Hearing Aid Blog

A Good Hearing aid fit is Vital

December 28, 2009

There are two reasons to make sure a hearing instrument fits well – one acoustic, the other anatomical.

The acoustic reason – A loosely fitting hearing instrument can cause feedback (whistling). This happens when the instrument does not fit snugly and the amplified signal finds its way back to the microphone. For comfortable, interference-free hearing, a snug fit in the ear canal is essential.

The anatomical reason – A hearing instrument that does not fit snugly can work its way out of the correct position when its wearer is chewing, yawning or simply talking. This is because the shape of the ear canal is influenced by movements of the jaw. You can feel this by putting the tip of your finger into the ear, then slowly opening and closing your mouth.

Hearing with our skin

December 12, 2009

Hearing with our skin

If your ears can’t hear what someone is saying what about listening with your skin?
According to a study in the journal Nature, sensations on the skin can help people understand speech.
Just like looking at someone’s lips in a noisy place, or if you have a hearing loss, feeling, can also help you hear.
“From our brain’s point of view, we can hear with our eyes,” says Bryan Gick, a professor of phonetics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
“From my point of view, we’re whole-body perceiving machines,” Gick says. “We just take all of the information that comes at us in our environment and merge it into a percept of something that happened in the world.”
Where does the Integration Happen?
David Ostry, a professor of psychology at McGill University in Montreal says these days the big scientific question isn’t whether our brains routinely integrate sensory information, but how.
“It’s up for grabs where within the brain this kind of integration is happening,” he says.
One possibility is areas in the brain that process sensory information, Ostry says. But he notes it’s also possible that integration takes place in the motor cortex, which controls our muscles.
Researchers say what they learn about how other senses influence hearing could help people with hearing loss, as well as people such as commercial airline pilots, who often have to decipher speech in a noisy environment.

If your ears can’t hear what someone is saying what about listening with your skin?

According to a study in the journal Nature, sensations on the skin can help people understand speech.

Just like looking at someone’s lips to help you hear better,  feeling sounds can also help you hear.

“From our brain’s point of view, we can hear with our eyes,” says Bryan Gick, a professor of phonetics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.  ”We’re whole-body perceiving machines,” Gick says. “We just take all of the information that comes at us in our environment and merge it into a percept of something that happened in the world.”

Where does the Integration Happen?

There’s no question that our brains routinely integrate sensory information, but how our brains do that, is still unclear.  One possibility is that integration takes place in the motor cortex, which controls our muscles.

Researchers say what they learn about how other senses influence hearing could help people with hearing loss, as well as people such as commercial airline pilots, who often have to decipher speech in a noisy environment.

