Health
Reform--Official government website touting President
Obama's Health Reform efforts
Student
Loan Reform: What's It Doing in the Health Care
Debate?? -CBS
News, March 10, 2010
Does
Lack of Insurance Kill?
--NY Times, March 10, 2010
Why
Californians Can't Afford Health
Insurance
--Counterpunch, March 10, 2010
Powerful
Catholic Quietly Shaping Abortion, Health Bill
Debate?--NPR,
March 10, 2010
What
'Government Takeover'?--Newsweek
Obama
Gets Tough on Health Care Fraud --NY
Times, March 10, 2010
Medicine:
Debate Over National Health Insurance
- TIME
Health-Care
Reform 2010 -
Tracking the National Health-Care DebateIn-depth news
coverage and information on health-care reform and
health-care policy.
Vital
Signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta--CNN
Making
Sense of the Health Care Debate
- Prescriptions Blog-NY Times
The
Top 5 Lies About Obama's Health Care
Reform -
Newsweek.com
What
the Health Care Debate Is Really All AboutJan 23, 2010
--RealClear
Politics
-------------------------
An example of modern technology and the ongoing
debates over healthcare in America--Maintaining Your
Hearing Aid is a Snap
Modern hearing aids require relatively little
maintenance. Even the age-old complaints about frequent
battery changes have been eliminated as companies such as
Miracle Ear
have introduced rechargeable battery systems.
However, it is still important to keep your hearing aid
clean, since ear wax and airborne dust can cause it to
malfunction.
Prevention
If you work in a dusty environment, or one that
includes overspray or other airborne contaminants, you
should talk to your audiologist about steps you can take
to protect your hearing aid from becoming clogged and
possibly damaged as a result of dust or other buildups.
Even if you don't have a working environment that
subjects your hearing aid to punishment, airborne
contaminants abound in your daily environment. Many
grooming products, including sprays, powders, soaps and
shaving products, pose a threat to your hearing aid,
causing buildups and even clogging the opening of the
microphone. Always remove or cover your aids before
grooming at home, and take special care to protect your
units during visits to the barber or hairdresser. You
should also avoid wearing your aids under a hair dryer or
while using a hand-held dryer. If you remove your hearing
aids during these procedures, make sure your ears are dry
and your hair is dry or pulled back before you reinsert
them. Before doing an activity that will cause you to
break a sweat, remove your unit. Your audiologist can
recommend a protective material that you can wrap your
aid in before strenuous activity.
Cleaning
For in-the-ear units, use the wax brush that came with
your aid to keep the sound opening and vent clean by
gently brushing across the receiver and microphone areas.
Never use sharp objects such as needles or toothpicks to
try to remove debris, as these may damage your unit's
microphone. If your hearing aid has a removable wax
guard, follow your audiologist's directions for changing
it. Wipe the outside of your hearing aid with a tissue or
a soft, dry cloth regularly.
If you have a behind-the-ear unit, you should wash the
earmold regularly by removing it from the unit's earhook
and washing it gently in warm water with a mild soap.
Rinse the earmold well and then leave it to dry
overnight. In the meantime, use a tissue or a soft, dry
cloth to wipe the rest of the unit. Once the earmold and
the tubing are both completely dry, reassemble your
hearing aid.
When to Call the Professionals
Regardless of the type of unit you have, remember to
take your aid to the audiologist to be inspected and
professionally cleaned at least twice a year. Also, if
you have a behind-the-ear unit, it is normal for the
tubing to shrink and grow hard as time passes. This will
interfere with your unit's performance and reduce its
sound quality, so you should visit an audiologist to have
the tube replaced whenever you notice signs of
deterioration. Normally, your hearing professional can do
this during the visit, so that you never have to go
without your hearing aid.
