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May is Better Hearing Month! If you are having difficulty understanding others, you should receive a comprehensive hearing evaluation. Even if you do not seem to have trouble hearing others, having a baseline audiological evaluation is important. It tracks the progression of hearing loss as you get older. Also, protecting your hearing from noise exposure is important in preserving your hearing. Wear ear protection when exposed to loud sounds like concerts or mowing the grass. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at www.cookhearing.com.
Because many hearing aids are cosmetically appealing, they are not big enough for hearing aid manufacturers to include telecoil. Without telecoil, individuals with hearing loss cannot benefit from induction loops and other assistive listening devices. It is important to consider telecoil when choosing a hearing aid especially if you want to use induction loops or other devices that require telecoil. Other devices that require a telecoil are neckloops or personal amplification systems for the TV. If you have any questions, please visit our website www.cookhearing.com or call our office to schedule an appointment.
Induction loop systems help because they directly stream the speech signal into the individual’s hearing aids. Often the distance between the speaker and individual with hearing loss causes problems, but induction loop systems help with this issue. Reverberation in rooms can also cause problems for hearing impaired individuals. Loop systems help with this problem because the signal is directly streamed into the individual’s hearing aids. Finally, background noise causes difficulty hearing in crowds, especially for hearing impaired individuals. Loop systems help to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, which benefits the hearing impaired individual.
Induction loop systems are a type of assistive listening device that allow for the speech signal to be directly streamed into an individual’s hearing aids. The speaker wears a transmitter that sends the speech signal to the induction loop. The induction loop is a wire that encompasses the entire room. The individual must turn his/her hearing aid to telecoil and will be directly connected to the loop system. Induction loop systems are especially helpful in large group settings like the classroom, theater, or church. However, the establishment must have the loop system installed. They are useful for a variety of individuals and allow for the individual to move around the room while still picking up the speaker.
To find out more about loop systems, please contact us at www.cookhearing.com.
Tinnitus or ringing in your ears ranges in severity among individuals. Some individuals report that it has little effect on his/her daily life and can only be heard in quiet environments. Others, however, report difficulty with sleep and interfere with daily activities. There are objective measures that help to better identify how tinnitus affects your daily life. One assessment is called the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI). It asks specific questions about how it affects your daily life, what specific feelings it may cause you, and how are you coping with your tinnitus. Each question has three possible answers: yes, no, and sometimes. Each response is worth a set amount of points. Yes responses are worth four, no responses are worth zero, and sometime responses are worth two points. Your points are totaled and compared with pre-determined grade levels: slight, mild, moderate, severe, and catastrophic (Newman et al., 1996). If you would like find more information, please feel free to call Cook Hearing and Balance in Cedar Park, Texas or visit our website at www.cookhearing.com.
Reference:
Newman, C.W., Jacobson, G.P., & Spitzer, J.B. (1996). Development of the tinnitus handicap inventory. Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 122(2), 143-148.
Four main types of hearing aids exist: behind-the-ear (BTE), in-the-ear (ITE), in-the-canal (ITC), and completely-in-the-canal (CIC). ITEs, ITCs, and CICs are all custom made products meaning impressions of the ear must be taken for the hearing aid to fit in your ear. BTEs, however, sit behind the ear.
BTEs
BTEs offer a little more flexibility in that they can be used with earmolds to better hold sound in which is great for individuals with a severe-to-profound hearing loss. They can also convert into an open-fit hearing aid that uses a slim tube, which is beneficial for individual with a high frequency hearing loss. BTEs range in size and color and often are the most powerful instruments. They also provide directional microphones that help to reduce background noise.
ITEs, ITCs, CICs
Custom made products range in size and fitting range. Through the years, they have become more powerful and are able to fit more individuals. ITEs fit completely inside the concha bowl of the outer ear, while ITCs sit in the canal of the outer ear. CICs are nearly hidden within the canal. Because ITEs are bigger, more features are available such as telecoil and a volume control. CICs, however, are much smaller and have little room for these features.
If you have any questions, please visit our website to find out more about our practice at wwww.cookhearing.com.
It is estimated that 31.5 million Americans suffer from hearing loss which equates to about 10% of the population (BHI, 2010). Hearing loss affects all ages from newborns to the elderly. Three types of hearing loss exist including sensorineural, conductive, and a mixed hearing loss.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Sensorineural hearing loss occurs because of dysfunction in the inner ear or auditory nerve. It can cause a decrease in loudness and distorted speech. Even with increased loudness, clarity may still be affected by a sensorineural hearing loss. Amplification through hearing aids provides the best treatment for most individuals (BHI, 2010).
Conductive Hearing Loss
Conductive hearing loss results from a disease or medical condition of the middle ear. Sound cannot be conducted through the middle ear when blocked. It causes a decrease in intensity of sound when it reaches the inner ear. Often times conductive hearing losses can be medically treated to completely or at least partially restore normal hearing (BHI, 2010). Amplification may still be needed in some cases.
Mixed Hearing Loss
Mixed hearing loss is the combination of a conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Amplification may be necessary, but the conductive portion of the hearing loss should be treated medically if possible.
