Au.D

Understanding the Total Package of Hearing Aid Purchases

April 29, 2022 By quadcities Leave a Comment

Find an audiologist to select, fit and educate you on the joys of using hearing aids.

When a person purchases hearing aids, they are making an investment in their lifestyle. Hearing aids are able to expand friendships, close relationships and even the non-social activities you engage in. I have been told by many patients hearing aids changed their life! Musicians are amazed that they are able to hear the parts of music (and their own voice while singing) better than they could have imagined. So, what is the difference between a purchase of stock internet hearing aids and hearing aids purchased from a local audiologist?

Personalized Hearing Aid Programming

The first appointment with your audiologist will be to determine the type and degree of hearing loss you have. During that appointment, you will discuss your personal needs of hearing such as what you want to be able to do and in what situations. You will be guided toward hearing aids that have the options you would like. Not everyone needs the top-of-the-line hearing aids, so your audiologist will assist you by explaining what programs the various hearing aids can offer. Programs are special settings that will focus on what you want at a particular moment like programs for a noisy restaurant or for listening to TV or music. You can even have programs for riding in the car and focusing on speech behind you!

Personalized Training for Assistive Technology

The majority of people we work with need formal training on using the hearing aid programs and hearing on their cell phone. I see people glaze over the moment I explain all the wonderful features they have at their fingertips. It seems like too many options and too much to learn! However, because you are working with people who teach this information every day, all day long, you can be assured we can slowly introduce you to using the technology until you feel like a professional with your hearing aids! You can come back for small amounts of information until using the aids is second nature to you. The audiology office staff take pride in being able to explain the technology in a way that everyone can understand, even the “technically challenged.” We understand that technology is scary for some people and consider it a privilege to be able to provide appropriate instruction.

Tips to Extend the Use of Hearing Aids

Clean the hearing aids at least once a month. Ear wax will build up over time and collect in the wax trap of the part that goes into the ear. You will be taught how to change the disposable wax trap or you can pop into the office and we can change it for you!
The microphones on the outside of the hearing aid are where the sound goes into the hearing aid. Dust or debris can dampen the sound. Once a month, take a dry toothbrush (dedicated to your hearing aids) and brush the microphone openings.
Apply body care and hair care products before you put the hearing aids on. Fine particles from sprays or powder can settle into the microphone and the control button.
Hearing aids that require a single-use battery will need to have the battery changed about once a week. Some batteries last longer and some last less time but one week is a good average. Most of the hearing aids available now have rechargeable batteries that only require putting them into the charger at bedtime. It is a good idea to wipe off the part of the hearing aid that sits in the charger so good electrical contact is made.
The hearing aids are electronic devices so they want to be dry and free of significant dust, similar to a phone or computer. Rechargeable hearing aids are the most resistant to moisture issues.
Store the hearing aids in a safe location, keep them away from children and pets. They love to chew on them!
Protect your hearing aids from extreme heat or cold. It is not a good idea to leave them in a car or any area where the hearing aids can become extremely hot or cold.

Support After Purchase

In my opinion, support in the care and follow-up testing are paramount to enjoying hearing aids. Without the individualized attention to the unique needs of each person we see, the majority of people would not be satisfied with their new purchase. Find an audiologist to select, fit and educate you on the joys of using hearing aids. QCBN

By Karen Lynn, Au.D.

Trinity Hearing Center is located at 1330 N. Rim Dr., Suite B in Flagstaff. For more information, visit TrinityHearing.net.

Karon Lynn, Au.D., is a doctor of audiology with 30 years of experience working with hearing impaired individuals. She may be reached at 928-522-0500 or at audio@trinityhearing.net.

Accessorize Your Hearing

October 1, 2021 By quadcities Leave a Comment

To be clear, accessories are not required to use hearing aids. But for those who need or want a bit more assistance, they are worthwhile.

Technology is constantly evolving, often at a rapid pace, with the goal of improving and simplifying the experience for the user. If you buy a new phone, you get a pair of wireless earbuds. Hearing aids are similar. While modern hearing aids can significantly improve a wearer’s quality of life, some situations could still be improved with the addition of an accessory – situations such as listening to someone behind you while hiking or catching all the information at a meeting. Fortunately, there is a wide range of accessories compatible with current hearing aid models.

Remote Microphones

Remote microphones are a wonderful solution for improving communication between individuals. Let’s say that a hearing aid user is going on a tour. The tour guide will likely be at a distance from the user, or often turned away. Obviously, this makes hearing the tour guide much more difficult for the person with hearing loss. Remote microphones eliminate this frustration by delivering the speaker’s voice directly to the hearing aids. The talker can be far away (typically 60 to 80 feet) or even turned away, and the user will still hear them perfectly clear. Plus, it is all done wirelessly! And the microphones are small, meaning they are convenient to wear.

