Hello, Everyone,
After enjoying a few days of early spring, we're now enjoying typical Oregon
"fogshine". We're so blessed to have such a variety in our weather here!
<smile>
Catching up with Jim---As most of you know, Jim's younger daughter has a
severe hearing loss. She wears some very nifty digital BTEs and attends
school with other hearing impaired children. She's Miss Personality,
and quite a little social bug---kinda like her Daddy! Jim and his wife
had a bit of a scare recently. It appeared that their daughter lost
her hearing in her right ear...but after testing and retesting, found that
the little rascal was exaggerating her minor bout of eustachian tube trouble.
Thankfully, her hearing has not changed...whew!
The 24th and 25th of this month is the annual Tri-State Hearing Convention
that Jim likes to attend every year. It's an opportunity to talk with
representatives from the various manufacturers, as well as attend classes
to keep up with the latest technology. The State of Oregon requires
all licensed hearing instrument professionals to complete the required continuing
education hours per year. Jim's expertise shows his commitment to staying
informed and well-trained in every aspect of his craft. Being able to
provide comfortable fittings and accurate programming is an art. There
are many hearing aid sales people out there, but not many who really have
the gifts and talents Jim has.
I (Beth) will be here in the office while Jim is away at Convention, so
if you need batteries or cleaning, come on in!
I now have five grandsons! Trevin was born Christmas Eve, making it
a very exciting Christmas for our family. Doesn't look like we'll be having
any granddaughters. My husband and I also acquired a couple of other
family members over the holidays---Maddy and Sammy joined the Bell clan. These
two Springer Spaniels are making themselves right at home in Cottage Grove.
As many of you have commented to us, "Growing old is not for
sissies.", and, "They call these the golden years because it costs that much
to take care of your health!"---Well, my husband and I are just now embarking
on the edge of those years, if you can believe it. This past year,
my husband was found to have some thyroid trouble, which has caused other
complications. So, we know what many of you go through with Dr. appointments
and health issues. Life is an adventure!
WHAT'S NEW:
There are some exciting, new products from various manufacturers coming
out this spring that we will be able to provide for a variety of hearing
losses. Starkey, Unitron, SeboTek, GNResound, Siemens all have some
cutting-edge hearing technology that is making it easier to help difficult
hearing losses. Starkey has a new OTE (Over the Ear) instrument with
Open Air technology. This digital product allows for more power in
the higher frequencies without occlusion being a problem (that plugged-up,
head-in-a-barrel feeling), yet it's also flexible enough to allow more low
frequencies for those who need that also. This instrument has a very
small diameter--about as thin as a pencil, and uses a very tiny filament
that is inserted into the ear, making this hearing instrument virtually invisible.
Unitron is also making available some new Open Air instruments. Siemens
has the new Acuris which is truly the first of its kind available in the
hearing industry. The Acuris uses wireless technology so that the hearing
instruments communicate with each other. We have already fit these
instruments on a patient with excellent results. SeboTek will be introducing
two new instruments this spring also.
It's great to be able to offer such a variety of hearing technology and
to be able to have a solution to many of your hearing needs. We care
very much about being able to help the hearing impaired, and are very pleased
that the manufacturers are stepping up to the plate to meet very specific
needs.
A note about batteries----Our battery supplier is no longer making 6 packs
available. So, again, we are changing what we offer you. We're
sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but we think most of you will
be pleased to know that 8 packs are back! The price per battery (50
cents each) will remain the same, so 8 packs will be selling for $4.00 each.
That is our everyday low price! If you cannot come in to our office
to purchase your batteries, you are welcome to call us at 746-7671, and we'll
be glad to mail you your batteries. Postage will be added to the cost.
Depending upon battery size and amount requested, postage usually runs between
60 cents and a little over a dollar.
The following is taken from an article in the Hearing Journal, written by
Dr. Robert L. Martin, PhD. This expands on our last newsletter where
we commented that you hear with your brain, not your ears. Thought many
of you would find it pretty interesting!
"WEAR YOUR HEARING AIDS OR YOUR BRAIN WILL RUST...."
You don't hear with your ears, you hear with your brain.
Let's explain: You don't feel with your fingers; your fingers make
electricity, which is carried to your brain through nerves. You 'feel'
with your brain.
Your ears make electricity that is carried to your brain through your hearing
nerves. You 'hear' with your brain, not your ears.
Hearing aid use is like exercise. If you want to get your muscles
in shape, you need to exercise them every day. Conditioning the auditory
cortex of the brain is much like conditioning leg muscles. It's impossible
to sit on a couch watching TV all week and get healthy leg muscles. What
you get are weak legs.
When you wear your hearing aids, lots of good things happen. You get
used to the feeling of wearing the hearing aids. You get used to all
the funny sounds. You start hearing better.
It takes time for the brain to learn to recognize words through the hearing
aids. Learning to listen to amplified sound is like trying to understand
people who speak with an unfamiliar accent, like the actors in British dramas
on TV. At first, the words seem garbled. But slowly, they become
clearer, easier to recognize.
Wearing hearing aids in noisy listening situations also takes time. It
is not easy to listen to one person when lots of other people are talking
at the same time. But with practice you get better.
Wearing hearing aids even helps short-term memory. If I tell you my
name is Dr. ...ru..p..., you'll know you didn't hear the name correctly so
it won't register in your brain. But if I say my name is Dr. Grump,
you'll think, "Wow, that's a weird name!" and you will probably remember it.
The more you listen with hearing aids, the better your brain gets at recognizing
words.
When a person does not hear sounds, the tonotopical mapping of the cortex
in the brain begins to change. The longer a person avoids wearing hearing
aids, the more difficult it is for them to learn to hear through them. In
truth, wearing hearing aids improves word understanding in almost all situations,
and not wearing them results in an unnecessary loss of speech information.
When people have poor hearing ability, they also tend to develop poor listening
habits. Paying attention to difficult signals is frustrating for them,
so they tend to shut themselves off from others and stop trying to hear. But,
using hearing aids reconnects these people with family, friends, the rest
of the world, and it makes all avenues of communication easier.
------Taken from the article by Dr. Robert L. Martin, PhD
The Hearing Journal, January 2004, Vol. 57, Number
1, p. 46
REMINDER.....If you last had your hearing aids cleaned in October, it's
time to come in for a cleaning. No need for an appointment.
And, please don't forget our online store for Assistive Listening Devices.
If you have friends or relatives who live in other parts of the country,
or even around the world, please direct them to our website where they can
order a wide variety of listening devices, including the popular TV Ears,
peronal FM systems, amplified phones (a large variety, too!).
Thank you for reading our news for February. We welcome your feedback....we
fix the hearing aid variety, but we also like to hear from you.....<smile>.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!
How to contact us:
You can always call us at 746-7671 or toll-free at 1-800-230-1953.
Our hours are from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday. Before or after
hours, you are welcome to call and leave a message on our machine.
Feel free to email us with any questions or concerns. Jim’s
email:
james@advancedhearingplus.com . Beth’s email: beth@advancedhearingplus.com
