We’ve written frequently about how common hearing loss is — particularly how the number of us with hearing loss grows as we age. A study of adults by the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons journal confirms it, noting nearly all participants 80 and older had hearing loss.
It was a different fact in the study, though, that caught our attention. Despite nearly 100 percent of the participants having hearing loss, only 59 percent wear hearing aids.
Dr. Anil Lalwani, team leader of the study, noted the discrepancy, saying “Hearing aids are vastly underused despite their great potential benefit.”
Another doctor, Darius Kohan, MD, chief of otology at Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital, was equally puzzled by the numbers. “Medical science has advanced to the point where high-quality hearing rehabilitation can almost completely eliminate this problem,” he said.
One of those advancements is our Via AI hearing aids. Named a TIME best invention of 2019, they’re not only our best sounding hearing aids ever, they feature artificial intelligence and embedded sensors to provide numerous additional health and wellness benefits.
Want to try Livio AI for yourself and experience why it made TIME’s list? Start by clicking here.
Hearing loss doesn’t just affect our ears. Much evidence links it to other, sometimes more frightening health issues like falling and dementia. If your adult children are pushing you to get your hearing checked, they’ve got science on their side.
Social isolation is the most obvious danger. "Hearing loss can give observers the impression that you’re not interested in conversation," explained Harvey Abrams, PhD, a longtime audiologist on the graduate faculty at the University of South Florida in Tampa who studies the effect of hearing aids on overall quality of life. "People begin to withdraw from activities that would put them in touch with others and that can lead to loneliness and depression."
Do hearing aids make you healthier?
The links between hearing loss and a host of problems have prompted research on the question of how better hearing might protect you. The impact of hearing aids is a new and growing field, and the findings are mostly upbeat. More than a decade ago, research suggested that hearing aids improve overall quality of life.
Hearing loss is far easier to correct than many of the problems it may be related to, so this is great news for public health, experts say.
A breakthrough came last year with a large study analyzing what happens in the three years after you get your first hearing aid. It found that among people with newly-diagnosed hearing loss, getting an aid cut the risk of developing dementia by 18 percentage points, the risk of a fall-related injury by 13 percentage points and the risk of developing anxiety or depression by 11 percentage points.
To reach this conclusion, a large team of researchers led by Elham Mahmoudi, a health economist at the University of Michigan, pulled five years of claims data nationwide from a managed care provider, finding nearly 115,000 seniors who met their criteria—a new diagnosis of hearing loss and no history within the previous year of the medical issues under study. The team also looked for other conditions associated with hearing loss like diabetes, obesity and heart problems and adjusted their calculations to make this sample typical. The next step was to analyze the sample’s history for the next three years.
The study confirmed earlier evidence that people with hearing loss are more likely to develop dementia—in this sample, 13.9% did, compared to about 12% in the general population age 66 and up. Also, nearly 13% of the sample had an injury in a fall (compared to 7.5%) and 33.6% were depressed (compared to 25.2%).
Only a randomized trial can show cause-and-effect, so this study isn’t conclusive that hearing aids protected their users, though it seems likely.
Hearing loss and cognitive decline
It also doesn’t mean hearing aids solved an underlying issue. Instead, hearing better probably bought time, delaying onset of symptoms. Left untreated, hearing loss may be a sign that dementia, for example, could come about two years earlier, according to research we reported in this article on hearing loss and cognitive decline.
Scientists suspect a classic feedback loop: Cognitive decline makes it harder to understand what you hear, and hearing loss puts a burden on your cognitive resources, leading to changes in your brain. Isolation, loneliness and depression feed into this loop as well. Loneliness increases your risk of dementia by as much as 40%, and may even be a symptom of early brain changes, as suggested by a small brain scan study.
Catching hearing loss early may be important. If you can hear a sound of 25 decibels—about the loudness of a whisper—you are considered to have normal hearing. But even slight hearing loss could be linked to cognitive decline, according to 2019 research from a team based at Columbia University. In fact, the team found a significant link to cognitive decline for every 10 decibels of loss and most dramatically in those who were just 10 decibels short of perfect hearing.
Middle age may be the turning point. In another 2019 study of more than 16,000 Koreans newly diagnosed with hearing loss over a decade, hearing loss emerged as a significant risk factor for dementia most strongly in people ages 45 to 64.