Also, they are fairly versatile. They can be used in the car, while hiking, in a restaurant, or at home with the two individuals in different rooms. They’re also great for loved ones with very soft voices. Typically, remote microphones are designed for listening to a single talker, meaning they are not ideal for group situations. However, this also means that remote microphones are very affordable.

Roger Technology

Before proceeding, it should be noted that Roger technology is specific to Phonak hearing aids. However, it is unique and beneficial enough that I felt it warranted inclusion. Roger technology is similar to a remote microphone, but far more advanced. First, it can be used in virtually any situation. It can be worn by an individual, or it can be placed on a table to hear multiple talkers. When listening to multiple talkers, it can either be automatic or manual. When automatic, it will adjust its directionality to amplify whoever is currently speaking. Or, the user can select which directions it wants the device to focus upon. (If you only want to hear in front and to the left, you can designate that and the device will ignore everything else.)

Another advantage is that Roger technology can actively cancel out background noise and increase the volume of the desired signal. Thus, you would have a much more favorable signal-to-noise ratio than with a regular remote microphone. Studies actually show that individuals with hearing loss can hear better than those with normal hearing in noisy situations when wearing hearing aids and Roger. While it does cost more, it is a wonderful solution for those who struggle to hear in noise.

Television Streamers

One of the first things patients tell me during a hearing test is that they have to blast the TV in order to understand what is being said. Having properly fitting hearing aids will automatically help. But, TV streamers can make it sound even better! Again, because the signal is being beamed straight to the aids, it eliminates the need for the sound to travel over distance and through other aural clutter. Another nice feature is that the actual TV volume isn’t affected, so other people can still hear the TV at a volume that is comfortable for them. Unfortunately, TV streamers can’t improve the sound mixing of a program.

Remote Controls

All hearing aids have buttons that allow you to adjust programs. However, this may not be the best option for some wearers. Those who have arthritis or neuropathy may not be able to press the button. A person with memory loss may not be able to remember where the button is or its purpose. In these situations, a remote control can be very handy. It is easy to handle and very clear on its operation. For those who want to be more discreet, there are applications for the phone that can act as a remote control as well.

To be clear, accessories are not required to use hearing aids. But for those who need or want a bit more assistance, they are worthwhile. As always, let your hearing care professional be your guide. QCBN

By Jeff Lane, Au.D.

Trinity Hearing Center is located at 1330 N. Rim Dr., Suite B in Flagstaff. For more information, visit the website at TrinityHearing.net. Jeff Lane is a doctor of audiology with a passion for improving the lives of others. Dr. Lane may be reached at 928-522-0500 or at audio@trinityhearing.net.

Phonak Offers Hearing Aids that Respond to Motion

June 28, 2021 By quadcities Leave a Comment

The hearing aid industry is changing to meet the needs of more people than ever before.

Phonak has a new hearing aid that is able to adjust sound input based on your motion! When you are walking, your hearing needs are not the same as when you are sitting in a chair talking to a friend. Speech sound while walking the dog with someone or hiking on a trail present unique challenges, which are now finally addressed. It is all based on your motion read by a chip in the hearing aid that is able to change the noise cancellation and the microphone settings in the hearing aids without any assistance from the person wearing the hearing aid. It is all automatically changed.

Traditional Hearing Instruments

Hearing aids are designed to pick up sound with a microphone. The microphone converts the sound waves into electrical signals. The microphone may have the ability to switch between directional or omnidirectional function, depending on the needs of the wearer. In some situations, the microphones may switch to directional to help reduce background noise. In other environments, it is important to hear sound from all directions, so the microphone switches to omnidirectional. A hearing aid with the ability to automatically switch back and forth between directional and omnidirectional microphone pick up is important to create the most natural sound.

The electrical signal is then sent to an amplifier, also called a processor, or the computer, of the hearing aid. The job of the amplifier is to change the electrical signal from the microphone and convert it into digital sounds. This is the part of the hearing aid that the audiologist programs to respond to particular pitches and situations based on the results from hearing evaluation. After the adjustments to the sound have been completed, the amplifier converts the sound back to an analog signal.

The receiver of the hearing aid takes the sound from the processor and enhances the sound to meet the hearing loss of the wearer of the aids. Receivers are made to provide mild, moderate, power or extra power to the listener, depending on the hearing loss. The receiver converts the analog signal back into sound waves that the hearing aid wearer hears. All of these components complete this process in a fraction of a second!

