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NewsletterJanuary 2007 |
Hello, everyone! |
 | We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/Hanukkah with your family and friends. We also want to extend wishes for a very Happy New Year to you all.
As I write this, my heart goes out to the families of the three mountain climbers who were lost to Mt. Hood in our state of Oregon. I'm sure many of you have kept up with that dramatic story. | |
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Jim spent Christmas in the great state of Texas visiting his dad, Sandy, and his family. They seldom are able to get the whole family together for the holidays, so this was a special time for them. My husband and I were blessed to have our girls and their families up for Christmas day. Our son and his wife live out of state and weren't able to join us, but we talked over the miles. We had a great time with the grandsons, and of course enjoyed all the good food and traditional goodies that are special this time of year.
We look forward to seeing what new friends this New Year will bring our way. |
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Keeping you up-to-date
More about the GNResound Pulse
Last month we introduced the GNResound Pulse—the new rechargeable open-air product. We've fit this new instrument on several of our patients and have been pleased with its performance. The hearing aids come with a charger that the aids themselves are plugged into. These hearing aids use special rechargeable batteries that come in size 10 or 312. The batteries are the same size as regular batteries, but after a 5-hour charge they deliver up to 24 hours of power for the hearing aid.
This doesn't provide a financial savings on batteries, as the rechargeable batteries cost what it would to keep the hearing aid in conventional batteries for a year. But, these aids do provide great convenience for folks who find changing batteries a hindrance. The neat thing about it is that you can use conventional batteries in this product if you so choose. Perhaps you're in a situation where you can't recharge the hearing aids—just remove the rechargeable ones to charge up later, put in the conventional batteries, and you're back on the air!
Hearing Loss, Speech Discrimination, and Word Discrimination Testing
Along with pure-tone and bone conduction testing, one should be given a Word Discrimination test when having their hearing tested for speech discrimination. Word Discrimination testing reveals how well a person can hear what is spoken, and provides the audiologist/dispenser with valuable information. As we have discussed in previous Newsletters, we hear with our brains. How the brain discriminates and interprets the information it receives through the auditory system really plays a crucial role in one's ability to understand what is being said.
It has usually been thought that hearing aids will not improve one's speech discrimination. In the past, hearing aids provided more volume, but not necessarily more clarity in order to hear speech more clearly. Today, with digital technology making it possible to adjust specific frequencies, speech discrimination can, indeed, be enhanced with hearing instruments. However, this improvement will not be detected immediately upon being fitted with new hearing aids.
Hearing loss is acquired over time. It can take years for hearing loss to slowly advance to the point that one becomes aware of hearing impairment. During this time, the brain is slowly losing information to use in hearing. When an individual finally starts using hearing instruments, it can take from three months to a year of regular hearing aid use to retrain the brain to hear better. That is one reason we tell folks to use their hearing instruments regularly—wear them all the time, even when no one else is around.
So often people will only take the hearing aids out of their cases to wear them when they go out or are around other people. They don't think they need to hear the refrigerator motor or the water running out of the faucet. But, it's these little, "insignificant" sounds that keep the brain exercised to hear. Wearing your hearing aids all the time keeps the brain flexible. When confronted with a situation where one needs to hear, then the brain is ready to accept and process the information more readily. It doesn't have to start adjusting over and over again every time one starts to wear their aids after a period of not wearing them.
After the brain's retraining period, better speech discrimination is often achieved. How much of an improvement is, I'm sure, a very individual thing. While hearing aids do not restore 100% ability to hear, with today's technologies and advancements, they can improve a person's ability to hear in more than 90% of all cases; and it's possible, in many cases, to help improve speech discrimination.
Veterans & tinnitus-related disabilities
In the recent Sound News bulletin published by the Hearing Loss Association of Lane County, Oregon, a very interesting piece of news appeared, relating to tinnitus. As many of you know, many of our seniors suffer from hearing loss due to damage done during WWII as well as other service-related situations. The Veterans Administration has recently published figures revealing that 339,573 veterans had tinnitus-related disabilities in 2005, which is an increase of 144,243 in 2000. The amount paid to veterans with tinnitus in 2000 was $150 million; in 2005 it had climbed to $418 million! According to David Fagerlie, the CEO of the American Tinnitus Association (ATA), Portland, OR, "We will have to spend more on veteran's disability compensation for tinnitus and other hearing damage over the coming years than for any other medical injuries from The Iraq and Afghan wars."
Tinnitus: Non-surgical help
Last month's Newsletter broached the subject of surgical intervention for tinnitus. This month we will explore other medical interventions.
