How To Clean Your Ears Without Damaging Them So Your Hearing Stays Intact

By Lindsey Rose Black

Unlike washing your face or hair everyday, ears can be easy to forget about until they’re pretty waxy. If you’re officially at a point where your ears require a serious deep clean, read on for how to clean your ears without damaging them because it can be tricky! There’s no reason to worry, but you do want to be careful.

First and foremost, if you are still using cotton swabs to clean your ears, back away right now. The American Academy of Otolaryngology (ears, nose, and throat), released a statement that said, "Wax blockage is one of the most common causes of hearing loss. This is often caused by attempts to clean the ear with cotton swabs. Most cleaning attempts merely push the wax deeper into the ear canal, causing a blockage." Yeah that's right, cotton swabs could actually cause hearing loss. No freaking thank you!

As for how often to clean, Douglas Backous, M.D. told Huffington Post, "Ears really only need to be cleaned ... if they feel full or you notice changes to your hearing that could be related to waxy buildup." If these symptoms sound familiar, below are two of the safest and easiest ways to clean your ears at home. Of course, if things become painful, definitely go ahead and seek out a professional doctor.

1. Wash Cloth Rub

   As shared in PopSugar, you can safely clean your outer ear by simply wetting a wash cloth with water (no soap!) and then gently rubbing around your ear. Don't try to reach in too far, though.

2. Hydrogen PeroxideAnd Water Rinse

   Another safe and effective method is mixing together equal parts water and hydrogen peroxide, and using a rubber bulb syringe (yes, like a turkey baster) to pour a bit of the mixture into your ear. Wait a few seconds, then flip your head over for the excess liquid to drain out.

3. Rubbing Alcohol And White Vinegar
   
   If you don't have hydrogen peroxide on hand, you can also safely mix rubbing alcohol and white vinegar together and follow the above instructions.

 Originally published on Bustle and republished here with their permission. Images: Abigail Keenan/Unsplash; Courtesy of Brands

Wayne Lewis Lesser, Wayne's World, Wayne's Words

By Wayne Lesser

In 1944, I was born to loving parents. I came into a world of what I call “lesser” sound—I was born hearing-impaired. As a kid, I did not know or did not pay attention to my lesser sound. While I did have regular hearing exams, my parents never indicated to me that I might have hearing loss. In truth, my parents were unaware of my hearing loss throughout my childhood.

My kid sister followed in 1945 and was profoundly hearing-impaired. For years, my family was not aware of her hearing loss, or its severity. At that point, my family still did not know about my hearing loss, either. My mom took my sister from doctor to doctor until one said that she was hearing-impaired and needed hearing aids. She was fitted with aids at age 11.

Wayne Lesser

My sister’s hearing aid was ugly and scary. I remember when she put it on for the first time: a one-piece unit, the size of a deck of cards, with two wires connecting the large earbuds into her little ears. My mom turned it on. At that moment, I was fooling around with the bathroom faucet, turning the water on and off. My sister turned in my direction as, for the first time, she heard the sound of running water—and smiled. It was an unbelievable and memorable experience. I still get chills remembering the event as if it were yesterday. We were the only members of our entire family to be similarly afflicted. 

 In sports and life, I tried to listen and hear the best I could, positioning myself to look at people's faces—even learning to lip-read by myself, so that I could understand and try to get by. Growing up, I was proud to be an all-star Little League kid, a county all-star in high school basketball, and a basketball athlete at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. I graduated with a B.A. in history in 1966, and then was accepted into George Washington University Law School. 

Law school was tougher for me as I struggled to hear. I remember many times saying I was not prepared when called on by the professors, as I could not follow the questions and discussions in large lecture classes. I was embarrassed to tell them of my hearing loss. But I made it despite all the roadblocks. I graduated in 1969, took and passed the Commonwealth of Virginia Bar Exam, and was admitted to the bars of both Virginia and the District of Columbia.    

The summer of that same year I visited San Francisco, saw the changing world, and wanted to be a part of it, including the chance to now listen to the music of the times. One of the trends in men’s fashion was wearing the hair long, so long that it covered the ears.   

