Watch Deaf Baby's Reaction When Hears Mom's Voice for First Time!

This video is of an 8 month old child born deaf who underwent a cochlear implant. This special device allows hearing to be restored to children (and adults) who would otherwise be deaf.

Watch the expression and reaction of the child when the implant is turned on and the child hears his mom's voice for the first time!

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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 testing to specialized custom ear plugs for hunters and musicians.

We evaluate all different ages from 1 day old infants to the 99 year old hearing impaired patient.

The full list of Fauquier Hearing services we provide include:

Comprehensive Hearing & Audiometric Evaluations

• Hearing Testing from Birth to Adult
• Newborn Hearing Screening and Follow-up
• Otoacoustic Emmission Testing (OAE)
• Auditory Brainstem Response Testing (ABR)
• Tone Burst Auditory Brainstem Response (TB-ABR)
• Bone Conduction ABR Auditory Brainstem Response (BC-ABR)
• Auditory Steady State Response (ASSR)
• Electrocochleography (ECoG)
• Central Auditory Processing Evaluations (CAPD)

Hearing Aid Services

• Hearing Aid Evaluations and Consultation
• Hearing Aid Dispensing
• Advanced Digital and Wireless Hearing Aid Technology
• Aural Rehabilitation Counseling
• Hearing Aid Service and Repair
• Hearing Aid Accessories and Batteries
• Resources for Parents of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

Balance Evaluations

• Electronystagmography (ENG)
• Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials (VEMP) for Meniere's Disease
• Vestibular Rehabilitation Counseling
• Canalith Repositioning 

Hearing Conservation

• Custom Swim Plugs
• Custom Hearing Protection
• Musicians Filtered Earplugs
• Earplugs for Hunters
• Custom Earmolds for iPods, Cell phones, Headsets
• Assistive Listening Devices and Technology 

For more information, please go to our webpage here.

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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 while testing is going on.

Read more about non-sedated ABR/OAE testing here.

Watch the video here.

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ENT Problem at the Biblical Wall of Jericho

Many people may be aware of the Sunday School story regarding the Wall of Jericho in the Bible. In this story, seven priests blew 7 trumpets of rams' horns resulting in the collapse of the wall of Jericho (Joshua 6:4-5) allowing the Israelites to conquer the city.

"4: And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. 5: And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him."

Now... from an ENT standpoint, I can imagine the mayhem this weaponized horn sound must have caused not only to the wall of Jericho, but also to the surrounding soldiers and people.

Back than, city walls were constructed of brick and mud. It is entirely possible that a loud enough sound can certainly cause the collapse of this wall, but it would have to be very loud... at least 180dB (decibels) loud.
 
Just how loud is this sound? Well, a motorcycle is 100dB; a jet engine is 140dB. From a human ear standpoint, ear pain starts at 125dB. Permanent hearing loss due to ear tissue death occurs at 180dB... but before ear tissue death occurs, the eardrums will rupture at 160db.
 
Even if the Israelites wore ear plugs and ear muffs (like airplane workers do), it only decreases the sound intensity by 15-45dB. So, the rams' horn sound blast at 180dB would still result in the Israelite soldiers being exposed to 140dB of sound with its attendant ear pain and temporary threshold shift (temporary hearing loss).
 
So... though not expressly reported in the Bible, I'm sure not only did God supply the device causing the fall of Jericho's walls... but also appropriate ear & hearing protection for Joshua and his army.
 
In fact... even if the walls did not fall, its inhabitants certainly would be deaf from ruptured eardrums and hearing nerve death. And if Jericho's army is unable to talk and hear each other, its fighting effectiveness would be pretty much severely compromised.
 
Of note... the United States military utilizes weaponized acoustic devices that produce only 155dB.
 
Lung rupture and presumably embolism due to air blast occur at 200 decibels which can lead to death.
 
If you want to read more about acoustic weapons, click here which will probably provide more info than you ever wanted on this subject.

Of note, I can't take full credit for the idea of this blog post which is based on an episode on NPR Radiolab. The NPR Radiolab episode purely focused on the acoustic physics whereas I've taken the extra step of how it can cause health problems.

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