If you think you have a hearing loss, please contact your physician soon. In some cases, hearing loss can be prevented from worsening. back to top

change in the color or feel of the skin of the breast or nipple (dimpled, puckered or scaly; warm, red or swollen). It's important to note that there may be no warning signs or symptoms. Breast self-exams, clinical breast exams and regularly scheduled mammograms are vital in the screening and early detection of the disease.

Almost anyone who is experiencing difficulty with communication due to hearing loss is a candidate for hearing instruments. There are some hearing losses that can be medically treated without a need for amplication, however, that is usually the exception and not the rule. The good news is there are usually warning signs that there is a possible hearing loss.

Unless a family has reason to expect the possibility of a hearing loss, some of the early signs may be missed. Sometimes, hoping that suspicions are not true, parents wait before having their baby's hearing checked. However, it's important to test the child's hearing as soon as you suspect that there may be a problem. If there is a hearing loss, it can be assessed and when appropriate, the baby can be fitted with hearing aids.

Hearing loss usually develops slowly, and generally worsens with age. Because it is of gradual onset, hearing loss may not be noticed right away. Often, the first sounds you have difficulty hearing are in the higher frequencies, such as women's and children's voices, and the chirping of birds. With sensorineural hearing loss or "nerve loss" in particular, clarity may be affected so that speech sometimes sounds as if it is mumbled or garbled.

The single most important sign of possible hearing loss in the very young child is the lack or delayed development of speech and language. If your child doesn't seem to exhibit the above behavior, please call us for an appointment to test her/his hearing as this may indicate a hearing problem. Detection of hearing loss in children should occur as early in life as possible. Ideally, infants born with hearing loss should be identified by three months of age.

If you experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, angina (pain in the chest or other areas), dizziness, black out spells, palpitations, fatigue, swelling of the extremities (especially the legs and feet) contact your physician and schedule an appointment as soon as possible.

Stroke is generally characterized by sudden visual disturbances, including blocked or loss of vision in one eye, blurry vision or "graying"; weakness, numbness or clumsiness in one arm or hand; language problems, including slurred speech; facial droop or weakness; dizziness or stumbling; or the abrupt onset of a severe headache.

If you see any of these signs, you may be dealing with a life-threatening emergency. Have someone call for immediate medical assistance while you begin cooling the victim. Do the following: Cool the victim rapidly, using whatever methods you can.

A stroke is an injury to the brain that may also severely affect the body. A stroke happens when blood supply to part of the brain is cut off or when there is bleeding into or around the brain. This can happen if a blood clot blocks an artery in the brain or neck or if a weakened artery bursts in the brain. Risk factors for stroke include high blood pressure, smoking, heart disease, diabetes, and a high red blood cell count. The risk of stroke also increases with age.

Warning signs of liver failure may include, but are not limited to, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, dark urine, or generalized skin and eye discoloration. Based on data known at present, the warning signs are most likely to be present while taking the drug or soon after stopping it.

The signs of a heart attack usually occur at the time of the event and usually involve chest pain (also squeezing, pressure, burning, or heaviness). There can also be radiation of the pain to the left arm, throat or jaw, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, nausea, and fainting. Unfortunately sudden death due to cardiac arrest can also be the first symptom. There are also "silent heart attacks" where there are no symptoms but the heart attack is discovered on a routine EKG.

Chest, arm, upper abdomen or jaw pain, nausea and sweating often precede a heart attack. – American Heart Association

Any change in the normal appearance or texture of a woman’s breast may be an indication of breast cancer and should be examined by a physician. Common warning signs of breast cancer include a lump in the breast, an abnormal thickening of the breast tissue, or a change in density of the breast. Occasionally, breast cancer may be indicated by a lump under the arm, a redness of the skin over the breast, a change of the nipple (such as discharge or inversion), or a dimpling of the breast skin.

It is most important to examine your child's teeth as the permanent teeth grow in. Although children mature at different rates, there are some averages for permanent tooth arrival.

People with hearing loss tend to lose the ability to: hear speech in noisy places, hear certain people's voices (often women or children), or hear soft speech sounds. These commonly affect a person's ability to: watch TV with another person, understand the speech of his/her spouse when s/he walks away, understand speech in church, groups or theaters, socialize easily with family and friends in noisy places, or hear the beauty of music and in the natural sounds in the world.

Individuals with a mild or high frequency hearing loss may not be fully aware of the problem. However, family members and friends often recognize that the person has trouble hearing in groups or sometimes does not understand what is being said. Individuals with a hearing loss will usually know they are having trouble since they have to strain to hear and understand in many situations. They often need the T.V. volume to be loud or are not able to hear effectively on the telephone.

There are many different causes of hearing loss, which can affect all ages. Some common causes are hereditary, trauma, disease, noise exposure and the aging process.

Conductive Hearing Loss occurs when the transmission of sound through the outer and /or middle ear is interrupted. The common causes are wax buildup in the ear canal, a perforated eardrum, fluid in the middle ear, or damaged ossicles. Sensorineural Hearing Loss occurs in the inner ear affecting the transmission of sound. Common causes are exposure to loud noise, trauma, the normal aging process, and disease. Mixed Hearing Loss occurs in the outer and/or middle ear and the inner ear.

Sound enters your ears in sound waves. These sound waves hit your eardrum and are converted to pressure changes in the inner ear. This causes special nerves to impulse, which are read by your brain as sound. When these nerves are exposed to a surplus of pressure changes, they may become damaged. You may have noticed that if you listen to loud music for several hours that your ears "ring." This is a Temporary Threshold Shift, or a temporary reduction in hearing.

long as you have some hearing, they will work. And, you do not need to have equal hearing in each ear. Any hearing in one ear will be enough. People have even reported results when the hearing was entirely by bone conduction.