The Medical Freedom Channel

“Ted Ax knows he should wear earplugs when he leans into the noisy engine compartment of an MG sports car. He’s been working among clanging metal and whirring power tools in garages for the last 15 years and has already developed tinnitus, a ringing in the ears that is one of the most common symptoms of hearing loss caused by excessive noise. But between the need to pinpoint troubled engine sounds and listen out for the phone — and with his fingers forever covered in grease — the Denver man’s earplugs go unused. ‘I have yet to come up with a real-world scenario where I can have hearing protection and do my job,’ says the 42-year-old foreign-car mechanic. Ax might soon have a more amenable option: a pill he could take before work that would help protect his ears from noise.” (07/01/07)