David Lodzins, MS CCC-A
Audiologist

(801)303-3876
davidl@myentspecialist.com

ABOUT DAVID LODZINS

Mr. Lodzins, an Audiologist, is trained to provide diagnostic evaluation of hearing, prevention of hearing loss, and rehabilitation services for auditory problems.

Mr. Lodzins undergraduate degree was earned at the University of Wyoming, where he was a member of the University’s basketball team. He graduated from the University of Utah with a Masters of Science Degree in Audiology, and is certified by the American Speech Language and Hearing Association. He comes to our office from Flagstaff, Arizona, where he worked for a busy ENT practice.

SERVICES PROVIDED

Diagnostic hearing testing to differentiate between types of hearing disorders in adults and children
Evaluation of middle ear function
Hearing Aid consultation including recommendations and fitting
Hearing Aid repair and cleaning
Swim plugs for children and adults
Noise reduction plugs
Musician ear plugs
Assistive listening devices including TV ears, amplified phones and alerting devices
Hearing aid batteries

OFFICE HOURS

Mr. Lodzins is in the office Monday through Friday and appointments can be made by calling 801-303-3876. Please note that appointments can be scheduled directly through Mr. Lodzins and patients can usually be seen by him on the same day.

Audiology

The ability to hear and to interpret sound clearly and accurately is a source of great pleasure. The sounds of nature, music, the voices of friends and loved ones are all a part of the pleasure of living. Hearing is a principal tool for communicating with others, and if your hearing is normal you probably spend half your waking time just listening.

Hearing loss is one of the most common health problems in the United States. Unfortunately, more than 24 million Americans do not enjoy the full benefits of hearing in this world. Hearing difficulties are often unrecognized by the person involved. Children and teenagers seldom complain about the symptoms of hearing loss, and adults may lose their hearing so gradually that they do not realize it is happening.

The first step in treatment of a hearing problem after the medical evaluation is completed is an evaluation by an audiologist. An audiologist is the professional who specializes in evaluating and treating people with hearing loss. Audiologists have extensive training and skills to evaluate the hearing of adults, infants, and children of all ages. Audiologists conduct a wide variety of tests to determine the exact nature of an individual's hearing problem. Audiologists present a variety of treatment options to patients with hearing impairment. Audiologists dispense and fit hearing aids, administer tests of balance to evaluate dizziness, and provide hearing rehabilitation training.

How We Hear

The Structure Of The Ear

The outer ear channels sound waves from the air around you inward through the ear canal. The ear canal terminates at a tightly stretched membrane, the eardrum, which is vibrated by the incoming sound waves.

Beyond the eardrum, in the middle ear chamber, are three tiny, linked bones called the middle ear or ossicles. The outer bone, the malleus (hammer), is attached to the eardrum. The inner bone, the stapes (stirrup), ends in a footplate which fits into the oval window, an opening in the wall of the bone which houses the inner ear. The center bone, the incus (anvil) connects the malleus and the stapes so that when one moves they all move.

The vibrations of the eardrum cause the bones in the middle ear to move back and forth like tiny levers. This lever action converts the large motions of the eardrum into the shorter, more forceful motions of the stapes. The movement of the stapes sets up motions in the fluid that fills the inner ear causing the hair cells immersed in the fluid to move. This movement stimulates the attached nerve cell to send a tiny impulse along the fibers of the auditory nerve to the brain where it is translated into the sensation we know as sound.

Sensori-Neural or Nerve Type Hearing Loss

A sensori-neural or nerve type hearing loss is caused by damage to the inner ear or the nerve of hearing which connects the inner ear with the brain. If the sound of words seems undiminished but you have trouble understanding what is being said, especially in a noisy environment, you may be suffering from a sensori-neural loss. You may be unable to hear high-pitched sounds such as the ticking of a watch, the dripping of a faucet, or the high notes of a violin. You may also hear a continuous "hissing" or "ringing" as a background to the real sounds in your environment. Words may have a rumbling, "fuzzy" quality, and you may think that people are mumbling or slurring their words.

Some of the more common causes of sensori-neural loss are:

The aging process
Exposure to high levels of noise
Illnesses with high fever
Drugs such as quinine, certain antibiotics, high dosages of aspirin, nicotine, alcohol.
Childhood diseases such as measles, mumps, etc.
Meniere's disease (caused by increased amounts of fluid in the inner ear).
Vascular problems.
Head injuries.
Tumors.
Metabolic disorders.
Viral diseases.
Birth defects.

Sensori-neural hearing losses are rarely treatable through surgery or medication. In many cases the only effective solution is a hearing aid. The process to determine this is called a hearing aid evaluation which can be arranged through your doctor or audiologist.

With or without a hearing aid, persons of both types of hearing loss can often benefit from special instruction in lipreading and learning to concentrate on the desired message while ignoring other competing sounds.

