On June 1, Dr Simon Baer, FRCS, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Consultant at the Conquest Hospital, St Leonards, came to speak on the topic of “Deafness: hear all about it!” Invited by Jo Maynard, on behalf of the Patient Participation Groups at Ferry Road and Rye Medical Centre Healthy Living event, he spoke to an interested audience of over 50 people.
Dr Baer has been specialising in hearing for nearly 23 years and is a frequent visitor to the Rye, Winchelsea and District Hospital. He is, of course, well known to some members of the audience.
Deafness is not a term Dr Baer would choose to use, because it is so emotive. Instead, he suggests hearing loss or hearing impairment, which can affect one or both ears, with different levels of severity. Even babies can now be diagnosed with partial or complete hearing loss and he went on to explain the complex effects of hearing loss of any significant level in children. This includes speech development, education and occupational restriction. At any age, it leads to social isolation and possibly depression and dementia. To quote Helen Keller, the deafblind American author, political activist and lecturer “Deafness separates us from people, Blindness separates us from things”.
There are nine million hearing impaired people in the UK. It is a very common condition, but not very well resourced, with 50% of people over the age of seventy having hearing loss. Dr Baer went on to explain the anatomy of the ear, the way in which hearing tests are carried out and the reasons for hearing impairment. He explained that this could include hereditary factors, tumours and diseases like Menieres Disease. Hearing loss can also be caused by environmental factors, like very loud music and the sport of shooting, if ear defenders aren’t used.
In looking to the future, Dr Baer was able to tell the audience of the improvements in paediatric practice and the development of paediatric audiology as a speciality. Stem cell research and gene therapy will be the next avenues of improvement.
At the end, members of the audience were invited to ask questions, which they did with great enthusiasm. Dr Baer’s pet hates? Cotton buds and ear candling! Cotton buds because they can damage the ear, even piercing the ear drum, and ear candling because it really doesn’t work and can even cause a conflagration.
Jackie Dudfield thanked Dr Baer for such an informative and amusing presentation, and the audience for their attendance. The next Healthy Living event will be held in October. Anyone who has a topic they would particularly like to hear about, please email mcpg@btopenworld.com.
Photo: Kenneth Bird