Dear Healthy Friend,

As I child, my parents often warned me about pumping up the volume of the TV or my radio, or going to rock concerts and the damage these things could cause to my hearing. But, no matter how much you've tried to protect yourself - or your loved ones - from abnormally high noise levels or how many pairs of earplugs you possibly could've gone through, it could all be for nothing.

Because your hearing could still be at risk. And you might never guess why... Christine O'Brien reveals the answers...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S. At the beginning of the month my daughter came home from school saying that one of her friends had broken his arm at school... apparently he fell off the jungle jim. Not a nice feeling, I'm sure! Two weeks later he’s back at school with a big, hard "plaster" on his arm to make it better... I can imagine the frustration of a 4-year-old boy wanting to play and just not being able to. But there's something that any mom could do to help the healing process... keep reading...
 

Painkillers could be killing your hearing!
Christine O'Brien
Contributor, Nutrition & Healing

Recent research reveals that hearing loss could be caused in part by regular use of the three most commonly used drugs - aspirin, acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

That's right - there's one more thing we can add to the already-lengthy list of reasons not to take mainstream painkillers: A higher risk of losing your hearing.

These surprising findings came out of a study called the Health Professionals' Follow-Up Study. As part of the study, 27,000 men have provided information on analgesic use and hearing loss every two years since 1986.

Researchers found that, among men under 50, the risk of hearing loss was actually DOUBLED in those who regularly took acetaminophen more than two times a week.

Men who regularly took ibuprofen or other NSAIDs at least twice a week had an almost 2/3s higher risk of hearing loss and men who took aspirin twice a week had risk of hearing loss, 1/3 higher than men who took the drug less regularly. For NSAIDS and acetaminophen, the risk went up the longer the men used the drugs.

It's been known for a while now that very high doses of NSAIDS could cause hearing loss, as can very high doses of aspirin. While the researchers don't know how much of the drugs the men in the study were taking, it's probably safe to assume that most of them weren't taking more than a normal amount.

And if you think about how many doctors still recommend regular aspirin use for heart protection, it becomes pretty clear that we need to get the word about this research out there NOW.

Hearing loss is already too common, and we don't need anything else contributing to that. The researchers noted that the use of these drugs could be one of the "few preventable causes of hearing loss".

If you didn't have enough reasons before, this could be the last straw - it could finally be time to clean out the medicine cabinet for good.

For more natural pain relief advice click here...
 

Speedy healing for acute injuries

Q: Is there anything that can heal a bone fracture quickly? My son hurt his arm playing with his friends and he's getting tired of sitting around the house while his buddies are playing outside.

Dr. Wright: I know it might sound a bit trite to say this, but patience is often the best medicine and I'm sure your son could use a good dose of it right now! Typically, most bone factures heal in a cast and that is probably the most cost efficient way of healing an injury like his.

But there is a treatment that could actually help people recover from acute injuries in about 1/3 of the expected time. The treatment is called MME. It's probably not necessary in your son's case, but sometimes professional sports players use MME to speed up recovery time. I know of a professional sportsman who underwent two unsuccessful arthroscopic surgeries for a chronic recurrent elbow injury. But after just 24 hours of MME treatments, his elbow healed completel, and he wound up back on the field in no time.

MME applies direct-current electromagnetic fields to the body through two strong electromagnets. Patients lie on an open bed between the two magnets and the magnetic fields. The electromagnetic fields interact with the body's electrons in atoms at the cellular level. As the electrons on these atoms move faster, the result is enhanced electron transfer, which is thought to speed healing.