In March 1970, I moved to Berkeley. I got a job selling women's clothes and met my future wife at the store. We got married in 1971 (we’re still together), and I got my first set of hearing aids. Egads, I thought. Sound—nice! Why did I wait so long to get help? Because before that I did not have the convenience of concealing them with longer hair. Yes, I suppose that as a young man I was sensitive about hearings aids, even if I did need them. But I continued to wear them and still do today. I am sure that over time there has been a gradual decline in my hearing health, but I am as “fine” as I can be with the hearing aids.

I opened my first law office in 1971, practicing law in all types of cases and causes, but primarily in civil litigation and consumer rights. I have mainly been a solo practitioner for nearly five decades. 

About five years ago, I began to ask questions about hearing aids, hearing impairment, and hearing risks, which led me to create the Sound Awareness Movement: a movement to provide information, advocacy, and product protection to slow the onset of hearing loss, protect hearing, and educate hearing-at-risk people.

The “Color of Sound™” at lessersoundapp.com grew out my desire to increase awareness of the harmfulness of noise. Too many times I’ve heard the complaint, “I hate to go to a place that is too loud.” 

I have many thoughts and ideas for potential solutions for various problems that exist for hearing-impaired people (H-I-P) and hearing-at-risk people (H-A-R-P). This is an area that has not been adequately addressed from a marketing and preventive standpoint in identifying so many otherwise harmful sound environments at work and play.

Simply stated, I am a real person who is hearing impaired. I understand the shame, silence, and fear that people with hearing loss share with our families; the ignorance of the hearing world; and the weight that is imposed upon us because of these problems. I have a strong desire and ability to address issues, advocate for solution-solving products, and provide a real face for the emerging Sound Awareness Movement™.

* This blog post is sponsored by lessersound, llc. To learn more, please visit http://www.lessersoundapp.com/

Psychology Effects of Hearing Loss in Teens

By Ann Steele, Psy.D., LMFT

Hearing loss is frequently associated with older folks. When we think of younger people and teens as being deaf or hard of hearing, we tend to assume they have been that way since birth. But that’s not always the case; children and teens can lose their hearing just as older people can, sometimes quite suddenly.

It is important to understand not only the causes of hearing loss, but also the serious issues that result. Hearing loss affects social interaction and emotional well-being, and only by appreciating these effects can friends, teachers, parents and other support figures help teens navigate the troubled times ahead. The below blog post discusses more root causes and the importance hearing has on our society. 

What causes hearing loss in teens?

Hearing loss in teens can result from many factors, including congenital defects, ear infections, autoimmune diseases, blows to the head or exposure to loud noises. This is not a complete list, unfortunately; hearing loss can result from many other issues besides.1

Understanding levels of hearing loss

While we tend to think of people as either hearing or deaf, hearing is not an absolute sense. Rather, it exists on a scale.2 So while some teens may have no hearing ability whatsoever, others may have some. When hearing begins to fade, people first have trouble picking up softer noises, then louder ones. Teens may first lose their ability to hear low hums and birds chirping and then lose spoken words in a vacuum. Eventually, in full hearing loss, they cannot hear even loud noises such as helicopters or gunshots.

The cultural importance of hearing

Sadly, hearing is not only a valuable means of communication; it is also fraught with cultural importance. Not being able to hear causes teens to miss many social cues that other, hearing, teens rely on.

For instance, they may miss the physical characteristics of voice, different dialects, varying speech registers (the ways we speak in informal versus formal situations, or at work versus at home), and the internal or emotional states of the people around them.3 These are all crucial pieces of cultural information to which the deaf and hard of hearing do not have access.

Learning impacts of deafness from birth

Deafness from birth, especially when it comes to deaf teens born to hearing parents, comes with a price tag not attached to deaf teens born to deaf parents or hearing teens who later become deaf.4 This is because when children are able to interact with parents on a daily basis during their formative years – hearing children with hearing parents or deaf children with deaf parents – they benefit from crucial language interaction.

However, teens who were born deaf to hearing parents often suffer from a disconnect that results from being unable to communicate easily. Reading levels, memory, emotional adjustment and other aspects of life may suffer.

