Do you ever feel like people around you are mumbling or speaking too quickly? Are you having to ask others to repeat themselves frequently or struggling to follow a conversation when there is background noise? If so, these could be indicators that you have a hearing loss.
Often, our friends and family members may notice we have hearing loss before we do. We may even use them as a crutch to help fill in the blanks when we are missing parts of a conversation. Or perhaps they recognize you are having a hard time on the telephone or the volume of the TV continues to go up. If any of this sounds familiar to you, it’s time to get your hearing checked.
The best way to find out if you have a hearing loss is to get a simple hearing evaluation by a licensed hearing healthcare professional. They will be able to determine not only if you have a hearing loss, but what type and how severe the loss may be. Even if no loss is detected, it’s still a great idea to have a baseline audiogram to compare to any future tests.
To get started, you may want to ask yourself a few simple questions:
Do you often have trouble following conversations in groups?
Are you having difficulty on the phone?
Do you think others are mumbling?
Do you say “I can hear, but I can’t understand”
Are you avoiding noisy events or restaurants?
Have you noticed the volume of the TV or radio needs to be turned up?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you know it’s time to get a hearing evaluation. There are also free hearing screenings you can take online that will let you know if you have a loss or not. Just click on this link, and in a matter of minutes you’ll not only find out if you have a hearing loss, but also what you can do about it.
Remember, hearing health is important and you don’t have to struggle. It’s important to get regular hearing evaluations, even if it’s just to get a baseline. Don’t wait! Early detection is the key to your success.
Contact Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers today to schedule your first appointment!
Hearing loss happens. It’s the third most common health problem for older adults in the U.S., after arthritis and heart disease. Hearing loss is also very treatable — and more beneficial when treatment is started early. If you suspect you have hearing loss, here are 11 reasons why you should schedule a hearing test and find out for sure.
A hearing test is painless, usually free, and should take less than an hour of your day.
Untreated hearing loss increases your chance of developing dementia.
Treating hearing loss early — on the other hand — is one of nine things you can do to help reduce your risk of dementia.
Hearing loss may be an early warning sign or red flag for other health conditions including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
If your hearing test shows your hearing is normal, you can say “I told you so” to all the people who said you should get your hearing checked.
The Mayo Clinic recommends regular, baseline hearing tests for adults.
Untreated hearing loss increases your chance of falling.
Treating hearing loss with hearing aids has been proven to reduce the risk of cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.
Untreated hearing loss is known to contribute to depression and social isolation.
Hearing loss treatment is associated with delayed diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, anxiety and injurious falls.
Being proactive about your hearing health today will reap immeasurable benefits tomorrow!
Mild hearing loss may sound, umm, mild, but it’s quite the misnomer. Professionals classify any hearing thresholds between 25-40 dB to be a mild hearing loss.
But short of measuring your hearing loss precisely, how can you tell if you have mild hearing loss?
People with a mild hearing loss tend to be able to hear speech when someone is speaking close to them or if the room is quiet. They can hear when people are talking loudly, too. However, they probably feel that people are mumbling and/or that their ears are constantly plugged up. They also struggle when there are competing sound signals (for example speech and noise together). Also, quite a few people with mild hearing loss feel like they have an abundance of wax in their ear and that they would hear fine if it was just cleaned out.
Certain consonants are tough to understand
Some consonants (/f/k/s/sh/) are very soft, and people with mild hearing loss will struggle to hear those sounds. This could lead them to think people are not speaking clearly or mumbling. However, it is the hearing system struggling to hear those softer sounds that is causing their issues.
The good news is that mild hearing loss is correctable with hearing aids. With hearing aids, people with mild hearing loss will be able to hear those soft sounds. The hearing aids will also help them understand speech better when there are competing signals.
In the past, many people did not treat mild hearing loss because it wasn’t considered a big deal. But things are changing. Research is currently being conducted to show that treating mild hearing loss can prevent further atrophy of the hearing system. Other studies are showing the use of hearing aids can slow cognitive decline in older patients.
That’s a great question, and a complicated one to answer! Hearing loss can be caused by a multitude of things: some are preventable and some are not. For me to write about everything that can cause hearing loss — and then all the ways to avoid each cause — would make for a very long blog post. We will save that for another day.
Instead, I am going to write about what you can do to avoid the second-leading cause of hearing loss — noise-induced hearing loss.
Did you know that one in four U.S. adults have noise-induced hearing loss? That’s a lot of people (at least 40 million)! The good news is that you can protect your hearing in most situations. And if you practice good hearing protection, not only do you increase your chances of avoiding noise-induced hearing loss, it will go a long way towards helping you avoid age-related hearing loss, which is the number one cause of hearing loss.
Here are a few ways to protect your hearing (and help avoid hearing loss):
Minimize your exposure to loud noises
This is the best way to avoid hearing loss. How do you know what’s too loud? Environments where you have to raise your voice to talk to other people, where you can’t hear what people nearby are saying, where the noise hurts your ears or, really, where any noise exceeds 85 decibels are too loud.