Don’t feel doomed! You’re not guaranteed to develop dementia because you haven’t checked your hearing or leave your hearing aids in that cute little box. But wearing hearing aids is one of the things you can do relatively easily to protect yourself against a debilitating illness as you age.
Hearing loss affects mental health
The effect on your social life and mood may creep up on you, especially if you can’t understand speech in a noisy environment. In people under 70, every decibel drop in this kind of perception raises the risk of being severely lonely, a Dutch study found. Not wearing hearing aids is a risk factor for loneliness in other research. And there is a bit of evidence that getting a hearing aid or cochlear implant can prevent loneliness from deepening over time. The key is how you feel. One person might not socialize often but feel rich in friendship and another look popular to observers but feel lonely. Either way, hearing loss can affect how other people perceive you, as Abrams observed.
Loneliness too easily cascades into depression. In a 2019 overview of 35 studies covering more than 147,000 older adults, hearing loss increased the odds of depression by 47% (it wasn’t clear in this overview that hearing aids helped). Suicidal thinking, most often a symptom of depression, is linked to hearing loss as well.
The link between hearing loss and falls
Both hearing loss and depression are associated with a higher chance of a fall, a growing problem among the elderly, and falls tend to deepen depression and increase the risk of death.
A 25 decibel hearing loss, equivalent to going from normal to mild hearing loss, may triple your chance of falling, according to a study of people in the middle years—from 40 to 69—when hearing loss often first develops and you’re less likely to guard against falls.
Unfortunately, research has not supported the idea that people with balance issues are more stable when wearing hearing aids.
The link between hearing loss and cardiovascular disease
Age-related hearing loss is usually in the higher frequencies. But Abrams recalls that during his years in a Veterans Administration hospital, he saw men with gradual loss in their low-frequency hearing. It turns out that low-frequency hearing loss may be a marker of a greater chance of stroke, peripheral vascular disease and heart attack.
In a 10-year study of nearly 4,000 British men age 63 to 85 who were living in the community, men with untreated hearing loss were more than a third more likely to have a stroke or heart attack and to die of a cardiovascular event than men without hearing issues, but wearing a hearing aid lowered their risk. Although earlier research suggested that smoking and atherosclerosis explained the link between hearing loss and cardiovascular problems, this new study found a link even in men who didn’t smoke or have other heart risks.
What about longevity?
Research in Iceland also linked untreated hearing loss in men to a greater chance of dying in the next five years, most often from heart disease.
Is there research suggesting that people with hearing loss who wear hearing aids live longer? Not yet, Abrams noted. But two large studies are slated to wrap up in 2021, which will address how hearing aids improve overall health. May we invite you to “stay tuned?"
Temma Ehrenfeld is an award-winning journalist who covers psychology and health. Her work has appeared in major newspapers, magazines and websites. You can find more of her writing at her Psychology Today blog, Open Gently. Read more about Temma.
One of the first things people with hearing loss observe is “I hear people fine, but I don’t understand what they are saying.”
This is a consistent complaint of individuals who are experiencing the effects of a “sloping high frequency hearing loss.“
What’s happening and why do so many have this complaint?
Hearing loss involves not only our ears, but also our brain: where sound waves are coded by the ears and then translated into meaningful words. While hearing loss can present itself in varying degrees of severity in different frequencies, a very common progression of inner ear hearing loss is sloping high frequency hearing loss.
We commonly measure hearing from 250 to 8000 Hz. Individuals with “high frequency” hearing loss have no loss at frequencies below 1000 Hz (lower pitched frequencies), but have abnormal results in the range of 1000 to 8000 Hz (higher pitched frequencies). High frequency hearing loss is one of the most common variances of hearing loss there is.
Different speech signals produce different frequencies
When examining human speech signals, we see that there are lower pitched sounds or vowels (A, E, I, O and U) and higher pitched sounds or consonants (S,F , Th, Sh, Ch, K, P and H). Being able to hear vowels in the lower pitched frequencies gives us a sensation of hearing speech, but not being able to hear higher pitched sound or “consonants” is what compromises our ability to understand full words. (So we hear, but we don’t understand.)
The high-pitched frequencies where consonants occur is where the discrimination of different words happen. When we have high-frequency hearing loss, we lose the ability to hear the “consonant” sounds efficiently and, thus, our ability to tell the difference between words such as ‘Cat” or “Hat”.