Emotional, social and educational results of hearing loss

Even if children are able to skip the often negative effects of early deafness, hearing loss of any type has huge impacts socially, emotionally and educationally.

Teens who experience hearing loss and can’t compensate for its effects often respond in typical ways: becoming confused, checking out, losing self-reliance, feeling isolated and losing their identity.5 This impacts their ability to engage in school, to form peer relationships, to be close to their families and to pursue their interests. Such issues can be hard to overcome, but with good communication, it’s possible.

Tips for communicating with the deaf and hard of hearing

It can be quite difficult to learn to communicate with deaf or hard of hearing teens if you have never learned sign language, especially if the onset of hearing loss is sudden. However, there are a number of steps that you can take to make communication easier.

Remember, hard-of-hearing teens will rely heavily on your facial and mouth movements, so give them a full view of your face, avoiding moving or fidgeting. Don’t exaggerate your words, because this distorts how you form them, and supplement the conversation with bodily and facial gestures as you normally would.6

Mitigating the psychological effects of teen hearing loss

Helping teens foster a sense of self that moves past the disability is important, as is helping them to establish an understanding community. Supporting their efforts to communicate is crucial, but offering space where needed is very important as well. Overall, it will take time and effort – on the teen’s part and on the part of his or her support team – to overcome the disability and learn to lead a full and natural life once more. But with understanding, love and help, teens can get there.

Ann Steele, Psy.D., LMFT is the author and publisher of the "Psychology Effects of Hearing Loss in Teens." 

1. Hearing Loss Association of America (2016). Types, Causes and Treatment. Retrieved from http://www.hearingloss.org/content/types-causes-and-treatment.

2. World Health Organization (2016). Grades of Hearing Impairment. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/pbd/deafness/hearing_impairment_grades/en/.

3. Krauss, Robert M., & Pardo, Jennifer S. (2006). Speaker Perception and Social Behavior: Bridging Social Psychology and Speech Science. Retrieved from http://www.columbia.edu/~rmk7/PDF/Bridges.pdf.

4. Henderson, Valerie, Grinter, Rebecca E., & Starner, Thad (2005). Electronic Communication by Deaf Teenagers. Retrieved from https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/handle/1853/8451/05-34.pdf.

5. Better Hearing Institute (2016). Consequences of Hearing Loss. Retrieved from http://www.betterhearing.org/hearingpedia/consequences-hearing-loss.

6. South Carolina Hospital Association. Tips for Communicating with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People. Retrieved from http://www.scha.org/files/documents/tips_for_communicating_with_deaf_and_hard.pdf.

10 Signs and Symptoms of Ménière's Disease

By Catherine Roberts

According to the Mayo Clinic, Ménière's Disease affects the inner ear and causes bouts of vertigo due to fluid that fills the tubes of your inner ear. On top of the dizziness and nausea, flare ups can also cause some loss of hearing in one or both ears and a constant ringing sound. You might not be able to drive, work, or do regular daily activities at times, though this chronic condition varies greatly from person to person. Unfortunately, the disease is not curable, but there are many treatment options that successfully help manage the disease.

Keep an eye out for these ten signs and symptoms of Ménière's Disease, and see your doctor if you experience any of them…

1. Dizziness
   Dizziness can be caused by a lot of different diseases and infections, but it’s one of the main symptoms associated with Ménière's disease. Your inner ear is responsible for your balance and since the disease attacks the tubes in your inner ear, dizziness is bound to occur when experiencing a flare up of the disease. If you experience dizziness as a result of an attack of Ménière's disease, it may cause you to unsteady on your feet and feel like the world is moving unsteadily around you. In severe cases, dizziness can make you fall over or trip while walking, making it dangerous to be driving, working, or even simply walking.
   
   

2. Nausea
   Nausea is another common symptom. Feeling sick to your stomach and actually vomiting can easily occur when you’re experiencing severe dizziness as well. When attacks of the disease come on, symptoms of vertigo are felt for as little as half an hour to as long as a full 24 hours. Though these attacks are seemingly short-lived, nausea and other symptoms can be felt strongly during the whole flare up. Although a symptom like nausea is extremely inconvenient and unpleasant to deal with, there are over-the-counter medications for motion sickness and prescription anti-nausea medications that your doctor can provide that could greatly help manage the attack. There are also some antibiotics that can be injected into the ear to help relieve symptoms if necessary.
   
