Man driving lawnmower across state to raise funds for children with hearing loss

We came across this great story from USA.  Bob Harms is crossing the state of Minnesota at a maximum speed of 7 mph to raise funds for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Harms began the journey across the state Aug. 20 on a Toro lawnmower and expects to finish Wednesday at the border with Iowa. He was welcomed Sunday by members of several area Lions clubs to the Rolf and Carol Peterson home on Henderson Lake near Spicer.

Today he’s heading south on U.S. Highway 71 to Redwood Falls. On Tuesday, he plans to visit the Toro plant in Windom.

Harms has suffered from hearing problems since infancy and has a surgically implanted bone-anchored hearing aid. He’s also the executive secretary of the Lions International District that includes Minnesota, northwestern Ontario and Manitoba and works from his home in Kingston.

The funds raised by the ride will go to the Minnesota Lions Children’s Hearing Center at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital, and for research to improve the lives of children with hearing loss.

“Hearing is directly connected to speech,” Harms explained. “If hearing loss isn’t detected early, a child’s speech is affected.”

At the hearing center, Harms says, children see all of the doctors and specialists they need to help with their hearing issues in one day, streamlining the process and helping their little ears to hear what’s happening in the world around them.

The idea for the 485-mile ride came from a Lions convention earlier this year. Harms was trying to come up with an unusual fundraising idea. He knew a Lions member who had a connection at Toro and simply sent an email asking if the company would support him.

The response was the use of the Timecutter zero-turn-radius mower for the ride, which is fitted with a canopy, GPS locator and a trailer, but that was not all.

The company not only donated the use of the mower but is also offering a brand-new mower, not the one that Harms is riding, that will be raffled off, with all of the proceeds going to the hearing center.

“Toro has been absolutely fantastic in supporting this program,” Harms said.

If you have any questions about hearing loss contact Hidden Hearing.

Those childhood music lessons weren’t wasted after all!

Children who take music lessons have better hearing as adults even if they stopped playing their instrument after just a few years of practice, a new study suggests. People who learned to play an instrument while young are more responsive to complex sounds, making them better equipped to listen to a conversation in a noisy cafe or train carriage, researchers said.

Even those who had only played music for one to five years as a child showed a noticeable improvement over those who had never done so, in their brain’s ability to process sounds. Although previous studies have shown that playing music has a healthy impact on our brain, the new paper is the first to demonstrate that the effects last for many years after people have given up the hobby. Professor Nina Kraus of Northwestern University in Illinois, who led the study, said: “All these [previous] studies have been done in people who at the time of testing were still playing an instrument.

“This is really the first time that it has been demonstrated that in the more typical scenario – where someone has played a musical instrument for a number of years in childhood but then stopped – that prior training has a long-lasting effect on how their nervous system responds to sound.”

The researchers used electrodes to measure brain activity in 45 volunteers aged up to 31 as they listened to eight “complex” sounds, each comprising an array of different frequencies and timings to replicate the characteristics of speech or a piece of music.

Althouth they did not directly test participants’ hearing, monitoring the brain signal enabled the scientists to see how effectively the nervous system processed various elements of sound.

Compared with people who had never learned an instrument, those with some level of musical training had a stronger brain response to the sounds, the researchers reported in the Journal of Neuroscience. They were particularly effective at being able to pull out the “fundamental frequency”, the lowest frequency in sound which is key when listening to speech and music in noisy environments. Prof Kraus said: “Based on what we already know about the ways that music helps shape the brain, the study suggests that short-term music lessons may enhance lifelong listening and learning.

“We infer that a few years of music lessons also confer advantages in how one perceives and attends to sounds in everyday communication situations, such as noisy restaurants.”

There was no significant difference between those who had given up music after one to five years and those who had continued playing for up to eleven years, although the benefits from musical training were shown to dwindle slightly over time.

The scientists are already carrying out a second study to find out whether learning different instruments shapes the brain in different ways, and are planning a further experiment to see whether the benefits are still present in older adults.

If you have any questions about hearing or hearing loss contact Hidden Hearing or Call Free 0800 587 7267

We could hear them from 12 Miles away!

Thirty-two-thousand fans watched the musicians perform at Tennent’s Vital.

The two-day festival was held at Boucher playing fields in the south of the city for the first time.

Belfast City Council received about 120 calls of complaint. It is also believed the police received 20 calls.

A spokesman for the council said half of callers made a formal complaint about the concert sound being heard in other parts of the city. He said the remaining callers were content with the 23:00 BST curfew.

He also said the council had agreed sound levels with organisers in adavance of the event, but had worked with the promoter to reduce the sound levels when it became aware the noise could clearly be heard around the city.

“In advance of the concerts, the promoters wrote to residents in the immediate vicinity, advising them of the events. There were no objections to the granting of the entertainments licence,” he added.

The council spokesman said the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau had confirmed that every hotel bed in the city was booked for both nights of the festival.

“It is regrettable that people were inconvenienced by last night’s event but we hope they can see the bigger picture,” he said.

