Hearing Solution Center

10 Reasons to Get Your Hearing Tested

hearingsolutioncenter — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:01:01 +0000

1. YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING “WHAT?” OR “EXCUSE ME?” A LOT, OR ASKING PEOPLE TO REPEAT THEMSELVES. Missing conversation is a key signal that you may have a hearing loss. Worried about looking “old” with a hearing aid? How do you think it looks to cup your hand behind your ear and constantly say, “Sorry- what did you say?”
2. YOU FEEL LIKE NO ONE SPEAKS CLEARLY ANYMORE. If you find yourself annoyed that everyone around you seems to be mumbling, you need to accept that the issue is probably yours.
3. FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS REMARK THAT YOU KEEP THE VOLUME OF YOUR TV UP VERY LOUD. If a loved one tells you that your hearing seems to be less than optimal, and the sentiment is echoed by others, chances are extremely likely that you have a hearing loss. A hearing loss of one person affects everyone with whom they come in contact.
4. YOU CAN’T HEAR THE PERSON SITTING IN FRONT OF YOU IN A RESTAURANT BECAUSE OF THE DEAFENING BACKGROUND NOISE. The inability to hear a conversation in high background noise is a common problem for people with hearing loss. If this sounds like you, there is technology to help you to hear better over the noise, without advertising that you have a hearing problem.
5. PEOPLE SHOUT AT YOU. You shout at others. You may be trying to have a conversation, but shouting and yelling in a quiet place usually indicates an argument. Raising your voice is tiring and can send negative signals. Get your hearing checked to maintain harmony in your home and in public.
6. YOU MISINTERPRET CONVERSATIONS. You and a friend make plans to go to lunch and catch up. She suggests “Thursdays at Lucy’s” but you hear “Tuesday at Louise’s”. Clearly this is going to be a problem.
7. YOU FIND YOURSELF LESS WILLING TO TALK ON THE PHONE OR GO OUT IN PUBLIC. A hearing loss can steal self-confidence. People with a hearing loss may feel socially isolated and they tend to withdraw from social situations. If you dread going out with friends or answering the telephone, you are allowing your hearing loss to monopolize your social life.
8. THE RINGING IN YOUR EARS NEVER STOPS. A constant ringing in the ears may be tinnitus or another hearing condition. If you have ringing in your hears, and especially if you were exposed to excessively loud noise in a job or in the military, get your hearing checked. There are ways to manage tinnitus to make it less distracting.
9. YOUR BOSS HAS INDICATED THAT YOUR HEARING MAY BE AFFECTING YOUR JOB PERFORMANCE. If your boss or coworker suggests that you are missing important conversation on the job, see an audiologist. Allowing a hearing loss to go unchecked can affect your performance, job reviews and continued employment.
10. YOU FAILED A HEARING SCREENING. This is an obvious sign, but it is easy to ignore negative results if you don’t want to hear them. Take the next step to have a complete hearing evaluation, and to learn what your options are to improve your hearing and your quality of life.

Survey Results: Diabetes and Hearing Loss October 2011

hearingsolutioncenter — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:55:47 +0000

Hearing Loss Awareness Summary

Diabetes and Hearing Loss PPT

hearingsolutioncenter — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:47:19 +0000

Diabetes and Hearing Loss

View more presentations from Hearing Solution Center

Hearing Screening Tool for Healthcare Professsionals

hearingsolutioncenter — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:11:46 +0000

HEARING SCREENING FOR HEALTHCARE OFFICE

PROCEDURE

1. Screenings should take place in a quiet, enclosed room. Stand 3-5 feet behind the patient or cover your mouth so no visual cues are available.

2. Tell the patient that you will use the phrase “Say the word _____” and then they should repeat only the last word out loud.
a. Examiner: “ Say the word shout”
b. Patient: “Shout”

3. Select one of the lists and present all the words on the list in a normal conversational voice. Record the number of words that were repeated correctly on the patient’s record.

4. In this quiet situation with no distractions, if the patient gets even one or two words wrong, it is possible that he/she has a hearing loss. It is recommended that the patient be referred to the audiologist for further evaluation. Complete the MDS or RAP for referral.