   

3. Hearing Loss
   Though usually temporary and in one ear, permanent hearing loss happen to some over time. Many patients describe the hearing loss as if their ear is plugged—sound can seem distorted, fuzzy, far away, or even tinny. Sensitivity to sound is also common, and finding a way to successfully remove the fluid helps improve any hearing problems the patient suffers from.
   
   

4. Ringing In the Ear (Tinnitus)
   According to the Mayo Clinic, Ménière's disease can cause tinnitus, unfortunate sounds in the ear described as ringing, hissing, roaring, buzzing or whistling. Since the disease affects people in different ways and with varying symptoms, some patients may experience tinnitus without vertigo and hearing loss, or a combination of several symptoms. While not painful, any sort of foreign sound like ringing in the ear can be really difficult to cope with.
   
   

5. Uncontrolled Eye Movements
   Some people who have the disease experience a sort of jerky eye movement in one or both eyes, side to side, up and down, or in a circular motion. It varies depending on the patient and each attack. The inner ear directly affects balance, and in turn, the movement of your eyes. Tests are done to check the response of your eyes when your inner ear balance is changed.
   
   

6. Diarrhea
   Those who experience diarrhea might be more likely to also be experiencing vertigo during the same attack. To make matters worse, diarrhea can continue to occur after flare ups, not just during them. This makes it very important for you to stay hydrated when you’re struggling to cope with these symptoms of Ménière's disease. Since vertigo can cause you to throw up, the combination of vomiting and diarrhea will make you extremely dehydrated, and cause other health problems if not corrected. Along with diarrhea, abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal discomfort is possible.
   
   

7. Cold Sweats
   When in the middle of an attack, people who experience vertigo symptoms—nausea, dizziness, and even vomiting—could also develop cold sweats, adding another uncomfortable symptom to deal with. Since cold sweats are typically a result of vertigo in the case of Ménière's disease, vertigo medication could eliminate or greatly reduce this and other vertigo symptoms. Depending on how severe your episodes are, your doctor may prescribe an anti-nausea medication to reduce the harmful symptoms of the attacks.
   
   

8. Feelings of Fatigue
   It’s thought that those with Ménière's disease are more sensitive or susceptible to fatigue, increasing the risk of falling prey to an attack. Some patients have also shown that fatigue could be what causes flare ups, so people with the disease should adjust their lifestyle as needed to reduce the risk of becoming too tired. Work on sleeping well and not over-working or over-extending your capabilities.
   
   

9. Extreme Mood Changes
   People with Ménière's disease have claimed feeling a variety of changes in their mood both during episodes and in-between them, from anger and irritability to anxiety and fear. These mood swings and feelings of instability can be caused by many things, so they aren’t necessarily from Ménière's disease. It’s also worth it to note that mood changes and roller coaster-type feelings aren’t necessarily a physical reaction from the disease—the Mayo Clinic explains that it’s currently unknown if anxiety contributes to and causes episodes or if anxiety is a by-product of the disease, occurring after attacks.
   
   

10. Migraines
    A sign of Ménière's disease that’s easy to overlook are severe headaches, specifically migraines. There are so many dietary and lifestyle causes of migraines that it’s no wonder this sign can be overlooked. That said, once you really think about the disease and what it attacks, it’s not so hard to see the connection. It’s thought that migraines can cause damage to the inner ear, and those with Ménière's disease are more likely to get migraines during flare ups.

Excerpts of this article was repurposed with permission of the author and originally appeared on activebeat.com January 23, 2016.

7 High-Tech Reasons You Should Finally Deal with Your Hearing Loss

By Laura Friedman

Lifting your mood, boosting your energy, protecting your earnings, super-charging your social life — and even keeping your mind sharp. These are just some of the many spoils that come with facing and dealing with a noise-induced hearing loss that has been slowly but persistently creeping up on you.

