Give your hearing aids a spring clean

Cleaning out the cupboards, window washing, dusting, gardening, washing the car are all activities that seem to keep us busy each spring.

The spring season is an important time of the year that triggers renewed energy urging us to clean up clutter and unwanted items that have accumulated during the winter months, and start a fresh.

You may not realise but your hearing aids could use the same attention. Proper hearing aid care helps maintain optimum hearing, extends the life of your hearing aids and ensures healthy ear hygiene.

Debris, oil, moisture and earwax can build up on your hearing instruments, clogging the parts that release sound to your ears. This can affect the hearing aid’s performance which is why it is really important to clean them daily and if it has been more than six months since you have had a professional hearing aid service, I would recommend you book to see your hearing professional for a good spring clean!

If you would like some assistance regarding cleaning them yourself, I have noted some useful tips below:

ITE (in the ear) model and RIC (receiver in the ear) model

You’ll want to concentrate on cleaning the sound outlet area and the microphones, with the use of a soft-bristle brush and any other specific tools you have. Hold the hearing aid firmly and gently sweep the bristles over the outlet area. Angle the brush downwards so any particles will fall on the ground instead of inside the holes. Change the wax guard if your aid is fitted with one. Then, finish by wiping the device with a clean, dry tissue.

BTE (behind the ear) model

Cleaning this type of device is similar, but there is the additional earmould to also clean. This needs to be removed from the hearing aid and washed in soapy water. Rinse thoroughly using luke warm water and then using your puffer blow air through the tube to dry. Refit the earmould to the hearing aid.

Avoid contact with harsh products

You should avoid using any hair products while a hearing aid is in situ, as this can create a sticky surface and increase accumulation of dust and debris buildup. These products can also cause damage to the plastic, volume control or program control of the hearing aid. Before using any body products, including face washes and creams, it’s best to remove your hearing aid and place it in a safe, dry location. Hearing aids also need to stay out of contact with direct heat, so always take it out before drying your hair with a hair drier.

Sound advice: turn down your music!

Last week saw the return of International Ear Care Day organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to raise awareness of hearing loss and to promote prevention of hearing loss.

A very big concern of mine is that more than one billion teenagers and young people around the world are at serious risk of developing hearing loss due to unsafe listening behaviours. According to data release by WHO, nearly half of 12-35 year olds in middle-income and high-income countries listen to dangerous levels of sound on devices like smartphones and MP3 players. Additionally, almost 40% of these young people are exposed to hazardous noise levels at entertainment venues like nightclubs, concerts and sporting stadiums.

As they go about their daily lives doing what they enjoy, more and more people (not only youngsters) are placing themselves at risk of hearing loss. My advice to everyone is to look after your hearing because once you lose it, it won’t come back. Hearing loss can have a devastating effect on your life. It can damage your physical and mental health, and have an adverse effect on relationships, education and employment.

The WHO defines an acceptable level of noise for prolonged exposure as 85 decibels – roughly the volume of heavy city traffic. As volume increases, safe exposure duration falls steeply. For example, it is not safe to spend more than 15 minutes around noise levels of 100 decibels, which is typical for sporting events, clubs and bars.

Everyone should protect their ears against hearing loss by wearing earplugs at noisy events. They should also keep the volume down on their personal audio devices, and try to limit use of these devices to fewer than 60 minutes per day.

If you feel your hearing is already being affected, I would highly recommend that you book a hearing test with a qualified audiologist.  How much time do your children spend listening to music, headphones seemingly permanently clamped to their heads?

Hearing aids can help those with tinnitus

Imagine wearing a pair of headphones which are playing the sound of a whistling kettle.  Now imagine wearing those headphones all day, and all night, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Horrific it might sound, but that’s what life is like for many people who fall victim to tinnitus.

It is estimated that 10-15% of the population experience tinnitus - a ringing, roaring, whooshing or chirping sound in the ears. However, while there is no cure, scientific research has proven that real tinnitus relief is possible.

The key? Treating the most common underlying cause – hearing loss, which 80% of people with tinnitus have to some degree – alongside one-on-one coaching to help the individual better understand and manage their tinnitus.

There is evidence to suggest hearing aids can mask tinnitus sounds to help improve communication and reduce stress and anxiety levels, which normally exacerbate tinnitus. The loudness and prominence of tinnitus is decreased by activating the auditory system and amplifying background sound.

