Copyright

(c) 2010-2024 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.
Showing posts with label Ear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ear. Show all posts

Friday, December 27, 2013

That ringing isn’t Christmas bells: Tinnitus symptoms, prevention

Today's post was shared by NIOSH Transportation and comes from www.overdriveonline.com

Tinnitus is the medical term for “hearing” noises in your ears when there is no outside source of the sounds. The noises you hear can be soft or loud. They may sound like ringing, blowing, roaring, buzzing, hissing, humming, whistling or sizzling. They can be persistent and never-ending or intermittent.

Tinnitus
Hearing loss is common in the trucking industry, especially for the drivers who have been on the road for more than ten years. While the newer trucks are a lot quieter — in-cab noise levels are about half what they were just fifteen years ago — protecting your hearing is one of the most effective ways to prevent tinnitus. Avoiding loud noises and wearing hearing protection when appropriate is recommended by the Mayo Clinic website.
However, with 265 known medications on the market that report tinnitus as a possible side effect, there are literally hundreds of reasons why someone may experience symptoms. Behind medication side effects, a common cause of tinnitus is inner ear cell damage. Tiny, delicate hairs in your inner ear move in relation to the pressure of sound waves. This triggers ear cells to release an electrical signal through a nerve from your ear (auditory nerve) to your brain. Your brain interprets these signals as sound. If the hairs inside your inner ear are bent or broken, they can “leak” random electrical impulses to your brain, causing tinnitus.
The three most common causes of inner ear cell damage are: age-related...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]

Found on
Tembow….

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Neuroscience may offer hope to millions robbed of silence by tinnitus

Occupational and traumatic hearing loss claims usually have a "tinnitus component" in measurable disability as a compensable portion of the award. Today's post is shared from pbs.org .

On Easter Sunday in 2008, the phantom noises in Robert De Mong’s head dropped in volume -- for about 15 minutes. For the first time in months, he experienced relief, enough at least to remember what silence was like. And then they returned, fierce as ever.

It was six months earlier that the 66-year-old electrical engineer first awoke to a dissonant clamor in his head. There was a howling sound, a fingernails-on-a-chalkboard sound, “brain zaps” that hurt like a headache and a high frequency "tinkle" noise, like musicians hitting triangles in an orchestra.
Many have since disappeared, but two especially stubborn noises remain. One he describes as monkeys banging on symbols. Another resembles frying eggs and the hissing of high voltage power lines. He hears those sounds every moment of every day.

De Mong was diagnosed in 2007 with tinnitus, a condition that causes a phantom ringing, buzzing or roaring in the ears, perceived as external noise.

When the sounds first appeared, they did so as if from a void, he said. No loud noise trauma had preceded the tinnitus, as it does for some sufferers -- it was suddenly just there. And the noises haunted him, robbed him of sleep and fueled a deep depression. He lost interest in his favorite hobby: tinkering with his ‘78 Trans Am and his two Corvettes. He stopped going into work.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cell Phone Hearing Use Results in $1.2 Million in Compensation Benefits

The use of a Blackberry cellphone that reportedly caused tinnitus has resulted in the payment of $1.2 Million in workers' compensation benefits

Cell phone injuries have been linked medically by published studies. "The authors warn users of cell phones to look out for ear symptoms such as ear warmth, ear fullness, and ringing in the ears (tinnitus) as early warning signs of an auditory abnormality."

Tinnitus describes a condition of "ringing in the ears." Individuals often describe the sound as a hum, buzz, roar, ring, or whistle. The predominant cause of tinnitus is long-term exposure to high sound levels, though it can also be caused by short-term exposure to very high sound levels, such as gunshots. Non-acoustic events, such as a blow to the head, dietary issues, stress, jaw joint disorders, debris on the eardrum, or prolonged use of aspirin may also cause tinnitus.The inner ear or neural system produces the actual sound.

Exposure to excessive noise in the workplace has been recognized as a major health hazard, one that can impair not only a person's hearing, but also his physical and mental well-being. workplace first affects the ability to hear high-frequency or high-pitched sounds.  Workers suffering from noise-induced hearing loss may also experience continual ringing in the ears, called "tinnitus".  In addition, workers who are exposed to noise sometimes complain of nervousness, sleeplessness and fatigue.

Other cases have also been reported for workers' compensation benefits as a result of the use of a telephone. An injured worker was employed at New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company for approximately six years as a customer service representative who spoke with customers on the telephone.  A pre-employment physical, which included a hearing test, demonstrates no hearing difficulties or other medical issues.  During the course of her employment, renovations were conducted at the employer's office and she testified that she heard loud drilling and that her desk vibrated and she had difficulty hearing customers on the telephone.  While medical evaluations reflected no statutory hearing loss pursuant to the form of the occupational Hearing Loss Act, the expert physician did recognize a 5% loss due to tinnitus.  The trial judge concluded that the tinnitus disability was significant and distracted from the former efficiency of her ears and distracted from her ordinary pursuits of life.  The reviewing Court held that tinnitus and supported by the appropriate proofs was a permanent partial disability and was compensable irrespective of whether the employee also suffers a hearing loss compensable under the OHLA.  Schorpp-Replogle v. New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company, 395 N.J.Super. 277, 928 A.2d 885 (App.  Div. 2007).
.....
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered work related accident and injuries.