Hearing Loss

Do you have hearing problems? It’s easy to get frustrated in noisy places, especially when everyone speaks at once and the messages get mixed up and jumbled together. Or when your granddaughter speaks and her voice softly disappears. Or when everyone appears to mumble.

The facts are, hearing loss is a gradual and long-term process, and it often doesn’t get noticed for many years. Often, its noticed when it is at its worst.

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You’re Not the Only One

According to the latest research, a big proportion of the Canadian population has reported hearing problems and with the ageing of this existing population, the number is likely to increase significantly

People of all ages experience hearing loss. The possible causes are exposure to loud noise, diabetes or some other medical factors. But ageing is the most common cause.Though we can’t stop the natural process of ageing, hearing loss can be treated. In most cases hearing loss is not too severe and is treatable when seen by a professional.

With appropriate treatment and a hearing aid, we can help you hear much better. You won’t feel the need to ask people to repeat their words. You may find the TV is more comfortable at a lower volume, and that your neighbours or loved ones are happier. A proper treatment would allow you to stay involved in your daily activities and help reduce the frustration.

How the Ear Works

Let’s check how your brain and ear coordinate to help you hear. The process starts with the sound waves entering your outer ear, the visible portion of the ear. These waves then get into the auditory canal that is a pathway coated with a tiny hair and small ear wax-producing glands.

The auditory canal leads to the middle ear that has the eardrum and three small bones called the hammer, the anvil and the stirrup. The eardrum starts vibrating as the sound waves hit it. The vibrations essay writer move the hammer which in turn moves the anvil and stirrup, sending the disturbances into your inner ear. As the middle ear acts as a sound amplifier, most of the hearing loss is due to disruption in any of its parts.

Even the hair cells can suffer damage due to the use of ototoxic drugs, some medical issues or simply due to ageing. Once damaged, hair cells can’t be regenerated or regrown by any means. The only option left is to use hearing aids.

Every part of the ear plays a significant role to create a system that facilitates you to hear clearly. If you are finding it difficult to hear, we will let you know what the exact cause behind the hearing loss is and we will offer you the most appropriate solution based on your needs and lifestyle.

9 Myths About Hearing Loss

Over the last few decades there have been huge advances in both our understanding of hearing loss and the technology used to solve hearing problems. Unfortunately, most peoples’ assumptions about their hearing are outdated or plain wrong.

Before you put off treatment for another day, discover the truth about hearing loss.

MYTH 1: PEOPLE WITH HEARING LOSS USES SIGN LANGUAGE AND READS LIPS.

Fact: Hearing loss can range from mild to completely deaf and not all people with hearing loss communicate the same way. Communication depends on a variety of factors, such as the degree of hearing loss, whether a hearing aid or cochlear implant is needed, the age at which the person lost their hearing, the level of auditory training received, and the nature of the listening situation. Most people with hearing loss do not use sign language.

American Sign Language is a visual language with its own syntax and grammar that is quite different from spoken and written English. Sign language varies by country as well.

Some people with hearing loss read lips and others do not. Lip reading, also called speech reading, is most helpful as a supplement to residual hearing, even though many speech sounds are not visible on the lips. It does help to face the person with hearing loss when speaking. Many people can pick up visual clues even if they are not proficient at lipreading.

MYTH 2: IMPROVING MY HEARING IS TOO MUCH TROUBLE.

Fact: Many family members of those that have hearing loss would argue differently. A hearing loss can be very frustrating for family members, especially when they are constantly repeating themselves or are frustrated by the volume of a TV.  Hearing loss can lead to social withdrawal, depression  and even dementia. The best solution is to deal with hearing loss rather than act like it’s not a problem.

MYTH 3: I CAN  PUT OFF GETTING HEARING AIDS.

Fact: Hearing loss often gets worse over time. Researchers even have a name for this: they call it auditory deprivation. The longer you ignore your hearing loss, the more hearing you’ll lose that can never be recovered. Hearing aids can help, but only if you have enough hearing left to be saved. And the longer you live with hearing loss, the harder it is to adjust to using hearing aids.

MYTH 4: TALKING LOUDER WILL HELP A PERSON WITH HEARING LOSS TO UNDERSTAND.

Fact: While increasing the volume may be a temporary solution; clarity is often the real issue. To obtain sufficient clarity, without distorting the sound, people with residual hearing may require sound to be transmitted from a microphone directly to their ear via an assistive listening device.

Sitting close to the speaker can assist the listener (it facilitates lip reading) but is not a substitute for an assistive listening device. Yelling and over-articulating does not help because these distort the natural rhythm of speech and make lip reading more difficult.

MYTH 5: HEARING AIDS WONT WORK.

Fact: The right hearing aids, with the right settings, programmed by a professional can work for almost everyone. If you work with your hearing provider to find the right hearing aid, programmed for your specific hearing loss, fit, and adjusted to your lifestyle, your hearing aids will almost certainly help you hear better.

Will the cheap personal sound amplifiers that you can buy online without a proper hearing test, or without proper fitting or adjustments improve your hearing? Not likely.

MYTH 6: HEARING AIDS ARE UGLY.

Fact: Like all advancements in technology, hearing aids have come a long way. Today, hearing aids are small, discrete, and loaded with cool advanced technology. They can connect with blue tooth to your mobile device, stream music and video from your TV, recharge while you are sleeping, and transfer the call from a loved one directly into your ear. They are sleek and small, with some that are nearly invisible

MYTH 7: PEOPLE WITH HEARING LOSS TEND TO BE OLDER ADULTS.

Fact: First, hearing loss affects people of all ages. Second, of the 48 million people with some form of hearing loss in the U.S. only one-third are 65 or older.

MYTH 8: I CAN GET ONLY ONE HEARING AID TO SAVE MONEY

Fact: You can save money by buying just one hearing aid or just one eye glass, but we wouldn’t recommend either. You have two ears for a reason, it helps you better locate the source of sounds, it helps you maintain balance, and to hear sound clearly regardless of the direction it’s coming from. If you have hearing loss in both ears, you would be better off with two hearing aids.

MYTH 9: HEARING AIDS ARE COSTSLY

Fact: If you compare other health services like Physiotherapy, Chiropractor and Massage, which all have proven health benefits you will see that they are similarly priced. Any of these health services can add up to $4,000- $8,000 when taken over four to five years. This is equivalent to the cost of hearing aids when compared over the same period.

When your health matters, and hearing clearly is part of staying healthy, happy and active. How much is that worth to you?