Blog

Those of us who deal with ears professionally often hear friends talk about their struggles with dizziness. We not only hear about the disruptive nature of the condition, we also hear about feeble attempts to manage it. We hear about lingering symptoms. We hear about treatments that likely have no l...

Diabetes is one of the most common health conditions across the globe. Half a billion people worldwide have this disease. The primary type is late-onset Type II “diabetes mellitus.” This metabolic disease affects the body’s ability to process sugar by way of insulin. There is significant overlap wit...

This month we celebrate the wonders of the sense of hearing. Hearing is one ability that connects us with people, animals, pets, machines, music, and nature. Through our ears, we receive important messages. “I love you.” “Look out!” Cats purring. A moving violin solo adding sadness to a movie. Rushi...

Hearing is an unusual sense. Using it can damage it. We were always told if you look at the sun or sit too close to the television you can damage your eyes. Touching a hot stove can damage nerve endings in your fingers. However, looking directly at the sun is a rarity. The television may cause eye s...

We often hear about “comorbidities,” or medical conditions that commonly occur together. We also hear about behaviors that can affect our health. High risk activities, smoking, excessive alcohol, overeating, lack of exercise, and poor diet are associated with multiple health conditions. What has sci...

We are born with several senses that allow us to navigate through our world. Sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and balance are among them. We use these for safety, navigation, orientation, pleasure, and communication. Loss of any of these senses deprives us of a part of our accustomed world. We b...

We frequently see patients who have been told what to expect about their situation. They see us for a problem we may be able to help with, but someone else may have set up an expectation beforehand. This may be from a family member, friend, or medical professional. Usually, the intentions are good....

A woman we know recently experienced sudden spinning dizziness, tinnitus, and loss of hearing in one ear. She waited a few days to see if this would pass. After about four days of bed rest, she went to an urgent care center, where she was told to “wait and see.” She received no firm diagnosis, but f...

People with good hearing may assume that hearing loss would appear in an obvious way. You wake up and you can’t hear. You hear only out of one side. Sounds are suddenly dull or absent. In cases of sudden loss of hearing, these examples ring true. People call our office in a state of concern and hope...

In today’s world of early awareness and detection of medical conditions, screening tools have been valuable assets in speeding up intervention. There are screenings for cognitive function, skin cancer, blood pressure, BMI, contagious diseases, genetic conditions. One screening that has been mandated...

At Clear Choice Hearing and Balance, we make it our mission to provide each of our patients with all the expertise, treatment, and education needed to guard their ear health at every age, starting from birth. We’re proud to provide care for a wide range of individuals and families with cutting-edge...

It is well known that chemicals can affect the human body in various ways. We use the term “side effects” for medications. The intended target of the drug is only a part of the overall affect, as the pill breaks up and courses through your bloodstream. One area of concern with certain drugs is the h...

How it fits together. We pride ourselves on being a “full scope” practice. By that we mean we perform virtually all the functions an audiology/hearing aid dispensing practice could encompass. Fully diagnostic, we perform evaluations that include outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, ear wax, tinnitus...

Often patients tell us they think their ears are dirty. By “dirty” then mean having ear wax in the canal. We may clear the wax if it is excessive, but we always remind patients their ears are not actually dirty. It is easy to understand why one would confuse a natural bodily secretion with uncleanli...

Most audiologists will agree that musicians are not like other patients. Clinical encounters with musicians are often and affectionately described as challenging, with the potential to be highly rewarding. Musicians often push our understanding of sound and hearing to the limits, not because they ar...

Clear Choice Hearing and Balance, an audiology practice specializing in tinnitus and other hearing and imbalance disorders, recently opened a new office in Westfall Surgery Center, 1065 Senator Keating Blvd., Rochester. The hearing center expanded to Brighton to meet the growing demands of hearing...

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (February 7, 2017), 1 out of 4 US adults who report excellent to good hearing already have hearing damage. The new CDC Vital Signs report by Yulia Carroll, MD, PhD and colleagues finds that many of...

Mark Hammel’s hearing was damaged in his 20s by machine gun fire when he served in the Israeli Army. But not until decades later, at 57, did he receive his first hearing aids. “It was very joyful, but also very sad when I contemplated how much I had missed all those years,” Dr. Hammel, a psycholo...

According to a recent study by Jamie Desjardins, PhD, an assistant professor in the speech-language pathology program at The University of Texas at El Paso, hearing aids improve brain function in people with hearing loss. It is known that hearing loss if left untreated, can lead to emotional and...

Do you ever listen to audiobooks? The form of storytelling can be also very beneficial for hearing rehab. Oral storytelling is one of the most ancient art forms. Stories have been passed on by word of mouth to entertain, educate and inform from generation to generation, long before recorded histo...

You love your grandchildren — their smiles, the way they look like their parents did when they were young, and their exuberance — but sometimes, they are very hard to hear. Children have a way of swallowing their words, or slurring them together, and typically have softer and higher pitched voices....

The labs that produce the world’s top hearing instruments have been making high quality products for decades. Like many other products, hearing aids evolve and improve over time. Patients and prospective patients with hearing loss frequently ask how modern day hearing aids compare with those of the...

Last summer the musical group King Crimson toured the world. Their tour was called Music Is Our Friend. Music lovers know that music can “calm the savage beast”, enhance our mood, relieve boredom and provide perfect backdrops for sporting events, worship and social activities. Music can transport us...

An important message about “over the counter hearing aids” Recent news broadcasts have featured stories about “hearing aids” that can be bought “over the counter”, or without a prescription, an exam or professional fitting. This has naturally generated many questions to those of us in the hearing...

One of the most common complaints we hear from patients is a plugged sensation in the ears. Patients feel they can still hear, have no pain or dizziness, however, they feel as if something is blocking their ear canals. Why does this happen? Is this normal? Can it be helped? Where is the probl...

Question: People do not die from hearing loss, so why should it be added to the list of public health concerns like tobacco use and obesity? Answer: Because hearing loss is highly prevalent, with numerous associated health risks that burden affected individuals, their family, and their community....

Often a celebrity will unintentionally bring a medical condition to the public eye. Singer Cher introduced many fans to Epstein-Barr Syndrome. Serena Williams has Sjogren’s Syndrome. Selena Gomez had people talking about Lupus and auto-immune disease, and Magic Johnson made HIV more real to millions...

People can suddenly lose hearing. This is more likely to occur in only one ear. It may be both ears, however, and there may be additional symptoms. There are many possible causes. Healthcare providers need to be able to find the most likely cause and begin treatment fast. Symptoms that may go...

You wake up one morning and something is different. Your ear feels plugged. Perhaps you switched ears on your phone and cannot hear out of one side. You need more volume to hear the news report. Your ear buds only work on one side. Is this normal? What could it be? What can be done? Sudden lo...

Hearing is a highly complex task that can take vibrations in the air and turn them into an idea. Great speeches, alarm sounds, dog barks or beautiful music begin as mere vibrations reaching the ears. Hearing begins with detection (“a sound is present”). Next comes discrimination (“that is a word”...