Getting Used to Your Hearing Aids

December 9, 2009

  1. Gain experience. Begin your training program in familiar surroundings in your own home. Step-by-step you can then add to the complexity of your surroundings, although very noisy environments are to be avoided initially.
  2. Continually increase your wearing time. On the first day you should not wear your hearing instruments for more than 2-3 hours. Increase this time gradually until after a few weeks you are at the stage when you can wear your hearing instruments all day without noticing them. Remember to wear your hearing instruments at home too, so you will be able to hear the telephone ringing, the doorbell, etc.
  3. Adapt the volume to the situation. Modern hearing systems automatically select a pre-programmed, acceptable volume level when they are switched on. Many modern instruments do not need any further adjustment which is why they do not have a volume control function. If you have a volume control, don’t set the volume too high. This can result in distortion rather than improved understanding. Don’t try to understand soft voices over a great distance. Remember that people who hear well cannot do that either. As you get used to your hearing instruments you can adjust the volume controls when you need increased loudness.
  4. The hearing instrument – an extension of your body. Ideally your hearing instruments should become a natural extension of your body, similar to glasses or contact lenses. This should happen naturally as you get used to your new hearing system. Should you continue to experience discomfort, consult your audiologist.
  5. Adjust to your own voice. At first you may not recognize the sound of your own voice. It is, however, very important to hear your own voice so that you can control and correct the diction and volume of your voice properly.
  6. Living with noise. The world is a noisy place. Often people with perfect hearing are able to suppress interfering noises by concentrating on the sounds they wish to hear. If, however, you have had a hearing impairment for some time you may have lost this ability. Furthermore your hearing instruments will reintroduce you to many sounds you may have forgotten, e.g. the ticking of the clock, paper being crumpled, the clicking of heels on the floor, birdsong, children laughing, etc. Not all sounds are pleasant of course. You can also learn how to ignore unwanted sounds again. Practice concentrating on what you want to hear. If you have multi-program instruments, practice choosing the best program for the situation.
  7. Taking part in discussions. Even people with good hearing have problems understanding speech if several people speak at once. It will help if you move closer to the person you want to hear and concentrate on him/her. With practice you will achieve excellent results in this type of situation.
  8. Visiting public places. Theatres, places of worship, conferences rooms and other public places present a challenge for the hearing instrument user. It is helpful to sit where the acoustic conditions are best. Normally this is not too close to the speaker but so that you can see his/her face. Many public buildings have technical installations to make it easier to hear. A telephone call prior to the visit will clarify what is available.
  9. Listening to radio and television. Concentrate on trying to follow the overall meaning rather than each individual word.
  10. Two ears are better than one. The use of two hearing instruments for people with a hearing loss in both ears has many advantages. It offers a new dimension in hearing – after all, it is not by chance that nature gave us two ears. The benefits of hearing with both ears: More natural hearing because our auditory system is designed to receive sound input from two ears. Improved ability to determine the direction from which sound is coming – e.g. knowing which way to look when you hear a truck approaching. Greater ability to hear and understand in noisy environments. Richer, smoother sound quality. Easier, more relaxed listening. Less volume required for each ear.

Practical Advice for Communicating with Hearing Instrument Users

  1. Speak clearly and naturally. It is not necessary to shout. Loud speech may overload the hearing instrument causing voice distortion and even discomfort to the wearer. Maintain a normal tone of voice, speak clearly and slowly.
  2. Move closer. Reducing the distance between the speaker and listener is helpful and encourages improved speech understanding. This is particularly important if there is background noise.
  3. Face the listener. Position yourself so that the listener can see your face and lips. Lip reading is instinctive to all of us, but it is particularly important for those with impaired hearing to supplement the sound of the speech.
  4. Attract the listener’s attention. This can be done by either using the person’s name, entering their field of vision or tapping them lightly on the shoulder.
  5. Take the surroundings into account. Avoid trying to have conversations from one room to another or in rooms with distracting noise, e.g. washing machine, vacuum cleaner, loud music, etc.
  6. Be aware of performance constraints. Never put the hearing impaired listener and their instruments under too much pressure. They both have their limits.
  7. Understand that using hearing instruments can be tiring. When conversing with a novice hearing instrument user be sensitive to signs of fatigue. Don’t force or prolong conversations if the listener is tired.
  8. Be patient. Respect the speed of progress and encourage the person with impaired hearing when obvious progress is made. Be a good listener and help the person to achieve the goal of participating in life again.

Evelyn Glennie shows how to listen

November 21, 2009

Scottish percussionist and composer Evelyn Glennie lost nearly all of her hearing by age 12. Rather than isolating her, it has given her a unique connection to her music.

Expectations from a hearing aid

October 10, 2009

HEARING AIDS CAN:

1.  Make soft sounds louder, thus making them easier to hear.

2.  Allow you to hear in some situations that used to give you trouble, such as conversations.

3.  Help you hear high-pitch sounds better, thus helping you to understand speech better.

4. Help you feel more at ease in social situations by making it easier to hear what is being said.

HEARING AIDS CANNOT:

1.  Allow you to hear extremely soft sounds.

2.  Cure distortion in your hearing.  Distortion is usually due to a problem in your inner ear.  A hearing aid will mechanically equalize the sounds you hear, but not correct the damaged inner ear.

3.  Allow you to hear well in ALL situations of background noise.  An advanced hearing aid noise setting will enhance speech and reduce background noise; however noise will likely continue to be the most difficult listening environment.  Lip-reading will compliment the sounds you hear in all situations.

4.  Amplify only what you want to hear.

Who do you really need two hearing aids?