Key sounds and letters aren’t heard clearly
Imagine having a book with every S, F, Th, Sh, Ch, K, P and H erased. You could read part of the book and understand some of it, but you would not be able to understand many key words and phrases and, as a result, be challenged to understand it. This is what is happening with a high frequency hearing loss. You can hear part of the message, however your high frequency loss has “erased” the key sounds or letters needed for discrimination and understanding.
Luckily, high frequency hearing loss can usually be helped with proper diagnosis and appropriate amplification. Plus, now with the transcribe feature on Audibel’s Via AI hearing aids, you can transcribe a conversation into text, to help ensure you never miss a word or phrase again.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 50 million Americans experience tinnitus. That’s over 15 percent of the U.S. population, or nearly one in every six of us.
So what is this condition that affects so many people — and what can tinnitus sufferers do about it? We cover the basics here.
1. What is tinnitus?
Tinnitus is the medical term for the sensation of hearing sound in your ears when no external sound is present. In most cases, tinnitus is a subjective sound, meaning only the person who has it can hear it. Typically, sufferers describe the sound as “ringing in ears,” though others describe it as hissing, buzzing, whistling, roaring and even chirping.
Just as the sound may be different for each person, the effects of tinnitus are different for every individual, too. For some, it is sporadic and “not that bad.” For others, tinnitus never stops and can make daily life awful.
But one thing everyone with tinnitus has in common is a desire for relief. For most, this desire is so great they will try anything to make their tinnitus less annoying, including resorting to acupuncture, eardrops, herbal remedies, hypnosis and more.
2. What causes tinnitus?
Scientists and health experts have yet to pinpoint the exact cause of tinnitus. But several sources are known to trigger or worsen ringing in the ears, including:
Loud noises and hearing loss — Exposure to loud noises can destroy the non-regenerative cilia (tiny hairs) in the cochlea, causing permanent tinnitus and/or hearing loss. Noise-induced tinnitus is often the result of exposure to loud environmental noises, such as working in a factory setting, with or around heavy machinery, or even a single event like a gunshot or loud concert.
Aging — Natural aging, too, gradually destroys the cilia, and is a leading cause of hearing loss. Tinnitus is a common symptom of age-related hearing loss.
Ototoxic medications – Some prescription medications such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, antidepressants, diuretics and others can be ototoxic, meaning they are harmful to the inner ear as well as the nerve fibers connecting the cochlea to the brain.
Hearing conditions – Conditions such as Ménière’s disease are known to cause tinnitus.
Health conditions – Tinnitus has been associated with a number of health conditions, including:
Cardiovascular disease
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Thyroid problems
Fibromyalgia and chronic pain
Head or neck trauma
Jaw misalignment
Auditory, vestibular or facial nerve tumors
Stress and fatigue
3. Is there a cure for tinnitus?
Currently, there is no known cure for tinnitus. However, according to the American Tinnitus Association (ATA), there are a few established therapies and tinnitus treatment options. Because there is no cure, the ATA notes, “the primary objective for all currently available tinnitus treatment options is to lower the perceived burden of tinnitus.”
Hearing aids are one tinnitus treatment option the ATA lists, with hearing professionals reporting that 60 percent of their tinnitus patients experience relief when wearing them.
Sound therapy is another treatment option listed by the ATA, which notes that hearing aids are an effective component to most sound therapy protocols.
Sound therapy — and hearing aids — work by masking the tinnitus sound and reducing the perception and intensity of any “ringing in the ears.” This helps take your mind off of your tinnitus, which helps lower its burden.
4. What should you do if you or someone you know has tinnitus?
Since the exact cause of tinnitus is not known, the ATA recommends you visit your primary care provider and a hearing healthcare professional for evaluation. This evaluation helps them determine if tinnitus is present and what may be causing it. Specialized tests are performed to evaluate the auditory system. Some of these tests measure the specific features of the tinnitus itself, and could include:
Audiogram
Evoked response audiometry
Tinnitus pitch match
Tinnitus loudness match
5. How can you get tinnitus relief?
While there is no cure for tinnitus, Audibel’s’s hearing aids with proprietary Multiflex Tinnitus Technology have been clinically proven to provide relief for ringing in the ears.