The quality-of-life and feel-good benefits of treating even just mild hearing loss brought on by years of loud music, power tools, high-volume headphones, motor-sport engines, crowded night clubs and bars, noisy restaurants, and raucous sporting events are plenty. But in this digital age of smart phones and wearable technologies, the draw for many solution-minded consumers may be in the technology itself. Super-smart, super-sleek, super-convenient, and super-sophisticated — today’s hearing aids give you a multitude of reasons to address that hearing loss you’ve been trying so hard to ignore.

Consider these inspiring facts about today’s highly functional, high-powered hearing aids. They just may get you to finally do something about your hearing loss and make your life easier.

1. They’re cool, sleek, discreet and virtually invisible. The latest hearing aids offer functionality, style and effortless living. The designs are incredibly attractive and they’re much smaller than even conventional Bluetooth earpieces. Many of the latest hearing aids are so tiny; they sit discreetly and comfortably inside the ear canal, out of sight. Aesthetically, hearing aids have had a complete makeover.
   

2. They cut out background noise so you hear what you want to hear. Hearing aids now scan the listening environment and automatically adapt to it—even in the wind. There are even hearing aids that can actually “geo-tag” a location. So if it’s convenient for you to network at a certain coffee shop, your hearing aids will know when you’re there and adjust themselves accordingly.
   

3. New technologies not only help you decipher speech details in music and noise, but they better preserve and clarify the more subtle sounds of language — like the consonants B, S, F, T, and Z — so you can really follow what someone is saying. No faking.
   

4. You can hear from all directions — even when scoping out what’s in the fridge. Advanced directional microphone technology lets you hear from the back and side — something really important when driving a car. But it also makes it easier to hear voices more clearly in other everyday settings — like when your head is in the fridge and your significant other is talking at your back. Yes, that’s one great feature.
   

5. Digital, Bluetooth, and wireless capabilities in hearing aids are the now the norm. Many new technologies let you stream sound directly into your hearing aids — at the perfect volume — from your smartphone, laptop, conference-room speakerphone, home entertainment system, and other Bluetooth devices. Using a wireless mini-microphone — with cool, contoured designs, some even looking like a pen— placed on the restaurant or conference-room table, or near anyone you want to hear, makes it feel like they’re speaking directly and clearly into your ears, no matter how noisy the setting.
   

6. State-of-the-art hearing aids can do a lot for the person. They offer no whistling due to advances in digital technology. Most are hypoallergenic with nanotechnology coating to keep them clean and dry. Some are fully waterproof so you can swim or shower with them in, and some have rechargeable batteries.
   

7. There are even more disruptive hearing technologies on the horizon. Totally out-of-sight, semi-permanent hearing aids that stay in for two to three months let you shower and sleep in them, no fuss. Hearing aid manufacturers are deep in the trenches working to create future breakthrough technologies that will make it as easy as possible for the brain to decode speech and other sounds. After all, we really do hear with our brains and not with our ears. Some hearing aids with these technologies are already available.

The content for this blog post originated in a press release issued by The Better Hearing Institute. For a list of hearing aid models check out the Hearing Health Foundation's New Technology page. 

Tell Us Your Tips!

By Yishane Lee

Here, at HHF, we're working on Hearing Health’s Spring issue and our theme is…..drum roll please.….“Living Better With Hearing Loss.” We’d like to include expertise and advice from YOU, our readers, because who's better than you to give your insights and experiences with living with hearing loss?

We truly appreciate your time and help with any of the questions below! Please respond in the comments section, email us at editor@hearinghealthmag.com, or provide your answers via this survey, here.

• What are your best hearing aid tips? For example, do you have a trick to maximize battery life? Or a foolproof way to make sure you never misplace your devices?
  

• Have you ever accidentally gotten your hearing aid wet? What did you do? Did it work?
  

• What steps do you take to hear better in a noisy setting? Do you use your hearing aids combined with certain assistive devices?
  

• Do you have tinnitus? How do you cope with it? Does your hearing aid have a tinnitus setting, do you use white noise, or something else?
  

• What have you learned about yourself or your family after being diagnosed with hearing loss?
  

• Are you the parent of a child with hearing loss? What advice do you have for parents getting a diagnosis of hearing loss for their child?
  

