Protecting your child’s hearing is as important as protecting the rest of her well-being. With Christmas right around the corner, here are some toys to avoid if you want to ensure that your child’s auditory health.

1. Fisher Price Learning Letters Mailbox

2. Sesame Street Help Along Sing a Song

3. Black & Decker Junior Chainsaw

4. LeapFrog Fridge Farm

5. Transformers PowerBots Megatron Action Figure

6. Road Rippers Turbo Wheelie Corvette

7. First Act Discovery Rockin’ Rhythm Guitar

8. Learn & Groove Counting Maracas

9. VTech Learn and Discover Driver

10. Road Rippers Rush & Rescue Ambulance

All of these toys produce sounds about 90Db, a level which has been linked to hearing loss. Because hearing loss is culmulative and the direct causes are difficult to pinpoint, these toys are all freely available.
If you do purchase these toys, know that they carry an increased risk of hearing loss for your children. To minimize this risk, try taking out the batteries, putting tape over the speakers, or making your child wear ear muffs while playing with them.

Many times, hearing loss is symptomatic of another illness–diabetes.

Diabetes is a chronic and potentially fatal illness characterized by excessive blood sugar. Nearly a quarter of the 23.6 million Americans with diabetes are unaware of their condition. This is because many of the symptoms of diabetes, such as excessive thirst, fatigue, and weight loss are often ignored or attributed to other factors.

Those symptoms can include hearing loss, suggests a study carried out by the National Institute of Health. Hearing tests on more than 5,000 patients concluded that diabetics were twice as likely to exhibit signs of hearing loss as their nondiabetic peers, and over 67 percent of the diabetics tested reported hearing loss in the higher frequencies.

Studies have suggested that the disease may effect nerves and blood vessels of the inner ear, leading to hearing loss.  While they are not conclusive, the strong correlative link indicates that those who suffer from diabetes should get their hearing checked regularly.

No poems about how clogged and greasy thine lover’s ear is. No movies about how fascinating and dynamic it is. There is not a single-hour long television drama where the primary plot is driven by anything having remotely to do with earwax.

So what’s good about it?

Plenty good, it turns out. Earwax, the common name for the yellowish liquid secreted by the cerumen glands, assists in cleaning and lubrication, protects the ear canal, and can also serve as a flypaper like buffer system to keep out insects, dirt and debris. Like most secretions it serves a useful, if not sexy function in maintaining proper body function.

But what if you have too much?

Hearing loss problems can be the result. Not only can an excess of hearing loss block the aural cavity and cause conductive hearing loss, it is the culprit in an estimated 70% of hearing aid malfunctions.  Luckily for sufferers of conductive hearing loss for whom this is the primary issue, there are treatments available. Jaw movement can loosen wax, so chewing gum or talking can help. Wax can be softened with olive oil or syringed with warm water. One common practice which is actually counterproductive is use of a cotton  swab: while they remove a small portion of wax that happens to adhere to the swab, they actually push 95% of wax further into the ear canal.

Because of this, and earwax’s function in ear health, in 2008 the American Academy of Otolaryngology issued new guidelines advising against removing earwax unless it is causing health issues. If you are suffering hearing loss from too much earwax, you may want to consult a doctor to determine the best course of action.

1. The Hammer aka the Malleus- this is where the vibrations are first passed through the middle ear. It articulates with the eardrum (tympanic membrane) and the incus–the next of the ossicles (remember, they are all connected together). This is their first step of the hearing process.

2. The Anvil aka the Incus- the vibrations caused by the hammer cause the anvil to be pushed against and in turn it pushes the next of the ossicles. This is the second part of the hearing process for the ossicles.

3. The Stirrup aka the Stapes- This is the last of the hearing process. The final of the three bones to receive the push of the vibrations. The stirrup is connected directly to the oval window–the gateway to the nerves for hearing. It is where the transmission of the vibration is sent to the cochlea and then to the nerves where it will be interpreted not just as vibrations but as sounds.

Basically put, these three tiny bones are the monitors to how we hear. If they become damaged, they can be fixed through a stapedectomy (we will discuss this soon). If it were not for how these bones are formed–the possibility the ability to hear would not exist and the evolution of the hearing process would have been very different. The ossicles may be tiny, but are important nonetheless–any small problem can cause severe hearing loss. If your hearing loss specialist sees that there is a problem with the auditory ossicles, then they will recommend an ENT to help combat the hearing loss with the stapedectomy.

For now let us take a brief look at some of the causes of deafness, hearing loss or any problem of the ear for that matter:

1. Genetics: sometimes we have parents or grandparents who have a problem with deafness. However it may not be seen in the family for a few generations, and this would be a recessive gene in those situations. In this case, the cause of deafness is just hereditary.

2. Meniere’s Disease: This is a disorder in the inner ear where the inner ear area known as the labyrinth (the swirling tube in the ear). This is a rare but excruciating syndrome to have. One of its side effects is hearing loss unilaterally or in both ears, but also has other side effects such as sudden dizziness and falling. These symptoms come and go in an unpredictable manner; it can be as frequent as several times a day to once a year. Meniere’s Disease is not the only syndrome or disease that will cause hearing loss, there are a few that can do so.

3. Aging: With age, deafness can gradually arise with the weakening the tissue and the breaking the body. Now it does not mean that with aging, everyone will experience hearing loss; once  again it can be a genetic variant and how an individual takes care of their health.

4. Trauma: Sometimes a sudden change in the pressure around the ear will cause hearing loss in the ears. Hearing loss trauma could also be from an injury to the head from an accident, a fight, etc. In any situation, something traumatic happened to the ear causing the hearing system to get damaged. Sometimes it is also a mental trauma where the ear still functions and the hearing is fine. here is however a psychological block making the mind think that ear no longer functions and the individual thinks they have a hearing loss problem or deaf.

5. Noise Pollution: Recently, this has been becoming one of the more common causes of deafness and hearing loss. When people are around high sound levels (90-95 decibels), this can cause damage to the ear. This is common when one works in a loud environment such as a construction zone, and in recent times with the popularity of Mp3 players–continually listening to too loud a setting (again, a common cause recently for hearing loss in younger groups).

So we can see that hearing loss like any medical problem has similar reasoning. The best ways to try to combat hearing loss is to maintain a healthy lifestyle, wear protection such as hearing plugs when needed and if you feel or detect any sign of hearing loss, immediately see an audiologist to resolve the problem sooner than later. Remember, hearing is a precious sense no one wants to lose.