Have you heard....Hearing in background noise

Imagine having a great meal and for the first time in a long time a   conversation which was just as good – that even continues on the drive home in the car!

For a great deal of people with hearing loss this is just wishful thinking, but now with the cutting edge        technology of the ReSound Unite™ Mini Microphone, our clients do not have to worry about the noise around them when they are out     dining, or think about where the sounds are coming from.

The ReSound Unite™ Mini Mic is a small personal portable  streaming device for transmitting sound and/or external audio sources directly to the hearing instruments of the user. It picks up sound at the source and uses 2.4GHz technology to transmit speech directly to your hearing instruments. 

About the size of a matchbox and weighing in at less than 16 grams, the Mini Microphone is elegant and discreet and can be clipped to clothing.  Users often ask their partner or friend to wear the Mini Microphone when they are in the car, out shopping or in a restaurant and are able to hear every word they say, clearly and without straining.

The Mini Microphone helps to improve the clarity and understanding and makes a real difference to everyday lives.  So when you are next with friends or family, you can just relax and    enjoy.

Hear the difference for yourself by making an appointment for a demonstration —01424 733030

HEALTH AND MEDICAL:

Wax Facts – some things you didn’t know about earwax: Earwax can be gooey and gross, and it is not the most scintillating of conversational topics. We all have it, but who wants to talk about it? We do!

Do you know your  type?

Earwax comes in two types – wet and dry. The kind you have depends on genetics. People of North-eastern Asian descent tend to have dry ear wax, while the earwax of people from other regions is wet.

How earwax protects...

Earwax is another of our body’s mundane, under-appreciated, yet totally amazing protective devices. Earwax shields our body from outside invaders, including dust, bacteria, and other micro-organisms that can get in and irritate, inflame, or infect.

Earwax cleans up after itself

Thanks to earwax, our ears are self-cleaning. Whenever you move your jaw or chew, you help keep earwax churning slowly from the eardrum to the ear opening, where it will then either dry up, flake off, or fall out.

Your ears are “no trespassing” zones

Since our ears are self-cleaning, we should never, ever stick anything in them! That includes those cotton tipped swabs that seem perfectly designed to fit inside the narrow ear canal. Keep these swabs and any other objects - including your fingers - out of your ears.  When you put something in your ear – to scratch an itch or to attempt to remove wax – you

risk pushing wax further into the ear, where it can become blocked.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Danny Hellier, Audiologist, founder and  proprietor of Bexhill Hearing Centre, celebrates 40 years this month since he gained his professional title.

On August 3rd 1973 Danny became an official member of the Hearing aid council, now the Health Care Professions Council. Initially he worked and trained with Amplivox hearing centres, until 1980 when he set up his own business from his home in Bexhill.

Since he has grown a reputable, respected company on the high street offering professional advice and the finest aftercare service.

Last year his work within the elderly community was recognised at the 1066 business awards, where he was commended with the lifetime achievement award and later that year at the Bexhill Achiever's Awards; winning service with a smile.

The family business is still growing steadily with Danny at the helm and his son and daughter along side him, and still remains Bexhill’s only local independent hearing aid specialists.

Have you heard....WIRELESS HEARING TECHNOLOGY

Today our lives are made easier by the many devices and gadgets that allow us to live life on the go. Technology has given us mobile phones, iPods, televisions and much more but for hearing aid wearers and people living with a hearing  impairment, interacting with all of these different devices can prove   difficult.

Now there is a solution. Wireless technology that we see in so many other  applications has now been applied to hearing aids; making the devices more advanced than ever. Wireless hearing aids make connecting to the world and devices around you effortless and being truly wireless there are no cables, no neck loops and no wires!

Advanced wireless hearing aids such as 3 Series from Starkey Laboratories combined with their innovative SurfLink® devices not only deliver crystal clear sound but can also stream stereo sound from your TV, radio, computer and even your mobile phone directly to your hearing aids.

The volume level on the TV is often the first sign of hearing loss, and usually because of a partner, friend or family members frustrations rather than the hearing loss sufferers. Many clients visiting our centre may claim to have good hearing in most aspects of their lives but still admit to excessive volume when it comes to TV, but mainly because of “the mumbling presenter” or the “over use of background music”

Whatever the excuse may be; SurfLink Media from Starkey Laboratories is an easy solution to aid effortless TV listening. This set-and-forget media streaming solution connects to TVs, as well as MP3 players  and more to wirelessly stream audio directly to your Wi Series hearing aids,  so you can hear the volume at the level you want, while everyone else in the room can listen at the volume they want. The technology that sets this unit apart from other TV listeners on the market is its automatic  range response; no switching channels on the hearing aids or placing any neckloops on. When in range of the TV, something you set yourself, the sound is streamed, automatically to your ears. Simple as that!

Have you heard...Ear Wax

Earwax is a waxy material that is produced by sebaceous glands inside the ear. It cleans, lubricates and protects the lining of the ear by trapping dirt and repelling water. 