• Are you an adult with hearing loss? What is advice you would tell your younger self, or the parents of your younger self?
  

• What is your go-to accessory or assistive listening device? A mini mic? A neck loop? Earplugs?
  

• Do you protect your hearing in noisy settings? What steps do you take?
  

• Have you ever had a scary situation where you could not hear?
  

• Do you tell people about your hearing loss as soon as you meet them, or do you wait till later? Or do you let them figure it out themselves? Tell us why.
  

• If you could design the perfect hearing aid, what would it include?

Thank you for sharing your experiences living with
hearing loss and tinnitus with us. 

Please subscribe here to receive a FREE copy Hearing Health magazine! 

Interested in sharing your story ? Email us today!

Superpowers

By Kathi Mestayer

Why on earth someone would write a book and call it “El Deafo?” Well, it’s a memoir, of sorts—“El Deafo” is author Cece Bell’s secret name for herself.  Bell created the moniker as an elementary school student, referring to the superpowers that her FM assistive-listening system gives her. 

El Deafo is a graphic novel, illustrated by Bell. All of the characters (teachers, friends, nurses, parents) have bunny faces and ears.  By the end of the book, it just seems normal (as does her hearing loss). The book’s designation as a 2015 Newbery Honor Book was well deserved.

Bell lost most of her hearing at age 4, in 1974, after a case of meningitis. Armed with hearing aids and a microphone she wears around her neck and shoulders she attends group classes to learn to speechread and gets better at telling the difference between bear and pear; sherry, jerry, and cherry; and sue and zoo.

Mainstreamed in elementary school, Bell has a “Phonic Ear” strapped to her chest, cables running to her ears, and a mic that the teacher wears around her neck to transmit the teacher’s voice to Bell’s ears.

That’s when El Deafo becomes a reality. Because of the FM signal, Bell can hear everything her teacher is saying or doing—anywhere in the school building, even in the restroom. (The sound of the toilet flushing is ear splitting.) She hears when her teacher is complaining in the teacher’s lounge about her classmates. She keeps these “superpowers” a secret from everyone until…well, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.  

In the interim, Bell is a typical kid: making (and losing) friends, dealing with school and neighborhood dramas, feeling like an outsider, sharing a crush on a cool boy, and reuniting with her best friend ever. Bell tells it like it is, warts and all.

I recommend the book for everyone—especially those of us who have been, or are, “different”—and for all ages, tweens and up. 

In fact (shhh!), I also have El Deafo superpowers! Once my FM system is up and running, I really don’t miss a word, even if I leave the room. Recently one speaker attached my mic to his lapel several minutes before he got on stage to give his talk, and I heard every single thing he said, including snarky comments about another speaker. Oops! Don’t tell anyone!

“El Deafo” by Cece Bell (published by Abrams, 2014) is available at bookstores and online.

Staff writer Kathi Mestayer serves on advisory boards for the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Greater Richmond, Virginia, chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America. See more of her writing about hearing and science at beaconreader.com/kathi-mestayer.

Danger! Danger! Alarms and the Panic Response

By Kathi Mestayer

Warning sounds and emergency noises are designed to get our attention using sound. It is, after all, the only kind of signal that will effectively reach everyone in the vicinity—even if we’re out of visual range, facing the wrong way, in total darkness, or even asleep.

In the case of alarm sounds, a stress reaction, or mild panic, is exactly what’s needed. The purpose is to get people’s attention, without causing them to veer off the road, or go back to checking their email.

Studies of individuals’ responses show that alert sounds should have the following properties:

1. Sufficient volume (about 15 dBA above the background noise; dBA refers to the volume as perceived by the human ear)

2. A wide range of frequencies

3. Rapidly rising frequency

4. Fast cycle time (rapidly repeating sounds with short intervals between them)

A hard-of-hearing friend was surprised to find out that he couldn’t hear his smoke alarm. He and his wife were standing under it, when he pushed the “test” button. As she bolted from the room to escape the noise, he just stood there with a puzzled look on his face. Didn’t hear a thing—his hearing loss just happened to drop out completely at that frequency. So, they got a special smoke alarm with a broad range of (lower) pitches.

