Hearing Aid Blog

Hearing Quiz:

March 26, 2010

1) Do you have trouble understanding conversation in a noisy restaurant or crowded room?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

2) Do you sometimes feel that people are mumbling or not speaking clearly?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

3) Do you experience difficulty fol­lowing dialog in the theater?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

4) Do you sometimes find it difficult to understand a speaker at a pub­lic meeting or a religious service?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

5) Do you find yourself asking people to speak up or repeat themselves?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

6) Do you find men’s voices easier to understand than women’s?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

6) Do you experience difficulty understanding soft or whispered speech?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

7) Do you have difficulty understand­ing speech on the telephone?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

8 ) Does a hearing problem cause you to feel embarrassed when meeting new people?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

9) Do you feel handicapped by a hearing problem?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

10 Does a hearing problem cause you to visit friends, relatives, or neighbors less often than you would like?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

11) Do you experience ringing or noises in your ears?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

12) Do you hear better with one ear than the other?

o Yes o No o Sometimes

13) Have you had any significant noise exposure during work, recreation, or military service?

o Yes o No

14) Have any of your relatives (by birth) had a hearing loss?

o Yes o No

Scoring

2 points for Yes

1 point for Sometimes

0 points for No

Scores of 3 or more: May mean that you have a hearing problem.

Scores of 6 or more: Strongly suggest that a hearing check is warranted.

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.

Noise Exposure and Convertible Cars

November 6, 2009

It is known that noise exposure can cause temporary and/or permanent damage to hearing ability. Repeated and prolonged exposure increases the chance of causing damage. In a study completed by Michael, Opie, & Smith, the noise levels while driving a convertible car were measure to analyze the potential for noise induced hearing loss. In the study they used 7 different convertibles and compared the noise level at different speeds and with the windows up and down. The results suggest that when the windows and roof of the convertible are down, the level of noise is such that it has the potential to cause damage to hearing. Interestingly, at a speed of 50 mph the noise level was higher than at 70 mph. The mean noise level was 85 dB – 90 dB.  The noise level can be exaggerated by road surface and traffic load. The article suggests that hearing protection can be worn, although the potential for damage can be reduced by rolling up the windows.