Conductive Hearing Loss

Conductive hearing loss occurs when either the outer ear, the eardrum, the middle ear, or the middle ear bones become diseased or injured. Your first warning of a conductive loss may be a subdued quality in the sounds you hear. Familiar sounds will not seem as loud as they once were, and less intense sounds may not attract your attention at all. The quality of sound may be about the same, but the loudness or intensity will be reduced. There are several possible causes for this type of hearing loss:

The outer part of the ear or ear canal may be incomplete or partially blocked by a growth of bone.
An accumulation of wax may be blocking the ear canal, preventing sound from entering.
An infection of the skin tissues which line the canal walls can cause itching, rawness, swelling, and closure of the external ear canal (external otitis).
The mastoid bone marrow and tissue may be infected (otitis Media).
The eardrum may be ruptured.
The middle ear bones may be disrupted, destroyed or immobilized.

Many of these conductive situations can be corrected either through surgery or through medical treatment .It is important to seek medical care whenever you notice hearing loss, ear pain, drainage from the ear, or a feeling of stuffiness Left untreated, many types of conductive hearing losses can progress and so immediate attention should be given to their care.

Hearing Aids

The benefits received from hearing aids can differ significantly from person to person. Your success will largely depend on your motivation and willingness to work at improving your hearing. Most people need an adjustment period--usually lasting from a few days to a few weeks--to experiment with various sound levels and various types of background noise before their amplified hearing becomes second nature. It is also common for your instruments to require minor adjustments from the laboratory when they are new. Experience has shown that with proper counseling and practice, most hearing losses can be successfully fit with hearing aids.

Recent advances in micro-technology have greatly improved the performance of today's hearing aids. New circuit options improve comfort and clarity in difficult listening situations and also allow the tailoring of instruments to match specific hearing needs.

Its no secret that today's hearing instruments look great! What's more impressive is that today's models also sound, feel and perform better than ever. The three types of hearing aid technologies available today are analog, programmable, and digital. Your audiologist can advise you which of the many models and/or circuit options would be best for your hearing needs.

Dizziness and Motion Sickness

Each year more than two million people visit a doctor for dizziness, and an untold number suffer with motion sickness, which is the most common medical problem associated with travel...

What Is Dizziness?

Some people describe a balance problem by saying they feel dizzy, lightheaded, unsteady, or giddy. This feeling of imbalance or dysequilibrium, without a sensation of turning or spinning, is sometimes due to an inner ear problem.

What Is Vertigo?

A few people describe their balance problem by using the word vertigo, which comes from the Latin verb "to turn". They often say that they or their surroundings are turning or spinning. Vertigo is frequently due to an inner ear problem.

What Is Motion Sickness and Sea Sickness?

Some people experience nausea and even vomiting when riding in an airplane, automobile, or amusement park ride, and this is called motion sickness. Many people experience motion sickness when riding on a boat or ship, and this is called seasickness even though it is the same disorder.

Motion sickness or seasickness is usually just a minor annoyance and does not signify any serious medical illness, but some travelers are incapacitated by it, and a few even suffer symptoms for a few days after the trip.

The Anatomy of Balance

Dizziness, vertigo, and motion sickness all relate to the sense of balance and equilibrium. Researchers in space and aeronautical medicine call this sense spatial orientation, because it tells the brain where the body is "in space:" what direction it is pointing, what direction it is moving, and if it is turning or standing still.

Your sense of balance is maintained by a complex interaction of the following parts of the nervous system:

The inner ears (also called the labyrinth), which monitor the directions of motion, such as turning, or forward-backward, side-to-side, and up-and-down motions.
The eyes, which monitor where the body is in space (i.e. upside down, rightside up, etc.) and also directions of motion.
The skin pressure receptors such as in the joints and spine, which tell what part of the body is down and touching the ground.
The muscle and joint sensory receptors, which tell what parts of the body are moving.
The central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), which processes all the bits of information from the four other systems to make some coordinated sense out of it all.

The symptoms of motion sickness and dizziness appear when the central nervous system receives conflicting messages from the other four systems.

For example, suppose you are riding through a storm, and your airplane is being tossed about by air turbulence. But your eyes do not detect all this motion because all you see is the inside of the airplane. Then your brain receives messages that do not match with each other. You might become "air sick."

Or suppose you are sitting in the back seat of a moving car reading a book. Your inner ears and skin receptors will detect the motion of your travel, but your eyes see only the pages of your book. You could become "car sick."

Or, to use a true medical condition as an example, suppose you suffer inner ear damage on only one side from a head injury or an infection. The damaged inner ear does not send the same signals as the healthy ear. This gives conflicting signals to the brain about the sensation of rotation, and you could suffer a sense of spinning, vertigo, and nausea.

What Medical Conditions Cause Dizziness?

Circulation: If your brain does not get enough blood flow, you feel light headed. Almost everyone has experienced this on occasion when standing up quickly from a lying down position. But some people have light headedness from poor circulation on a frequent or chronic basis. This could be caused by arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, and it is commonly seen in patients who have high blood pressure, diabetes, or high levels of blood fats (cholesterol). It is sometimes seen in patients with inadequate cardiac (heart) function or with anemia.