One of the most mind-bending siren sounds I’ve heard online is that used by the city of Chicago. The website characterizes the tornado sirens as sounding “like a dying whale from hell.” Oh, right, I thought—they can’t be that bizarre, can they? Oh, yes, they can—the eerie whine pulsates, changes volume quickly, and climbs up—and down—and up again—over a broad frequency spectrum. But, after all, they are trying to get us quit what we’re doing, and prepare for a tornado. You’d have a really hard time ignoring it.

This is only a test…

The most-recognized alarm sound is the federal Emergency Alert System, which became official in 1997, and is used primarily for weather alerts. It’s the one you hear on the radio, with loud, corrosive klaxon blasts followed by the “this is only a test of the Emergency Alert System” script. The first sounds, called the “header,” are designed to get our attention and make us rush to the radio to turn the volume down. The header is followed by a continuous-tone “attention signal” at two frequencies, followed by the script (if it’s a test) or the emergency information (if it’s real). The message ends with a three-burst pattern of the header.  

FCC rules prohibit unauthorized use of the Emergency Alert System sounds (or anything closely resembling them), but…    

Testing, testing: zombie apocalypse!

A well-defined and thought-out system like that is just begging to be hacked, right? Well, some folks managed to do just that at a TV station in Montana to broadcast a warning about a zombie apocalypse. They were just trying to warn us, right? Here’s a segment from the Associated Press coverage of the event:

“The Montana Television Network says hackers broke into the Emergency Alert System of Great Falls affiliate KRTV and its CW station Monday. KRTV says on its website the hackers broadcast that ‘dead bodies are rising from their graves’ in several Montana counties. The alert claimed the bodies were ‘attacking the living’ and warned people not to ‘approach or apprehend these bodies as they are extremely dangerous.’”

They were just trying to help… if there had, in fact, been a zombie attack, we would be thanking them profusely, right?

My friend Steve worked at an experimental physics facility in Japan, and told me that their “crane alarm” was extremely effective—it sounded like a woman screaming bloody murder. Not periodic, just a continuous scream that was impossible (for him, anyway) to ignore. It made him nervous, got the adrenaline pumping, and he never got used to it.

Steve also observed the “alarm tune-out” phenomenon. When the earthquake warning siren sounded, he ran the protocol—turning off equipment, securing gas bottles, and finally ducking under a table. Nobody else seemed to notice the alarm, except for an occasional, curious colleague peeking under the table at him. “I think they were used to earthquakes,” he says.

Staff writer Kathi Mestayer serves on advisory boards for the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Greater Richmond, Virginia, chapter of the Hearing Loss Association of America. This is adapted from her reader-sponsored work on Beacon Reader.

Fly

By Chill Kechil

Chill Kechil is a Les Paul Ambassador, helping to educate musicians and others about the risks of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus. The New Jersey-based DJ and composer recently released two versions of a song, “Fly,” featuring vocals by Shakila Azhar, in addition to two holiday songs. He is donating a portion of their sales to Hearing Health Foundation. 

As a person with hearing loss, he has made adjustments in order to compose and perform. Here, he talks about the genesis for the songs and what he likes in music.

My latest collaboration is with Shakila Azhar. She is a singer who lives in Singapore, and she happens to be my wife’s cousin. She flies in airplanes for a living and sings at her company’s events. My wife told me Shakila has a killer voice, so when I finally met her we talked about doing a song together. 

Through this song I wanted to capture the spirit of flying, along with her soulful vocals. We recorded “Fly” over a few hours, when she had a stopover in New York City, but I’ll admit it took me almost a year to finish the production.  I hadn’t worked with live vocals before, and I wanted it to be perfect so I really took my time about getting it right. I was also using a new version of my music production software. Shakila’s improvised vocals and lyrics added real soul to the song. 

There are two versions available, a dance version, and a deep house version. I realize now that there could be a connection between my high frequency hearing loss, making it hard to hear higher pitches, and my love for deep house music, which has heavy kick drum beats and a deep bass line. Actually it’s funny, but the idea for the bass line in the deep house version of “Fly” came about while I was doing a holiday song based on Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from “The Nutcracker.” 