Wear hearing protection
There are times when you are put into loud situations or environments and you simply can’t avoid them. These include certain work environments, sporting events, concerts, bars/clubs, mowing your lawn, etc. In those situations, you should use hearing protection.
Hearing protection comes in a variety of different styles including ear plugs, custom plugs, “earmuffs” and more.
Watch the volume
With the way technology is advancing these days, almost everyone has something in their ears. Consider investing in higher quality earphones that block out background noise, to help you moderate your listening levels in noisier places. Also, the general rule of thumb to use when setting your volume is: You should be able to hear and converse with a person arm’s length away from you easily. If you cannot, then it is too loud.
Buy quieter products
You probably never think about how loud some of your household products are. Some products such as children’s toys, blenders and hair dryers. can get louder than 100 decibels! That means that it would take less than 15 minutes of use for you to damage your hearing. I justified buying a fancy new hair dryer because of how loud my old hair dryer was.
There are other decisions or changes you can make in your life to help avoid hearing loss, including:
Don’t put anything in your ear
Your ears naturally clean themselves. By putting products in your ears, you can cause infections and or actually puncture your ear drum, which can lead to permanent hearing loss.
Don’t smoke
Research studies have shown a positive correlation between smoking and hearing loss. It’s better just to say no.
Keep a healthy diet
Other research studies show that women who maintain a healthy diet have reduced risk/rates of moderate to severe hearing loss compared to women who do not eat healthy.
Get your hearing tested
Having your hearing tested regularly is a great way to know how your auditory system is working. By getting your hearing tested regularly, you will be able to monitor your hearing easily, know if any changes are occurring, and treat any hearing loss early, before it gets to be a problem.
Nothing is guaranteed to prevent hearing loss. But the advice above should help you avoid it, or at least put it off for as long as possible.
Call Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers to schedule an appointment, today!
Do you ever feel like people around you are mumbling or speaking too quickly? Are you having to ask others to repeat themselves frequently or struggling to follow a conversation when there is background noise? If so, these could be indicators that you have a hearing loss.
Often, our friends and family members may notice we have hearing loss before we do. We may even use them as a crutch to help fill in the blanks when we are missing parts of a conversation. Or perhaps they recognize you are having a hard time on the telephone or the volume of the TV continues to go up. If any of this sounds familiar to you, it’s time to get your hearing checked.
The best way to find out if you have a hearing loss is to get a simple hearing evaluation by a licensed hearing healthcare professional. They will be able to determine not only if you have a hearing loss, but what type and how severe the loss may be. Even if no loss is detected, it’s still a great idea to have a baseline audiogram to compare to any future tests.
To get started, you may want to ask yourself a few simple questions:
Do you often have trouble following conversations in groups?
Are you having difficulty on the phone?
Do you think others are mumbling?
Do you say “I can hear, but I can’t understand”
Are you avoiding noisy events or restaurants?
Have you noticed the volume of the TV or radio needs to be turned up?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you know it’s time to get a hearing evaluation.
Remember, hearing health is important and you don’t have to struggle. It’s important to get regular hearing evaluations, even if it’s just to get a baseline. If you go here, you will be able to find the closest Chicagoland Hearing Aid Center location to you. Don’t wait! Early detection is the key to your success.
It’s well known that hearing loss is very common, and that your odds of losing your hearing increase significantly as you age.
What’s not as well known, is how rare it is that those with hearing loss do anything to treat it — though one big clue is that you don’t see nearly as many people wearing hearing aids as you do glasses.
So why do so many people just ignore their hearing loss — particularly when the negative effects of hearing loss are also well known, and the benefits of treating hearing loss are so many?
If you’ve got hearing loss, don’t let it constrain your life. Treat it, and live life to the fullest. You deserve it.
So you’ve got a little hearing loss. What’s the big deal, right? It happens to almost all of us as we age.
FACT: 37.5 million Americans 18 and older have hearing loss, including one out of every three, 60 and older.
You can cope, you’ve decided. You’ll just turn the TV up a little louder. Ask people to speak up or repeat what they said. And hey, the quiet can be kind of nice, to be honest. “Why should I treat it,” you wonder?
Should you treat or ignore your hearing loss?
The decision to treat or ignore hearing loss should not be taken lightly. Why? Because hearing loss plays a significant role in many important issues that impact our quality of life, including five important ones:
Mental health
Physical health
Income and career
Personal safety
Relationships and social interactions
Before you decide whether to ignore or treat your hearing loss, read what studies, health care experts, and hearing aid wearers themselves have to say about each choice.
Ignore or treat hearing loss — a side-by-side comparison
(1) Mental Health
Ignore hearing loss
Numerous studies link hearing loss to issues of mental decline, including increased anxiety and depression, accelerated brain shrinkage, and even dementia. One such study, by Johns Hopkins Medicine, tested volunteers with hearing loss over six years and found their cognitive abilities declined 30-40% faster than peers with normal hearing.
