Download to hear - St. Thomas Hearing Clinic

now is the time
to hear
what you’re missing!
Now is the time, to HEAR
what you’re missing!
Did you know that more than 3 million, about 10%
of Canadians suffer some degree of hearing loss?1
Hearing loss is often referred to as “the unseen
handicap.” Because hearing loss happens so
gradually, many are reluctant to go see a Hearing
Health Care Professional who can help, not realizing
the benefits available to them.1
The population of hearing-impaired people is
getting younger and younger, largely due to our
noisy society.
Are you ready to improve
your quality of life?
This booklet provides information on:
• Learning how we hear
• Who are Hearing Instrument Specialists?
• What is an Audiologist?
• An introduction to Tiffany Landon, H.I.S, RN and
her team of Audiologists
• Learning how the hearing assessment process works
• Your hearing aid options
• Misconceptions about hearing aids
Ask yourself...
• Communication tips for better hearing
• Do you often ask people to repeat themselves?
• In case you wanted to know…
• Do you need to have the TV or radio up louder?
• Helpful websites and references
• Is it harder to understand conversation when
background noise is present?
• Learn about the other services available at this
office, including The Denture Clinic
• Do you find people mumble when they speak
to you?
• Do you have trouble understanding group
conversations?
Take charge
and hear what
you’re missing!
• Do you find it difficult to tell which direction
sounds are coming from?
• Do you avoid meeting people because you can’t
hear well?
• Are you getting tired from the effort required to
listen?2
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions,
you may have a hearing loss. Call today for a free
hearing test.
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In order to understand
hearing loss, you must fiffiifirfist
understand how to hear.
Outer ear
Pinna
Vestibule
Cochlea
Auditory nerve
Ear
drum
Ear canal
Eustachian tube
The inner ear is called the “cochlea” (Greek for snail
shell). The fluid-filled cochlea in a human being is
about the size of the tip of your little finger, and is
embedded inside the hardest and most dense bone
in your skull. There are about 15,000 tiny “hairlike cells” that are completely surrounded by the
fluid inside each cochlea. The vibrating middle
ear bones create ripples in the cochlear fluid. This
causes the tiny hairs to bend, which creates tiny
electrical currents that are sent on to the brain. The
cochlea changes sound vibrations into electricity,
and electricity is the “language” that the brain
understands.1
There are three main parts of the ear; outer, middle
and inner ear.
The outer ear is the largest and yet, the least useful
part for hearing. It mainly serves to gather sound and
funnel it down the ear canal to the eardrum.1
The middle ear is behind the eardrum, and it is a small
air-filled room that houses the three smallest bones in
the body (the “hammer”, “anvil” and “stirrup”). The
vibrations of sound against the eardrum vibrate these
tiny bones. The whole purpose of the middle ear is to
convert the sound waves (air pressure) to mechanical
energy, amplifying sound as it carries it to the fluidfilled inner ear. Sounds hitting the relatively large
eardrum are transmitted to the tiniest, third middle
ear bone, called the stapes. The middle ear basically
makes incoming sound intensity greater (about
seventeen times greater), so that it can penetrate the
fluid-filled inner ear.1
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Hearing instrument
specialists (H.I.S)
They are here to listen to you and improve your
quality of life through hearing assistance. They
provide the following services;2
• Complete hearing assessments
• Recommending the appropriate hearing aids
for you
• Demonstrations of Assistive Listening Devices
• Providing the fabrication of ear molds and custom
fitting
• Instruction in the maintenance and use of
hearing aids
• Facilitating adjustments and repairs on site as well
as after-care services
The Association of Hearing Instrument Practitioners
of Ontario (AHIP), is an organization of caring
professionals, who are committed to promoting and
maintaining the highest possible standards for its
members. By adhering to and abiding by AHIP’s
strict code of Professional Conduct, our members
ensure professionalism in every aspect of their job.2
What is an Audiologist?
An audiologist is a health-care professional
specializing in identifying, diagnosing, treating and
monitoring disorders of the auditory and vestibular
system portions of the ear. Audiologists are trained
to diagnose, manage and/or treat hearing or balance
problems. They dispense hearing aids and recommend
and map cochlear implants. They counsel families
through a new diagnosis of hearing loss in infants,
and help teach coping and compensation skills to
late-deafened adults. They also help design and
implement personal and industrial hearing safety
programs, newborn hearing screening programs,
school hearing screening programs, and provide
special fitting ear plugs and other hearing protection
devices to help prevent hearing loss. Audiologists
have training in anatomy and physiology, hearing
aids, cochlear implants, electrophysiology, acoustics,
psychophysics, neurology, counseling and
sign language.
