6 ms·
I’m relieved that it wasn’t a cockroach this time.
by user982 8y ago
I’m relieved that it wasn’t a cockroach this time.
- hguhghuff 8y agoWhat was it? I can’t read Washington post.
- vatys 8y agoTo Stankovic, chief of the division of otology and neuro-otology, the problem did not sound idiopathic; she suspected that Behforouz had inadvertently fractured a tiny delicate bone in her middle ear called the malleus. When she examined the records of Behforouz’s previous hearing tests, Stankovic realized that the results had been misinterpreted. Behforouz didn’t have sensorineural hearing loss — damage to the nerve. Instead, she had conductive hearing loss, a problem with the way sound is transmitted. The difference is important because some forms of conductive hearing loss can be fixed through surgery. Malleus fractures, which prevent sound from being properly delivered to the middle ear, are rare, Stankovic said, and probably underdiagnosed. She said researchers at Mass Eye and Ear have studied 13 patients with the fracture and “every one had the same story”: sudden hearing loss after what doctors call “digital manipulation.” Moisture “provides the perfect pressure seal,” Stankovic said, and force can result in fractures to the bones in the ear, which are the smallest in the body. Behforouz had an additional risk factor: osteoporosis, the bone-thinning disease. The lesson: keep your fingers out of your ears!
- m-i-l 8y agoThanks for clarifying. I was skim reading and assumed "digital manipulation" was something to do with digital data, maybe listening to mp3s too loud or something, but putting fingers in your ears makes much more sense in this context.
- astura 8y agoA fractured bone because she was fucking around with the pressure in her ear. I don't know why anyone would do that. You can read the story here: https://outline.com/ZZNsFC https://outline.com/ZZNsFC
- lowtolerance 8y agoPossibly because she didn’t know it was possible to break a bone in your freaking ear canal by doing that.
- AstralStorm 8y agoTypical result (it is called barotrauma) is a ruptured eardrum, not bone breakage, but osteoporosis changes that.
- astura 8y agoExactly. I was advised since I was a kid eardrums are easy to puncture so don't go manually fucking around with your ears. If I have water in an ear I'd lay on one side and let it drain.
- pronoiac 8y agoSame here! I don't think I would have read it if not for your comment. For others skittish about that sort of thing: she fractured a bone in her inner ear.