Treat hearing lossJohns Hopkins’ researcher, Dr. Frank Lin, thinks that “if you want to address hearing loss well, do it sooner rather than later.” He recommends treating hearing loss before “brain structural changes take place.”
A separate study released in 2015 backs him up. In the study, scientists concluded that treating hearing loss by wearing hearing aids reduces the risk of cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.
FACT: Untreated hearing loss may result in serious long-term consequences to healthy brain functioning.
(2) Physical Health
Ignore hearing lossThe National Council on Aging notes that “falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries for older Americans.” While no one knows how many falls are linked to hearing loss each year, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have found that people with hearing loss are three times more likely to fall than those without hearing loss.
It’s thought that hearing loss may detract from environmental awareness, which increases the likelihood of tripping and falling.
Treat hearing lossRecently, a study by the Washington University School of Medicine found that improving hearing through hearing aids appears to “improve balance in older adults with hearing loss” and helps reduce the risk of falls. Researchers credited the results to both increased alertness and improved balance.
(3) Income and Career
Ignore hearing loss
A study by the Better Hearing Institute quantified the impact of untreated hearing loss on the job. The study found that people with untreated hearing loss can see an income hit of up to $30,000 annually, and were nearly twice as likely to be unemployed as peers who wore hearing aids.
“Hearing loss was affecting my presentations and ability to service clients.” Chris T., Pennsylvania
Treat hearing loss
That same study found that people who use hearing aids reduced the risk of income loss by 90 to 100 percent. It also reported that most hearing aid users in the workforce said wearing hearing aids has helped their performance on the job.
“Listening is SO important in my work, and I can now work better, more efficiently and more effectively because of my hearing aids.” Marty C., New York
(4) Personal Safety
Ignore hearing loss
Studies aren’t needed to know that missed or misheard signals like car horns, alarms and other warning alerts can jeopardize a person’s safety. And it doesn’t always have to be one’s own. Adults caring for infants and young children need to know when their charge is crying or in distress.
Treat hearing loss
Treating hearing loss with hearing aids enhances your awareness of your surroundings and can help ensure you hear every smoke detector, bike bell, emergency alert or distress call.
(5) Relationships and social interactions
Ignore hearing loss
More than anything, untreated hearing loss can lead to social isolation, as the challenges of listening and feelings of “missing out” often cause people to withdraw from the friends, family and activities that bring them joy.
This, alone, is significant, as social isolation is closely linked to numerous quality-of-life issues, including depression, illness, exhaustion and even shorter life spans.9
Treat hearing loss
Treating hearing loss with hearing aids enables you to hear, participate, and ensure you don’t miss out on the people and activities that make you happy. It’s as simple as that.
“I’m so glad I got hearing aids. It has truly been life changing!” Lesley P., California
Don't wait any longer! Call Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers today, here.
I hear versions of this question often. A family member has passed and someone else wants to use their hearing aids. Or a friend is upgrading their hearing aids and has offered their current pair to you. Seems like a good idea, but it is not quite as simple as slipping on a pair of shoes. Let’s talk about some things to think about.
Hearing aids are medical devices
Hearing aids are medical devices that are regulated by the FDA. The FDA requires the manufacturer of hearing aids to keep records of which hearing healthcare professional the device was sold to, who the device was fit on, and every hearing aid’s warranty and repair history. This information is used to track any issues or recalls with the hearing aids. If someone else “inherits” the hearing aids, the registration — and any warranty — will be lost.
Hearing loss is personal
Every individual’s hearing is unique to them. With hearing aids, this comes into play in a couple different ways — the physical fit of the aid and the wearer’s actual hearing needs.
Custom hearing aids are uniquely molded to comfortably fit each patient’s ear — and even standard hearing aids typically feature custom ear molds. A custom molded product most likely will not fit well or comfortably in someone else’s ear. Some manufacturers may not remold a device for a different person because it is a medical device. Even if the custom component can be remolded, it may be cost prohibitive.
As for your hearing, the likelihood that your hearing needs are the same as the original owner’s is very slim. This means wearing the device may not help. Hearing professionals fit and program hearing aids based on each person’s unique needs and the results of their audiograms and other hearing tests. For instance, one thing to be aware of is the amount of “gain” or how much louder the device amplifies sound. Having too much gain will make things too loud, which could be dangerous for your existing hearing.
Support and service are key to success
If you can physically wear the hearing aids, you will still need to find a hearing professional to adjust and support them. It’s recommended that you get a full hearing and communication evaluation. Your hearing healthcare professional will then be able to determine if the hearing aids will work for you. If they can, he or she will be able to adjust the devices for your unique needs. This will typically be done for a fee. In addition, consider purchasing a service and support plan to allow long-term follow-up and care.