The New Paradise Motion Detect Hearing Aid

Now, let’s imagine you are sitting and talking to some friends over lunch. You are able to look at the person you want to hear. You will typically look left or right as each person speaks to you. You are focused only on the voices and not the surrounding sounds. Ideally, your brain will help to focus your attention on the desired voice and ignore the competitive sound in the environment. Directional microphones are used in this scenario. The microphones facing behind you are turned off or turned down and the forward-facing microphones are picking up the speech. It is important to remember that you will have the least amount of auditory distraction if you sit with your back to the room noise. You don’t want to face your friends with loud noise going on behind them, because that noise will sneak into your hearing aids.

However, if you go on a walk or hike with your friends, it is more difficult to look at the person talking. They might be off to your side or behind you. If you are walking on the side of a road and a car passes while you are listening to your friend, it would be difficult to hear. This new hearing aid feature in the Phonak Paradise hearing aid employs a unique algorithm when motion is detected. It changes the microphone focus and deactivates the spatial noise cancellation. A study in August 2020 demonstrated improved sound quality, speech understanding and environmental awareness of sound when out walking while wearing the Phonak Paradise model hearing aids. I find this feature amazing and the fact that this all happens automatically is a winner! No need to push a button or change a setting in the hearing aid app in your phone.

The hearing aid industry is changing to meet the needs of more people than ever before. The special features are just part of the advantages. Battery life, water resistant hearing aids and programming to the specific desires of an individual are now at our fingertips. Be mindful of offers that seem too good to be true, your hearing is your connection to the people you love and it is important that you explore the best fit for your lifestyle. QCBN

By Karon Lynn, Au.D.

Trinity Hearing Center is located at 1330 N. Rim Dr., Suite B in Flagstaff. For more information, visit TrinityHearing.net.

Karon Lynn, Au.D., is a doctor of audiology with 30 years of experience working with hearing impaired individuals. Dr. Lynn may be reached at 928-522-0500 or at audio@trinityhearing.net.

New Treatment Being Tested for Chronic Dizziness

May 3, 2021 By quadcities Leave a Comment

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has begun research into a treatment that involves a modified cochlear implant.

If you have ever had a bout of dizziness, you would empathize with an individual who experiences dizziness chronically. Most of us have had an episode of car sickness or sea sickness. Imagine being in that state all the time! It is one of the most debilitating symptoms a person can have. Their entire life is consumed by the sensation of vertigo and coping with the nausea and disorientation it causes.

Drugs to treat vertigo are designed to reduce the sensitivity of the balance organs and usually have the side effect of making the person groggy or sleepy. In some conditions, the drugs are not helpful at all. Chronic vertigo can be caused by many conditions, including circulation issues, low blood pressure, dysfunction of the inner ear (vestibular systems), medication side effects, trauma to the head or neck and viruses, which cause damage to the vestibular system. The vertigo may start out slowly and cause dizziness intermittently or suddenly begin and stay all day and never go away.

Bilateral Vestibular Hypofunction

One type of dizziness is called bilateral vestibular hypofunction, or BVH. Bilateral (both ears), vestibular (balance organ) hypofunction (the organs work but not correctly). It is estimated that about 1.8 million people have this disorder. Because humans use multiple inputs to navigate the world, having one input disrupted is a tremendous disadvantage. People with BVH are at risk for falls and have to concentrate on their balance to walk, bend over, stand up and sit down during their daily activities.

As a person moves, the brain receives information from a few different sensory systems such as vision, muscles and joints and, finally, sensations from the inner ear balance areas. People with BVH have difficulty keeping their eyes, head and body steady. Head movements make their vision jump and blur, which makes walking a challenge. It creates significant stress because the individual needs to concentrate to walk, and if they don’t, down they go. Because the current medicines cause a degree of sedation, people are encouraged to avoid driving, swimming and walking on uneven surfaces. People with BVH are 30 times more likely to suffer a fall than their peers.

A New Implant as a Treatment

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has begun research into a treatment that involves a modified cochlear implant. The multichannel vestibular implant (MVI) is designed to stimulate the balance nerve long-term, which makes it a 24-hour-per-day sensory restoration treatment. The implant electrode bypasses the malfunctioning area of the inner ear and stimulates the vestibular nerve in response to signals. The vestibular nerve is located very close to the hearing nerve; essentially, in the same area of the head. The implant is designed to help people with damage to the delicate anatomy that makes up the vestibular system. The inner ear has three tiny structures called semicircular canals that track the head’s rotation along three axes (imagine nodding, shaking your head and tipping your left or right eyebrow up). Fluid in these canals pushes on sensory hair cells that change the mechanical signal to an electrical one in order to send information up the vestibular nerve. This implant restores most of the ability to walk, move and turn the head without dizziness. It helps people with BHV orient themselves in space!

