being grateful.  I had started an experiment in my offices asking my employees to write something to be grateful for on a board everyday and leave them in one of the staff rooms of each office.  My experiment seems to be working and I am going to continue it from here

I have two sons, one more interested in sports than the other.  They are ages 9 and 11, and during these younger years, we tried to expose them to many things.  I have to admit, though, I am not one to have them get involved in more than one or two extracurricular activities outside of school. One reason may be

Shingles is a painful, blistering skin rash caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox.   When the virus enters your body as chickenpox when you are a child it stays in an inactive state within the nerve endings for the rest of your life.  If the virus becomes active again many years later, you have Shingles.  The rash usually

This past week I went to a workshop about Cognitive Health and how it affects the fitting of Hearing Aids.  It started out showing connections to a person’s Working Memory and how well they did with hearing aids.  The better the working memory the better the person could hear in noise and in more complicated situations. What is working memory? 

The list is growing on the ill effects of second-hand smoke.  A report released in 2011 connects secondhand smoke and hearing loss in teenagers.  The link was found when data from 1533 US participants, aged 12 to 19, revealed a higher level of a nicotine compound in the blood of those with hearing loss in at least one ear. Teens

Lead poisoning is horrible for many health reasons. It can cause encephalopathy, other brain problems, peripheral nerve problems, delayed neurodevelopment, reduced growth rate in children, bone loss in adults, change in behavior, vision problems, motor deficits, digestive system problems, and kidney problems. It can also lead to death. Heightened lead levels also affect the hearing of young ;people and the not

Editor’s Note:  One of the things I love about Tucson is even though it is close to a million people in the metro area, it still feels small town in some ways.  Being a Wyoming girl I am nostalgic for the small town feel.  Most of the Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers are kind to each other and like to