The knowledge that you can mask tinnitus with a hearing aid is not an innovative concept, but previous hearing aids occluded the ear canal with a tight fitting ear mould. Patients reported a hollow reverberation amplifying chewing sounds and the sensation of tinnitus. A more recent type of hearing aid called the open-fit has been designed to successfully alleviate tinnitus symptoms by introducing a noise-reduction control.

The slim tube connected to the hearing aid is cosmetically appealing, comfortable to wear, as well as eliminating external sound sources without interfering with the transmission of sounds from the outer ear to the inner ear.

Interestingly, experts also believe that even those without significant hearing loss may find hearing aids are helpful. Straining to listen causes increased hearing sensitivity and this can allow tinnitus to emerge or, if present already, to worsen.

How can hearing aids help?

If you have a hearing loss, a hearing aid can help with managing tinnitus by offering sound therapy in the following ways:

• increase the information available to the brain by amplifying background sounds making the tinnitus seem less audible.
• improve communication with others, therefore reducing stress levels.
• helping to compensate for your hearing loss.
• help you to habituate to tinnitus sounds.

For more information on tinnitus please click here. 

National Tinnitus Awareness Week runs between 2^nd-8^th February 2015 and is organised by the British Tinnitus Association.

The Emotional Stages of Hearing Loss

Experiencing a myriad of emotions from denial, sadness and fear to eventually acceptance, is normal and a natural part of the emotional stages of hearing loss.

Here are the stages that one with hearing loss goes through, as I see it...

STAGE ONE | DENIAL

When normal hearing begins to decline, a natural reaction is for the person to compensate by trying to alter their environment to suit their loss. They may turn up the volume on the TV or radio disregarding complaints from their family members. They may ask their partners to answer the phone thereby avoiding the embarrassment of not being able to understand whoever is on the other end. They may blame others instead of acknowledging their hearing loss  i.e. “If people didn’t mumble, I would be able to hear them!”

STAGE TWO | WITHDRAWL

Hearing loss causes a person psychological hurt and grief. Over time, it also causes intolerance to social interactions, and reduced stimulation to the auditory system can result in a rapid decline of speech recognition. A way to deal with this is to avoid embarrassing situations, such as social occasions where there are likely to be lots of people or background noise.

STAGE THREE | ANGER

A hearing loss left untreated can cause the person suffering to become bad-tempered and the family may say he/she has become difficult to live with.

The person becomes less tolerant of others because of the frustrations and comments focused upon them.

STAGE FOUR | DEPRESSION

All these factors can eventually lead to the person becoming depressed. Low self-esteem, the loss of social interaction, suspicion of others, the inability to do easily what used to be problem free, isolation and loneliness become a part of daily life that wears the person down. It’s really tiring!

STAGE FIVE | ACCEPTANCE

When a person finally reaches this stage, they can then make the transition to seeking treatment with hearing aids, and auditory rehabilitation. A visit to a qualified audiologist will be the first stage on the road to hearing well again and ‘getting their life back’. A thorough test will be performed and hearing instruments prescribed where suitable. It can take up to ten years for someone to reach this stage.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Which stage are you or your loved one at? How long did the process take you? Please let me know your experiences by posting in the comments box below.

For more information on hearing loss please visit www.hearingcarecentre.co.uk

Hear better than ever with Siemens binax hearing aids

Siemens is lifting binaural hearing systems to a new level. For the first time, hearing-impaired individuals can now hear better than those with normal hearing in particularly demanding listening situations*.

Despite their enormous computing power, the new Binax instruments are the most energy-efficient in their class.

Binax exchanges audio signals. Each binaural hearing aid can assess the acoustic environment not only on its own side, but also on the other. In the process, four microphones – two in each device – form a virtual eight-microphone network. New calculation methods work much like the human brain in leveraging the fact that voice signals don't reach both ears at the same speed or volume. Based on such differences, wearers can more accurately identify and focus on the sources of sound.

Binaural hearing aids also use this new technology in windy locations ideal for those golfers and outdoor patients. They automatically determine which side is receiving better signals and replicate them for the other device. These latest Siemens binaural hearing aids are capable of transmitting around a thousand times as much data per second as preceding models.

The new peak performance does not come at the expense of battery life and they can run on conventional hearing instrument batteries or, depending on the model, on rechargeable batteries.

Karen's comments: “We have had amazing success with the last Siemens technology platform called Micon and this new level is so exciting. My team and I can't wait to get started and see how this technology performs and improves peoples lives.”

