Like me, most people have faked our way through school chorus and church choir by mouthing our way all because we can’t sing very well. While they may actually enjoy the act of singing, such as in the car or while taking a shower, they’re sure to do it only when they’re alone. But if you think of yourself as being tone deaf, you’re certainly not alone. There are about one in seven people that believe they are tone deaf.

Most people think being tone deaf means you just can’t sing, but actually lots of lousy singers have no problems whatsoever hearing music, and they like to listen to it just as much as anyone. When the actual meaning of tone deaf is used, which is just for those who are not able to understand music, the number of people who are actually tone deaf is decreased. In some studies, it has been discovered that approximately only 1 out of every 20 people actually suffers from tone deafness. Tone deafness means that you are unable to distinguish between different pitches, that is how high or how low a note is, making it nearly impossible to identify even a simple tune.

Those who are severely tone deaf are referred to as having “amusia” amongst medical professionals. When you are born tone deaf, you are considered to have congenital amusia. Montreal Battery for the Evaluation of Amusia is a series of tests that researchers created to comb through the different kinds of musical deficiencies. Fascinating research using imaging tests make it possible to compare the brains of those with what are considered normal music abilities with those of a bona fide musician.

Genuine curiosity concerning the functions of the brain relating to the form of music encourages a large percentage of such studies. Currently, there are no researchers working on finding a cure for the tone deaf. Through discovering the mysteries of amusia, scientists hope that they will solve other challenges, including learning disabilities, and they believe that amusia itself could help one day with treating a number of alternative developmental disabilities.

In terms of the organizational structure of music, in the Western world we use half steps (also referred to as semitones) to classify the difference between musical notes. The majority of humans are able to detect the differences between musical notes easily; in fact, many of us are able to recognize fractional changes between semitones. Differences in pitch are much more difficult for those with amusia to distinguish, and often requires a considerable tonal difference before it is detected.

Pitch contour, pitch direction and pitch isolation seem to elude the hearing abilities of the tone deaf. The changes in the contour of a pitch are what ultimately form the melody of a song. Distinguishing changes in pitch within a musical phrase is an especially challenging task for those who have been classified as amusic.

The mechanics of rhythm seem as difficult to grasp for one who suffers from amusia as melody and pitch. However, if the music played is monotone with no variations in pitch, amusics display a good rythmic sense. Because rhythm and music are usually rather intrinsic, it’s certainly understandable that the pitch of the musical piece would hinder those with amusia, causing them to have trouble following the beat.

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The HSE have announced a brand new initiative aimed at encouraging manufacturers to make quieter machinery and businesses to use the quieter machinery. They have done this in a bid to try to reduce the amount of noise related health problems created in the workplace.

It has been estimated that 170,000 people within the UK suffer from hearing complications due to being exposed to high levels of noise in the workplace. The initiative ‘Buy Quiet’ has been designed to educate people to what they can do in order to reduce noise levels.

The HSE are particularly interested in building a closer working relationship with manufacturers and understanding what can be done to make reductions at work.

An event was held in March 2010 where the relevant businesses and organisations met up to debate how noise plays a big role in their daily lives and how it can impact on your hearing.

The workshop aimed to give information on the legal rules regarding noise levels and to help employers acknowledge the risk factors that are associated with noise induced hearing loss.

By law employers are required to monitor noise levels under The Control of Noise at Work Regulations Act. There are duties that employers have to fulfil in order to look after the interests of their employees. All employers must assess the risk to their employees and take action to reduce the noise levels if the risk assessment shows there is a need to. In some cases employers will be required to provide their employees with protective hearing protection if the noise levels cannot be controlled any other way. A duty of care is owed to employees and noise levels must be controlled and not exceeding the recommended safe level. Health surveillance tests should be undertaken when there is said to be a risk to the health of any employee.

Deafness claims can be pursued via a qualified solicitor. Tinnitus Claims are also often pursued by people suffering from work place hearing damage.

Glue ear is a common condition where glue-like fluid collects in the middle ear, behind the eardrum. It is the most common cause of partial deafness in children. About one out of four children get affected by glue ear at one point of their childhood. It is more common in boys, being the most affected between ages two to five. However, there are still risks it can occur at later stages, including adulthood.

Glue ear, unfortunately, is sometimes overlooked. There are some signals though, such as temporary hearing loss and a stuffy feeling in the ears.

Glue ear is very common though. One occurrence predicts another. It has been known that children who have had one episode of glue ear are more likely to have recurrent episodes.

Other risk factors that may contribute to higher risk of glue ear include:

- constant exposure to nicotine smoke

- often having cough & cold

- glue ears is common in the family; and

- as a baby, he or she was bottle fed rather than breast fed

The most common symptom of glue ear is having dulled hearing. Sometimes, children who are affected might end up deaf completely. Hearing loss can vary from mild to severe. If it persists, it will affect the child’s normal intellectual development.

Pain is a very uncommon symptom, but mild earache may happen from time to time. Some affected children might pull at their ears if they have pain.

Children who have glue ear tend to show slower speech development and even behavioral problems. These are commonly caused by the fact that their hearing is impaired.

Fortunately, glue ear can be treated. Also, most glue ears will heal on their own. However, if glue ear persists, surgery may be required to remove the glue-like fluid from the middle ear and to place a ‘grommet’ (ventilation tube) in the ear drum. It sits across the eardrum, connecting the middle and outer ears, hence allowing pressure in the middle ear to normalize or equalize with the atmosphere.

ENT specialist Singapore – Find treatment for your allergy today! Also published at A Few Facts About Glue Ear.

