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A new office test for high frequency hearing loss?
J O U R N A L OF A D O L E S C E N T H E A L T H CARE 1986;7:209
A New Office Test for High Frequency Hearing Loss? The new silent digital watches may soon make obsolete the common office practice of holding a ticking watch near the patient's ear as a test of hearing. A case of unilateral hearing loss in a young person was recently detected in an unusual fashion because of a digital watch alarm. A 19-year-old male college student was pumping up an automobile tire with a service station pressurized air hose w h e n the tire exploded. At the time of the incident the student noted transient ringing in both ears. Subsequently, he was distressed to find that he was sleeping through the 20-second alarm on his new digital watch. He finally realized that this only occurred on mornings w h e n he awoke lying on his left side, with his left ear covered. Experimentation showed he was able to hear the high-pitched beeping tone of the watch alarm w h e n the left ear was uncovered. Audiometric testing demonstrated
marked hearing loss at high frequency in the right ear, which had been on the side of the exploding tire. Deafness is relatively uncommon in young people. Because it interferes with communication and may herald a variety of serious medical conditions including infections, tumors, or hereditary syndromes, its early detection is important. At least one medical instruments manufacturer has begun marketing a hand-held battery-powered device for audiometric screening in physicians' offices. Testing patients' ability to hear a digital timepiece alarm may provide a rough but simple and inexpensive screening test for high frequency hearing loss.
James F. Burris, M.D., F.A.C.P. Georgetown University Hospital Washington, D.C.
© Society for Adolescent Medicine, 1986 Published by Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, NY 10017
209 0197-0070/86/$3.50
A New Office Test for High Frequency Hearing Loss? The new silent digital watches may soon make obsolete the common office practice of holding a ticking watch near the patient's ear as a test of hearing. A case of unilateral hearing loss in a young person was recently detected in an unusual fashion because of a digital watch alarm. A 19-year-old male college student was pumping up an automobile tire with a service station pressurized air hose w h e n the tire exploded. At the time of the incident the student noted transient ringing in both ears. Subsequently, he was distressed to find that he was sleeping through the 20-second alarm on his new digital watch. He finally realized that this only occurred on mornings w h e n he awoke lying on his left side, with his left ear covered. Experimentation showed he was able to hear the high-pitched beeping tone of the watch alarm w h e n the left ear was uncovered. Audiometric testing demonstrated
marked hearing loss at high frequency in the right ear, which had been on the side of the exploding tire. Deafness is relatively uncommon in young people. Because it interferes with communication and may herald a variety of serious medical conditions including infections, tumors, or hereditary syndromes, its early detection is important. At least one medical instruments manufacturer has begun marketing a hand-held battery-powered device for audiometric screening in physicians' offices. Testing patients' ability to hear a digital timepiece alarm may provide a rough but simple and inexpensive screening test for high frequency hearing loss.
James F. Burris, M.D., F.A.C.P. Georgetown University Hospital Washington, D.C.
© Society for Adolescent Medicine, 1986 Published by Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, NY 10017
209 0197-0070/86/$3.50