As a veteran entertainment industry executive, I am acutely aware of the power that film and television have to enlighten, so I decided to develop “Unheard: The Ears of Ménière’s,” a documentary that will shine a light on this debilitating disease which has remained unheard for far too long.
Sorting the Priorities
The audiologist listened to my shock and confusion, but confirmed that my test printout showed severe hearing loss. She did one other brief test, which showed 95 percent word recognition. I always hear conversations, so how could I have all this hearing loss?
I’m 24 and Have Hearing and Balance Challenges
During my third year at University of Michigan, where I was studying biochemistry and French, I became aware of an unfamiliar, jarring sensation—extreme dizziness. If I closed my eyes for just a little bit, I’d feel my surroundings spinning. It was around the same time I recognized my difficulties hearing in large lecture halls.
A Historical Perspective on Surgery to Treat Ménière’s Disease
Since it was first discovered, Ménière’s disease has been a disorder managed primarily by otolaryngologists. As a result, surgical treatments have accompanied attempts at medical management. Inspired by patients' sensations of ear fullness and later by the histologic findings of hydrops, surgeons began manipulating the membranous labyrinth to relieve episodes of vertigo while attempting to preserve hearing.
A ‘Complicated and Special’ Case
In June 2010, I stepped off a plane in Los Angeles with a painfully full left ear, muffled hearing, throbbing eyes, vertigo, and a migraine. I also got off that plane with no idea I would straddle the line between a nondisabled and disabled identity for the rest of my life.
Just Because Hearing Loss Is Invisible Doesn’t Mean It’s Less Real
I think because I was in my 20s and thought working at a nightclub was fun and interesting, and I was surrounded by talented musicians and entertainers, I didn’t stop to consider that I was going to the equivalent of four concerts a week. Not even concerts with two-hour sets—more like multi-day music festivals with four bands each performing two-hour sets!
Postural and Head Control Given Different Environmental Contexts
Fall risk in people with hearing loss has been shown in older adults, and our pilot data suggest balance impairments in people with single-sided hearing are more likely to arise in older participants with moderate dizziness.
Creating Complex Virtual Environments to Potentially Help Characterize Dizziness Symptoms
We investigated two different virtual reality paradigms in an attempt to shed light on the mechanisms underlying persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD). The results of this research highlight the value of virtual reality usage and provide a basis for further investigations.
COVID-19 and Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, and Vertigo
Over the past year of the COVID-19 pandemic, case reports and studies have suggested a link between the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 and hearing loss and related conditions.
Unlocking the Key to My Problems With Balance
I am an associate professor at Oregon Health & Science University and became interested in the fields of hearing research, biomedical engineering, and neuroscience in part from my own hearing loss. I have had severe to profound hearing loss since early childhood, diagnosed at 2 ½ years old. Fitted with powerful hearing aids, I learned to speak and listen only with intensive speech therapy. I am the only person with a hearing loss in my family, so we always thought the cause was due to illness or possibly ototoxic drugs.