There’s likely nothing that stimulates one’s curiosity about the cough. Cough can be wet, whopping or dry. You could fake a cough to relieve you from embarrassment, or blast dagger looks at someone coughing to your face; worse, you could be having a coughing fit. But really, there seems to be a lot more you many not recognize about the cough.

Super fast is how cough travels, that is why it is common. Cough moves swifter than a mere mortal. It’s at 60 miles per hour, the speed of cough!

Here’s one intriguing information about the cough: snail gunk could be a remedy for it. In Chile, snail guck is commercialized as a treatment for the common cough. Avers the proprietor of the snail farm, antibiotics are in these slimey secretions and they work well against cough. In Chile, at least, cough medications from snail slime come in strawberry and avocado flavors.

But long before the snail and its gunk, otc and prescription cough syrup formulations were derived from addicting substances… or didn’t you know? Yes, drugs were given freely then, even to children! Opiates and heroine were the origin of cough syrup in the 1800s!

The destinies of cough syrup and Jello looked to have been intertwined, too. Closing his factory of cough syrup, Pearl B. Wait decided to venture into something else. He opted to better the nasty-tasting gelatine and gave the world Jello, in fruity flavors.

Cough even caused execution- a not-so-known trivia. Yes, in 1799, Napoleon was ruminating whether to free his 1,200 Turkish captives or not. But he coughed and cried “Ma sacr toux!” (translation: My darned cough!) But his soldiers believed he pronounced, “Massacrez tous!,” which meant “kill them all!” And so, they did.

Does coughing bring on hearing deterioration, as well?

If you have persistent problems with sinus get the best treatment from the expert. Sinutsitis can be cured once and for all, too. This article, See Cough Run! is released under a creative commons attribution licence.

Nasal polyps are small, soft, jelly-like nodules within the nasal passages. Smaller nasal polyps are quite harmless, but large ones make breathing difficult because of the blockage they create.

Knowing the early warning signs can help you get diagnosed and treated immediately. Here are 7 symptoms or warning signs that you have nasal polyps. Should you experience them, inform your doctor (an ears, nose and throat or ENT specialist) as soon as possible. He can perform tests and detect your problem right away.

1. Breathing through the mouth – Any obstruction of the nasal passageways can force you to breathe through your mouth. However, if mouth breathing has become chronic, or if it is not associated with a cold, nasal polyps may be causing this.

2. Runny nose – A runny nose with no other associated symptoms may be caused by nasal polyps as well. Allergies can cause a runny nose, but they may also cause enlargement of present polyps. This makes symptoms more noticeable.

3. Persistent stuffiness – Nasal polyps may also cause a stuffy feeling in the nose. It can cause your passages to be blocked, affecting one or both nostrils.

4. Chronic sinus infections – Chronic sinus infections may also be caused by nasal polyps. These infections are more likely to happen after a cold, because nasal polyps can become infected and cause passageways to hold more mucus than normal.

5. Sense of smell is lessened or lost – Nasal polyps can cause loss of smell, because they cover the membranes that lets the human body detect odors.

6. Dull headaches – If you experience a lot of dull headaches, similar to a sinus headache, nasal polyps may be the cause. Nasal polyps create pressure in the nasal passages, triggering the headaches.

7. Snoring – Snoring has several causes, but chronic snoring is often caused by nasal polyps.

Remember that only an ENT doctor can identify and diagnose nasal polyps. The above mentioned are just some early symptoms that suggest you may have them. If you have these symptoms, speak to your ENT doctor at once.

Is sinusitis causing a negative impact on your life? Get help from an ENT specialist to improve your life’s quality. This article, If You Experience These 7 Symptoms, You Might Have Nasal Polyps is available for free reprint.

Tonsillitis means inflammation of the pharyngeal tonsils. In laymen’s terms, it is when your tonsils are swollen. The swelling or inflammation may also include other areas of the back of the throat, such as the adenoids and the lingual tonsils. The tonsils are oval shaped masses of lymph gland tissue (called lymph nodes) found on both sides of the throat. Tonsillitis refers to the infection of these tonsils.

Common symptoms or characteristics of tonsillitis involve pain in the throat and trouble swallowing. It can be diagnosed only by checking the tonsils using a tongue depressor and spatula, used in collecting a sample.

The sample collected will show whether the infection is viral or bacterial. The most common type of bacteria that causes tonsillitis is streptococcus. Glandular fever is a viral illness that can cause tonsillitis, but other viral infections may cause it as well. Examples are: herpes simplex virus, the measles virus, adenovirus, cytomegalovirus, Streptococcus pyogenes (GABHS) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).

A bacterial infection will need antibiotics. Viral tonsillitis won’t respond to this kind of treatment.

Tonsillitis is normally a self-limiting condition. This means it usually gets better without treatment, and normally there are no complications. It is commonly experienced by children and young people, but it can happen at any age.

Tonsillitis may also be carried from one person to another via social contact, such as coughs, sneezes and nasal fluids.

Tonsillitis has several variations or types: acute, recurrent, and chronic tonsillitis and peritonsillar abscess.

Some common symptoms of tonsillitis are the following:

- Pain in the throat when swallowing

- Pain when opening the mouth

- Headache

- Fever or high temperatures

- Loss of appetite

- Vomiting

- Pain in the abdomen

- White or yellow spots of pus on the tonsils

- Swollen lymph glands under each side of the jaw

If the disease keeps coming back (or recurrent tonsillitis), a surgical removal of the tonsils is normally recommended. The procedure is called tonsillectomy.

Is hearing loss causing a negative impact on your life? Get help from an ENT specialist to improve your life’s quality. This article, A Few Reasons Why People Have Tonsillitis is available for free reprint.