What is the Implant Made of?

The MVI is comprised of two parts. There is an implanted device that stays just under the skin above the ear with its electrode embedded in the vestibular nerve and an external motion sensor device that sends signals inside to the electrode. The external device is designed to send information about the speed and direction of any head motion. A tiny gyroscope is used to track the person’s head rotations in three dimensions, and a processor, which sends the rotational data to the internal implant to electrically stimulate the vestibular nerve. The implant uses nine electrodes to convey the information that would normally come from the three semicircular canals. This initiates head and eye reflexes that help maintain clearer vision during head movement and reduce the need to exert conscious effort to walk.

This research group has implanted eight people. All of the candidates already had hearing loss in the ear that was implanted. Some of the recipients lost more hearing in the implanted ear after the surgery and some of them maintained the hearing they had prior to the surgery. With these successful results, we hope that the industry will be able to offer this procedure to more individuals in the next few years! QCBN

By Karon Lynn, Au.D.

Trinity Hearing Center is located at 1330 N. Rim Dr., Suite B in Flagstaff. For more information, visit TrinityHearing.net.

Karon Lynn, Au.D., is a doctor of audiology with 30 years of experience working with hearing impaired individuals. Dr. Lynn may be reached at 928-522-0500 or at audio@trinityhearing.net.

Treating Hearing Loss in Children

February 26, 2021 By quadcities Leave a Comment

The secret to having the best outcome for the child is early hearing aid use. The earlier the better.

We all know intuitively that you need hearing to learn traditional speech and language. If a child has a hearing loss, especially one that is not detected, the world is confusing and distorted. Imagine a mom telling her young child that it is bath time. If she does not have a bath towel in her hand or is not walking or pointing toward the bathroom, the little one may not understand what is going on. Or, think about parents sitting in the living room talking about going to the park and going out to lunch. When they stand up to get ready, they wonder why their little one is not excited to go when the other kids are getting their coats on.

What are the symptoms of hearing loss in children?

Undetected hearing loss may show up as confusion, stubbornness, moodiness, speech delay and difficulty learning. The child may be inattentive to activities unless they are expressly directed at them. They may get angry and frustrated with activities that require significant interaction with others. Put yourself in the child’s shoes: imagine playing with your toys and suddenly someone is yelling that you aren’t playing with the others the way you should. What just happened? I am in trouble? All I was doing was playing with my toys! Social skills in the hearing impaired child do not develop the same as a normal hearing child.

Hearing loss is not as evident as deafness; however, hearing loss is much more common than deafness. It is reported that two in 1,000 well babies are born with hearing loss and 24% to 46% of babies from the NICU (newborn intensive care unit) have hearing loss. Based on these figures, you can see that hearing loss is a significant issue facing children.

Causes of Hearing Loss According to the American Speech and Hearing Association, some of the common causes of hearing loss in babies are:

Infections, such as rubella or
herpes simplex virus

Premature birth

Low birth weight

Birth injuries

Drug and alcohol use while
pregnant

Jaundice and Rh factor problems

Maternal diabetes

High blood pressure while
pregnant

Reduced oxygen to the baby during pregnancy

Genetics

Causes for hearing loss in children are commonly from:

Ear infections

Ototoxic drugs (medicine that damages the auditory system)

Meningitis

Measles

Encephalitis

Chickenpox

Influenza

Mumps

Head injury

Noise exposure

Testing for hearing loss

Today, most babies get a hearing test prior to leaving the hospital when they are born. For home births, a hearing test can be scheduled as an outpatient with an audiologist. A screening test is completed first; then, if there is any question about the hearing, a diagnostic test is ordered. The test is quick and completely painless. For young children, the test is completed in a small room while the child sits in the caregiver’s lap. The sound comes from special speakers in the room that mimic wearing headphones. The child does not even know they are being tested. It is just a little room with cartoon videos playing.

Treatment for hearing loss

If a hearing loss is confirmed, the baby or child will be sent to an ENT to rule out hearing loss caused from middle ear fluid. If the hearing loss is determined to be caused by damage to the hearing nerves, then hearing aids are ordered. Today, hearing aids are much more comfortable and have a more natural sound than in years past. The secret to having the best outcome for the child is early hearing aid use. The earlier the better. The more exposure to sound at the earliest possible age gives the child the best chance of learning speech, language and the necessary social skills to keep up with their peers. I have fit hearing aids on babies as young as four weeks.

In addition to hearing aids, it is important to enroll the child in speech therapy as quickly as possible. Again, we are racing against the clock and need to expose that beautiful little brain to as much sound and learning opportunity as possible, as young as possible. The brain learns speech easiest prior to the age of two. You would be amazed at the amount of learning a child does when playing around the house. We want to take advantage of every single opportunity to learn. A speech pathologist will teach the caregivers how to expose the child to the best speech opportunities and will work with the child so they understand how to produce sounds.

