Attention PARAMOUNT members!

Did you know that the days of a Paramount referral are over?  As of January 1, 2011, Paramount no longer requires referrals for any in-plan specialist.

This means individuals who are covered by Paramount insurance will have open access to in-plan specialists (like Audiologists!) without the need for a referral from the family practitioner.

Kenwood Hearing Center IS a provider for Paramount Health Care.  Now there are no reasons that you should prolong that hearing test!  Call us today for an appointment!

Bilateral Hearing Loss: Two Hearing Aids Are Better Than One

This article was found at www.healthyhearing.com. Click here for the original article.

Binaural simply means “two ears” – which is what nature gave you. Two ears are, indeed, better than one for a number of reasons.  So when your audiologist says that you are experiencing bilateral hearing loss, you may want to consider two hearing aids - because two are more powerful than one.

Just like our eyes, our brains are wired to receive sound from both ears. Many first time hearing aid wearers think starting with just one hearing aid may be easier to adjust to or save them some money; however, two hearing aids are truly better than one.  Here are some reasons why: 

• Better localization – the ability to tell where sounds are coming from

• Better hearing in background noise 

• Better sound quality (“mono” versus “stereo”)

• Better hearing for soft sounds such as children’s voices and sounds of nature

• Less strain on you while listening - with only one hearing aid you may often strain to hear various sounds and become fatigued, with two hearing aids listening is more relaxed

• Listening balance – you won’t be turning your “good” ear to hear

• Higher success and satisfaction - studies indicate people who wear two hearing aids are much more satisfied with their hearing aids.

Studies have also shown when only one hearing aid is worn and the other ear is deprived of sound, the use it or lose it principle applies, causing the onset of auditory deprivation in the non-amplified ear. 

So, you may save a few dollars by going the one-hearing-aid route but you may also find that one hearing aid causes more trouble than what your savings is worth. 

Rechargeable Hearing Aid Batteries?

As Reported in the Hearing Journal:

While disposable zinc-air batteries have long dominated the hearing aid battery market, that may change. So says Ross Dueber, PhD, president and CEO of ZPower, a high-tech company based in Camarillo, CA. In an interview in December, he said, "the world really wants to move away from disposable to rechargeable batteries whenever possible." To that end, ZPower, which makes rechargeable batteries for various mobile applications including notebook computers and cell phones, has begun making silver-zinc rechargeable batteries in the 13 and 312 sizes - even though at this point no hearing aid can use them.

The advantages of rechargeable batteries for hearing aids are numerous, said Dueber, a former Air Force officer who holds a doctorate in chemistry from Oxford University. Among them are the lower cost of buying just one battery a year or so, reduced wear on hearing aid battery doors, and the environmental benefits of reusing rather than constantly discarding batteries.

Currently, said Dueber, ZPower is the only company to have developed rechargeable silver-zinc batteries for hearing aids. Previously, this technology has been used primarily for military and aerospace applications, with which he became familiar while helping define battery and energy storage strategies for such organizations as the US Air Force, Department of Defense, Department of Energy and NASA.

Deuber credits his wife, Sandy, who is an audiologist, for persuading him to turn his battery expertise toward hearing aids. He said that silver-zinc batteries are well suited for the demands of use in hearing aids, in part because being hermetically sealed they are more resistant to moisture in the ear than zinc-air batteries.

While there is no current demand for these batteries, ZPower will be explaining their benefits to hearing aid manufacturers and trying to interest them in developing instruments that can use them.

North America's Largest Induction Loop

Hearing Loop Systems recently announced a contract to loop Michigan State University's Breslin Center, all 14,759 seats. The stadium is the arena for one of America's top college basketball programs, as well as many other major events and concerts.

What is a Hearing (or Induction) Loop System?

Induction loops are used for transmission and reception of communication signals.  Commonly, induction loops are used to provide assistance to hearing aid users.  They are a loop of cable around a designated area, usually a room or a building, which generates a magnetic field picked up by a hearing aid. Many hearing aids are equipped with what is called a telecoil, or t-coil.  When the user of hearing aids activates his/her telecoil in a place that has been "looped," the audio signal is transmitted directly into the user's hearing aids, giving them a direct connection to the sound.  

(The telecoil was originally named so, as it was first used to give hearing aid users a better way to use the telephone. The telecoil enabled hearing aid users to hear the phone conversation more clearly without also picking up background noise around them. From this, the natural development was to generate audio magnetic fields which the telecoil could receive.)

Emotional Video

I just wanted to share this amazing video with you.  It brings tears to my eyes every time I view it.

Here is an infant boy, Jonathon, who has significant enough hearing loss to warrant a surgical procedure to implant a prosthetic hearing device, called a cochlear implant, in his right ear.

This is a baby who has never before heard his mother's voice.

Watch him as his implant is "turned-on" and he hears sound for the first time in his short little life.




No, Kenwood Hearing Center does not work with cochlear implants. However, if we do feel, after testing your hearing, that a cochlear implant would be beneficial for you, we would refer you in the right direction.

Audiology Brief: Hearing in the Big Apple

(As published in AHSA Leader Magazine, December 21, 2010)

The crowded streets of Manhattan may give visitors a thrill, but they also may put New Yorkers at risk for hearing loss, according to a study released at the International Conference on Urban Health at the New York Academy of Medicine.

Researchers wore monitors that measured noise levels near their ears at 60 Manhattan sites selected from data on noise complaints called into a city hotline.  Measurements were taken from 9am to 5pm on weekdays.

Most readings were above 70 decibels. People whose daily noise exposure tops an average of 70 decibels can lose some of their hearing over time, said Richard Neitzel, a University of Washington research scientist and one of the study's authors.

Some of Manhattan's noisiest spots were along the city's truck routes, but the city's quietest neighborhoods also were the source of come of the highest numbers of noise complaints.  For example, the residents of the Lower East Side, East Village, and West Village may live closer to ground level with fewer buffers between them and street noise. For more information about the conference, visit www.nyam.org/icuh2010.

Hear Better...Anywhere

Can't comprehend a mumbler's words at a crowded party? Lean in with your right ear. It sends messages to your left brain, which is better at following rapid speech rhythms than your right brain (per UCLA researchers).

Trying to pick out the lyrics of a new song?  Use your left ear - the right brain is better at processing musical tones.

-From Prevention Magazine