WORD LISTS

List One                                                                      List Three
Shout                                                                                Sell
Vine                                                                                  Third
Take                                                                                 Love
Fell                                                                                    Page
Chalk                                                                                Week

List Two                                                                      List Four
Juice                                                                                  Bite
Pick                                                                                   Seize
Raise                                                                                 Shirt
Thought                                                                            Time
Match                                                                                Dip

10 Truths about Diabetes and Hearing Loss

hearingsolutioncenter — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:00:54 +0000

Ten Truths about Diabetes and Hearing Loss

There is a medical link between diabetes and hearing loss. In people age 60 and older with type 2 diabetes, high blood sugar causes tiny blood vessels in the inner ear to break, disrupting sound reception.
The same microvascular changes which often lead to nephropathy and retinopathy in diabetic patients, can affect the cochlear vasculature.
A high correlation exists between diabetes and hearing loss. In one study, diabetes was associated with a 100% increased odds of low/mid-frequency hearing impairment and a 67% increased odds of high frequency hearing impairment after controlling for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, smoking, and occupational noise exposure.
Increased creatinine levels in diabetic patients have been correlated with increased hearing loss. Creatinine level is a rough indicator of kidney function and tends to be elevated in diabetic patients. The kidneys and inner ear share similar physiologic, ultrastructural and antigenic properties. Diabetes often results in chronic kidney disease.
Screen diabetic patient’s hearing when identified with diabetes. Hearing loss is an invisible handicap. Thus, patients must be screened to determine if there is a hearing problem.
Hearing loss due to diabetes can be progressive. Refer for an annual or periodic assessment of hearing levels.
People with hearing loss often show signs of withdrawal, cognitive loss, depression, social isolation, or psychosis. The psychosocial effects of hearing loss should not be underestimated.
The best hearing aids are the ones you wear. Encourage use of hearing aids if recommended. A new hearing aid wearer usually needs 6-12 weeks to become adjusted to hearing aids.
Hearing aids are part of the solution. A recent National Council on Aging study of 2,069 people with hearing loss and 1,710 family members provides compelling evidence of the benefits of hearing aids, including improvement in emotional stability, interpersonal relationships, overall health, and cognitive function, and a reduction in anger, frustration, anxiety, social phobias, and depression.
Seek an audiologist for hearing services. Audiologists hold a Masters or Doctoral degree in hearing science and hearing habilitation.

Kathryn Dowd, AuD phone: 704-944-4283

Hearing Solution Center fax: 704-944-4285

6201 Fairview Road, #200

Charlotte, NC 28210

The Price is Right

hearingsolutioncenter — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:41:11 +0000

The Price is Right

On a recent reality show “Pit Boss”, one of the show’s characters went to the House Institute in Los Angeles for a hearing test. The test showed a mild-moderate hearing loss. Hearing aids were recommended: for a price of $8000-$12,000 a set. As the show went on, this person with the hearing loss was found working a second job and seeking ways to pay for the new medical devices he needed.
That is Los Angeles, CA. This is Charlotte, NC. And the price is right in Charlotte at Hearing Solution Center. Hearing aid unbundling allows hearing aids to be dispensed at single unit cost plus a professional fee. This unbundling approach to hearing aid dispensing is recommended by the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) as a more adequate way to serve the public’s hearing health needs.
According to Brenda Battat, Executive Director of Hearing Loss Association of America:
“From the consumer perspective the issue with unbundling is transparency. Letting consumers know what they are paying for. Currently they think all the cost is for the hearing aids. In our view this devalues audiology services. All professionals charge for their services – lawyers, doctors, etc. Why should audiology be any different? So when someone purchases a hearing aid they should be informed that the device costs this much and the follow up services that are needed to ensure successful device use is charged at this rate. There is too much branding of devices and not enough branding of audiology services.”Check www.hearingsolutioncenter.com for lists of hearing aid prices for several manufacturers. The hearing aid prices are greatly reduced and the professional services are added to the reduced price. The overall cost including the hearing aid and professional dispensing fee of $500 shows a savings of $400. to $900. per instrument. Our previous hearing aid cost was $3300. per instrument for premium, top technology hearing aids. Now these same hearing aids with unbundling cost $2400. for a savings of $900. per aid or $1800 a pair! Service visits following the initial dispensing period (45 days) cost $75. per visit. We recommend 1-2 visits a year for hearing aid cleaning and checks.
Hearing aids can be dropped off for the cleaning service and picked up within 24 hours for a reduced charge of $50.
Change the way you purchase hearing aids and enjoy better hearing!