With some exceptions, if you have hearing loss in both ears, you should have hearing aids in both ears.  There are three primary reasons for this:
1.  The brain needs input from both sides of the head for balanced hearing.
2.  The brain needs balanced hearing to be able to localize sounds.
3.  The brain needs balanced hearing to hear voices in noise.*
* Difficulty hearing in noise is one of the most common complaints we hear.  A single hearing aid will be of benefit in a quiet listening situation.  However, in a noisy situation such as a restaurant, dining room, work environment, or car, the brain needs input from both ears to pull out a specific speech signal from the background noise.  Hearing aids cannot do this alone! Advanced technology hearing aids often employ a circuit to help reduce noise; however, your brain will not perceive this benefit from only one ear.
Expectations from a hearing aid
A hearing aid CAN:
1.  Make soft sounds louder, thus making them easier to hear.
2.  Allow you to hear in some situations that used to give you trouble, such as conversations.
3.  Help you hear high-pitch sounds better, thus helping you to understand speech better.
4. Help you feel more at ease in social situations by making it easier to hear what is being said.
A hearing aid CANNOT:
1.  Allow you to hear extremely soft sounds.
2.  Cure distortion in your hearing.  Distortion is usually due to a problem in your inner ear.  A hearing aid will mechanically equalize the sounds you hear, but not correct the damaged inner ear.
3.  Allow you to hear well in ALL situations of background noise.  An advanced hearing aid noise setting will enhance speech and reduce background noise; however noise will likely continue to be the most difficult listening environment.  Lip-reading will compliment the sounds you hear in all situations.
4.  Amplify only what you want to hear.

With some exceptions, if you have hearing loss in both ears, you should have hearing aids in both ears.  There are three primary reasons for this:

1.  The brain needs input from both sides of the head for balanced hearing.

2.  The brain needs balanced hearing to be able to localize sounds.

3.  The brain needs balanced hearing to hear voices in noise.*

* Difficulty hearing in noise is one of the most common complaints we hear.  A single hearing aid will be of benefit in a quiet listening situation.  However, in a noisy situation such as a restaurant, dining room, work environment, or car, the brain needs input from both ears to pull out a specific speech signal from the background noise.  Hearing aids cannot do this alone! Advanced technology hearing aids often employ a circuit to help reduce noise; however, your brain will not perceive this benefit from only one ear.

How to cope with difficult listening situations

• Ask speakers to speak in a good light and while facing the listener so that speech-reading skills can be used.
• Ask the speaker to speak clearly and naturally but not to shout or exaggerate their articulation.
• If you do not understand what a speaker is saying, ask the speaker to repeat or rephrase the statement.
• If entering a group in the middle of a conversation, ask one person to sum up the gist of the conversation.
• If someone is speaking at a distance, that person should be asked to stand closer.
• If the speaker turns his head away, ask him or her to face you to permit optimal speech-reading and listening.
• If you are attempting to understand speech in the presence of noise, try to move yourself and the speaker away from the source of the noise.
• When in a communication situation requiring exact information, such as asking directions or obtaining schedules for a trip, request that the speaker write the crucial information.
• If the speaker is talking while eating, smoking, or chewing, request that he or she not do so because of the difficulties speech-reading.
• A person who has a unilateral loss should be sure to keep his or her better ear facing the speaker at all times.
• If possible, avoid rooms with poor acoustics.  If meetings are held in such rooms, request that they be transferred to other rooms with less reverberation.
• If a speaker at a meeting cannot be heard, request that he use a microphone.
• Come early to meetings so that you can sit close to the speaker.  Avoid taking a seat near a wall to minimize the possibility of reverberation.  This is particularly important for those who use hearing aids.
• If you are going to a movie or to a theatre, read the reviews in advance to familiarize yourself with the plot.
• In an extremely noisy situation, limit conversation to before the noise has started or after it has subsided.
  • Ask speakers to speak in a good light and while facing the listener so that speech-reading skills can be used.
  • Ask the speaker to speak clearly and naturally but not to shout or exaggerate their articulation.
  • If you do not understand what a speaker is saying, ask the speaker to repeat or rephrase the statement.
  • If entering a group in the middle of a conversation, ask one person to sum up the gist of the conversation.
  • If someone is speaking at a distance, that person should be asked to stand closer.
  • If the speaker turns his head away, ask him or her to face you to permit optimal speech-reading and listening.
  • If you are attempting to understand speech in the presence of noise, try to move yourself and the speaker away from the source of the noise.
  • When in a communication situation requiring exact information, such as asking directions or obtaining schedules for a trip, request that the speaker write the crucial information.
  • If the speaker is talking while eating, smoking, or chewing, request that he or she not do so because of the difficulties speech-reading.
  • A person who has a unilateral loss should be sure to keep his or her better ear facing the speaker at all times.
  • If possible, avoid rooms with poor acoustics.  If meetings are held in such rooms, request that they be transferred to other rooms with less reverberation.
  • If a speaker at a meeting cannot be heard, request that he use a microphone.
  • Come early to meetings so that you can sit close to the speaker.  Avoid taking a seat near a wall to minimize the possibility of reverberation.  This is particularly important for those who use hearing aids.
  • If you are going to a movie or to a theatre, read the reviews in advance to familiarize yourself with the plot.
  • In an extremely noisy situation, limit conversation to before the noise has started or after it has subsided.