Another option
Finally, if the hearing aids cannot be used by you, another option is to donate them. There are several charitable organizations that will take donations of hearing aids and allow you a tax credit.
Hearing aids are life-changing devices that should absolutely be squeezed of their usefulness. Just know they aren’t one-size-fits-all, so with hand-me-downs, “results may vary.”
Have you ever heard the phrase “brain food”, or run across lists like the “12 best foods to boost brain power”? They usually discuss edibles like fish and spinach and berries — foods that scientists say can improve our memory and focus.
But the nourishment your mind gets from these literal foods is nothing compared to the mental health benefits of the “brain food” in the video below.
Humans are social, and we thrive when we’re engaged with the world around us. Subsequently, we can get weaker socially — and then cognitively — when we are deprived of auditory sustenance. Treating hearing loss helps ensure your brain never goes hungry.
You already know that hearing aids can improve hearing and communication. But did you know they can also enhance safety? Several studies have confirmed what many hearing healthcare experts and their patients already knew — that using hearing aids improves quality of life, and can provide the wearer with an increased sense of safety and independence. Here are a few reasons why:
Improved balance. Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine found that adults performed better on balance tests when wearing hearing aids. This study supports the idea that treating hearing loss (with properly fit amplification) might help reduce the risk of falling.
Increased awareness. Hearing is an important sense for environmental awareness and preventing accidents. Hearing aids can help an individual detect hazards in their surroundings, such as automobiles, sirens, and pets. Hearing well can also help you recognize where a potential danger may be coming from. Addressing changes in hearing will help you be alert and hopefully stay safe during your daily activities.
Enhanced safety. Numerous studies have linked untreated hearing loss to an increased risk of safety issues including accidental injuries, injuries at work and more frequent and longer hospitalizations. Using hearing aids can provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones by decreasing safety risks and delivering an enhanced sense of security.
Safety is important! Don't spend an another minute waiting for the opportunity to change your hearing! Call us today, here!
We are all concerned about our health and well-being! Benjamin Franklin once said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Whether it is diabetes, cancer, heart disease or hearing loss, we have become increasingly more focused on stopping illness through preventative healthcare. It’s one reason why we’re living longer and why, if Mr. Franklin were alive today, he’d agree that “60 is the new 40.”
We get yearly physicals to monitor blood pressure, cholesterol and evaluate risks for cancer, diabetes and heart disease. We should approach our hearing the same way.
Early treatment can help prevent future issues
In recent years, research has shown that hearing is not just about our ears! Our hearing impacts many aspects of our health and life. Untreated hearing loss has been linked to increased likelihood of dementia, decreases in cognitive function, increased isolation and higher incidences of depression. Discovering and treating hearing loss sooner rather than later can ultimately improve our overall health and well-being.
Many people will wait until they are having difficulty before getting their hearing tested. The reality is that they have most likely been living with hearing loss anywhere from 5 to 15 years before they take action. Could you imagine living with high cholesterol or high blood pressure or diabetes for a dozen years before taking action?
Start with a baseline hearing test
For many of us, the last time we had our hearing checked was when we were in grade school. According to healthcare professionals, we should get a “baseline” hearing test early in our adulthood. The recommendation is around 18 or 21. If you are past 21 and have not had a baseline test, the sooner the better.
A “baseline” hearing test will provide a frame of reference for tests later in life. It is important to remember that hearing is more than just detecting beeps! A baseline hearing test will measure your sensitivity to sounds (the beeps), but it will also measure your ability to understand speech, both at soft levels and when the volume is comfortable. In addition, the overall health of the ear will be evaluated via a visual exam.
Follow-up hearing tests may be recommended
How often you have your hearing checked after the baseline depends on a few different variables: the results of your baseline test, your risk for hearing loss, and your age are just a few. If hearing loss exists at the baseline, yearly testing is recommended.
If your risk for hearing loss is high, yearly hearing tests are also recommended. Things that increase your risk of hearing loss include noise exposure, both at work and recreational (motorcycles, guns, loud music), as well as your age. As hearing loss is found more often with increasing age, individuals 60 years of age and older are recommended to have their hearing tested every two years, if no hearing loss was apparent in their most recent test.
Open any magazine and you’re bound to find an article on how to turn back the hands of time. Posts on health and wellness are among the most popular on social media. Many of us hope to age gracefully and happily by looking and feeling our best.
But is worrying about looking older delaying our decision to get hearing aids?
For 75 years, the study tracked the lives of its subjects and found that the key to being happy and healthy as we age is the strength of our relationships. It’s not professional accomplishments, financial stability or looking like we did when we were 30. It’s having good relationships.
“The clearest message that we get from this study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier,” said psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, current director of the study. Dr. Waldinger and three generations of fellow researchers examined the medical records, brain scans and interviews of 724 participants over a 75-year period. They also interviewed family and friends, and what they discovered is fascinating.
