From Our Audiologist to Your Ears

Why do you need an Audiologist?

 There an many options for people considering a hearing aid. You could purchase an Over The Counter or OTC hearing aid. These tend to be cheaper and they look much like the a hearing aid purchased from a professional.

 What does the Audiologist provide to make up for the increased cost?

  Hearing is very complicated. To determine what will best meet your specific needs you need a hearing evaluation In a hearing evaluation we look at all three systems that impact your hearing.

   - Outer ear through the ear drum

   - Middle ear assessing health and possible chronic middle ear problems.

    - Brain stem and neural function.

Further we evaluate your life, and the communication issues you face in life.

   What is your environment, quiet at home or a high noise job?

  Do you deal with soft spoken people?

  Where are you having problems?

    -In all settings.

    -only in noise.

    -only with women's voices or children.

   Do you have tinnitus?

    How much does this bother you?

 This is a very thorough evaluation of your hearing and your communication needs.

 From this information we prescribe the best communication solutions for you.

  Once you are wearing hearing aids we will work with you to get the most from these aids to enhance your life. This is a relationship that will last for years from first using the aids to being an experienced hearing aid user. We will provide you as much or as little help as you need.

Many people with hearing losses are not ready to use amplification. I often tell my patients It does not matter what the test says if you are not ready in your heart to accept a hearing aid it is the worse thing you can do. As good as current technology is you still have to put it on, clean it and get used to wearing it. If you are not ready it will end up in your pocket or a draw and when you are ready you will say. " Oh, I tried hearing aids and they did not work for me.

If you are having problems talking with friends and family. There is a communication method called clear speech it is very useful whether you have hearing aids or not when you are having trouble understanding. Help your loved ones learn to speak more clearly. Simply ask them to do four things when communicating with you.

1. slow down a bit,

2. speak a tiny bit louder,

3. say things as clearly as possible without exaggerating their mouth movements,

4. pause at meaningful places so that your ears can catch up with their mouths.

These 4 simple rules can make a huge difference for you.

When you have a mild hearing loss you are risking that the brain centers devoted to speech and hearing may be re-purposed by the brain to other senses. There are other ways to keep these centers active. These can also be used to help reactivate them if they have already been re-purposed.

LACE (Listening and Communication Enhancement) was developed by two audiologists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Robert Sweetow and Jennifer Henderson Sabes developed LACE specifically for older adults with hearing loss.

LACE training is conducted for 30 minutes, five days a week, for one month. You can do the training on your home computer.

This is a program specifially designed for speech proccessing and hearing aid use. Its not free but can give you a tool to help preserve these centers.

http://www.heara.ca/content/case-lace

Brain training using puzzles is also an effective way to keep the cognitive centers active. Word puzzles have been shown to keep the speech centers active even with mild hearing losses. And these can be a lot of fun.

http://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/09/28/attention-and-working-memory/

Music therapy is also a great choice. Music progams have been shown to hlep ""remodle" children's brain's in a away that improves sound processing, which could lead to better learning and language skills" said study lead author Nina Kraus, the Hugh Knowles professor of communication sciences in the School of Communication and of neurobiology and physiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern

Dr. Kraus has also reported “Lifelong musical training appears to confer advantages in at least two important functions known to decline with age -- memory and the ability to hear speech in noise,”

“If the materials that you work with are sound, then it is reasonable to suppose that all of your faculties involved with taking it in, holding it in memory and relating physically to it should be sharpened,” Kraus adds. “Music experience bolsters the elements that combat age-related communication problems.”

https://www.nammfoundation.org/articles/2014-09-04-community-music-programs-enhance-brain-function-risk-children

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/05/musical-experience-kraus.html

As an Audiologist , I am often asked. "Do I realy need two hearing aids?" A simple answer is would you go to your Eye doctor and ask for a Monicle.

For most people, two hearing aids is the best answer. Do you ever wondered why we have two ears instead of one? The body is a finely tuned "machine," and our ears are designed to pick up sound waves from our surroundings. If you've ever had hearing loss in one ear, you know that it can be challenging to decipher noise, or understand where it came from. Two ears provide balanced hearing. This allows a person to "focus" their hearing based on the subtle differences in the sound arriving to each ear.

