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Sleepless nights due to a screaming child are the bane of young parents. So, it was not surprising that the first item on the Must-have list for a family member’s baby shower was a “Baby Sleep Sound Machine.”  Generally, these products advertise continuous calming, soothing “white noise” that is meant to help children fall sleep…

A lot to be grateful for Although Thanksgiving comes but once a year, every day should be a day of Thanks. However, for those with hearing loss, Holidays can be tremendously challenging.  Many state that they actually dread the socially-intense events: Too much noise, too much confusion and overwhelming listening fatigue while struggling to follow conversations. But…

Hearing Threats at the Gym  What? 93, 95 decibels (dBs) with spikes of 100 dBs and higher as the instructor yelled almost non-stop into the microphone.   During an industry training session, a gentleman shared that he confirmed his suspicions that his gym class was overly loud by taking some readings with a calibrated sound…

A matter of choice? Worldwide, the two leading causes for hearing loss are Aging and Excessively Loud Sound, in that order.  While noise-induced hearing loss is preventable, people cannot help the fact that they are aging. Yet, by using hearing loss prevention strategies that apply to everybody – no matter what the age – they…

Beyond snoring: a threat to health and hearing My dad never slept well. Sleeping time turned into a fight for air and breath. As a child, I was scared for him. Never able to get proper rest, he often fell asleep in the living room chair. Pretty soon he would snore loudly. Then, his breathing…

 Stay ahead of the competition: Prevent “click-offs” Spoken communication can include or exclude people from important company messages. Nowadays the inclusion of narrated videos and YouTube pieces are all the rage for making business websites trendy and attractive to the visitors.  Then there are the over 20% of potential clients who feel left out because…

In my time of working with community and industry groups on hearing loss issues, I have heard plenty of clichéd hearing-loss jokes. Comments made with forced smiles brush aside the obvious and are meant to be humorous: “My problem is that I have selective hearing when it comes to my wife,” or “I hear what…

  The classic struggle of hearing loss Those with hearing loss tend to state their frustration with words like: “I don’t hear in this loud place!” What they really mean is that they hear plenty of sound—otherwise they would not perceive the place as loud—but they can’t understand what anybody is saying against the background din. In quiet settings, one-on-one…

  Safety training? Pay it forward Hearing practices that are learned during on-the-job Safety Training translate very well to the home front. Mother Nature does not care where the ear-killing din comes from. The bottom line is that repeated exposures to excessive sound levels lead to permanent inner-ear and nerve damage that so far cannot be…

A recent study by the International Campaign for Better Hearing found that among the respondents from 10 countries, 74% stated that they have been embarrassed by their hearing loss.  It’s actually amazing that the figure is not higher.  So, what or who makes people feel that way? Hearing loss itself or the attitudes of those around them? …