 | |  |
| |
NewsletterMarch 2007 |
Hello, everyone! |
|
Spring is just around the corner, and we're ready for it here in Oregon! I think everyone is itching to dig up their gardens and get those flower beds planted. Lots of preparation going on this time of year. It's the same with our business. Jim just got back from the annual Tri-State Hearing Convention. This is a time of preparation and learning for Jim. He takes this time to acquire his CEUs and to learn about new products and technology, preparing himself to provide the best quality care he can for our folks. |  | |
| |
Keeping you up-to-date
Unitron upgrades their products
Unitron is always upgrading their products, making them more versatile and adding features to their digital line of instruments. Their products are a favorite of ours as they provide excellent quality at more affordable prices. Unitron has added the AntiShock feature to all three of their Element models: Element 16, 8, and 4. The Element comes in all styles, including open-air.
Siemens products: the Intuis and the AutoPhone
Siemens' new circuit, the Intuis, is a promising hearing aid at a great value! It incorporates advanced technology found in premium digital instruments. Standard features include a directional microphone, which is essential in noisy environments such as restaurants, feedback cancellation, noise reduction. Custom instruments (those worn in the ear) have a new C-guard feature which seals the receiver, protecting it from cerumen, moisture, and dirt. Behind-the-ear models use Nanocoating which protects the aid from moisture and perspiration. An available option to the Intuis is the AutoPhone, an automatic TCoil that activates when a phone is put to that ear. The AutoPhone feature can be used with both mobile and cordless phones with a magnet accessory.
New Destiny 1200 products by Starkey
The Starkey Destiny series now has two new Destiny 1200 open-air products: one that uses a 312A battery, and a directional aid that uses a 10A battery.
Phonak & Siemens, the foremost hearing healthcare companies worldwide
Phonak, which recently acquired GNResound and Interton, is now the leading hearing healthcare company in the world, overtaking Siemens' position. These companies are at the forefront of the latest technology—great companies that we enjoy working with to provide excellent quality products for our clients. One piece of valuable advice is to go to a dispenser that offers a variety of brands. No matter where you choose to purchase your hearing aids, good results are more assured if you go to a dispenser who knows the technology and is gifted and experienced with fitting and programming the various brand and styles of product.
Breaking news for Tinnitus sufferers: using a low-pitched pulsing sound!
UC Irvine researchers, Fan-Gang Zeng—professor of otolaryngology, biomedical engineering, cognitive sciences, and anatomy and neurobiology—and colleagues, have found an effective way to treat high frequency tinnitus.
Rather than using a high-pitched sound to mask the tinnitus, the opposite approach, using a low-pitched pulsing sound, provided unexpectedly effective results! The low pitched, pulsing sound of 40 to 100 hertz was described as a "calming, pleasant tone." They tried this method on a cochlear implant patient, using an MP3 player. After about 90 seconds, this method provided a "high-level of continued relief" for this patient.
Professor Zeng is currently studying how to apply this method for people who do not use hearing aids. While this treatment does not provide a cure, it is proving to be effective while being applied to the ear.
Dr. Hamid Djalilian, a UCI physician who treats hearing disorders, finds this treatment very promising for tinnitus sufferers, pointing out that a custom sound for each patient could be downloaded into their own MP3 player and be ready for them to use when they require relief.
According to Dr. Zeng, this discovery "underscores the need to customize stimulation for tinnitus suppression and suggests that balanced stimulation, rather than masking, is the brain mechanism underlying this surprising finding."
More news of interest
Our webmistress, Sharon Malone, of 24Carat Design, sent me a very interesting article by Stephen Hutcheon, The Sydney Morning Herald, dated October 26, 2006 . For those with tinnitus and those who have friends and loved ones with this affliction, the following article should be most interesting:
Mystery noise is a real humdinger
Scientists investigating a strange humming sound in Auckland believe they have pinpointed the frequency. The source of the noise, however, remains a mystery.
According to Dr Tom Moir, a computer engineer at Massey University's Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences, the low level drone is almost certainly hitting the scales at a frequency of 56hz.
He has tested three people who can hear the noise and they all come up around that frequency. A fourth person who was tested returned an inconclusive result.
Although 56hz is within the standard range of human hearing—which can range from 20 to 20,000hz—it is too low for most people to pick up.
That however, has not brought the sleuths any closer to pinpointing the source of the hum which they have dubbed the Unidentified Acoustic Phenomena.
Dr Moir rules out geological factors. "It's more likely to be things like pipes under the ground—you known, gas pipes, sewerage pipes, factories in the distance."
But for those who can hear it, the sound is the bane of their lives, driving some to distraction and others to take drastic action.
Dr Moir said one sufferer, a man, was so desperate to stop hearing the sound that he deliberately tried to damage his own hearing by cranking up a chain saw close to his ears. He said it was so bad, he couldn't stand it. It was driving him mad."
Another victim of the hum says it can prevent her from sleeping at night.
Since a woman living in the North Shore suburb of Brown's Bay first contacted Dr Moir and his colleague Dr Fakhrul Alam in mid-August, the scientists have been approached by about 30 sufferers, all from areas in Auckland's north.
"These people who pick [the hum] up have a very low threshold for hearing at low frequencies—don't know why, but they do," says Dr Moir.
Some have been reticent to give away more details of their predicament for fear that reports of persistent humming could adversely affect the resale price of their homes.
With the help of one of the sufferers, Dr Moir has developed a simulation of the sound. "The real thing," he says "is more like the drone of an aircraft and it comes and goes," he said.
The affliction appears to be similar to tinnitus, a condition in which sufferers hearing a constant, high-pitched ringing sound. In severe case it can affect sleep and normal daily routines.
A number of high profile musicians are said to have suffered from tinnitus including Beethoven, Bono and Eric Clapton.
Complicating the investigation is the fact that neither Dr Moir nor his colleague can hear the sound so with each sufferer they visit they must first run tests to rule out psychosomatic factors and any other obvious causes.
Fortunately, Dr Moir discovered on the weekend that his wife, who accompanied him on a visit to one of the affected homes, was able to hear the hum.
This is not the first incidence of humming in New Zealand. In 2005, New Zealand author Rachel McAlpine wrote a book called The Humming.
In her novel set in small town, an artist called Ivan and a number of the townsfolk are plagued by a low frequency humming noise.
The book was largely inspired by the author's own experiences in the seaside town of Puponga on the northwest tip of the South Island which was itself at the centre of a humming mystery some years back.
Listen to a simulation of the sound (most people won't be able to hear it, but if you play it in something like Windows Media Player and turn on the visualisation you will "see" the sound waves).
|
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
"Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now."
| |
Reminders |
| If you last had your hearing instruments cleaned in September, 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 |
| If you have friends or loved ones who would like to receive our newsletter via email, we will be happy to add them to our email list. All you need to do is have them contact me to provide me with their name and email address. We also have copies of the newsletter in our office if you would like to pick them up here. |
How to unsubscribe |
| If you no longer want to receive this newsletter via email, click here to unsubscribe. |
How to contact us
| | |
| |
Office Hours
Monday thru Friday 9-5
Saturday by appointment only
Address and Phone
816 Beltline Rd
Springfield, OR 97477
Telephone: 541-746-7671
Toll Free: 800-230-1953
Before or after hours, you are welcome to
call and leave a
message on our machine. | |
How to find us |
[ larger view ] |
 | |  | |
![[ larger view ]](../images/map_fullsize.gif){kind=link}