Some of the binaural benefits include

1. Hearing from both ears.

2. Safety: You can tell direction sound is coming from.

3. Improved Speech understanding

4. Restful Listening: People only using one ear need sound twice as loud to understand.

5. Cushions loud sound. Less loudness required to hear.

6. Better able to Identify what a sound is.

7. Better sound quality

8. Increase sound range: Helps to hear quieter sounds and increases tolerance for loud sound.

9. Ability to focus hearing improving ability to Understand speech in noise.

If you have problems hearing clearly any time it might be time to get your hearing screened. Come to A&D Hearing Center for a free Screening. We have been serving the Leavenworth area since 1976. Let us help you hear the sounds of your life.

HEAR BETTER LIVE BETTER.

I have often been asked how often should a person have a hearing exam. The answer to this question is really different for every person. Hearing loss can have very serous effects on a persons life. Research has show that if not addressed in children even mild hearing loss or a unilateral loss, that is a loss in only one ear, can cause delays in speech development and educational performance.

Adult with hearing loss can experience feeling of issolation. Often experience higher levels of depression. You need to understand that if you have a hearing loss you are not alone. Hearing loss Affects people of all ages and has many causes.

Hearing loss caused by middle ear problems are very common in the young. In fact, at any time as many as 1 in 3 children under the age of 12 are likely to have an ear infection any time you check. Prior to the onset of modern antibiotics ear infections that persisted could actually become life threatening. Today in the United States 97% of childern are screened within 3 days of birth. All children in public schools recieve a hearing screening at least once every two years. Most recieve one every year.

People who work in high noise environments have hearing screenings annually to ensure that the hearing protection they are using on the job is actually preserving their hearing. So what about everyone else.

After the age of 50 you should have your hearing screened at least every two years. Once any loss has been discovered your hearing should be screened annually. As discussed in a previous article very mild hearing losses can result in significant changes in how the speech centers of the brain proccess sound. Even before you have a hearing loss where you might feel you need amplification there are things you can do to improve your communication.

One thing I always tell my patient's It doesn't matter what the test says. If you are not ready for hearing aids in your heart wearing hearing aids is the worse thing you can do. You have to be ready. Before you are ready for hearing aids you can do other things to improve your comunication and we can help you discover what works for you. When you are ready for hearing aids we will be hear to help you with that as well.

As an Audiologist, I am often asked the question. If I only have a small hearing loss it wont hurt me to wait a while before I do something about it will it?”

The brain is truly an amazing thing. When a person loses a sense the brain compensates by using the areas normally dedicated to that sense to heighten others. A blind person will often have heightened senses of smell and touch.

When a person loses their hearing the same thing happens. Recent research has shown that this occurs even with very mild hearing losses.

As an Audiologist I am often asked. Do I realy have a hearing loss, do I realy need Hearing aids. My response is. If you have a hearing loss you have a hearing aid. This may be an electronic device in your ear or a significant other who answers you question. "What did they say?"

Many people with hearing losses are not ready to use amplification. I often tell my patients It does not matter what the test says if you are not ready in your heart to accept a hearing aid it is the worse thing you can do. As good as current technology is you still have to put it on, clean it and get used to wearing it.

The problem is even with a small hearing loss the brain begins to change how you understand speech. The brain is truly an amazing thing. When a person loses a sense the brain compensates by using the areas normally dedicated to that sense to heighten others. A blind person will often have heightened senses of smell and touch.

When a person loses their hearing the same thing happens.As the brain centers devoted to speech and hearing become used for other functions the areas of the brain normally used for higher level thinking and short term memory take over the essential functions of hearing. If they are busy hearing these areas are not available for the work they are meant to do. These findings lend support to the researchers that has shown a link between hearing loss and cognitive declines.

Are you the significant other of a person with a hearing loss? Are you their hearing aid.? The earlier you stimulate the speech centers of your brain the better you will maintain your ability to understand speech. Don't wait. Get help early and you will preserve the best function of the speech centers of your brain. Understanding those you love as they talk to you.

Give the gift of hearing LIVE BETTER HEAR BETTER.

If you have problems hearing clearly in noise it might be time to get your hearing screened. Come to A&D Hearing Center for a free Screening. We have been serving the Atchison/Leavenworth area since 1976. Let us help you hear the sounds of your life.

HEAR BETTER LIVE BETTER.