EXPECTATIONS: a key to success

written by Sergei Kochkin, Ph.D., - Better Hearing Institute, Washington, DC

Here are some issues you should keep in mind as you develop appropriate expectations about what your hearing aids can and cannot do for you:

Restore hearing: No matter how technically advance, in most cases hearing aids cannot restore your hearing to normal, except in some very mild hearing losses.

Types of hearing aids: No tall hearing aids perform the same with every type of hearing loss.

Hearing in noise: No hearing aid has been designed that will filer out ALL background noise.  Some hearing aids can reduce the amplification of some types of background noise or make you more comfortable in the presence of noise.  The most effective solution for im proving speech intelligibility in noisy situations is hearing aids with directional microphones. When directional hearing aids are coupled with digital signal processing, you can be assure that your hearing aids are optimized for improving your quality of life in noisy environments.

Fit and comfort: Since you are purchasing custom hearing aids, you should expect the fit to be comfortable; ideally you should not even know they are in your ears. There should not be any soreness, bleeding, or rashes associated with your wearing hearing aids.  If there is, go back to your hearing healthcare provider.

Sounds: Hearing aids should allow you to: (1) hearing soft sounds (e.g. child's voice, soft speech) that you could not hear without amplification; this is part of the enjoyment of hearing aids; (2) prevent loud sounds from becoming uncomfortably loud for you - but very loud sounds that are uncomfortable to normal hearing people may also be uncomfortable for you.

Whistling and feedback: It is normal for hearing aids to squeal or whistle when you are inserting them into your ear (if you do not have a volume control to shut it off). If it squeals after the initial insertion, then most likely you have an inadequate fit, and should tell your hearing healthcare provider.

Your friend's hearing aid: Do not expect your friend's hearing aid brand or style to work for you.

Your family doctor: Do not expect your family doctor to be knowledgeable about hearing loss, brands of hearing aids and whether or not your need them.  Data shows that only 13% of physicians screen for hearing loss.

Expect benefit: Expect your hearing aids to provide benefit to you during the trial period.  By benefit, I mean that your ability to understand speech has demonstrably improved in the listening situations important to you (within realistic expectations thought). This is what you hoped for, and you should expect benefit.  If you do not experience an improvement, then work with your hearing healthcare professional to see if the instrument can be adjusted to meet your specific needs.  Never purchase a hearing aid that does not give you sufficient benefit.

Satisfaction guarantee: Expect to be satisfied with your hearing aids; expect the quality of your life to improve due to your hearing aids.

Trial period: Expect a 30-day trial period with a money back guarantee if your hearing aids do not give you benefit (there might be a small nonrefundable portion for some services rendered).

Adjustment period: Give your hearing aids a chance, being sure to follow the instructions of the hearing healthcare provider. Most people need a period of adjustment (called acclimatization) before deriving the maximum benefit from their hearing aids (even up to four months).

A New Alarm Clock

Does your alarm clock wake up everyone in the neighborhood except you?  Now you can safely turn off the sound on your alarm clock and not have to worry about oversleeping!
This new alarm clock from Bellman & Symfon wakes you with a high-intensity flashlight, powerful vibrations and sound directly in the pillow - perfect when you need to get up on time without waking others.

Helping Hear the Minister's Words - as seen recently in the Toledo Blade

Our local newspaper published the following article on February 6, 2012.  Is your church doing all that it can to help you hear?

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Helping Hear the Minister's Words - Enhancement easy way to assist hearing impaired at churches, TMA

by Laurie Omness - special to the Blade

When people in church don’t hear what the minister is saying, the minister can tell.

“You might say something that has the congregation laughing, and there will be a couple of faces that are just blank. Or you’ll see one or two people leaning over to ask someone ‘What did she say?’ And you know they didn’t hear you,” Dottie Kaiser of Lima said.

Ms. Kaiser does a lot of what she calls “pulpit-fill” for vacationing pastors or for Ohio churches needing an interim minister. She says even when churches have a good sound system, churchgoers who are hearing impaired cannot hear everything.

“Sometimes you’ll see people with real expressive faces squinting, and looking intently at you, trying to hear,” she said.

A few Toledo religious institutions have made an effort to help hearing-aid wearers by installing a supplementary sound system endorsed by the American Academy of Audiology and widely used in Europe.

It’s known as a hearing loop.

The loop systems consist of an amplifier and wire installed around the perimeter of a room. Low electrical current from the amplifier creates a magnetic field. People wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants equipped with a telecoil device can pick up the sound of a speaker wearing a tiny microphone whose voice is transmitted over the magnetic field.

The system won approval by audiologists because it doesn’t require the user to ask for special headsets or a transmitter that is necessary with FM transmitting systems. It also has the advantage of using as receivers the wearer’s own hearing aids which have already been fine-tuned to the owner’s hearing needs.

Hearing aid users can switch between settings — one with an M or “microphone” and T or “telecoil.” The microphone setting amplifies one-on-one conversations and works fine in many situations. The telecoil setting enables the wearer to pick up sound from a person amplified by the induction loop.