The study found that the number of friends a person has isn’t important, but the quality of those friendships is.
The quality of our relationships is key
Happiness and health late in life is tied to the health of our relationships. Connectivity to our family, friends and communities are vital for our health. In fact, researchers found that 50-year olds with the highest level of satisfaction in relationships turned out to be the healthiest in their 80s.
Researchers believe secure relationships even help preserve brain function. Good relationships extend healthy life expectancy and quality of life as we age. We are happier and healthier when close friendships are maintained.
Sadly, many of us are not that lucky. An alarming one in five Americans report feelings of loneliness. According to the study, participants who reported feelings of loneliness experienced earlier physical decline and an earlier death than participants with strong social connections.
So what do hearing aids have to do with all this?
Hearing is one of the most basic ways we connect with others. Listening, laughing, and engaging verbally and aurally with loved ones helps form and strengthen the connections that bind relationships.
Hearing loss, on the other hand, can make talking, listening and engaging more difficult. Hearing loss is a well-known precursor to social isolation — which the Harvard study proves it negatively impacts the quality of a person’s relationships and, subsequently, their health and happiness as they age.
Can treating hearing loss help improve relationships?
Conversely, a study by the American Academy of Audiology found that using hearing aids to treat hearing loss improves the health of our relationships at home and work. Treating hearing loss with hearing aids can positively impact overall health. Hearing aid wearers report increased self-confidence and socialization.
Hearing our best improves communication with the important people in our lives, and good communication is one key to maintaining quality relationships over the course of our lifetime.
So, if you want to increase your chances of being happy and healthy as you age, put aside your worries about how hearing aids might look, and invest in yourself by treating your hearing loss and maintain the quality of your relationships.
Hearing and sight are arguably our two most important senses. Yet, if and when either starts to fail us (and both usually do as we age), we react to each quite differently.
Look around at all the people with glasses, contacts, Lasik surgery or just cheaters, and it’s obvious that we have no problem or hesitation with treating vision issues.
But when it comes to treating hearing loss, we don’t seem to be in nearly such a hurry, if we even bother to treat it at all. If we did, nearly one in six adults you see would be wearing hearing aids — as that’s the number of U.S. adults with hearing loss.
What’s stopping us from treating hearing loss?
Why is there such discrepancy when it comes to “fixing” these two vital senses? Certainly a key factor is the immediate and tangible impact of each impairment. You can’t easily drive, read, watch TV or work at a computer when your vision is compromised. But you can cope with or work around hearing issues — at least temporarily.
It’s important to know, though, that while the immediate impact of compromised hearing may seem negligible, the long-term and overall quality-of-life impact is real and potentially severe.
Is our perception of hearing aids to blame?
Another reason for inaction comes from people’s perception of hearing loss and hearing aids. Unfortunately, some old myths linger. But advancements in science and technology mean many are no longer true. Let’s debunk five common ones now.
1. Fiction: There’s no treatment for hearing loss.
Fact: Hearing loss might not be irreversible — but it can definitely be helped. Amplification with hearing aids is by far the most recommended and effective treatment for hearing loss. In fact, 90-95% of people with hearing loss can be treated with hearing aids. Custom programmed by a trained professional, today’s digital hearing aids can help people with even severe hearing loss hear sounds they might not otherwise hear, and be a part of things they might otherwise miss.
2. Fiction: If I needed hearing aids, my doctor would have told me.
Fact: Actually, most busy general practitioners don’t have time to test for hearing loss. In a recent survey, only 23% of adults reported having their hearing screened during a physical exam. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlighted the issue this past February, reinforcing to physicians the importance of catching hearing loss in the early stages, and reminding primary care providers to “make referrals to hearing specialists” when “patients show or report hearing problems.”
3. Fiction: Hearing aids are hard to use.
Fact: Today’s hearing aids have come a long way from the hearing aids of just a few years ago. Advancements in processing speeds and hearing science enable hearing aids to distinguish speech from noise, detect sound direction, and adjust to environments and specific sounds — all automatically. If fit and programmed by a hearing professional to your unique hearing needs, your hearing aids can be worn all day with little fuss, attention or adjustments required.
4. Fiction: Hearing aids will make me stand out or seem old.
Fact: Several things conflict with this perception, so take your pick.
Today’s hearing aids are significantly smaller and more discreet than hearing aids from just a few years ago, and include options that fit deep in your ear canal, “invisible” to others.
Wearable communication and health-monitoring devices like FitBits and Bragi — along with the pervasiveness of headphones — have made body-worn accessories commonplace and even trendy.
Old is a perception, and adults who hear confidently and engage readily convey “old” much less than those who ask “what” all the time, don’t acknowledge when someone is talking to them, or disengage from the action.
5. Fiction: Hearing aids aren’t worth it.
Fact: It’s one thing for us to tout the impact that hearing your best can have on quality of life, and quite another to hear it from people who’ve treated their hearing loss.