How Family and Friends can help

HOW FAMILY AND FRIENDS CAN HELP A HEARING IMPAIRED INDIVIDUAL
• Speak clearly and slightly louder than normal.  However, shouting will not make your message any clearer, and may sometimes distort your speech.
• Face the hearing impaired person as you speak to him/her.  Never speak from another room.
• The best distance when speaking to a hearing impaired person is 3-6 feet.
• Be sure to get the person’s attention before you start talking to them.
• Never speak directly into the person’s ear.  Doing so prevents the listener from making use of visual cues.
• Avoid chewing, eating, or covering your mouth with your hands when speaking because you speech will be more difficult to understand.
• Facial expressions, gestures, lip and body movements all give clues to the hearing impaired person. Therefore, good lighting on the face of the speaker is important.
• Avoid excessive environmental noise.  If the environment is noisy, seek a quiet spot or reduce noise as much as possible.
• Phrase your speech in short, very simple sentences.  If the person still does not understand, rephrase the sentence.
• Be patient with mistakes due to misunderstood words.
• Encourage participation in group activities.  Whenever possible, give the hearing impaired person a clue as to the topic of the conversation.
• Include the hearing impaired person in all discussions about him/her.  Doing so will help relieve the feelings of isolation common in hearing impaired individuals.
• Recognize that hard of hearing people hear and understand less well when they are tired or ill.
• Write important information down if necessary.  Have communication aides available (paper, pencils, etc.)
• If the person is responding poorer than usual, question the function of the hearing aid (batteries, etc) or a change in hearing status due to cold, etc.  A physician should examine the patient if the latter is suspected.
  • Speak clearly and slightly louder than normal.  However, shouting will not make your message any clearer, and may sometimes distort your speech.
  • Face the hearing impaired person as you speak to him/her.  Never speak from another room.
  • The best distance when speaking to a hearing impaired person is 3-6 feet.
  • Be sure to get the person’s attention before you start talking to them.
  • Never speak directly into the person’s ear.  Doing so prevents the listener from making use of visual cues.
  • Avoid chewing, eating, or covering your mouth with your hands when speaking because you speech will be more difficult to understand.
  • Facial expressions, gestures, lip and body movements all give clues to the hearing impaired person. Therefore, good lighting on the face of the speaker is important.
  • Avoid excessive environmental noise.  If the environment is noisy, seek a quiet spot or reduce noise as much as possible.
  • Phrase your speech in short, very simple sentences.  If the person still does not understand, rephrase the sentence.
  • Be patient with mistakes due to misunderstood words.
  • Encourage participation in group activities.  Whenever possible, give the hearing impaired person a clue as to the topic of the conversation.
  • Include the hearing impaired person in all discussions about him/her.  Doing so will help relieve the feelings of isolation common in hearing impaired individuals.
  • Recognize that hard of hearing people hear and understand less well when they are tired or ill.
  • Write important information down if necessary.  Have communication aides available (paper, pencils, etc.)
  • If the person is responding poorer than usual, question the function of the hearing aid (batteries, etc) or a change in hearing status due to cold, etc.  A physician should examine the patient if the latter is suspected.