A team approach with an audiologist, speech pathologist and the caregivers is imperative to ensure the best opportunity for a successful outcome. QCBN

By Karon Lynn, Au.D.

Trinity Hearing Center is located at 1330 N. Rim Dr., Suite B in Flagstaff. For more information, visit TrinityHearing.net.

Karon Lynn, Au.D., is a doctor of audiology with 30 years of experience working with hearing impaired individuals. Dr. Lynn may be reached at 928-522-0500 or at audio@trinityhearing.net.

Hearing Versus Understanding

January 28, 2021 By quadcities Leave a Comment

The most common concern of those with hearing loss is not being able to understand others. “I can hear them,” a patient will say. “I just don’t know what they said.”

Considering the fact that verbal communication is how most people interact with others, being able to do so is essential. However, people can often conflate hearing and understanding. While undoubtedly interconnected, they are two distinct functions. Understanding the difference can help to improve outcomes and satisfaction with hearing instruments.

Audibility vs. Clarity

Audibility refers to the ability to detect that a sound is present. The brain simply does or does not acknowledge that an auditory stimulus is present. A person with normal hearing would be able to hear a certain sound at a volume that would be imperceptible to one with hearing loss. Clarity refers to the ability to assign meaning to a sound. Even if a sound is audible to a person, their brain may not be able to understand what that sound is supposed to convey. Take a car radio, for instance. Driving through the city, the songs can easily be heard and understood. In a remote location, though, the transmission could still be heard, but the clarity would be fuzzy and distorted enough as to make it incomprehensible.

Audibility and clarity are determined by two different mechanisms in the human auditory system. When a soundwave reaches the ear, it is funneled down the ear canal to the eardrum. This sets off a chain reaction wherein the eardrum, middle ear bones and fluid inside the cochlea (organ of hearing) vibrate in a specific pattern based on the stimulus. These vibrations are coded as electrical signals which are sent to the brain. With hearing loss, impedance occurs within the middle or inner ear, causing the signal that reaches the nerve to be weakened. A weaker signal means that the stimulus has to have a much higher intensity (louder) for the brain to notice.

Clarity is determined by filters within the auditory system. Imagine trying to create a personal budget for the year. The total sum of the prior year’s expenses is known, but that in itself is not too helpful. Budgeting requires knowing how that money was spent, meaning it needs to be categorized. Speech is categorized in the same way. Incoming soundwaves are filtered so that “s” is a separate category from “m,” and so on. When the cochlea sustains enough damage, those filters become broader and less specific, so that “m” and “s” could end up overlapping. Thus, the brain can hear the person talking, but cannot understand what is said as it is receiving the equivalent of a fuzzy radio signal.

Hearing Instruments

Hearing aids are recommended for hearing losses which have become significant enough to affect communication. Hearing aids increase audibility by magnifying frequencies the ears have trouble hearing on their own. How does this help communication? Many consonant sounds, which give words their meaning, are rather soft and high-pitched (e.g., “f” and “s”). Incidentally, the majority of people suffer the most hearing loss in the high-pitch range. This means that, given the context of the situation, many consonant sounds are not audible to that person, making it difficult to understand others. The increased audibility provided by the hearing aids improves their access to these sounds.

The above scenario works well for an individual with good clarity. Unfortunately, other individuals may only have 50% clarity. In this situation, hearing aids are still a valuable resource in aiding communication. But they may not be enough in and of themselves. This is because while the hearing aids can be programmed to provide as clear and audible a signal as possible, the brain is still required to interpret that signal correctly. If the auditory system can only provide 50% clarity, a person may still struggle to understand at times, even if they are still doing better overall with the hearing aids. In these cases, assistive accessories that work in conjunction with the hearing aids and the use of good communication strategies can greatly improve an individual’s outcomes. For more severe cases, the literature shows that a cochlear implant is a safe and effective solution for significantly increasing clarity and improving communication.

There are many forms of managing hearing loss. A hearing care professional can help guide you to the best solution. Understanding the issue can help to properly address it. QCBN

By Jeff Lane, Au.D.

Trinity Hearing Center is located at 1330 N. Rim Dr., Suite B in Flagstaff. For more information, visit TrinityHearing.net.

Jeff Lane, Au.D., is a doctor of audiology with a passion for improving the lives of others. Dr. Lane may be reached at 928-522-0500 or at audio@trinityhearing.net.

What is it Like to Have a Hearing Loss?