It is an unfortunate fact of the world that tinnitus — which affects nearly one in six Americans — has no known cure. You cannot take something or do something to make the ringing in your ears go away for good.
Fortunately, for most tinnitus sufferers, there are things you can do to manage it and experience relief from tinnitus.
The American Tinnitus Association — the nation’s foremost and trusted organization committed to finding cures for tinnitus — notes that in the absence of a cure, “the primary objective for all currently available tinnitus treatment options is to lower the perceived burden of tinnitus.”
One treatment option they list is hearing aids. And the American Academy of Audiology agrees, writing that, along with music, “the provision of hearing aids offers substantial benefit to a significant number of people suffering with tinnitus.”
To try our hearing aids with tinnitus technology, connect with us here!
Researchers from the University of Michigan recently examined data from adults 65-85 years old who had reported severe hearing loss. Of the nearly 1,500 participants in the study, just under half wore hearing aids.
More importantly, they found that out of all the participants, those who had hearing aids were “less likely to have gone to the hospital or emergency room in the last year.” And of everyone who had been hospitalized during the year, the ones who didn’t wear hearing aids had longer hospital stays.
The research was part of a larger study to determine if hearing aids could lower healthcare costs overall, thus making them worth coverage through Medicare. While this was just one data point, it does confirm another benefit of treating hearing loss with hearing aids.
A hearing test is an important tool for measuring hearing. Hearing tests are used to look for signs of ear infections, check the health of the hearing nerve, and look for signs of noise damage.
Here are five signs why you should complete a hearing test as soon as possible:
Ringing in the ears ” Also called tinnitus, ringing in the ears can be an early sign of damage to the ear or hearing nerve. A hearing test can help catch signs of damage early.
People are mumbling ” You can hear that someone is talking to you, but the words aren’t clear. Just like keys on a piano, your hearing is made up of different pitches. If you can hear at some pitches and not others, it can become difficult to understand speech.
Difficulty hearing in noisy places ” Many people can hear well in quiet places but have more trouble hearing in noisy places or in groups. This can be due to hearing loss, but can also be related to auditory processing, or how your brain understands sound.
History of loud noise exposure ” Do you work around noisy machinery? Do you go hunting or to the shooting range? Do you listen to loud music? We live in a noisy world, and those sounds can cause damage to the ear over time. A hearing test can let you know if your ears are showing signs of noise damage.
Concern from family or friends ” Family members and close friends are often the first people to notice changes in hearing. They may notice that a loved one asks for repetition frequently, seems unusually quiet or withdrawn in social situations, or has the TV volume turned up. Have you noticed these signs in anyone that you care about?
What happens during the hearing test?
At Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers, all of our hearing tests are performed by Hearing Aid Providers who specialize in testing and treatment of hearing problems. During the hearing test, the specialist will:
Check for excess earwax
Check for signs of an ear infection or fluid in the ears
Measure hearing at different pitches
Measure speech understanding
What happens after the hearing test?
Recommendations depend on what the results of the hearing test show. Not all options will be right for everyone. Your audiologist can help find the best choice for you.
Recommendations may include:
Hearing protection ” Everyone should use hearing protection when exposed to loud sounds. Your audiologist can talk with you about different types of hearing protection, including custom earplugs.
Hearing aids ” If the test shows hearing loss, your audiologist may recommend hearing aids. Your audiologist can answer any questions you may have about hearing aids and can let you know what type may be right for you.
Medical referral ” Sometimes the hearing test may suggest a medical problem with the ear that should be evaluated by a physician. The audiologist may recommend seeing your primary doctor or an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor (ENT).
Tips for reducing tinnitus and improving communication ” The audiologist can provide suggestions to try at home to help you hear your best and to help turn down ringing in the ears.
How do I schedule a hearing test?
Hearing tests are available at any of our 23 locations around Chicagoland! Give us a a call today to schedule your first hearing test!
So you’ve got a little hearing loss. What’s the big deal, right? It happens to almost all of us as we age.
FACT: 37.5 million Americans 18 and older have hearing loss, including one out of every three, 60 and older.
You can cope, you’ve decided. You’ll just turn the TV up a little louder. Ask people to speak up or repeat what they said. And hey, the quiet can be kind of nice, to be honest. “Why should I treat it,” you wonder?
Should you treat or ignore your hearing loss?
The decision to treat or ignore hearing loss should not be taken lightly. Why? Because hearing loss plays a significant role in many important issues that impact our quality of life, including five important ones:
Mental health
Physical health
Income and career
Personal safety
Relationships and social interactions
Before you decide whether to ignore or treat your hearing loss, read what studies, health care experts, and hearing aid wearers themselves have to say about each choice.
Ignore or treat hearing loss — a side-by-side comparison
(1) Mental Health
Ignore hearing loss
Numerous studies link hearing loss to issues of mental decline, including increased anxiety and depression, accelerated brain shrinkage, and even dementia. One such study, by Johns Hopkins Medicine, tested volunteers with hearing loss over six years and found their cognitive abilities declined 30-40% faster than peers with normal hearing.