Definition of Tinnitus
Because tinnitus is a symptom, and not a disease, a doctor should explore all possible causes for tinnitus in a patient. Quoting Betty G. Weiss, M.S., in her article, Medical Intervention for Tinnitus, which was published in the December 2000 Tinnitus Today magazine, page 12, "Tinnitus is defined in terms of its location (in one ear, in both ears, in the head), its characteristics (continuous, intermittent, pulsatile, clicking), and its impact on a person's life (tolerable or intolerable). In order to determine any contributing factors and an appropriate treatment, the patient should be examined in order to rule out all active disease processes or conditions that can be managed by medical intervention."
Max Ronis, M.D., Professor Emeritus at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, is renowned in the field of tinnitus research. He suggests exploring:
- diet,
- household products,
- prescription medications,
- over-the-counter drugs, and even
- social activities
that may be associated with causing or aggravating tinnitus.
Diet
In the area of diet, he recommends eliminating caffeine, salt, cider vinegar, soft drinks, and alcohol. Some people find that Omega-3 fatty acids help, so eating salmon may be very good for tinnitus sufferers.
Household products
Household products can aggravate one's tinnitus as well. Dr. Ronis advocates eliminating the use of perfumes, antiseptics, cleaning chemicals and suntan lotions.
Prescription medications
He also warns about the use of prescription medications. Look at the noted side effects of a drug. All medications have a list of side effects. If they cause tinnitus or any toxic effects on the ear, this will be listed. It's important to reduce or eliminate one's exposure to such medications.
Over-the-counter drugs
Over-the-counter drugs such as aspirin and aspirin-related products (Ecotrin, Bufferin, ibuprophen, Midol, Aleve, Pepto Bismol, Anacin, etc.) and antihistamines are known to bring on or aggravate tinnitus.
Social activities
Dr. Ronis also suggests evaluating your lifestyle---determine if certain activities you participate in may have caused or aggravate your tinnitus. Find out if you have a family history of hearing loss and/or tinnitus.
4 Methods of treating tinnitus
According to Dr. Ronis, there are four components to treating tinnitus. First, one needs to resolve medical/surgical issues. Second, acoustic therapies should be implemented. Third, pursue counseling and education. Fourth, pharmacological management can be incorporated into the overall treatment plan.
Using herbs
Some people even find relief by using various herbs. We need to remember that homeopathy has been practiced safely all over the world for more than 200 years. Ginkgo biloba and kava kava have reportedly brought relief. Melatonin and megadoses of vitamins and minerals have also shown to be efficacious for many people. Occasionally someone will report benefit from using niacin.
Intractable tinnitus and St. John's Wort (Hypericin)
St. John's Wort (Hypericin) was used in a study on intractable tinnitus. Intractable tinnitus is one of the most common forms of tinnitus. This means that there are no organic causes for the tinnitus—no tumor, infection, drug, etc., is causing the tinnitus. In addition, no vitamins, sedatives, analgesics, etc., have proven to improve the tinnitus for at least one year of therapy. In this particular study, something very interesting emerged. While hypericin did not change the intensity of the tinnitus when measured objectively with Tinnitus Matching Level (TML) audiometry, 68% of the tinnitus patients' subjective reaction was that they felt that hypericin gave them relief from their tinnitus. This leads scientists to conclude that intractable tinnitus has a mostly central cause (within the brain) with hyperactivity or hypoactivity of neurons coming or going from the brain.
As we've noted before, everyone is an individual. What one person finds helpful may not prove true for someone else. Dr. Ronis does advise to always weigh the "gain versus risk factors" in pursuing options dealing with tinnitus. |
We welcome comments and suggestions
If you would like to comment or offer suggestions for topics to be covered in our Newsletter, please feel free to contact me. I'd love to hear from you! Also, if our Newsletter has been helpful to you, please forward your friends and loved ones to our web site address: www.advancedhearingplus.com .
Beth Bell |
Quote of the Month
"Beware grabbing the wrong half of a half-truth."
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Reminders |
| If you last had your hearing instruments cleaned in July, it is time to get them cleaned this month! |
Assisted Listening Devices |
| For Assisted Listening Devices, please visit our online store. We offer many products, including TV Ears, at competitive prices and shipped directly to your door. Satisfaction guaranteed. |
Referrals |
If you know someone who has been thinking about getting some new hearing aids and benefiting from newer technology, please send them our way. If they purchase a set of premium digital instruments, we will gladly supply you with 2 free boxes of batteries. If they purchase a set of basic or advanced digital hearing instruments, we will supply you with 1 free box of batteries.
We appreciate your referrals! As you know, we do not use telemarketing to acquire new customers. We rely upon word-of-mouth and media advertising. Not only will they receive the best care, but we can save them money, too! |
Questions? Comments? |
| Do you have a question, comment, or concern? Do you have a testimonial that you would like us to include in a future newsletter? Please don't hesitate to contact Jim or contact me. |
How to receive our newsletter |
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How to contact us
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Office Hours
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Saturday by appointment only
Address and Phone
816 Beltline Rd
Springfield, OR 97477
Telephone: 541-746-7671
Toll Free: 800-230-1953
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