J.G. writes: - My hearing got bad about twenty years ago, caused I think by a cold in the head. When in bed I can hear the tick of a watch with the left ear but the other is almost stone deaf. I am not much at a loss in ordinary conversation, but in trying to hear people speak I lose much of what is said. Although I have no real pain, my head is rarely clear, feeling full and congested. I have now and again a slight sensation of giddiness or reeling. The right ear runs some offensive matter, and there is always a hissing sound. I live what is, I think, a simple life, but I must confess to a little smoking. My general health is good. I am a working farmer and fairly active for one of my age (69). My diet is generally as follows:

On Rising

One or two cups of warm water, sometimes with lemon juice.

Breakfast

An apple or orange, oatcake and dairy butter. Baker's bread and one cup of tea.

Lunch

Nil, or perhaps I should say that I eat an apple or orange before each meal or a bit of turnip or even cabbage.

Supper

Potatoes with fish, and milk pudding. On some days it may be broth with meat cooked in it.

Before Retiring

Nothing but water, or at other times oatcake and one cup of milk.

There does not seem to be much prospect of this correspondent recovering the hearing of his right ear, as the conditions have lasted so long. He might, however, certainly try by diet and hygiene to get rid of the unpleasant discharge and the noises. To effect this he should carefully syringe the ear once or twice a day with a weak solution (1 grain to the ounce) of permanganate of potash, using an all-rubber ear-syringe.

Then he should get someone to well stretch the upper bones of the spine and to massage well the muscles at the back of the neck to induce, thereby, a better circulation in the nerves and blood-vessels which proceed from that part of the spine into the ears. In this way he will be able to ensure a removal of the clogging poisons which are lurking in the bad ear and thus promote less noises and a better health state of the ears generally. The diet should be amended as follows: -

On Rising

One or two cups of warm water, with lemon juice added.

At 8. Breakfast. - Apples, oranges or other fruit only. Take plenty of fruit at this meal and eat it at no other time.

At 12. Lunch. - One boiled egg or some cream cheese: Oatcakes and butter or good wholemeal biscuits ("P.R." or "Ixion" kinds) and butter, and a plateful of finely grated raw roots (carrots, turnip, etc.).

Tea Meal

One cupful of Hygiama, using water in place of milk.

Dinner

Cheddar cheese or cottage cheese (the latter is best); potatoes and a green vegetable, cooked by baking or steaming, without salt. No broth or meat. (Meat and especially meat broths are very undesirable in this case.)

Before Retiring

Hot water only.

Another Case Of Deafness

J.A.B. writes: - I have been a reader of The Healthy Life for the last six months, and am suffering from a complaint since I was three years old. When three years old I was attacked by scarlet fever and on getting better I had a discharge from my right ear. This continued for several years, then it would disappear and reappear at short intervals of say a few weeks. This last few years the discharge has disappeared for six months, only to reappear again for a week with severe pains in back over right shoulder and right side of neck. I always feel weak and tired when discharge reappears and sometimes experience pains in the head and cannot remember anything for a few minutes.

This correspondent needs a suitable diet in order to purify his blood stream and to promote elimination of bodily poisons which are evidently affecting his ears. He also needs suitable massage and stretching movements applied to the upper part of the spine, which is functioning badly. Then he can supplement this by taking Turkish baths or wet sheet packs to promote a free action of the skin and thus clear away poisonous waste from the system. The same diet as recommended to the previous correspondent should be tried.