Members of the AHIP are qualified professionals
registered with the Ontario Ministry of Health and
Long-Term Care-Assistive Devices Program,
Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, Veteran
Affairs Canada, Ministry of Community and
Social Services, First Nations and Inuit Health
Branch, Non-Insured Health Benefits, and all
major insurance carriers recognize our professional
qualifications.2
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Profiffiifiles of practitioners
Look who’s here to help you take control and
improve your quality of life!
Tiffany Landon, H.I.S., RN, graduated from
George Brown College as a certified Hearing
Instrument Specialist. Her internship spanned
several clinics throughout St. Thomas, London and
Sarnia. She is a graduate from Fanshawe College’s
Nursing Program earning her distinction of R.N.,
giving you that extra care and expertise.
Supporting Tiffany is a team of an audiologist and
hearing instrument practitioners, who specialize in
assisting clients with unique needs, such as WSIB
and other specialized testing requirements. With this
team structure, clients appreciate convenient and
customized appointments that are efficiently managed
around their busy schedules. The St. Thomas
Hearing Clinic team also works with family doctors
and otolaryngologist to ensure patients receive all
benefits and options in their hearing health care.
Jennifer Allen, M. Cl. Sc. is a registered audiologist
with the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language
Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO). She completed
her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Western
University in London, Ontario. Jennifer’s mother
has a hearing loss and wears hearing aids giving
Jennifer firsthand experience and knowledge
how hearing loss can affect a family as a whole.
Jennifer takes a holistic approach to providing the
best hearing healthcare with consideration of each
patients’ lifestyle and hearing needs. She has a
passion for helping others and has a special interest
in aural rehabilitation.
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The St. Thomas Hearing Clinic is independently
owned and operated, with a holistic approach to
health care. Devices are individually selected to meet
our client’s needs with a full range of manufacturer
brand options available.
What to expect from the
St. Thomas Hearing Clinic:
From the moment you walk into our clinic, you will
feel at home. Our primary goal is to help patients
hear the sounds in life that are most important to
them. Providing quality hearing care services to
residents of St. Thomas and surrounding communities
for over 7 years, we consider our patients part of
our family.
• Our clinic offers a 60 day trial period on any
hearing aid purchase, well above the usual standard
of 30 days
• We provide free hearing tests to anyone 7 years
and older
• Follow up appointments to ensure patients are
satisfied with their hearing aids
“Hearing aids are not perfect and will not restore
perfect hearing again. You must have realistic
expectations. There is an adjustment period for your
brain to relearn how to hear at an amplified level
again. Everyone is different and therefore you may
need one or several follow-up appointments.”
-Tiffany Landon
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“One of the key points to be able to wear hearing
aids successfully is that anyone can sell you a
hearing aid, what you are buying is the person
selling the aids. You must feel comfortable with this
person to be able to tell them that you are having
trouble or concerns. The practitioner must be willing
to listen to your concerns to fully understand and
provide you with realistic expectations and solutions
to your problems.”
-Tiffany Landon
We care about your comfort. Our office and
sound booths are wheelchair accessible, helping
us accommodate all of our patients with care and
consideration. And bring your family; our cozy
waiting room area is equipped with a TV, books for
children and adults and fresh coffee and juice for
your comfort.
Building confififfiifidence.
Building Friendships.
How the Hearing Assessment
Process Worksfi
1. The Hearing Test;
The professional will obtain a thorough case history
often involving a family member as they are aware
of the times they have trouble communicating with
you. At the same time the dispenser will assess any
potential medical problems such as active drainage
in the ear, sudden or rapidly progressing hearing
loss, pain etc.1
2. Pure Tone Air Conduction Testing;
During this part of the test, headphones or insert
earphones are placed on or in your ears and you
will be asked to respond each time you hear a tone
by raising your hand or pushing a button. A variety
of frequencies or pitches will be presented.1
3. Speech Testing;
The first measurement, the speech recognition
threshold (SRT) is obtained using two syllable
words such as hotdog or airplane. The intensity of
the words are raised and lowered until you are able
to understand 50% of the words presented to you.
