World hearing day is an annual world awareness campaign held on 3 March. The aim is to create the knowledge and urgency to diagnose and manage hearing loss. Hearing loss has a severe negative impact on social and economical aspects of daily life. This year the focus is on the cost effectiveness of interventions to

BPPV is one of the most common causes of vertigo. Resent evidence shows a possible link between the recurrence of BPPV and low Vitamin D levels. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is often encountered in private practice. The likelihood of occurrence increases with age and it is estimated that 3 to 4% of the population

Thank you Professor Johannes Swart! Thank you for training me, all of us and teaching us the discipline of ear nose and throat surgery. It was a privilege to train and learn from you. You did not only teach us the science of medicine but also the psychology of the sole. You never degraded us,

Hyperacusis is the intolerance to normal ordinary environmental sound. The specific sound usually does not provoke any discomfort in the majority of people. It may present with emotional, social and physical problems. Patients can become very anxious, depressed, isolated, and develop avoidance behavior to certain conditions. Patients also experience physical pain and discomfort in the

Loud noise makes me dizzy. This is not such an unheard complaint in a neur-otological medical practice. Some patients would complain that constant loud vibrating noise is really bothersome whilst some may experience dizziness and vertigo when exposed to sudden loud noise. One of my patients could not go to church anymore as the loud

A primary inner ear schwannoma (PIES) is a tumour that originates in the inner ear. The importance is that this tumour has up till now been underdiagnosed, even missed in some cases, in South Africa. Although it is considered benign it causes a lot of problems. Hearing loss is very common and occurs in nearly all

John William Callaghan was born on 12 August 1926. With ancestral roots from Cork, John or Oom John as we know him, demonstrated some of his Irish perseverance to become one of the leading ENT surgeons in South African history. Amazing that at the tender age of 90 years this man is still practicing, operating

For 1 billion rand (R1 000 000 000) you could, if theoretically possible, buy the Mona Lisa. Undoubtedly one of the finest pieces of art ever created. Leonardo da Vinci took 4 years to complete this painting. It is well known how accurate Leonardo da Vinci depicted anatomy, as can clearly be seen in his

On 19 August 2016 a computerized rotation chair was used for the first time in South Africa. The System 2000™ Reclining Chair from Micromedical Technologies is a standard vertical axis rotational vestibular chair that can recline to perform videonystagmography (VNG) testing. Rotation chair testing is usually performed with VNG and is the gold standard for

Recreational noise induced hearing loss is hearing loss that is caused by loud sound. Recreational refers to the conditions and circumstances under which it occurs. When it occurs in the workplace it is referred to as occupational hearing loss. Recreational means that it is done out of choice, usually during leisure time. Two main causes