If you would like to be amongst the first trialling these new instruments, please give our customer care team a call and book your appointment - Freephone 0800 096 2637.

FACT: These latest Siemens binaural hearing aids are capable of transmitting around a thousand times as much data per second as preceding models.

*Two clinical studies have shown that binax provides better than normal hearing in certain demanding environments (Northern Colorado University, 2014; Oldenburg Hörzentrum, 2013): Speech Reception Thresholds in cocktail-party situations improved up to 2.9dB for wearers with mild to moderate hearing loss using Carat binax or Pure binax hearing instruments with narrow directionality, compared to people with normal hearing.

Don’t allow hearing loss to isolate you this holiday season!

The holiday season is well and truly here! For most of us, December is full of parties, catching up with family and friends and lots of Christmas shopping.

For those with untreated hearing loss, however, the festive season can be full of loud and daunting situations. When you feel like you can’t contribute to a conversation or understand what is being said, social occasions become intimidating and stressful, and isolation is often the result. The festive season can be a particularly lonely time for those who haven’t yet sought treatment for declining hearing.

It takes an average of five to ten years for people in the UK with a recognised hearing loss to decide to get a hearing aid. This long delay can be due to a number of factors: many don’t realise how bad their hearing has become, while others are concerned with a perceived stigma surrounding hearing aids. Some simply can’t afford to invest in hearing aids, whilst others tell themselves, “I’ll do something about my hearing loss when it gets really bad.”

Untreated hearing loss can lead to isolation for a number of reasons. One might start declining social invitations because they are too embarrassed to constantly ask people to repeat themselves. Even going to dinner with family members can be isolating, as it’s often hard for people with hearing loss to hear anything over background noise. This can be frustrating and depressing, so eventually it’s easier to just say ‘no thanks’ to invitations.

Making phone calls or answering the phone when it rings can also be difficult for those with untreated hearing loss. Talking on the phone can be much more difficult than having a face-to-face conversation, as there is the added difficulty of not being able to lip-read. Gradually, phone calls go unanswered and messages are not returned.

These combined issues can lead to loneliness and largely unnecessary isolation.

What can you do to reduce isolation this Christmas?

If you are experiencing isolation due to hearing loss, do not wait for another holiday season to pass you by. It is important to get out there and have fun! This time of year is full of joyful celebrations and events and you should be able to take part.

Hearing aids are amazing devices that can improve your quality of life dramatically. Book an appointment with your local audiologist to have a hearing test and discuss your options. It might be that a set of hearing aids could dramatically increase the fun you will have this year!

For more information on hearing loss, visit www.hearingcarecentre.co.uk

Ear Safety This Guy Fawkes Night

The days and nights around Fireworks Night are extremely hazardous to your ears. Fireworks can cost you your hearing.

For the lucky ones, their hearing returns, but many must live with their hearing loss or tinnitus for the rest of their lives. There is no cure for noise induced hearing damage. But you can easily prevent it.

Two thousandth of a second is all it takes for an exploding firecracker to put out the noise intensity to put your hearing at risk for life. The burst of noise is so short that you may not sense its true intensity.

Perhaps you love the thrill of fireworks, but you better watch out and be aware that*:

• 1 in 10,000 people suffer permanent hearing damage because of fireworks
• Young adults under the age of 25 are three times more likely than other groups to suffer fireworks related hearing damage
• The loud sounds from fireworks can cause hearing loss if protection is not used. The noise levels produced by fireworks can reach 150-175dB. The recommendation from World Health Organisation is not to be exposed to more than 140dB of peak sound pressure for adults and 120dB for children.
• Infants generally experience the greatest sound pressure and should not be exposed to fireworks.

Take Precautions

Guy Fawkes Night will be celebrated but take care of yourself and each other. Use earplugs to protect your hearing. Simple off the shelf ear plugs would do the trick and for the little ones there are fantastic, inexpensive noise breaker ear defenders - which look pretty cool also.

Make sure that no one else is standing too close when you light the fuse of your fireworks. Most of those suffering hearing damage did not cause it themselves. They suffered the bad luck of being too close to the fireworks of others.

If dealing with fireworks of 170 dB, adults needs to be 15 to 20 meters away from the fireworks before they are at a safe distance, while children have to be 50 to 60 meters away from the same fireworks.

*These conclusions were based on a study of hearing injuries related to fireworks celebrations in Germany, 2000.