November 28, 2020 By quadcities Leave a Comment

As an audiologist, I see hearing-impaired individuals every day. One of the most rewarding activities of my job is to teach the family members what it is like to have a hearing loss and how to better communicate with hearing-impaired people.

What Can the Hearing-Impaired Person Hear?

I think that understanding what a person really can and can’t hear is the key to successfully living with or working with a hearing-impaired person. It is crucial to understand what can change the clarity of your voice for a person attempting to comprehend what you are saying.

For argument’s sake, let’s select the most common hearing loss to use in our discussion. That would be a high-frequency hearing loss. Now, we will put lovely hearing aids on, which have been programmed by your favorite audiologist! That individual is now being given sound to augment what they hear without amplification. Can this person hear the same as you? I am sorry to say, no. The individual is able to hear more sounds that are used for speech and also hear room noise that is sharing the same pitches as speech. Our patient can hear water running, cinders crunching under their feet, paper rustling and other high pitch sounds. He or she can hear your voice much easier (note the word easier) but not perfectly. The individual can now hear the competitive speech sounds in the same room. The damage in the hearing organ is still there. In essence, even as a person wears hearing aids, he or she is still hearing impaired, but the hearing is aided.

Filtered Speech You Can Hear Online

There are some amazing websites that play a variety of sound samples for the normal hearing person to hear speech through a damaged hearing organ. It is a remarkable learning experience to listen to the samples and step into the shoes of an individual who lives in a world with this type of hearing. After listening to the samples, imagine going to a church service or a meeting with the “sample ears.” How loud would you need to turn the TV? Now imagine sitting in your favorite chair reading a book and suddenly hearing the demonstration sentence start up. Would you be able to understand it? If you turn the “sample ears” louder, does it eliminate all the difficulty or do you still need to concentrate on what is being said? Do you think that you could relax and listen as people were talking in a group setting?

You will notice on the websites that speech in noise is separate from the speech in quiet. Listen to the difference. Notice how noise is a significant distraction to the desired sentence on which you are concentrating.

The website called The Real Sounds of Hearing provides sentences with filtered sound, giving you unique insight into the life of a hearing-impaired person. Go to:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/04/06/175945670/the-real-sounds-of-hearing-loss.

This website is provided by Audrey Carlsen. She demonstrates to the listener how it is to hear with the high frequencies missing. In another sample, she demonstrates what it sounds like with a flat hearing loss. A flat hearing loss causes you to miss all the soft sounds of speech.

Another site is the Phonak website: type in “Phonak hearing loss simulation.” You will find samples of speech, music, bird song and other sounds commonly heard every day with a comparison of a normal hearing individual with that of a person with a hearing loss. One of the most glaring differences is how they each hear sounds if there is background noise. The damage in the ear creates difficulty separating the noise from the sound on which you want to focus.

I hope those of you who do not own a computer will go use a family member’s or friend’s computer to listen to these samples. You could go to your audiologist’s office and ask to hear the samples. Another suggestion is to go the public library. A librarian will be able to help you find the websites and help you use the computer.

If you live with or work with someone who is experiencing hearing loss, you will likely find this knowledge profound. My experience is that the normal hearing family members are moved to tears as they finally understand what their loved one is experiencing. QCBN

By Karon Lynn, Au.D.

Trinity Hearing Center is located at 1330 N. Rim Dr., Suite B in Flagstaff. For more information, visit TrinityHearing.net.

Karon Lynn, Au.D., is a doctor of audiology with 30 years of experience working with hearing impaired individuals. Dr. Lynn may be reached at 928-522-0500 or at audio@trinityhearing.net.

How to Love Your Hearing Aids

August 1, 2020 By quadcities Leave a Comment

You have a hearing loss and the family is driving you crazy to get something done. But, you feel that one more thing added to your life will push you over the top. If this sounds familiar, I have some wonderful ideas for you!

First, get your hearing tested by an audiologist. He or she will check for wax in the canals, or medical causes for your hearing difficulty. What if your hearing loss can be treated medically and you were dragging your feet for nothing?

If the audiologist says nope, it is a permanent hearing loss, take a breath, you are just exploring options to improve hearing. Ask a ton of questions and write down the answers you get. You don’t need to rush into anything, just collect data. You may not be ready yet. Go home and count how many times in a day you ask people to repeat what they said. You can focus on how many times you misunderstood what someone said. See how loud the TV needs to be to hear compared to how loud your family likes it. Decide if you avoid talking on the phone because it is too hard to understand what someone is saying.