But it’s not just the deep sounds that I like in my music. The tune should be very melodic. I like women’s vocals floating over the top, and instead of typical three note chords, I like to use four or five notes in each chord like in jazz music (another of my favorite genres). House music combines all of these things—deep sounds, melodic vocals, and rich chords. The software just changes the entire production of a song, letting me visualize the notes and chords while composing. It brings hundreds of instruments to my fingertips.   

When it comes to curating songs for internet radio stations or creating a DJ set, most have kind of a danceable beat. My preferences are really chill, lounge beats and house music that can flow smoothly together from one song to the next. You can say I live up to my Chill Kechil name because most of the songs I produce or play have this chill, danceable beat to them.

Protecting my hearing by covering my ears is always a priority. The headphones I wear for DJing have to isolate the sound from the mixer while also protecting my ears from the ambient sound and noise. This way, I don’t have to turn the volume up as much when I’m mixing a DJ set. The headphones make the bass sound warmer, while reducing the higher frequencies that can hurt the ears and lead to ear fatigue. I always try to be careful by allowing my ears to rest at least a week between DJ gigs, and to check my smartphone’s decibel meter for loudness when catching other DJ or music acts. And, of course it goes without saying... I always have my earplugs handy.

He DJs regularly at Skinny Bar & Lounge on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Look for him on open turntable nights. Read more about Chill Kechil and his music in Hearing Health's Spring 2015 article here.

Chill Kechil believes in the mission of HHF and its search for a cure for
hearing lossand tinnitus. He is donating a portion of sales of “Fly" and the
holiday songs “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and “Carol of the Bells” to HHF.
Visit chillkechil.com to listen to samples and purchase.

12 Amazing Tips For Traveling With A Hearing Loss

By Janice Schacter Lintz

Having a hearing loss shouldn’t stop you from traveling. The following tips will ensure a smoother trip:

1. Sign up for travel alerts via email or text to avoid missing a flight. Gate/Flight Attendants, right or wrong, tend to forget to notify people of changes.
   

2. Have your hearing loss and any accommodation you need noted in your passenger/hotel profile in case of an emergency.
   

3. Specify in writing the specific HEARING access you need when booking a room. Otherwise, you are likely to receive a wheelchair accessible room. Hotels should offer a simple remote to activate the television’s closed captions, wake/shake/visual alerts and a hearing aid compatible telephone or TTY depending on your needs.
   

4. Research the places you plan to visit to determine the access available. Advise them ahead of time in writing, the accommodation you need. Send a letter if you do not receive the requested access. Access will only change when people complain.
   

5. Take extra batteries and back-ups of your hearing aids/processors. Running out of batteries can ruin a trip. The same is true if your hearing aid/processor breaks.
   

6. Bring a paper and pen to communicate in a noisy setting.
   

7. Pack a portable dehumidifier to dry out hearing aids/processors if traveling to a humid location. Sweat and humidity may affect their performance.
   

8. Transport all your supplies in a case in your carry-on bag to ensure everything remains intact. Store the bag in your in-room safe to avoid potential theft or loss. Check your homeowner’s policy to confirm coverage when traveling domestically and internationally.
   

9. Mention your hearing loss in advance to the TSA or customs personnel to avoid misunderstanding. Removing hearing aids/cochlear implant processors during TSA screening is unnecessary. Have a copy of the rules with you to avoid issues.
   

10. Load an iPad with movies since very few airlines offer closed captioning for in-flight programing. The good news is airlines such as Virgin are beginning to offer closed captions on some flights.
    

11. Take the hotel’s business card and written directions to ensure you arrive at the proper destination.
    

12. Safeguard your hearing aids/processors while swimming with AquaVault’s portable safe. It solves the issue of where to store your hearing aids when you remove them to swim. The lightweight safe attaches to the back of your lounge chair and easily fits in your luggage. A thief would have to remove he entire lounge chair to steal the safe.

Most importantly, have fun!

This piece was originally featured on JohnnyJet.com, a travel blog and resource committed to easier, better and cheaper travel.

The author, Janice Schacter Lintz, is the CEO of Hearing Access & Innovations, which works to improve accessibility for people with hearing loss.