References:
BHI, (2010). Hearing loss-types of hearing loss. Retrieved from http://www.betterhearing.org/hearing_loss/typesOfLoss.cfm
Not only are hearing aids important for individuals with hearing loss, but other assistive listening devices may be necessary. Assistive listening devices can include FM systems, flashing smoke detectors, or amplified phones. Sometimes hearing aids alone may not be enough to deal with our daily lives. School-aged hearing impaired children sometimes struggle in the classroom because it is a noisy environment often with poor acoustics. FM systems help increase the signal-to-noise ratio in order to better deal with the noise and poor acoustics. The FM system along with hearing aids helps the hearing impaired student better deal with noisy classroom setting. Many times the FM system is a simple boot attached to the bottom of a hearing aid (as long as the hearing aid is FM compatible) while the teacher/speaker wears the transmitter.
Another assistive listening device is an amplified phone. Often times hearing impaired individuals have difficulty talking on the phone. With an amplified phone, the hearing impaired individual receives increased amplification. Amplified phones may be needed for hearing impaired individuals who are currently employed and are often on the phone. Flashing smoke detectors may also be an important asset for hearing impaired individuals whether at work or home. If the hearing impaired individual is sleeping and does not have his/her hearing aids in, they may not hear the smoke detector. Flashing smoke detectors would help to prevent the hearing impaired individual from not detecting the smoke. Many assistive listening devices are available. To find out more please about our audiology practice, please visit our website at www.cookhearing.com.
Not only is it important for hearing impaired individual to learn integrating the visual and auditory systems but also it is important for the individual’s partner to incorporate communication techniques that help the hearing impaired individual better communicate. These techniques may include slowing your speech, articulating clearly (trying to enunciate words clearer), or pausing and facing your spouse when speaking. Well lit places help with ease of understanding speech also. You must not become frustrated when your spouse asks you to repeat because he/she is in a dim setting. If he/she does ask you to repeat, try to reword the statement instead of repeating the same sentence. It is important for you to remember that even with amplification your spouse will still struggle especially in noisy environments and integrating these techniques will help ease some of that struggle. The more you understand your spouse’s hearing loss the more you can work together to help make communication less frustrating and more efficient.
Researchers estimate that even without any auditory information visual cues can provide up to 50% of speech comprehension (Erber, 1969; Franks & Kimble, 1972; Hull & Alpiner, 1976b). As a spouse of a hearing impaired individual, it is important to understand this finding because we often try to talk to people with our backs turned to them. Hearing impaired individuals can gain benefit from those visual cues such as speechreading especially in noisy environments. Understanding and practicing these important communication techniques can help your hearing impaired spouse better communicate.
References:
Erber, N.P. (1969). Interaction of audition and vision in the recognition of oral speech stimuli. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 12, 423-425.
Franks, R.J. & Kimble, J. (1972). The confusion of English consonant clusters in lipreading. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 15, 474-482.
Hull, R. & Alpiner, J. (1976b). The effect of syntactic word variations on predictability of sentence content in speechreading. Journal of the ARA, 9 (1), 42-56.
Speechreading, once known as lipreading, describes the global process of using visual cues to comprehend speech. The term lipreading tends to convey a message that individuals rely primarily on the lips to distinguish sounds in speech. However, speechreading suggests that individuals depend on all non-verbal cues such as facial expression and body language to understand speech. Individuals may not consciously realize the importance of non-verbal communication in speech comprehension, but non-verbal cues are a necessary element in speechreading. By focusing upon the complete message instead of individual words or sounds, the likelihood that the message will be understood increases substantially (Ross, 1998).
Extensive research has been conducted over the years to address the effectiveness of speechreading when paired with amplification. It is estimated that about 30 to 40% of speech is recognized exclusively through visual cues (Ross, 1998). In general, research has revealed the importance of integrating the auditory and visual systems to help the elderly who are hearing impaired. Many individuals may assume that the elderly have more difficulty integrating the visual and auditory systems compared to younger generations, but research has proven otherwise. Walden, Busacco, and Montgomery (1993) reported that elderly hearing impaired individuals are just as accurate as middle-aged hearing impaired individuals in integrating the auditory and visual systems. Based upon the findings in the study, the researchers concluded that the integration of the auditory and visual systems is beneficial to hearing impaired individuals no matter the age.
Speechreading should be incorporated into aural rehabilitation for hearing impaired listeners. Hearing impaired individuals cannot rely completely on auditory cues even with amplification to understand the message. Integrating visual cues with the auditory system increases the likelihood the message is understood. Hearing impaired individuals can use this technique along with amplification to better improve comprehension of the speech signal.
Speechreading is a technique that not only helps hearing impaired individuals but also normal hearing individuals. Normal hearing people use visual cues to help interpret the message, so it is even more important that hearing impaired individuals use visual cues along with amplification. Learning to integrate both visual and auditory cues will help in achieving successful outcomes especially for hearing aid wearers. Please visit our website to learn more about our practice at www.cookhearing.com.
References:
Ross, M. (1998). Speechreading. Retrieved January 30, 2010, from Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Hearing Enhancement Web site: www.hearingresearch.org
Walden, B.E., Busacco, D.A. & Montgomery, A.A. (1993). Benefit from visual cues in auditory-visual cues in auditory-visual speech recognition by middle-aged and elderly persons. Journal of Speech and Hearing, 36, 431-436.
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