New blog post

hearingsolutioncenter — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 21:31:32 +0000

8.12.2011: Hearing Solution Center has specials on digital hearing aids for the next few weeks or months. Look at our website where prices are listed for Widex Clear 440 and Widex Mind 440 model hearing aids. You will see that these models have premium technology with adaptive directional microphones, Zen technology for tinnitus relief and relaxation, and automatic speech enhancement in noisy surroundings, to name a few of the features.

Call now for an appointment. The Clear 440 is only discounted on orders placed by 9.10.11 and the Mind 440 is discounted until October 30, 2011. One more special: the Mind 440 will come with a 4 year manufacturer repair warranty during this sale!!

704-944-4283 www.hearingsolutioncenter.com

AADE: Diabetes Education professional conference

hearingsolutioncenter — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:40:02 +0000

I am attending the annual conference for the American Association of Diabetes Educators (August 3-6, 2011) as an audiologist. The sessions I have attended so far include Reimbursement Essentials, Building a Professional Network in the Web Age and Exploring the Systemic Link of Periodontal Disease and Diabetes…all very informative and with takeaways that I can use.

I submitted a poster presentation to the conference entitled Diabetes, Hearing Loss and Depression. Last evening the welcome reception was held in the same location with the posters. Diabetes educators and program managers who stopped by were curious about this link between diabetes and hearing loss so I offered to send them screening questionnaires to use in thier DE programs with clients. This is all a good first step for identification of hearing loss and prevention of depression resulting from the isolation and anxiety of a hearing problem.

Set your appointment online with Hearing Solutions Center

admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:20:30 +0000

The convenience of setting an appointment on your time and in your own home is now here! Get on the internet and find our newest service to the area. Go to www.hearingsolutioncenter.com and click on the appointment scheduler sponsored by GenBooks.

Hearing Solutions Center has added this online feature for patients and medical offices as a convenience for setting hearing appointments. Effective immediately appointments can be made at www.hearingsolutioncenter.com by clicking on the appointment box. This new service will allow immediate coordination of appointments between the audiologist and the patient. Medical offices can give the patient an appointment card during check out, with the date and time of the appointment.

The services offered online will be:

Hearing Screening: a free pass/fail assessment of hearing. The audiologist will check for wax in the ears which can be causing a hearing problem.

Hearing Evaluation: a comprehensive assessment of hearing that will result in the type and degree of hearing problem, as well as recommendations for medical or aural rehabilitation.

Tinnitus Assessment: usually follows the hearing evaluation when tinnitus is a concern for medical treatment. Results will indicate the frequencies of the tinnitus and loudness levels. Recommendations for masking and counseling needs will be addressed

Hearing Aid Evaluation: an appointment to demonstrate hearing aid technology and to match the patient’s hearing needs with their lifestyle needs.

Hearing Aid Service: schedule when the hearing aid doesn’t work, is making unusual noises, or the batteries are not lasting. Or just when the hearing aid needs to be cleaned and checked.

GO AHEAD AND TRY IT OUT!

If you have problems, call Heather at the office (704) 944-4283

Sudden Hearing Loss From Noise

admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:20:09 +0000

Last week I saw a patient with a complaint of losing his hearing suddenly due to an explosion of a tractor battery. Since he was not driving the tractor, only working on the motor, he did not wear ear protection. The battery suddenly exploded with a loud bang and he experienced a decrease in his hearing. This incident happened over 3 weeks ago, so there was plenty of time for the ‘temporary hearing threshold shift’ to resolve back to a stable threshold.

The test results show a 5-20 db decrease in hearing in both ears across the speech frequency range. And the results are sensorineural, which is a more permanent shift in hearing. Thankfully with today’s technology I was able to adjust his digital hearing aids to accommodate the shift in hearing.

Takeaways:

1. Even when you don’t expect to be blasted by sudden noise, wear ear protection. Working around a tractor engine is cause enough to protect your ears.
2. If you take medications, then #1 is even more important. Some medications (even aspirin) increase the risk of damage to your hearing when you are around noise.
3. Use earplugs for mowing the lawn, operating a weedeater, and using a chain saw. If not, little by little you will lose your hearing and the ability to understand normal conversational speech.