This level helps you show the softest level you can
understand speech.1
4. Speech Discrimination;
This test is done at a constant level and you are
asked to repeat single syllable words. This helps to
assess your discrimination ability or your ability to
understand speech at comfortable levels.1
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5. Audiogram;
The information from the hearing assessment
is placed on a graph called the audiogram. The
audiogram charts in Hertz with low pitches or
frequencies on the left side of the chart and higher
frequencies on the right side of the chart. Soft
sounds, measured in decibels (dB) are at the top
of the chart. A person with normal hearing would
have thresholds marked on the audiogram for all
frequencies between 1 and 25 dB. However, most
individuals who obtain their first hearing aid will
have fairly normal results in the low frequencies
(meaning they hear well in the bass area of sound),
but tend to have their thresholds drop off or become
poorer in the treble or high frequency areas.1
6. Hearing Aid Recommendation;
Following the assessment, the specialist will review
the test results and outline treatment options with
you (and your family – if present). During this
portion of the evaluation, it is helpful to discuss
any prior experience with hearing aids and what
you expect the hearing aid to do for you. A realistic
assessment of what a hearing aid can and cannot do
will be offered. While modern hearing aids offer
many wonderful advantages over hearing aids of
days gone by, they still have some limitations and
these will be discussed to help ensure that you are
not disappointed with the function of your hearing
aids once you begin wearing them. Following
this discussion, an ear impression will be taken
by injecting your ear canal(s) with a soft silicone
material. This material is soft when placed in the
ear canal, but hardens in 2-5 minutes and can then
be removed. This mold is sent to the hearing aid
manufacturer so that a hearing aid or permanent ear
mold can be made from it – to match the size and
shape of your ear canal.1
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Hearing Aid Profiffiiles†
We do not focus on one specific hearing aid manufacturer
and therefore select the hearing aid that best suits your
needs. There is a wide range of hearing aids available
today. There are three categories in hearing instruments:
• BTEs (those that fit Behind-The-Ear)
• ITEs (those that fit In-The-Ear)
• And now LYRIC, the first ever extended wear device
that is inserted into your ear canal.
BTEs (those that fit Behind-The-Ear)
hearing instruments sit behind the ear and
use a separate piece called an earmold,
to direct sound into the ear canal. Their
larger size allows them to fit more
severe hearing losses and to incorporate
more features than the smaller models.
The Canal Receiver Technology
(CRT) is an ultra small sleekly
designed BTEs (those that fit BehindThe-Ear) device with a smaller, more
discrete tube that is almost undetectable
visually. The smaller tube increases
comfort without compromising
performance, in fact some clients say
“It feels like I am not wearing a device
at all”. The CRT comes in a variety of
models, including a wireless option,
and various colour options.
ITEs (those that fit In-The-Ear)
hearing instruments come in several
sub-categories. The entire hearing
instrument is built into the earmold
shell. The standard ITE fills up the
entire ear.
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ITC (In-The-Canal) style is smaller,
with the instrument filling only the
canal portion of the ear.
CIC (Completely-In-The-Canal)
instruments which fit deep inside
the ear canal and are the least visible
of the styles.
The new
Lyric
The new Lyric – the first extended wear hearing aid
that is completely invisible when worn.
Lyric is inserted deep
inside the ear canal by
our specially trained staff;
close to your eardrum and
takes advantage of the ear’s
natural anatomy to minimize
background noise and to deliver natural sound quality.
Wearing Lyric is so effortless you just might forget
you are wearing a hearing aid — there are no batteries
to change, no maintenance is needed and no daily
insertion or removal is required.
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Hearing Aid Technologies
Technology has come a long way from the pre-historic
times of using hollowed-out cow horns. There are
three main types of hearing technology – digital,
analog and Bluetooth.
