Letters

You may think you know a lot about the man behind the make-up, but maybe not everything. Did you know that Paul Stanley was born deaf in his right ear? Did you also know that 1 out of 5 teens has a hearing loss? Maybe that explains why the legendary front man who has sold over 100 million albums is so passionate about preventing hearing loss amongst teens. �People tend to think, �if you can�t hear on both sides, how can you make music?� But you don�t miss what you never had,� Stanley said, but his hearing was also something he never took for granted. Since he could only hear out of his left ear, he protected it no matter what, whether he was playing or listening to someone else. �I�ve been going to concerts since kid and from the time I saw Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix, or anybody, I always had earplugs in. It just made common sense to me,� he said. Once your hearing is gone you don�t get it back. Causes of hearing loss include damage to the inner ear. Prolonged exposure to loud noise may cause wear and tear on the hairs or nerve cells in the cochlea that send sound signals to the brain. When these hairs or nerve cells are damaged or missing, electrical signals aren't transmitted as efficiently, and hearing loss occurs. Higher pitched tones may become muffled to you. It may become difficult for you to pick out words against background noise. Thanks Paul for bringing attention to this topic. Sources: Mayo Clinic and article by Lisa Sigell of CBS dated 05/11/11.