Story on Dr. Chang and Dr. Redmon in Warrenton Business Insider

12/10/2014 0

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New Movie Trailer for Fauquier ENT YouTube

It has been an amazing experience with how successful our videos have been on YouTube . We now have 60+ different videos of ENT procedures that has been viewed over 247 million times since 2007. We also now have over 12,300 subscribers to our video channel. To celebrate, a movie trailer of sorts has been created to introduce new viewers to the sort of videos they will see and will continue to see from us. Check it out! And... if you haven't yet subscribed to our video channel, please d…

6/05/2013 0

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Stem Cells Restore Toddler's Congenital Hearing Loss

In a potentially revolutionary treatment, a two years old toddler born deaf has had her hearing restored after receiving stem cells from her banked umbilical cord blood. (Reported in ABC News ) Madeline Connor at age 1 year old was completely deaf in the right ear and had severe hearing loss on the left. Normally hearing aids or cochlear implant would have been the only options. However, in January 2012 at the age of 2 years old, Madeline underwent a "simple" experiment w…

7/11/2012 0

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Katie Couric Gets a Hearing Test

On July 10, 2012, Katie Couric reported on a personal story during which she obtained a hearing test . In a modern society like the United States, there are many sources for hearing loss with our alarms, lawn-mowers, and loud music. As the article correctly pointed out, damage due to loud noises is due to two factors: loudness and duration. The louder something is, the shorter time of exposure before hearing damage can occur. The quieter something is, the longer a person can listen bef…

7/11/2012 0

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Phone App That Measures How Loudly You Listen to Your Music!

There are plenty of sound meters in the market for iPhone and Android smartphones that tell a user how  loud the surrounding noise is. Many of these apps are free. However, rather than recording the loudness of the surrounding environment, there is now a new phone app called Safe and Sound (only for Android phones) that measures the decibel level of the sound emitted from headphones and gives the user a clear indication of how loud their music really is. Furthermore, it also records the u…

7/10/2012 0

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Hearing Loss Reversed by Teeth

When a patient is totally deaf in just one ear (normal hearing on the other side), there are only a few options to help. BAHA - Bone Anchored Hearing Aid CROS Hearing Aid - Stands for C ontralateral R outing O f S ignals. With BAHA, it does require surgery given the hearing aid is literally mounted on a post that is directly drilled into the skull on the deaf ear side. Total cost about $10,000. With CROS, two hearing aids are required; one on the deaf hear which picks up sound, …

7/10/2012 0

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Hearing Aid Styles and Colors - There Are Many!

It is not uncommon that a patient with hearing loss interested in hearing aids  mistakenly believe there's only TWO hearing aid styles . The kind that goes in the ear and the kind that goes behind the ear. Although that is true, there are more different variations of both types that catches many people by surprise. Image taken from NIH There also seems to be a generational gap in what style is preferred by patients. "Older" folks in their 60's or older prefer the…

7/06/2012 0

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Healthcare Blogging a Losing Proposition?

An interesting blog article from the folks at Compete came to my attention recently. Compete for those who don't know is a fantastic analytics site to see how ANY website is doing in terms of popularity (number of visitors in a given time period). The basic data is free. For more in depth information, there's a charge. For example, for our practice's website , here is the Compete data I pulled which is "relatively" accurate based on my own analytics information: …

12/06/2011 1

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Magic Ears Club Founded by Fauquier ENT Hosts Halloween Party

The Magic Ears Club kicked off its existence with a first ever Halloween Party on October 29, 2011 where over 15 kids from elementary to high school ages who wear hearing aids co-mingled and played games while their parents talked amongst each other their experiences. Prizes and free hearing aid goodies were also distributed. Dr. Catie Chalmers , audiologist with Fauquier ENT who founded the Magic Ears Club, stated that the purpose of the club is to help parents, as well as their hard-…

11/01/2011 0

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Fauquier Hearing Aid and Hearing Testing Services Offered at Fauquier ENT

Even though our office has been offering hearing tests and hearing aid services in Fauquier County for over a decade, many people are still surprised when they learn they can get hearing tests , hearing aids , ear plugs , and other ear & hearing services in our office. The additional benefit is having a ENT specialist also present in the same office. Furthermore, we offer a comprehensive suite of other related services including non-sedated ABR (auditory brainstem response) hearing te…

2/13/2011 0

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New Video Produced on Non-Sedated ABR/OAE Testing