Patients will no longer have to fiddle with both of their
hearing aids to try to get them balanced. This latest
wireless technology allows a hearing aid
to communicate and function as one
hearing system. This intelligent circuit
analyzes, interprets the environment,
and shares information automatically
and continuously. When one hearing aid
is adjusted, the other simultaneously self
adjusts to synchronization and balancing
both hearing aids can be achieved. The
hearing aid also transmits signals wirelessly
so that it can connect to your cell phone,
televisions, stereos and the popular portable audio
player known as the iPod with Blue Tooth or wireless
technology. Users wear a button, usually connected
to thin wire than can be worn inside a shirt; pressing
it allows them to answer cell phone calls, turn on
the television or listen to music. The sound is piped
in directly through the hearing aid. Many hearing
aids on the market have this type of technology.
Digital hearing instruments are the newest and most
sophisticated. They use computer technology to
process sounds. Digital instruments have the
advantage of allowing more control of the
sound signal and they can be programmed
in the hearing care professional’s office
to adjust to the wearer’s hearing loss.
†
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Bernafon
Misconceptions about
Hearing aids
Many people put off getting a hearing aid because
they have heard or experienced difficulty with the
older style devices, specifically poor reception in
crowded areas or outdoors. In addition, the older
style hearing aids were felt to be unattractive and
uncomfortable. The good news is technology has
come a long way, with more effective devices that
provide clear sound even in noisy environments
with styles ranging from small over the ear devices
to devices positioned in the ear canal which are
invisible.
Hearing losses are all different, in degree and in
quality. While hearing aids are designed to fit a range
of hearing losses, they are intended to be fine-tuned
for each individuals hearing loss.1
Some people feel that hearing aids cost much more
than eyeglasses, and yet they do not work as well.
True, they do cost more, but think about what a wellfit hearing aid can offer – improved communication.
Quality of life is dramatically enhanced when one
is not constantly guessing what others might be
saying. As to how well they work, always remember
that hearing aids are not new ears. If you know their
possibilities and limitations, you will have much
more realistic expectations of hearing aids and much
greater success with them.1
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Communication skills for
better Hearing
Hearing aids can help clients overcome barriers faced
daily as a result of their hearing loss but it is not the
only solution or alternative. Effective communication
strategies combined with hearing aids will help most
clients.
Here are some suggestions:
As a speaker, you should: 2
• Ensure that the Hard-of-Hearing person is facing
you when conversing
• Keep objects or hands away from your face
• Keep mustache/beards clean shaven or avoid bright
shiny shades of lipsticks as they disrupt lip-reading
patterns
• Do not shout! Speak slowly and clearly
• Check the lighting in the room. If the room is dim,
turn the lights on or move to a corner of the room
where the lighting is optimal
• If background noise is present, move to a quiet
corner of the room if possible
• If in a noisy restaurant, ask for a seat near the
window for better lighting and away from the
kitchen which is near a source of noise
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Why can you
HEAR the ocean
when holding
a seashell to
your ear?
In case you wanted to know…
The most likely explanation for the wavelike noise is
ambient noise from around you. The seashell that you
are holding just slightly above your ear captures this
noise, which resonates inside the shell. The size and
shape of the shell therefore has some effect on the
sound you hear. Different shells sound different because
different shells accentuate different frequencies. You
don’t even need the seashell to hear the noise. You can
produce the same “ocean” sound using an empty cup or
even by cupping your hand over your ear. Go ahead and
try it and vary the distance at which you place the cup
near your ear. The level of the sound will vary depending
on the angle and distance the cup is from your ear.4
Other services – under one roof
The Denture Clinic is conveniently located in the same
building as the Hearing Clinic. Denturist Nathan Landon,
Tiffany’s husband, has been serving the region for over
10 years.
Book your appointment today for all your hearing,
denture and massage therapy requirements – all under
one roof – with free parking!
Helpful sources:
www.stthomashearingclinic.ca
www.hearcanada.com
www.helpmehear.ca
www.phonak.com
References:
1. Canadian Consumer Guide to Hearing Loss & Hearing Aids.
Canadian Hearing Instrument Practitioners Society.
2. Association of Hearing Instrument Practitioners of Ontario
3. Coping with Hearing loss: Plain talk for adults about losing your hearing.
Susan v Rezen.
4. www.howstuffworks.com
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18
120 Centre Street
St. Thomas, Ontario N5R 2Z9
Tel: 519.633.1624
Fax: 519.633.6168
Toll Free: 1.877.633.1624
email [email protected]
Free parking
Contact st. thomas hearing clinic
for a free complete hearing assessment
and start to amplify your life.
www.stthomashearingclinic.ca