ears

17 Stories

Amber Tamblyn: I Had Cosmetic Surgery at 12

Ear-pinning felt like fighting 'against my own disposability' under 'sexualized spotlight'

(Newser) - Amber Tamblyn recalls that, as a child, kids would make fun of her for having "ears that stuck out like big butterfly wings." Never noticed the former child star's ears? That's perhaps because the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants actor, 41, underwent ear-pinning surgery at the...

Gene Therapy Offers 'Astounding' Results in Deaf Kids

Small group of children in China see marked improvement in hearing after a gene mutation fix

(Newser) - A handful of children in China are experiencing sound for the first time, thanks to scientists who employed gene therapy to help alleviate their hereditary hearing issues. The Guardian reports on the "astounding" research, published Wednesday in Nature Medicine , in which doctors at Shanghai's Fudan University treated five...

Wearing Hearing Aids Could Be a Lifesaver
Wearing Hearing Aids
Could Be a Lifesaver
NEW STUDY

Wearing Hearing Aids Could Be a Lifesaver

Study found the devices could reduce risk of early death by 24%

(Newser) - People with hearing loss overwhelmingly opt not to wear hearing aids, but a new study makes a strong case for scheduling a trip to the ENT. While the benefits hearing aids can contribute to long-term health have long been established, research now suggests that people who wear them are more...

He Thought He Had Water In His Ear. It Was a Roach
Man's 3-Day Ear Clog
Has a Most Unpleasant Source
in case you missed it

Man's 3-Day Ear Clog Has a Most Unpleasant Source

New Zealand's Zane Wedding had a cockroach in his ear

(Newser) - A New Zealand man who thought his ear was clogged with water for three days found out the actual, more unpleasant truth after visiting a specialist on Monday: A cockroach had burrowed its way into his ear canal. CNN reports that Zane Wedding had started feeling like his ear was...

It'll Feel Like Eating Pop Rocks, but Your Tinnitus May Improve

Researchers say bimodal neuromodulation device shocks tongue to reduce ringing in ears

(Newser) - Scientists say they've come up with a noninvasive device that can help alleviate the symptoms of tinnitus , a perception of noise or ringing in the ears. In the study in the Science Translational Medicine journal cited by Scientific American , the researchers say the bimodal neuromodulation contraption achieves this by...

Dozens of Kids End Up in ER Daily for Cleaning Their Ears

A common reason? Eardrums perforated by cotton swabs

(Newser) - A new study from a children's hospital has one clear takeaway: Kids should stop cleaning their ears with cotton applicators. Researchers report in the Journal of Pediatrics that 34 patients under age 18 end up in the ER every day because of injuries related to the swabs. The stat...

Stop Cleaning Your Ears
Stop Cleaning Your Ears

Stop Cleaning Your Ears

No, seriously, you're going to hurt yourself

(Newser) - There's a reason Q-tips come with a warning to never use them in your ears—and it's about time we heeded the advice, says the American Academy of Otolaryngology. The academy's new guidelines for dealing with earwax, the first in almost a decade, stress that the wax...

Weird Study Says You Shouldn't Drink Coffee After a Concert

It could slow your ears' healing: scientists

(Newser) - Scientists who were apparently in desperate need of a research topic have a tip for concert-goers: Don't drink coffee for a while afterward. Based on their new study , it could hurt your hearing. How does one go about studying such a thing? Well, scientists at the McGill University Auditory...

How the terracotta army may have been formed
How Was Terracotta Army Made? Ears Reveal Clue
new study

How Was Terracotta Army Made? Ears Reveal Clue

Facial features were perhaps modeled after real soldiers, researchers find

(Newser) - A massive army of terracotta warriors, commissioned by China's first emperor in 246 BC, has mesmerized archaeologists since its discovery in 1974. Slowly, researchers have learned the secrets of the amazing clay statues, including how they were painted , but were still puzzled by how their realistic features were created....

Boy Gets New Ears Made From His Ribs

British 9-year-old had microtia of both ears

(Newser) - An operation in London has given 9-year-old Kieran Sorkin a pair of ears—made from his ribs, no less. Born deaf with no ears, Kieran was able to hear because of an implanted hearing aid, but he still wanted ears. "I want people to stop asking me questions,"...

Scientists Create New Ear —With 3D Printer

Project uses living cells

(Newser) - Scientists at Cornell have put 3D printing to an incredible medical use: They've made an ear remarkably similar to a natural one. Using 3D images of a human ear, they printed a mold to be injected with gel containing collagen from rats' tails, HealthDay reports. Next, they added cartilage...

Ear Bitten Off as Priests Fight for Parking Space

Father Thomas Byrne, 80, charged with grievous bodily harm

(Newser) - What a scene to behold: Two retired Catholic priests fought so viciously over a parking spot that one allegedly bit off the other's ear, reports Australia's News Network . Father Thomas Byrne, 80, battled 81-year-old Father Thomas Joseph Smith in their building complex yesterday in Perth, Australia, police say....

Burglar in Germany Foiled by ... Earprints

He unwittingly left his mark behind, say police

(Newser) - German police say they busted a burglar responsible for nearly 100 break-ins because he left behind earprints, reports Der Spiegel . How so? He apparently put his ear against doors to listen for people inside. "Earprints are of similar value as fingerprints in terms of evidence," explained a police...

1 in 5 Teens Has Hearing Loss
 1 in 5 Teens Has Hearing Loss 
Study says

1 in 5 Teens Has Hearing Loss

Are earbuds to blame?

(Newser) - Oh no, mom was right: It looks like those always-blaring headphones actually are hurting our ears. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that one in five American teens now suffer some form of hearing loss, a 31% rise since researchers studied the phenomenon...

Ears Get Caught, Save Boy From Death Plunge

He's hooked by grates, saved by rescuers

(Newser) - A Chinese child's ears got caught in grates beneath a window to save the dangling boy from plunging to his death. Ming Ming, 6, tumbled from an 8th-floor window of his home in Yichang when his babysitting grandfather stepped out to run an errand. But his ears were hooked by...

Your Skin Can Help You Hear, Study Finds

Subjects identify sounds better when paired with touch

(Newser) - What you feel can influence what you hear, a new study suggests. People were better able to identify aspirated sounds—those requiring a puff of air, like “pa” or “ta”—when the sound was paired with a puff of air on the back of the hand or...

Say What? Convertibles Harm Hearing

Noise can reach damaging 90 decibels at 50 mph

(Newser) - Tearing down the road in a convertible with the wind whipping at your ears exacts the same kind of hearing damage as listening to a pile driver, scientists warn. Noise from the engine, road, traffic and wind can be as high as 90 decibels at speeds of 50 mph and...

17 Stories