Treat hearing loss Johns Hopkins’ researcher, Dr. Frank Lin, thinks that “if you want to address hearing loss well, do it sooner rather than later.” He recommends treating hearing loss before “brain structural changes take place.”
A separate study released in 2015 backs him up. In the study, scientists concluded that treating hearing loss by wearing hearing aids reduces the risk of cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.
FACT: Untreated hearing loss may result in serious long-term consequences to healthy brain functioning.
(2) Physical Health
Ignore hearing loss The National Council on Aging notes that “falls are the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries for older Americans.” While no one knows how many falls are linked to hearing loss each year, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have found that people with hearing loss are three times more likely to fall than those without hearing loss.
It’s thought that hearing loss may detract from environmental awareness, which increases the likelihood of tripping and falling.
Treat hearing loss Recently, a study by the Washington University School of Medicine found that improving hearing through hearing aids appears to “improve balance in older adults with hearing loss” and helps reduce the risk of falls. Researchers credited the results to both increased alertness and improved balance.
(3) Income and Career
Ignore hearing loss
A study by the Better Hearing Institute quantified the impact of untreated hearing loss on the job. The study found that people with untreated hearing loss can see an income hit of up to $30,000 annually, and were nearly twice as likely to be unemployed as peers who wore hearing aids.
QUOTE: “Hearing loss was affecting my presentations and ability to service clients.” Chris T., Pennsylvania
Treat hearing loss
That same study found that people who use hearing aids reduced the risk of income loss by 90 to 100 percent. It also reported that most hearing aid users in the workforce said wearing hearing aids has helped their performance on the job.
QUOTE: “Listening is SO important in my work, and I can now work better, more efficiently and more effectively because of my hearing aids.” Marty C., New York
(4) Personal Safety
Ignore hearing loss
Studies aren’t needed to know that missed or misheard signals like car horns, alarms and other warning alerts can jeopardize a person’s safety. And it doesn’t always have to be one’s own. Adults caring for infants and young children need to know when their charge is crying or in distress.
Treat hearing loss
Treating hearing loss with hearing aids enhances your awareness of your surroundings and can help ensure you hear every smoke detector, bike bell, emergency alert or distress call.
(5) Relationships and social interactions
Ignore hearing loss
More than anything, untreated hearing loss can lead to social isolation, as the challenges of listening and feelings of “missing out” often cause people to withdraw from the friends, family and activities that bring them joy.
This, alone, is significant, as social isolation is closely linked to numerous quality-of-life issues, including depression, illness, exhaustion and even shorter life spans.9
Treat hearing loss
Treating hearing loss with hearing aids enables you to hear, participate, and ensure you don’t miss out on the people and activities that make you happy. It’s as simple as that.
QUOTE: “I’m so glad I got hearing aids. It has truly been life changing!” Lesley P., California
Open any magazine and you’re bound to find an article on how to turn back the hands of time. Posts on health and wellness are among the most popular on social media. Many of us hope to age gracefully and happily by looking and feeling our best.
But is worrying about looking older delaying our decision to get hearing aids?
For 75 years, the study tracked the lives of its subjects and found that the key to being happy and healthy as we age is the strength of our relationships. It’s not professional accomplishments, financial stability or looking like we did when we were 30. It’s having good relationships.
“The clearest message that we get from this study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier,” said psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, current director of the study. Dr. Waldinger and three generations of fellow researchers examined the medical records, brain scans and interviews of 724 participants over a 75-year period. They also interviewed family and friends, and what they discovered is fascinating.
The study found that the number of friends a person has isn’t important, but the quality of those friendships is.
The quality of our relationships is key
Happiness and health late in life is tied to the health of our relationships. Connectivity to our family, friends and communities are vital for our health. In fact, researchers found that 50-year olds with the highest level of satisfaction in relationships turned out to be the healthiest in their 80s.
Researchers believe secure relationships even help preserve brain function. Good relationships extend healthy life expectancy and quality of life as we age. We are happier and healthier when close friendships are maintained.
Sadly, many of us are not that lucky. An alarming one in five Americans report feelings of loneliness. According to the study, participants who reported feelings of loneliness experienced earlier physical decline and an earlier death than participants with strong social connections.
So what do hearing aids have to do with all this?
Hearing is one of the most basic ways we connect with others. Listening, laughing, and engaging verbally and aurally with loved ones helps form and strengthen the connections that bind relationships.
Hearing loss, on the other hand, can make talking, listening and engaging more difficult. Hearing loss is a well-known precursor to social isolation — which the Harvard study proves it negatively impacts the quality of a person’s relationships and, subsequently, their health and happiness as they age.
Can treating hearing loss help improve relationships?