Exceptionally loud

The Stone Roses will be joined by English band Florence and the Machine, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Gerard i2 and Maverick Sabre when they head line the event on Wednesday.

SDLP councillor Claire Hanna said she had received calls from constituents last night.

“It was exceptionally loud. I welcome that we have concerts of this level… but we do have to balance it with the right of people to enjoy a quiet night at home,” she said.

“I understand that the noise carried partly because it was a very still and cloudless night.

“Most residents understand that people want to enjoy a night out but a second night at the same level might provoke a few more calls.”

Eileen Fee who lives about a mile away from the concert venue in Osborne Park, Belfast, said it was so loud the “windows shook”.

“I just thought I was at the concert, that’s how loud it was. It was really impossible to do anything else at home,” she said.

“It was just a really dreadful situation. I’m not against the concert but there is an acceptable level of noise.”

Businesswoman Grainne McGarvey said she, too, could hear the music from her home about four miles away.

“I pretty much heard every ooh and ah and beat of the drum,” she said.

Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl entertained the crowd at the Tennent’s Vital festival

“I was actually offered a ticket for the concert but I turned it down as I’m not a big fan of the Foo Fighters but I still managed to hear the entire thing.

“I can’t wait for Florence and the Machine as I’m a big fan and I think it’s fantastic that the bands are here. Tonight I will be sitting with my windows open and a wee glass of wine and not have to worry about getting soaked.”

People on BBC Newsline’s Facebook page claimed they heard the concert in locations such as Gilnahirk and 12 miles away in Ballygowan in County Down.

Hidden Hearing Northern Ireland carry out FREE hearing tests in there clinics and branches if you have any questions check out www.hiddenhearing.org

Migraine sufferers at increased risk of hearing loss

People who suffer from migraines are at an increased risk for developing hearing loss, report researchers.

Such individuals are more likely to have lowered otoacoustic emissions (OAE) and auditory brainstem responses (ABR), which are early indicators of impending auditory dysfunction that can lead to hearing loss, they say.

As reported in the American Journal of Otolaryngology, an assessment of 58 migrainesufferers showed that auditory dysfunction symptoms phonophobia (fear of loud noises) and tinnitus were present in 20.7% and 13.8% of individuals, respectively.

In addition, nearly two-thirds of the migraine patients had one or more abnormalities in auditory electrophysiologic testing, despite almost all of them being classified as having a normal hearing level.

TEOAE and DPOAE are generated when the ear’s outer hair cells, which are responsible for cochlear sound amplification, move in response to acoustic stimuli – a process known of as electromotility.

“Otoacoustic emissions permit sensitive assessment of cochlear function and objectively monitor dynamic changes in cochlear responsiveness before functional and significant hearing loss occurs from any cause,” explain Sherifa Ahmad Hamed (Assiut University Hospital, Egypt) and colleagues.

However, basic audiologic examination revealed that few patients had evidence suggesting a conductive hearing problem – otoscopy and standard aural imittance procedures confirmed normal middle ear status in all but five ears.

The finding that migraine patients are at high risk for peripheral and/or central auditory dysfunction is important for specialists caring for these patients, say Hamed and team.

If you have any questions about hearing loss contact Hidden Hearing.

NHS administrator had been convinced something had crawled into her ear in 2009

After 11 fruitless visits to her doctor over three years, Danielle Eccles was beginning to think that her severe earache would never  be cured.
Over that time, the 28-year-old, an NHS administration manager, was prone to temporarily losing all hearing in her blocked and swollen right ear, and bouts of ‘unbearable’ pain that caused her to take time off work.
Then, one day, while putting in yet more eardrops as prescribed by the doctor, a ladybird’s head fell out of her ear.

It was then that she remembered that around the time her symptoms first began with a tickling sensation in August 2009, she was convinced that something had crawled into her ear.
Mrs Eccles, who lives with husband Neil, 32, a landscaper, said: ‘A few nights earlier I’d felt sure a bug had crawled in my ear and was so relieved when my GP said he couldn’t see any insect in there.’
This time, however, she was finally referred to hospital, where an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist removed the rest of the perfectly preserved ladybird.
Yesterday Mrs Eccles, who is making a formal complaint to the surgery, said: ‘It sounds funny but I thought I was going mad.
‘It’s made my life a nightmare. I just can’t believe no one saw it. After all, it must be the brightest, spottiest bug in the UK.’
By May 2010 she had already gone back to the surgery six times.
‘I kept on getting ear infections and deafness,’ she said.
‘At restaurants I had to position myself at the table so my left ear was turned towards people speaking and walking along a road with someone I had to walk to their right so I could hear them properly.
‘Neil got fed up having to say everything twice to me.
‘Before this I was rarely ill. But I’ve had to have two lots of time off work because the pain was unbearable and the antibiotics I’ve had to take ruined my immune system leaving me prone to lots  of colds.’
Last year and earlier this year,  she went back to the Elizabeth Courtauld surgery near her home in Halstead, Essex, a further  five times.
By that point, doctors had issued Mrs Eccles with a total of 12 prescriptions of earspray, eardrops, antibiotics and painkillers, none  of which managed to solve  the problem.
She said: ‘One doctor did see something but diagnosed it as a “glob of wax”.
‘It was only in June this year when putting some eardrops in, that the head and jaws of a ladybird fell out of my hand that I recalled the night I believed the insect had crawled in.’
Mrs Eccles took the beetle’s head to show her GP, who finally referred her to an ENT consultant.
She said: ‘Waiting six weeks for the appointment was difficult as by then the deafness and discomfort in that ear was getting worse.’
However, within five minutes the consultant had removed the insect’s body.
Mrs Eccles said: ‘We could clearly see from its spots it was a ladybird. I was instantly able to hear again and that was such a relief.
‘But I feel angry. I was made to feel I was making a fuss about nothing and feel I should have been referred to a specialist much earlier.’
Dr Azhar Shaida, a consultant ENT surgeon from The Harley St ENT Clinic, said: ‘It would appear the ladybird was hiding behind some wax.
‘A GP surgery does not possess the same level of equipment that an ENT specialist department has, so it appears when doctors looked into the ear, all they saw was wax.
‘Because the insect body was encased in wax, it would have stopped the air getting to it so it wouldn’t have degraded.’

