Can Aspirin Hurt Your Hearing? What Is Ototoxicity? The definition of ototoxicity, in its simplest form, is ear poisoning (“oto” = ear, “toxicity” = poisoning). A substance is considered ototoxic if it is known to cause hearing loss, balance disorders,...
Musical Ear Syndrome
My Tinnitus Has a Melody — Is That Possible? You probably know someone who experiences tinnitus — a ringing, buzzing, pulsing, hissing, or humming with no external source. People often call it “ringing in the ears,” and it affects approximately...
Tinnitus-Friendly Recipes
From sound-based therapies to mindfulness-based exercises, new ways to manage or reduce the sounds associated with tinnitus — a ringing, buzzing, or pulsing that has no external sound source — are being developed every day. Though there’s no cure,...
Can Prescription Drugs Cause Ringing In the Ears?
Tinnitus, or a ringing in the ears (this can also be a whooshing or pulsing), is generally the first symptom of ototoxicity and is generally short lived, but it can have more permanent symptoms. About Tinnitus Simply defined, tinnitus is...
Is It “TIN-uh-tis” or “tin-EYE-tis”?
Americans love to debate how to say certain words: Is “tomato” pronounced “tuh-MAY-toe” or “tuh-MAH-toe”? Does the “ee” in “creek” sound like “sneak” or “pick”? By the 1930s, this kind of debate had become so common that it was immortalized...
The sleigh bells are ringing — can you hear them?
The sounds of the holiday season — the church choir, little ones delighting in presents, friends reminiscing about holidays long ago — are what make the season merry and bright. But if you are distracted by your tinnitus, holidays might...
What Hearing Loss Sounds Like
What It’s Like To Have Hearing Loss When you have a hearing loss, it can be hard to explain how your life has changed along with your hearing. What’s more, many people don’t realize how hearing loss has affected their...
The 4 Different Types of Tinnitus
Tinnitus: Common, Constant, Treatable, and Manageable Tinnitus sounds different to everyone, so it makes sense that there are four different types: subjective, objective, neurological, and somatic. Tinnitus is a fairly common medical malady that presents in a variety of ways....
Tinnitus Can Be Confusing — Let’s Clear the Air
Many of our patients complain of a ringing, whistling, or hissing in their ears — a symptom of hearing loss known as tinnitus. People who experience this sort of “head noise” and aren’t sure what it is might think it’s...
Blunt-Force Trauma — Not Just Loud Noise — Can Cause Hearing Loss and Tinnitus, Too
September usually means a handful of things: Summer’s almost gone, the kids are going back to school, the holidays will be upon us before we know it (how many holiday shopping commercials have you seen already?), and football is finally...