Conversely, a study by the American Academy of Audiology found that using hearing aids to treat hearing loss improves the health of our relationships at home and work. Treating hearing loss with hearing aids can positively impact overall health. Hearing aid wearers report increased self-confidence and socialization.
Hearing our best improves communication with the important people in our lives, and good communication is one key to maintaining quality relationships over the course of our lifetime.
So, if you want to increase your chances of being happy and healthy as you age, put aside your worries about how hearing aids might look, and invest in yourself by treating your hearing loss and maintain the quality of your relationships.
When the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) designated May as Better Hearing and Speech Month back in 1927, their goal was to raise awareness about speech and hearing challenges and — more importantly — encourage people to take action and treat their own hearing and speech problems.
That mission is just as important today as it was 92 years ago. Maybe more so. Because today we know more about hearing loss — and how important hearing is to our quality of life — than ever before.
For instance, we know that untreated hearing loss is linked to cognitive decline and dementia. We know that hearing loss is linked to increased risk of falls and social isolation. And we know it can cause higher medical costs, mental fatigue and more.
But most importantly, we know that people who treat their hearing loss are more likely to be optimistic, engaged, socially active, and happy that they did something about this easily treatable issue.
Start your better hearing journey today
This Better Hearing Month, Starkey Hearing Technologies put togethera Better Hearing web page that lives up to the spirit of ASHA’s mission and we love it! It raises awareness by answering some of the most common questions people have about hearing loss, and provides easy ways for you to take action — all in one informative and interactive page.
Click here to check it out on your computer, tablet or smartphone, and use this dedicated month to hear better so you can live better!
Contact Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers, here, today to schedule your first, second or 100th hearing evaluation! We are hear to help and look to forward to helping you during Better Hearing Month.
Hearing and sight are arguably our two most important senses. Yet, if and when either starts to fail us (and both usually do as we age), we react to each quite differently.
Look around at all the people with glasses, contacts, Lasik surgery or just cheaters, and it’s obvious that we have no problem or hesitation with treating vision issues.
But when it comes to treating hearing loss, we don’t seem to be in nearly such a hurry, if we even bother to treat it at all. If we did, nearly one in six adults you see would be wearing hearing aids — as that’s the number of U.S. adults with hearing loss.
What’s stopping us from treating hearing loss?
Why is there such discrepancy when it comes to “fixing” these two vital senses? Certainly a key factor is the immediate and tangible impact of each impairment. You can’t easily drive, read, watch TV or work at a computer when your vision is compromised. But you can cope with or work around hearing issues — at least temporarily.
It’s important to know, though, that while the immediate impact of compromised hearing may seem negligible, the long-term and overall quality-of-life impact is real and potentially severe.
Is our perception of hearing aids to blame?
Another reason for inaction comes from people’s perception of hearing loss and hearing aids. Unfortunately, some old myths linger. But advancements in science and technology mean many are no longer true. Let’s debunk five common ones now.
1. Fiction: There’s no treatment for hearing loss.
Fact: Hearing loss might be irreversible — but it can definitely be helped. Amplification with hearing aids is by far the most recommended and effective treatment for hearing loss. In fact, 90-95% of people with hearing loss can be treated with hearing aids. Custom programmed by a trained professional, today’s digital hearing aids can help people with even severe hearing loss hear sounds they might not otherwise hear, and be a part of things they might otherwise miss.
2. Fiction: If I needed hearing aids, my doctor would have told me.
Fact: Actually, most busy general practitioners don’t have time to test for hearing loss. In a recent survey, only 23% of adults reported having their hearing screened during a physical exam. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlighted the issue this past February, reinforcing to physicians the importance of catching hearing loss in the early stages, and reminding primary care providers to “make referrals to hearing specialists” when “patients show or report hearing problems.”
3. Fiction: Hearing aids are hard to use.
Fact: Today’s hearing aids have come a long way from the hearing aids of just a few years ago. Advancements in processing speeds and hearing science enable hearing aids to distinguish speech from noise, detect sound direction, and adjust to environments and specific sounds — all automatically. If fit and programmed by a hearing professional to your unique hearing needs, your hearing aids can be worn all day with little fuss, attention or adjustments required.
4. Fiction: Hearing aids will make me stand out or seem old.
Fact: Several things conflict with this perception, so take your pick.
Today’s hearing aids are significantly smaller and more discreet than hearing aids from just a few years ago, and include options that fit deep in your ear canal, “invisible” to others.
Wearable communication and health-monitoring devices like FitBits and Bragi — along with the pervasiveness of headphones — have made body-worn accessories commonplace and even trendy.
Old is a perception, and adults who hear confidently and engage readily convey “old” much less than those who ask “what” all the time, don’t acknowledge when someone is talking to them, or disengage from the action.
5. Fiction: Hearing aids aren’t worth it.
Fact: It’s one thing for us to tout the impact that hearing your best can have on quality of life, and quite another to hear it from people who’ve treated their hearing loss.