Try Out Hearing Aids for Free

If you decide to try out hearing aids, understand that you may return them (undamaged) within a set timeframe. Try them out, experiment and see what you think. Sit in the house; listen to family members and then take the hearing aids out and listen to the same family members. Jot down on paper what you noticed about the sound. Is speech clearer? Is it easier to understand that person? Is it louder or just clearer? Don’t stress out during the trial period. You want to make an educated decision about how your hearing can be improved so you are able to communicate with your friends and family more easily. Explore the aids in different environments like a kid would. A child would learn what the button on the hearing aid does, how to charge the aids and how to put them in the ears, all with gusto! Children love to learn new things, so why don’t we?

We adults get into the habit of thinking that we already know the important things and reserve little energy to absorb new ideas and processes. If you are willing to spend a few minutes each day learning about your hearing aids for one month, you can truly fall in love with them. The people you talk to who hate their hearing aids probably did not fully learn how to use, clean and adjust them. No wonder they are not happy.

Explore Settings

There is usually a button to control the sound of the hearing aid. It is important to understand what it can do. Sometimes, the button controls volume and sometimes, the button adjusts the microphones and noise cancelation. The hearing aids are tiny computers that may be programmed just the way you like them. You may like to have many options to adjust the sound or you may want no-fuss hearing aids so you can put them into your ears and forget about them. Either way, the hearing aids can be “told” to do what you want.

Take Notes on Your Experience

During the trial period, it is important to write down your questions and describe the experiences you are having. Write down the difficulties and the improvements so they can be compared. Note how easy or difficult it is to put on the aids every morning. What sounds are too soft or too loud? Do you need to be able to adjust the hearing aids for outdoor activities or adjust them when the kids are too loud? All this information is important to share with your audiologist during follow-up appointments. The hearing aid settings will be changed according to your experience with the sound.

Practice with Assistive Technology

Most of the newer hearing aids have the ability to be adjusted through a telephone app. The hearing aid app expands your ability to control the sound of the hearing aids. With some of the hearing aids, the app will allow your audiologist to have virtual appointments with you. The audiologist is able to call your smartphone and connect with the hearing aid app to make adjustments to your hearing aids. This reduces your need to leave the house for hearing aid sound modifications! There are other technologies that will pair with the hearing aids to help you understand speech in a group of people or to understand the TV more readily. Just ask and you will be surprised what is available today. QCBN

By Karon Lynn, Au.D.

Trinity Hearing Center is located at 1330 N. Rim Dr., Suite B in Flagstaff. For more information, visit TrinityHearing.net.

Karon Lynn, Au.D., is a doctor of audiology with 30 years of experience working with hearing impaired individuals. Dr. Lynn may be reached at 928-522-0500 or at audio@trinityhearing.net.

Understanding Musical Ear Syndrome

January 10, 2019 By quadcities Leave a Comment

Musical ear syndrome, also known as musical hallucinations or auditory hallucination, is more common than you might believe. It can cause enormous stress on the individual experiencing it. It is more likely to be a song or music without words but a few people have reported to me that they hear songs with words. I find in my practice that people are embarrassed to tell anyone about what they hear and are secretly afraid that they are going crazy.

One source estimates that auditory hallucinations affect more than five percent of the population! In cochlear implant patients, up to 22 percent of the implantees experienced the hallucinations before or after the implant. Musical ear syndrome can occur in people of all ages, with normal hearing, with or without traditional tinnitus and who are not experiencing sudden stress in their life.

Musical Ear Syndrome is a Non-Psychiatric Condition

The majority of the people who have this condition have hearing loss. People may think the music is coming from a neighbor’s house or a car sitting outside the house. I had a patient come in with a family member who told us that her mom would start banging on the wall of her apartment telling the neighbor to turn down the music. Another individual became so distraught and accusatory of the other tenants that they were asked to leave the apartment complex where he lived.

Although MES is not a “scary” disease, persistent hallucinations may disturb patients and affect their quality of life. Patients should be educated about the syndrome and firmly assured that they are not mentally ill. It is important to remember if the room is quiet then the music or sound you hear may be more noticeable.

Causes of Musical Ear Syndrome

The causes of musical ear syndrome are not known definitively. There is a theory that the loss of hearing causes the area of the brain that receives sound (auditory cortex) to be hypersensitive. That area of the brain becomes sensory deprived because of the hearing loss. One study using electroencephalography found that musical ear syndrome has some neural similarities to tinnitus but had additional activation of the area of the brain associated with music and language production. The scientist could actually see the part of the brain responsible for processing music and language responding as if there were music being played during the test! If the music stopped and the person no longer heard the music, the response the scientist saw also stopped.

A cause for phantom noise can be medication use. There are more than 368 medications and other substances that can cause hallucinations including some very commonly prescribed medicine such as Zyrtec and Claritin, and many of the mood altering medications. You can go online and type in the name of any medication you take and then the words auditory hallucinations and see what you find. Do not stop any medication, simply make an appointment with your doctor and talk about the information you learned online.

