A few years ago when I went to a local music venue to hear the band, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, a very memorable scene played out on stage. After playing for a few hours with the full band — guitars, drums, bass, even a pedal steel guitar — the singer settled into some quieter, softer music, just Adams and his piano. The ...

It has been over two weeks since the onset of my sinus infection and still no sign of improvement. In fact, my thresholds have worsened, showing a unilateral mild-moderate conductive hearing loss in my right ear. Tympanometry yielded similar results from last Friday. The feelings of aural fullness and annoyance from tinnitus have both increased as ...

As I mentioned in my prior entry, I have been dealing with a sinus infection for the past few weeks. I finally caved and saw a physician, who gave the diagnosis of bronchitis. Not a big deal, just a complete nuisance. In the context of this blog, I have also had some hearing loss. It is not uncommon for someone with a head cold or infection to ...

Our editorial mission focuses so strongly on practice management that it can be easy to glance over the real-life effects of the hearing health conditions that are at the core of everything we do. This thought recently screached into my conscious when I heard this NPR report on tinnitus. At random points in the ...

I have officially started my new practicum placement at the VA hospital in North Little Rock. This placement also doubles as my assistantship, allowing for hourly pay and, more importantly, more practicum hours. In any given week, I may log 16-20 hours of practicum, which is solid for a third-year student. I was told that I would get more ...

Earlier this week we launched our newest specialty site, specifically focused on the products and services that help you to provide excellent patient care and operate a profitable practice. As one might expect, we're calling it the Hearing Practice Management Products & Services Resource Center. At the top of the Products & Services site ...

That's one more semester in the books, and I am officially a third-year student. Now I have one month off. Normally I would use the downtime to work as much as possible and play catch-up financially. So what are my plans for this break? I'm still going to work, but only part-time. I begin my assistantship at the VA in October, and I intend to ...

I have been told in the past that attending Audiology NOW! is motivating to the point where it can spur you right out of burnout and back into overachiever mode, even in the dog days leading up to finals. Those sources were correct. The conference was everything I expected it to be in terms of learning, networking and entertainment. I made the ...

In the same week that we celebrate Earth Day 2011, we also mark the one-year anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and watch/wonder/worry as Japan attempts to mitigate the results of its recent nuclear catastrophe. Both disasters are a result of energy technology failures and, frankly, it doesn’t matter what or who might be at ...

My latest article profiles a couple, married 25 years, who decided to receive cochlear implants at the same time. It has been four months since their ''activation,'' and the progress they've made is truly remarkable. It has positively changed their lives in so many ways. Their names are Meg and Joe Duarte. Meg is a science teacher in the deaf ...