If you have any questions about hearing loss contact Hidden Hearing.

Source: Daily Mail: Read More >

London 2012 Olympics: boxing and cycling experienced a new level of noise

The Olympic Stadium, the velodrome and the boxing venue at the Excel all generated unforgettable noise:

In another part of the pool, Tom Daley elicited a curiously deep concern after imploding in mid-round in the men’s 10m platform synchronised diving with Peter Waterfield.

All the expectation of the last four years seemed to be twisting his spirit and his dives. But after a nervy start to the individual event, Daley came through to win bronze, and dedicated it to his late father, who died from brain cancer last year.

Paula Radcliffe was forced to give up her quest for an Olympic medal when injury kept her out of the women’s marathon but Farah took distance running to new heights.

By Paul Hayward, Telegraph

Read More …

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Westmeath nominations sought for Hidden Hearing Heroes Awards

Athlone Advertiser, August 10, 2012.

Westmeath entries are now being sought for the 2012 Hidden Hearing Heroes Awards – an all-Ireland awards initiative to highlight the achievements of those who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The Hidden Hearing Heroes Awards, created by one of Ireland’s premier hearing healthcare providers Hidden Hearing in association with the Irish Deaf Society, is seeking nominations for those who are deaf or hard of hearing and have made a significant contribution to society, their community, workplace, family, or through sporting excellence.

Nominations can be submitted online at www.hiddenhearing.org or at Hidden Hearing branches around the country including John Broderick Street, Irishtown Central, Athlone.

A right royal din!

King of Sweden almost deafens spectator as he roars his support for Olympic handball team.

When cheering on your country at the Olympics, it’s important to be in full voice.

But King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden almost took things too far when he appeared to almost deafen a woman spectator while they watched a handball match.

King Carl and wife Queen Silvia, like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge before them, were pictured in dress-down mode as they made an animated appearance at the Basketball Arena.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Read the full article here!

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Hearing alert over Olympic noise

Here’s a warning to Olympic athletes and spectators that they’re at risk of permanently damaging their hearing from the noise in the stadiums.

Olympic officials have admitted that noise levels in the stadia have regularly been over 100 decibels, with the boxing arena hitting 113.7db during a fight involving Irish boxer Katie Taylor.

Exposure to loud noise above 85 decibels over time can cause permanent hearing damage and with the closing ceremony fast approaching, the decibel level is sure to be much higher. The charity is urging Games revellers to pack earplugs, which can protect your hearing by keeping loud noises out without shutting out other ambient noises.

Action on Hearing Loss Audiologist Gemma Twitchen said: “With crowds going wild for Team GB, noise has been recorded at levels in excess of 100db, which is much louder than a jet engine taking off, in fact, it’s 10,000,000,000 times louder than the smallest sound your ears can hear!

“A night in a noisy crowd could cause temporary tinnitus – ringing, whistling, humming or buzzing in your head or ears – or permanent hearing damage. This is not something you’d want to take home as an everlasting memory from the Games.

“You wouldn’t think twice about standing close to a jet engine without hearing protection, so we’re urging people going to the closing ceremony or any of the events in the Olympics and Paralympics to take the very simple step of using earplugs.”

Published on Friday 10 August 2012, Chris White

Family ecstatic as deaf twin Calum Geary hears for first time in US clinic

IRELAND’S ‘bionic boy’, Calum Geary (3), has heard sounds for the first time in his life thanks to a revolutionary computer chip implanted into his brain.

Calum – who was born without the nerves connecting his ears to the hearing part of his brain – had the ‘bionic’ hearing device implanted at Manchester University Hospital (MUH) last February.

The system was fully tested in May – but, over the past fortnight, for the first time little Calum has shown definite signs of hearing at a top US speech therapy clinic.

Read more. Source – Ralph Riegel, Independent.ie

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