Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Sound localization wikipedia , lookup
Telecommunications relay service wikipedia , lookup
Auditory system wikipedia , lookup
Evolution of mammalian auditory ossicles wikipedia , lookup
Hearing loss wikipedia , lookup
Hearing aid wikipedia , lookup
Noise-induced hearing loss wikipedia , lookup
Sensorineural hearing loss wikipedia , lookup
Audiology and hearing health professionals in developed and developing countries wikipedia , lookup
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. 1 2 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 3 4 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 5 6 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. 7 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 8 “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 9 10 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 11 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. 12 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. 13 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. † 14 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 15 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 16 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 17 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