Our office has produced a new video on non-sedated ABR/OAE hearing testing. Such testing traditionally required sedation as the patient was required to be absolutely still and quiet in order to obtain accurate test results. However, new technology now enables such testing to be performed without sedation. Furthermore, given the testing can be performed wirelessly, the patient can stand and walk around. Absolute quiet is also no longer necessary and the patient can actively play and even eat…

2/12/2011 0

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Physician Marketing Using Groupon

For those not in the know, Groupon is a website that offers coupons and other savings on local merchandise and services. Groupon also has recently rejected a takeover bid by Google . I recently encountered this amazing deal on Groupon offered by an ENT colleague, Dr. Ghaheri : " $149 for Four Laser Hair-Removal Treatments at The Center for Aesthetic Medicine at The Oregon Clinic (Up to $1,000 Value) " I wonder if such marketing and medical discount offerings like this will b…

12/04/2010 0

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Convert Your iPhone/iPod Into A Hearing Aid With EarTrumpet App!

This fascinating iPhone app called EarTrumpet was developed in collaboration with the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at University of California Irvine. The app claims to convert your iPhone/iPod into a hearing aid of sorts (hearing enhancer app is the term they use) via headphones with a built-in microphone (the ear buds that come with the iPhone work just fine). In essence, the microphone will pick up the surrounding sound and the app will instantly amplify the sound a…

9/05/2010 1

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Airline Sued Over A Toddler Screaming On The Airplane

Time Magazine published a story 7/20/10 describing a situation where Qantas Airlines was sued by a passenger who allegedly lost her hearing when a toddler on board screamed near her. The passenger claimed that the Qantas flight crew was negligent in failing to take precautions to protect passengers and that she had suffered permanent hearing loss as a result. Of note, the patient already wore hearing aids due to hearing loss. Though most reasonable folks would side with the airline in…

7/20/2010 0

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Sudden Hearing Loss Can Be Due to Erectile Dysfunction Medications (Cialis, Viagra, etc)

It's been a few years since the warning has come out from the FDA regarding sudden hearing loss in men who take viagra, cialis, and other erectile dysfunction (ED) medications. In 2007, the FDA authorized more prominent labeling that such drugs may potentially cause sudden hearing loss because of this concern. This concern initially stemmed from a 2007 case report  of bilateral profound unremitting sensorineural hearing loss in a 44-year-old male patient that occurred after ingestion…

4/26/2010 1

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CNN: Metallica Drummer Suffers From Tinnitus & Wears Earplugs When Performing

CNN on Dec 28, 2009 published a story on tinnitus (ringing of the ears) highlighting Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich. Mr. Ulrich has suffered from tinnitus due to loud noise exposure and started wearing hearing plugs whenever performing to minimize further damage to his ears. "Ulrich said he is concerned about young people, the so-called iPod generation, who listen to loud music, and may not be as vigilant about protecting their ears. 'If you get a scratch on your nose, in a week …

12/28/2009 0

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USA Today on Hearing Aids

USA Today on November 2, 2009 published a story entitled " Your Health: Hearing aid guide cuts through the noise " in which best practices for buying a hearing aid is discussed. For the story, Dr. Debara Tucci at Duke University Medical Center was interviewed. The advice is summarized by an FDA online guide (at fda.gov, click on "medical devices," then "hearing aids") that includes suggestions on how to get your hearing evaluated, how to choose a device and ho…

11/02/2009 0

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Most People Prefer Right Ear for Listening

A well-known asymmetry in humans is the right ear dominance for listening to verbal stimuli, which is thought to reflect the brain's left hemisphere superiority for processing verbal information. This preference for hearing with the right ear is also found in rats, Japanese macaques, harpy eagles, sea lions and dogs. However, the left ear (and right brain) excels at picking up emotional cues. When it comes to music, pitch, timbre and loudness are discriminated better with left ear (right …

9/07/2009 0

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Online Hearing Test (Audio)

Phonak, one of the major manufacturers of high end hearing aids, has developed a screening hearing test you can do online in the comfort of your home. Take the test here . If you do poorly on this exam, please see your local ENT in order to get a more reliable hearing test and see what options you have to improve your hearing (or keep what hearing you have left).

8/23/2009 0

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Distortion of Risk Assessment for Surgical Complications

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at  FreeDigitalPhotos.net Over time and experience as well as being exposed to some pop psychology by the likes of Malcolm Gladwell, Nassim Taleb, Ori & Rom Brafman, Robert Krulwich, Jad Abumrad, among others, I have realized that patients assess surgical risk in very different ways with most using irrational considerations. Too often, physicians use statistics, numbers, and facts to counsel patients on risk whether it be surgical or some other medical i…

7/28/2009 0

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