“It is an easy way to eliminate background noises and cut down on distance problems,” said Dr. Clint D. Keifer of Toledo Audiology in Maumee.

He says ambient noise interferes with hearing for everyone but is more problematic for the hearing impaired, even those fitted with an appropriate device. An estimated 30 percent of people older than 60 have some hearing loss and Dr. Keifer’s practice is seeing an influx of people who are reaching that age.

“In my experience, the baby boom generation is savvy about technology but wants something that’s inconspicuous,” Dr. Kiefer said.

Since the induction loop transmits to the t-coil in the user’s hearing aid, no one has to ask for special headsets at a public venue, something that traditional F.M. amplification requires.

Susan Kaufman is a hearing-impaired person who has experience with F.M. systems and with the loop and prefers the loop. “Oh, my gosh,” she said. “You feel like the speaker is right there in your ear.”

Mrs. Kaufman once wore hearing aids and was fitted for cochlear implants in 2001. Both devices have t-coils that serve as the receivers for sound transmitted from the loop. She was instrumental in having the loops installed at several buildings on the campus at the Congregation B’nai Israel.

She also recently assisted in making a presentation to officials at the Toledo Museum of Art urging the installation of an induction loop to make programs more accessible to the hearing-impaired.

Kelly Garrow, the museum’s director of communication, said the museum is committed to expanding access to the museum’s collection.

She said the museum’s new director, Brian Kennedy, was “dumbfounded” that there were not already loop systems installed. “They are mandatory in Australia,” she said. Mr. Kennedy worked at the National Gallery in Australia before coming to Toledo.

Ms. Garrow said that several projects are being planned for the museum but the induction loop system is a high priority. “It will happen at the museum,” she said.

Andy Jankowski made the loop presentation to the museum on behalf of Assistive Audio, the local company which installed the loops at Congregation B’nai Israel.

He says that the systems are installed in public places such as churches, auditoriums, retirement communities, and parks.

Hearingloop.org is a non-profit advocacy group for the hearing impaired. Its Web page offers advice on the cost of systems.

“Typical costs range from $2,000 to $8,000 for small to medium-sized worship centers, but more for very large facilities with lots of embedded steel. Most congregations’ loop systems will cost no more than what one of their members would pay for a pair of today’s high tech hearing aids,” the site said.

Mr. Jankowski has installed much smaller loop systems as well, including a system for the backseat of a mini-van used in his own family.

“I have grandchildren who are profoundly deaf and have cochlear implants,” he said. The installation of the loop in their van allows them to watch and listen to DVDs while on long trips,” he said. “I’m in the business to make it a better world for them.”

Don Beyer of Torrence Sound Co. of Perrysburg agrees. His company installed loop systems at two Toledo churches, Hope Lutheran and Historic St. Patrick. The company provides all kinds of sound systems for different venues.

“One of the joys of the job is getting a thank you,” Mr. Beyer said. “But it really means a lot when the folks that shake your hand are hard of hearing. They’ve been left out for a while.”

"Keeping it Down on the Farm"

At the National Future Farmers of America convention in Indianapolis, the National Instutute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) launched online materials to encourage parents to protect their preteen's hearing from loud noises on the farm.

The effort is part of NIDCD's national public education campaign, It's a Noisy Plant. Protect Their Hearing, designed to increase awarenes of the causes and prevention of noise-induced hearing loss among parents of children 8 to 12. The new "Keeping it Down on the Farm" materials included downloadable tip sheets on how to reduce noise and a list of common sounds found on the farm that occur at potentially damagin levels.

Find them here: Keeping it Down on the Farm

Information for Patients with Dizziness

If you haev a balance disorder as a result of an ear problem you should know:

• The ears work together to create balance.  The ears send a balance signal to the brain, and the brain compares the two signals.  Normally these signals are the same.  Vertigo is triggered when the balance signals are unequal, such as when one ear sends a strong signal and the other a weak one.
• Sedating medications do not help the healing process.  Medications like Antivert (meclizine), Valium (diazepam), and some antihistamines suppress the vestibular and central nervous system.  This delays the healing process because the medication reduces the neural response as the brain tries to balance the two signals, and delaying rehabilitation makes balance problems worse.
• The ears need to learn to work together.  Some patients do not want to move because they are afraid of creating vertigo, but this is a mistake.  The brain needs to relearn how to coordinate the balance signals from both ears.  The more often the brain deals with the signals from the ears, the quicker the dizziness problem will be resolved.  When the brain learns how to coordinate the signals from both ears, balance results.
• Balance exercises help. Vestibular rehabilitation is a series of instructions and exercises to help your brain adjust to a weak ear signal.  Remember, professional ice skaters and ballerinas learn to spin rapidly without getting dizzy.  Rehabilitation classes help patients adapt to the signal imbalance coming from the ears.

From The Hearing Journal, December 2011, Volume 64, Number 12. Written by Robert L Martin, Ph.D.