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Mindfulness meditation versus relaxation therapy for tinnitus

Tinnitus, defined by McFadden as “a conscious experience of sound that originates in the head of its owner, without an external acoustic source”, has a high prevalence and variable psychological impact. It results from maladaptation of the brain to a...

The earlier the better: learning to work together

Working as part of a team can be the most challenging aspect of any health professional’s job role. The authors of this article acknowledge that this is frequently considered a skill that can only be learnt ‘on the job’. Yet...

Otoplasty equals happiness

There are frequent criticisms of procedures that are viewed as cosmetic therefore of no benefit to health. Here a German group have looked at the benefit of otoplasty on quality of life. They point out that ‘beautiful people have an...

The stigma of HPV in oral cancer

The increase of oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC) in the developed world seems to be largely caused by infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is a group of 150 DNA viruses that are common and most people will be infected at...

Viral induced hearing loss

Viruses are a common cause of hearing loss both in children and adults. This article provides a good review of the viral causes of hearing loss and can be regarded as an essential read. The authors divide the viruses into...

Information to support decision-making: does it make sense online?

The internet has become a major source for health information, with many people preferring to use the internet to search for advice than speaking to health professionals. Yet much of the information available is very difficult to read for the...

Hearing disability questionnaires

This is a very interesting study concerning the validity and readability of 10 hearing disability English language questionnaires available for clinical use. The questionnaires were assessed against the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework (WHO-ICF)....

SNOT-25 to assess CRS - a new tool

The SNOT-22 is a well-established validated instrument, designed to evaluate the rhinosinusitis-specific health status and health-related QOL, however makes only one broad reference to productivity. The objective of this paper is to evaluate a modified SNOT-25 created to better assess...

Do you really like me? Is it, Is it therapy?

Therapeutic alliance describes what happens in the interactions and relationships between the client and the therapist. There is evidence from mental health literature that a therapeutic alliance can have a significant impact on outcomes. A negative alliance can lead to...

Doing it for the men: diversifying the speech and language therapy profession

It is known that many health professions are dominated by females, particularly the allied health professions, such as speech and language therapy. This is more pronounced in the US than in the UK, Australia and other countries. The authors of...