How Nighttime Noise Can Affect Your Hearing Health
No one likes when they are woken from a deep sleep by a car alarm going off or an ambulance rushing to Southern California Hospital at Hollywood. Nighttime noise is more than just a nuisance, it can actually be harming your health. Noise & Sleep There are four types of sleep you cycle through over…
The Different Types of Allergy Tests
Allergies are the result of your body overreacting to a substance that is normally harmless, like pollen at Exposition Park Rose Gardens. During this reaction, your immune system tells your cells to release histamine, a chemical that causes symptoms like inflammation of the sinuses, watery eyes and itchiness. Substances that trigger an allergic reaction are…
Is It Allergies or COVID?
Normally when you experience a scratchy throat or stuffy nose during the spring, you can feel fairly confident that allergies are to blame. But in the age of COVID-19, any sign of illness should be taken seriously. Below is a guide to help you determine whether your cough is from the flower booth at Farmers…
New WHO Report Indicates 1 in 4 People Will Have Hearing Problems
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released their first-ever World Report on Hearing. In the report, they estimate that as many as 2.5 billion people in the world – about one in four – will have hearing loss by the year 2050. About the Report The purpose of the World Report on Hearing is to…
Hearing Health Educational Seminar
While many of the COVID-19 restrictions have been an inconvenience, we have seen those with hearing impairment face additional challenges. Mask-wearing and social distancing make it difficult for people to communicate and impossible to read lips. Connecting with friends and family, therefore, is more important than it’s ever been, and we see today’s hearing aid…
Can Allergies Cause Sinus Pressure?
It’s common to mistake sinus pressure from allergies as a bacterial sinus infection that requires antibiotics. While it is possible to develop a bacterial sinus infection because of inflammation caused by allergies, in most cases the uncomfortable sinus pressure will pass once you treat your allergy symptoms. What Are Allergies? An allergic reaction occurs when…
Esther Pugh, AuD
Dr. Esther Pugh is a Southern California native. She completed her undergraduate degree in communication disorders with an emphasis in audiology and has since been in the hearing industry for 11 years. After working with assistive hearing devices for seven years at a private practice, Dr. Pugh returned to earn her doctoral degree in audiology…
Meniere’s Disease Drug Trial
Study Title: Repurposed Use of Allergic Rhinitis and Allergic Asthma Drug to Reduce Vertigo and Hearing Loss in Meniere’s disease This is a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized study aimed at proof of concept that montelukast, a previously FDA-approved medication that is known to help with allergy symptoms, may have efficacy in alleviating symptoms in patients with…
What Is Mild Hearing Loss?
Hearing loss isn’t one-size-fits-all; different people experience different degrees. And while mild hearing loss may only be the first degree above normal, that does not mean it can be taken lightly. Below is a look at what it means to be diagnosed with mild hearing loss. Degrees of Hearing Loss The degrees of hearing loss…
Can Wearing a Face Mask Help with Allergies?
With the weather getting warmer and sunnier, there’s nothing we’d rather do than spend time outside at Los Angeles State Historic Park after a long, socially-isolated winter. And while there may be a lot of negatives to having to wear a facemask – like foggy glasses and muffled voices – one study shows there may…
