hearing loss

You might think you can't have a phone conversation with someone who's deaf, but Dimitri Kanevsky would not only disagree, he'd prove you wrong.

Deaf since he was 3, Kanevsky has hardly let his disability get in the way of progress -- or success. Born in the Soviet Union, he eventually emigrated, first to Israel, and then to the United States, and went on to become a research staff member in the speech and language algorithms department at IBM's Thomas Watson Research Center.

On Monday, Kanevsky and 13 others were honored at the White House in … Read more

It's hard to make a hearing aid sound cool, but it helps to refer to it as a "personal sound amplifier." Meet RCA's Symphonix RPSA10.

RCA isn't targeting the Big Band generation with the new device. It's geared more for younger buyers, some of whom, the company notes, may have damaged hearing from spending so much time hooked up to blasting headphones and exposed to booming car stereos.

RCA and its parent company Audiovox already make plenty of speakers and headphones and it's not a stretch to jump into the hearing aid realm … Read more

I occasionally receive e-mails from readers worried about loud music's potential for damaging their hearing. The concerns are very real; a recent study found that one in five adolescents now suffers some hearing impairment. How loud is too loud? If you regularly experience "ringing" in the ears, see your doctor!

Cranking the volume of your headphones up loud will (eventually) deafen you, unless you're using the new dB Logic headphones ($40). They use SPL2 technology to automatically limit the maximum volume to a safe level. Sure, there have been other headphones that promised to do the … Read more

As of this morning, I had reached a point of stoic reserve about covering the whole ditching your MP3 player issue, a topic that I've been avoiding like the plague since it makes me depressed and nostalgic. Happily, I was saved at the last minute by an article about increased hearing loss in adolescents that the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) posted yesterday.

As more and more people listen to music on the go, whether through their cell phones or dedicated MP3 players, innumerable ears are exposed an assault of audio through headphones. These listening implements aren't inherently bad, but they can contribute to hearing issues over time if certain precautions aren't taken. The following advice can help to ensure that you continue to hear all sound as nature intended it.

I feel that this should be an obvious point, but it always bears repeating: DON'T listen to your music at ear-splitting levels. The quickest and easiest way to damage your hearing is to expose your ears to overly-loud sounds, music or otherwise; this is the reason that people who work at factories (and some other loud locations) are often required to wear earplugs under local health and safety laws.

So how loud is too loud? Anything over 75 decibels, according to one study. Of course, it's tough for most consumers to accurately measure this; when in doubt, DO employ the volume limiting feature on your listening device. Apple's various iPods and most of Sony's Walkman players include this functionality. Alternatively, you can even pick up a pair of earbuds that ensure safe listening levels, such as the Ultimate Ears Loud Enough earphones.… Read more

A new national study has found that one in five adolescents now suffers some sort of hearing impairment, according to a report Tuesday on NPR's All Things Considered program. That's a scary statistic.

In the August 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston analyzed federal data collected from national yearly surveys of the health of American citizens. The conclusion is chilling: "The prevalence of hearing loss among a sample of U.S. adolescents aged 12 to 19 years was greater in 2005-2006 compared with … Read more

Just because something can benefit from some improvement doesn't mean that it's necessarily bad for you. That's basically what a San Francisco appeals court said when it upheld a previous ruling that Apple iPod earbuds cannot be held responsible for hearing loss, according to a Reuters report.

In the ruling, a judge wrote that the plaintiffs didn't offer evidence to show that iPod earbuds were dangerous, only that they believed they could be made safer. The judge wrote:

The plaintiffs do not allege the iPods failed to do anything they were designed to do nor do … Read more

We've heard that the recession is waning. But our gut tells us something different. Today we examine gadgets that appeal to our recession-warped minds.

Downturn doll sleeps in a car - but costs $95

Dell banks its brand on artists, baseball and nail polish

Netbooks rise, notebooks fall

Sony’s new Vaio X: thinnest laptop ever, $1,300 and up

SanDisk on Sansa: Value is our top priority

Gilt on the Go iPhone app… Read more

Researchers this week revealed the results of some demographics studies of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), something they say had yet to be studied to this extent. If you're a married white male driving a convertible, listen up while you still can.

The studies were presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation's 2009 annual meeting in San Diego this week. One study, which analyzed the audiometric testing data from 5,290 people ages 20 to 69, finds that more than 13 percent suffer from some level of NIHL, which means some 24 million Americans might … Read more

Here's something we haven't seen before: a headset designed to lessen the damaging effect loud music and gaming can potentially have on the ears. Able Planet introduced the PS500MM gaming headset back in December of 2008, claiming that the device's onboard "Link Audio" technology will soften the blow to your eardrums.

Basically the technology is supposed to prevent the user from having to raise the volume in order to drown out background noise. Interestingly enough, it was first developed for those with mild to severe hearing loss. AblePlanet claims it's patented Link Audio technology … Read more