Multiflex Tinnitus Technology enhances the masking capabilities of Audibel hearing aids even more by creating a customizable and comforting sound stimulus that you and your hearing professional can fine-tune. This sound stimulus soothes the unique, irritating sounds you hear — so you can get your mind off your tinnitus and get your life back.
Many Americans have hearing loss. Estimates range from 37.5 million up to 44 million of us — and that’s only adults. That works out to be about one in every six adults. Yet a big percentage of them with hearing loss let it go untreated, despite research showing links between untreated hearing loss and increased risk of falls, depression, hospitalizations and even dementia.
On the other hand, treating hearing loss with hearing aids is proven to minimize those risks, reduce hearing-loss-related cognitive decline, and provide a host of other benefits like improved earning power, increased confidence and social participation, better relationships, and better overall quality of life.
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.
At Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers, we firmly believe that to hear better is to live better.
But don’t believe us. The proof is in the numerous studies and scientific facts linking hearing loss treatment to quality-of-life benefits — and the affirming quotes and stories shared with us by hundreds of hearing aid wearers over the years.
Studies like this and this, and personal stories like Chris's and Karissa's (to name just a few).
If you’re struggling to hear your best, kick the new decade off right by making a resolution to get your hearing checked and treated.
Not sure where to begin? No problem. Contact us Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers today to get started on your hearing journey! We are looking forward to hearing from you.
According to the former Surgeon General, social isolation is a growing epidemic that is associated with a “reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
Here’s why: as we age, social isolation increases the risk of numerous mental and physical health challenges, including depression, heart disease, abnormal immune systems, and even dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Hearing loss is a major contributor to social isolation, and it makes sense when you think about it. It’s not unusual, as hearing becomes challenging, for people to avoid social, business or transactional situations where interaction is key — and to instead withdraw and isolate themselves from social activities.
Our Via AI hearing aids were designed specifically to help. Not only are they our best sounding and best performing hearing aids ever — which helps people hear and engage more easily — they’re also the first wearable devices that help you track how socially active you are.
Research by Johns Hopkins and other institutions have linked cognitive decline and even dementia to hearing loss for reasons you can read about here. One study found that older adults with hearing loss experience a 30-40 percent faster decline in cognitive abilities than peers with normal hearing.
But a 25-year-long study published in 2015 found that hearing aid use reduced the risk of cognitive decline associated with hearing loss. Researchers also reported that treating hearing loss in midlife is the single greatest change a person can make to lower their risk of dementia.
Audibel’s newest hearing aid, Via AI, was specifically designed to help people achieve good cognitive health. It’s their best sounding and best performing hearing aid ever to help treat hearing loss — but it’s also the first wearable device that helps you monitor your brain and body activity.
Contact Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers today, here! We can't wait to hear from you :)
Readers of the publication Trends in Neurosciences will already know today’s fact. For the other 99.9 percent of us, though, it is definitely interesting.
According to a story in the June 2016 edition, research has confirmed that “even relatively mild levels of hearing loss” can lead to cascading negative effects on the brain. Those effects can impact perception, comprehension and memory.
The thinking goes: the more effort it takes to listen and piece together what someone is saying (due to hearing loss), the more it impacts other cognitive operations, “such as remembering what has been heard.” It’s one huge reason why experts at Johns Hopkins recommend treating hearing loss sooner rather than later.
It's best to not wait until it's too late! Scheduling an appointment is just a phone call away. Contact Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers today, here! We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Most adults — as part of their health regimen — schedule regular checkups with their doctors, dentists and optometrists. Not only does the need to see medical practitioners tend to increase as we age, it’s good advice to stay ahead of potential issues, too.
But what about our hearing? How do we keep that strong and stay in front of — or catch early — any hearing challenges? Hearing tests are a smart and easy way to do just that.
Over 450 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, and one in three adults aged 65 and older have some degree of hearing loss. Yet despite these numbers, surprisingly few of us test our hearing on a regular basis.
If you're proactive about your health and want to be able to live life to the fullest, getting your hearing tested routinely is one to-do you should add to your yearly list.
If you have hearing loss, catching and treating it early could have a profound impact on your quality of life. And if you don't, a hearing test sets a good baseline for future screenings.
Not sure where to start? Give Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers a call today! We have 23 locations in the Chicagoland area for your convenience, click here to schedule your first appointment.
