This is Your Brain on Noise
Forgive my language. When I first read Dr. J.J. Eggermont’s book Noise and the Brain, my first thought was, “Oh, shit.” Because noise is far worse for our hearing and brain health than I was ever taught as an audiologist. Especially for developing hearing systems in children and teens. My more professional book review, This […]
Call To Action: SoundPrint’s Find Your Quiet Place Challenge
I’m partnering with SoundPrint, a hearing health app, to promote hearing health awareness this October. I don’t represent an organization. I’m just one person. But every person counts when it comes to citizen science. Join us for SoundPrint’s Find Your Quiet Place Challenge! During the month of October, 30+ prominent hearing health organizations will participate […]
If Ears Bled From Everyday Noise Exposures
I’m not talking about bleeding ears from very loud acoustic trauma blowing out a person’s eardrums, e.g. explosion, bomb blast. The image for this post was a graphic for a hearing health shock campaign I planned in 2017. I wanted to raise awareness about noise risk from common everyday sound exposures, including personal listening and […]
Virtual Reality Headset with Ultrasound Exposure
Apple’s new patent for an Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality (AR/VR) headset includes ultrasonic sound waves to simulate a breeze or physical sensations on the user’s face while they interact with the virtual environment. These sound waves are super high pitched and can’t typically be heard by humans (frequencies above 20,000 Hertz). Unfortunately, ultrasonic sound […]
If Only We Could See the Damage of Noise Exposure
I was very honoured to have my article featured in Tinnitus Today, Spring 2022 issue. I discuss science from my 2021 papers published in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, co-authored with Dr. Daniel Fink of The Quiet Coalition. My main point is simple: If Only We Could See the Damage of Noise Exposure. If our […]
Airhorn Noise Joke
When my oldest child (now a young adult) arrived at work on April Fool’s Day this year, there was a noisy joke waiting for her. Co-workers rigged an airhorn to go off every time somebody opened the front door of the office. There was much laughter until the culprits noticed my child didn’t find it […]
Protecting Hearing for Life
As a member (retired status) of Speech-Language & Audiology Canada, I was honoured to have my article featured in Communique for World Hearing Day, 2022. The title and content of Protecting Hearing for Life reflects this year’s theme of, “To hear for life, listen with care.” In summary, our modern society exposes us to harmfully […]
Personal Listening Systems are Likely Unsafe at any Sound
I was excited to have a second paper published in The Hearing Journal, co-authored with Dr. Daniel Fink of The Quiet Coalition. We’re trying to raise awareness about personal listening risk in this paper titled: Personal audio systems unsafe at any sound. Safer listening behaviours and device warnings about unsafe listening levels are likely not […]
Too Loud Article in The Hearing Journal
I was very excited to have an article published in The Hearing Journal. The title is Too loud: Noise exposure in everyday life is causing hearing loss. I co-authored this with my colleague Daniel Fink, MD, Chair of The Quiet Coalition in the USA. To sum it up, our modern world is so full of […]
Community to Vote on Noise Control Cost
[Originally published at silencity.com] What happens when citizens want highway noise control but the financial cost is high? The Canadian community of Beaconsfield, Quebec is facing skyrocketing noise control estimates for a long awaited concrete sound barrier. Since the need was identified in 2010, cost estimates have risen from $25.5 million to $46 million putting […]