There are people who report the music only when they hear the air conditioner or heater running. Others report the music begins when the refrigerator motor turns on. The theory is that the brain hears the cyclic nature of the sound and actually modifies it into a more complex sound from a memory.

Stress can exacerbate the sounds. It is always good to look at your lifestyle and see if there is a healthy way to manage stress through food choices, exercise and seeing a professional as needed.

Treating the Syndrome

One treatment is to reduce or eliminate a drug that might be causing the musical ear syndrome. This is always done under medical supervision. If your doctor advises you to change medication, take notes to document how you feel and if the sound changes or goes away completely. Another treatment is to wear hearing aids. You need to have a hearing test to determine if you have hearing loss and if hearing aids would be of benefit. By wearing hearing aids, you can focus sound to all the hearing areas of the brain to try to stimulate it properly so the brain does not create sound on its own. One option is to turn on music or the TV to introduce sound to the room and see if that “drowns out” the sound you hear in your head.

As you may have noticed, there is not one particular formula to stop musical ear syndrome; you may need to try various treatments. Work with professionals to find the best option for you and your lifestyle. QCBN

By Karon Lynn, Au.D.

Understanding the Connection Between High Blood Pressure and Hearing Loss

December 10, 2018 By quadcities Leave a Comment

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a major risk factor for stroke and heart disease, which affects nearly 70 million adults in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This adds up to one in three adults! In addition to people with hypertension, the CDC states that one in three adults is living with elevated blood pressure or prehypertension. Prehypertension is not hypertension, but the blood pressure levels are above what is considered normal.

What is Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is a measure of the force of blood against your blood vessel walls. When your blood pressure is taken, two numbers are noted. The top number is the systolic reading. This measures the pressure when your heart pushes blood out. The bottom number is the diastolic reading, which measures the pressure when your heart is relaxed between beats and is not pumping any blood. If the blood pressure is high, it means that your heart is pumping the blood through your arteries very fast. This excessive force causes damage to the smooth lining of blood vessel walls, resulting in areas where fatty plaque (made of fat, cholesterol and other substances) can build up and make a bump. The bump gets bigger as more plaque sticks to it. The long-term effect of this is that the blood vessels collect a significant amount of fatty plaque, which diminishes or stops blood flow. This can occur anywhere in the body. In some people, the plaque bump will rupture and cause a traveling blood clot.

What Causes Hypertension?

The exact causes of hypertension are not known. Several factors increase the risk of having high blood pressure such as high salt intake, smoking, obesity, lack of physical activity, significant alcohol consumption, stress, age and, of course, genetics. A recent study showed that only half of Americans with hypertension have it under control. A contributing factor to this is that hypertension is usually not something you feel. Most people do not know when their blood pressure increased and need to have their blood pressure checked to even know if they are within normal limits or not.

Hypertension and Hearing Loss

If an individual has high blood pressure, the blood vessels are damaged all over the body. This includes the vessels that carry blood to the ears. Studies show that people who have an increase in blood pressure have a higher rate of hearing loss. If the blood pressure stays high for a long period of time, it will permanently damage the hearing organs. For a person who has high blood pressure for a short time, the hearing may return to normal once the blood pressure is lowered. Because hearing loss affects quality of life, it is important to address the underlying cause of hearing loss rather than simply putting hearing aids on someone as the hearing continues to worsen.

Hypertension and Stroke

There is a high correlation between hypertension and the incidence of a first stroke. Eight out of 10 people having a first stroke also have hypertension, making it extremely important for a person with hypertension to seek medical attention. This fact also shows us that a yearly well visit examination with a primary care physician is important to manage your health, even if you feel good.

Sudden Change in Hearing

The American Heart Association published an article about the relationship between sudden hearing loss and hypertension. Researchers found that there is a clear correlation between sudden change in hearing and blood pressure. The exact specifics are not well understood yet, but a sudden change in hearing is a significant warning flag and should not be ignored. This study showed that a person with sudden severe hearing loss was 150 percent more likely to experience a stroke within two years of the change in hearing.

Staying Healthy

The body changes as individuals age, making it important to have routine medical checkups even if you feel fine. The physician can help you manage your changing body and keep you informed of anything that may need attention before it causes significant disability. Part of the well visit examination will be focused on your history and family history of diseases. Physicians will check blood pressure, check for diabetes and cholesterol levels, as well as any physical concerns you have. You can ask for vision and hearing exams as well. Stay informed about your physical and hearing health to maintain the best quality of life. QCBN

By Karon Lynn, Au.D.

Au.D

Footer

Get QCBN Email