As a consequence of surviving the flu, and resulting ear infection this past December, Mrs. Montoya (heh heh) lost the ability to hear out of her right ear. Her doc explained it was a temporary thing and that it would get better in a few weeks. My wife’s field of expertise being art history & religion, she deferred her own opinions to those of a MD. Well, 3 months later she still can’t hear with that ear, so she goes to an ENT (no, not a large walking/talking tree) who says, “Well, the reason you can’t hear outta that there ear is because you have irreversible nerve damage…” Oh tragedy. But So goes life, right? We both blame George Bush for this, but that’s another story.
So, fostering a healthy dose of denial, I jump on the internet and quickly discover this gizmo. After reading through the article and trying to translate it into terms I can understand I run accross this phrase:
And the thing lost all credibility for me. Then I got to wondering, "Hey, if this thing can get around the auditory nerve, why do I still have to watch Miracle Ear ads on TV? Seems like this would be the Next Big Thing–deafness is cured, etc. Other links then give accounts of the Soviets using it as some kind of weapon, something to do with woodpeckers?
So before I confuse myself any more, lemme ask this: WTF? Does/Can this thing work? If so, why hasn’t it caught on?