Holidays are a time for being with family and friends and having fun! A few tips will help keep your hearing aids working well to make sure you get the most out of this holiday season!
Watch out for the cold! Hearing aids are basically little computers, so don’t leave them in the car overnight. If you do, give them time to warm up before using them.
Children and pets love hearing aids! Being around family can put you around children and pets you don’t see on a regular basis. Keeping your hearing aids on your ears will make sure little hands and pets don’t get a hold of them.
Hearing aids don’t like snow! If you drop your hearing aids in the snow, take them in the house, throw away the battery and let them dry out. Please do not put them in the oven or microwave to dry them. If you have a dry aid kit, use it.
If you have rechargeable hearing aids, don’t let the charger sit in the car/outside overnight. It doesn’t like the cold any more than we (or your hearing aids) do! If you forget it in the car, give it a chance to warm up before using it, to get the best performance.
Family and friends can be lots of fun. The fun may often come with lots of volume and many big groups, too! Sit close to the people you want to talk to and make sure you are in a well-lit area.
Children’s voices can be soft and they can talk fast. Make sure the children you are talking to are looking at you. Don’t be afraid to ask the child to repeat or another adult to help “translate.”
Accessories make life easier! If you have accessories, like remote microphones, use them! They can help you enjoy the festivities even more.
As the holidays approach, tell stories, sing songs, laugh and — most of all — enjoy time with the people who bring you joy. Happy Holidays!
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.
We know that, left untreated, hearing loss can negatively affect our quality of life. Studies link untreated hearing loss to stress, depression, social isolation, and even dementia. Untreated hearing loss also increases the risk of falling, putting personal safety at risk.
But the person with hearing loss isn’t the only person affected by it. Hearing loss impacts spouses, family members, and friends. Repeating things over and over during conversation can be exhausting and frustrating. It can also be heartbreaking for family and friends to watch a loved one retreat, avoiding social situations they once enjoyed.
Don’t enable their denial
Encouraging a loved one to seek help for hearing loss is the right thing to do, even when it’s hard to know how to help. It’s important to speak with your loved one directly about their hearing loss. Gently remind them every time you need to repeat or rephrase parts of conversations they miss.
Without realizing it, well-intended ways we try to help can delay treatment. Repeating or rephrasing conversations may prevent our loved ones from realizing how much they are missing. Make sure your well-intended efforts aren’t preventing your loved one from realizing how hearing loss is impacting their life.
Schedule a hearing check-up for them
Offer to schedule and attend your loved one’s first appointment with Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers. (You can contact us by clicking here.)
Bring any questions you have with you to your appointment. (Find a starter list of questions here.) We will discuss the results of your loved ones hearing test, discuss the best treatment, and answer any other questions you may have.
The sooner they seek help, the happier everyone will be
Don’t be surprised if your loved one is hesitant to seek help for their hearing loss. Be gentle and consistent. On average, hearing aid wearers wait 5-7 years to seek treatment. Which means, your loved one is probably aware of their hearing problem, but might need a little push of encouragement and support to treat it.
Remind your loved one that they have nothing to lose and so much to gain. Being patient and supportive will help your loved one get the hearing help you will both benefit from.
Exposure to sounds 85 decibels (dB) and above is all it takes to damage your hearing. A food blender is 88 dB. A car wash is 89 dB. A lawn mower? That’s 96 dB. And pretty much most sporting events and restaurants exceed safe sound levels, too.*
So what’s a person to do? You can’t be expected to wear hearing protection when you’re making a smoothie.
No – but it is good advice to know your limits. The key to noise-exposed hearing loss is decibel level PLUS time exposed. So unless you’re blending your smoothie for eight straight hours, you should be ok.
Loudness plus exposure time equals risk
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommends eight hours of exposure at 85 dB, then for every five dB after that, the time is cut in half. So if you’re going to a concert where it’s 100 dB loud, either bring hearing protection, leave after a half hour, or do what apparently 75 percent of us do — risk it. (For the record, Starkey recommends you wear ear plugs.)
Luckily, there’s an easy way to measure how loud it is where you are. With our SoundCheck Hearing app, you can use your smartphone to check the noise levels in any environment in real time.
If you think you have hearing loss and want to consult with someone about what to do next, we can help. Call 847.296.3344 or click here and we’ll help you schedule a consultation with one of our hearing care professionals.
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.