Certain drugs also decrease the blood flow to the brain, especially stimulants such as nicotine and caffeine. Excess salt in the diet also leads to poor circulation. Sometimes circulation is impaired by spasms in the arteries caused by emotional stress, anxiety, and tension.

If the inner ear falls to receive enough blood flow, the more specific type of dizziness occurs-that is-vertigo. The inner ear is very sensitive to minor alterations of blood flow and all of the causes mentioned for poor circulation to the brain also apply specifically to the inner ear.

Injury: A skull fracture that damages the inner ear produces a profound and incapacitating vertigo with nausea and hearing loss. The dizziness will last for several weeks, then slowly improve as the normal (other) side takes over

Infection: Viruses, such as those causing the common "cold" or "flu," can attack the inner ear and its nerve connections to the brain. This can result in severe vertigo, but hearing is usually spared. However, a bacterial infection such as mastoiditis that extends into the inner ear will completely destroy both the hearing and the equilibrium function of that ear. The severity of dizziness and recovery time will be similar to that of skull fracture.

Allergy: Some people experience dizziness and/or vertigo attacks when they are exposed to foods or airborne particles (such as dust, molds, pollens, danders, etc.) to which they are allergic.

Neurological diseases: A number of diseases of the nerves can affect balance, such as multiple sclerosis, syphilis, tumors, etc. These are uncommon causes, but your physician will think about them during the examination.

What Will the Physician Do for My Dizziness?

The doctor will ask you to describe your dizziness, whether it is light headedness or a sensation of motion, how long and how often the dizziness has troubled you, how long a dizzy episode lasts, and whether it is associated with hearing loss or nausea and vomiting. You might be asked for circumstances that might bring on a dizzy spell. You will need to answer questions about your general health, any medicines, you are taking, head injuries, recent infections, and other questions about your ear and neurological system.

Your physician will examine your ears, nose, and throat and do tests of nerve and balance function. Because the inner ear controls both balance and hearing, disorders of balance often affect hearing and vice versa. Therefore, your physician will probably recommend hearing tests (audiograms). The physician might order skull X rays, a CT or MRI scan of your head, or special tests of eye motion after warm or cold water is used to stimulate the inner ear (ENG - electronystagmography). In some cases, blood tests or a cardiology (heart) evaluation might be recommended.

Not every patient will require every test. The physician's judgement will be based on each particular patient. Similarly, the treatments recommended by your physician will depend on the diagnosis.

What Can I Do to Reduce Dizziness?

Avoid rapid changes in position, especially from lying down to standing up or turning around from one side to the other.
Avoid extremes of head motion (especially looking up) or rapid head motion (especially turning or twisting).
Eliminate or decrease use of products that impair circulation, e.g. nicotine, caffeine, and salt.
Minimize your exposure to circumstances that precipitate your dizziness, such as stress and anxiety or substances to which you are allergic.
Avoid hazardous activities when you are dizzy, such as driving an automobile or operating dangerous equipment, or climbing a step ladder, etc.

What Can I Do for Motion Sickness?

Always ride where your eyes will see the same motion that your body and inner ears feel, e.g. sit in the front seat of the car and look at the distant scenery; go up on the deck of the ship and watch the horizon; sit by the window of the airplane and look outside. In an airplane choose a seat over the wings where the motion is the least.

Do not read while traveling if you are subject to motion sickness, and do not sit in a seat facing backward.
Do not watch or talk to another traveler who is having motion sickness.
Avoid strong odors and spicy or greasy foods immediately before and during your travel. Medical research has not yet investigated the effectiveness of popular folk remedies such as soda crackers and & Seven Up® or cola syrup over ice.
Take one of the varieties of motion sickness medicines before your travel begins, as recommended by your physician.

Some of these medications can be purchased without a prescription (i.e., Dramamine®, Bonine®, Marezine®, etc.) Stronger medicines such as tranquilizers and nervous system depressants will require a prescription from your physician. Some are used in pill or suppository form.

Remember: Most cases of dizziness and motion sickness are mild and self-treatable disorders. But, severe cases and those that become progressively worse, deserve the attention of a physician with specialized skills in diseases of the ear, nose, throat, equilibrium, and neurological systems.

Habituation (Brandt-Daroff) Exercises

Balance exercises decrease dizziness, and have been prescribed for you. Although the exercises are accomplished by turning your head and neck , the exercises are performed to help the brain compensate for the injury to the balance system.

The diagrams illustrate how these balance system exercises should be done. Instead of avoiding certain situations of positions that cause dizziness, repeat them. These repetetions will hasten the recovery process. While avoiding dizziness is the more comfortable for most patients, the only way to regain complete balance function is to use your balance system. The goal of these exercises is to improve compensation in a period of time.

David Lodzins, MS CCC-AAudiologist