Earwax is slightly acidic and has antibacterial properties. Without earwax, the skin inside your ear would become dry, cracked, infected or waterlogged and sore.

Earwax can be wet or dry and hard or soft. Soft earwax is more common in children and hard earwax is more likely to cause problems. Dry earwax is golden and flaky and more common in people of Asian origin.

Earwax problems

Earwax doesn't usually cause problems. However, producing too much earwax can lead to a blocked and painful ear or hearing loss.

Having repeated ear infections, flaky skin near your ear, or hair in your ear canals can also put you at risk of developing problems with your earwax.

Every year in the UK, over two million people have problems with earwax and need it removed.
To reduce your risk of developing problems with your ears, avoid putting objects in your ears, such as cotton buds, matchsticks and hairpins.

As well as risking damage to your ear canal or eardrum, sticking things in your ears can result in earwax becoming lodged in your ear canal.

When to see your GP

Visit your GP if you are having problems with earwax. If you have a large amount of earwax, it may need to be removed.

Earwax can usually be removed using eardrops. If eardrops don't work, another treatment called ear irrigation may be recommended. It involves using a pressurised flow of water to remove the build-up of earwax.

Do not attempt to remove earwax yourself, without first speaking to your GP.

Have you heard...History of Hearing Aids

The first documented evidence of the existence and use of a hearing aid dates back to the 16^th century. Its inventor is unknown but many sources from that time discuss several hearing aid devices. In 1588, in his book Magia Naturalis, Giovanni Porta describes hearing aids in the form of animal ears. Later on, other sources talk about horns, trumpets, speaking tubes and various devices worn around the body. However, these were hardly mass manufactured but more likely custom made for specific clients.

In 1800, Frederick C. Rein established in London the first company for commercial manufacture of hearing aids. The hearing aids he offered were non-electric and include acoustic urns, speaking tubes and ear trumpets.

Soon after, in 1836, Alphonsus William Webster patented a curved earpiece worn behind the ear, known as the first British patent for a hearing aid.  Even more patents were issued in the upcoming decades. One belonged to James A. Maloney for his ear trumpet with a diaphragm earpiece in 1887. With the beginning of the 20^th century hearing aid research and the associated industry developed rapidly. In 1923, vacuum tube hearing aids were introduced and in 1934 they were upgraded to operate with batteries.

In the early 1950s, the vacuum tube hearing aids were replaced with the transistor hearing aids. These led on to the development of the behind the ear and the eyeglass temples models, which in 1954 were already electronic. In 1955, in the ear hearing aid was introduced.

From the 1970s onwards, the hearing aid models began to resemble the modern devices for hearing impairment we know today. The introduction of the electret/FET microphone played an important role in every hearing aid thatmeant that the receiver and the microphone could be kept in one case as forbehind the ear, in the ear and in the canal hearing aids.

The invention of in the canal hearing aid in 1983 was followed by the completely in the canal hearing aid introduced in 1993. Soon after, in 1996, the first successful digital hearing aid device was a fact.
By 2005, 90% of the hearing aid fittings used digital signal processing technology as opposed to the analogue technology.

Nowadays, hearing aids are various and come in many different shapes and sizes including behind the ear, in the ear, in the canal, completely in the canal, open fits, receiver in the ear, body worn, bone conduction, CROS, BiCROS and disposable hearing aids.

New research could forge future cure for hearing loss

New research funded by Action on Hearing Loss has brought scientists closer to being able to trigger the regeneration of damaged cells in the inner ear and gives hope to the 10 million people in the UK affected by a hearing loss that a cure can be found.
 
Most hearing loss is caused by the loss of sensory hair cells in the inner ear that detect sound vibrations. The human ear cannot replace these cells, so hearing loss is permanent - but remarkably, zebrafish can regenerate these cells and were used in the study to discover drugs that may lead to the restoration of hearing.

Researchers tested 1680 different drugs and discovered two that enhance the regeneration of sensory hair cells in zebrafish and six drugs that block or slow regeneration.
Professor Rubel who led the study at University of Washington said: ‘This study demonstrates that it is possible to screen large libraries of compounds to find drugs and drug targets that influence hair cell regeneration. It provides some useful targets for future studies. Moreover, it demonstrated the usefulness of and extension of this approach to screen a much wider range of compounds.’

‘Discovering compounds or drugs able to influence regeneration is important as it will help us understand the biological processes involved, providing clues as to how we might be able to trigger regeneration in the human ear. The drugs discovered so far have been shown to interfere with cell division suggesting that the ability of cells to divide in a damaged ear will be key to triggering regeneration.’

Dr Ralph Holme, Head of Biomedical Research at Action on Hearing Loss said: ‘We are very excited by this research as it opens the door to the possibility that drugs able to trigger the regeneration of hair cells in the inner ear will be found in the future, revolutionising the way hearing loss is currently treated.’

Have You Heard...Hearing Loss

Hearing loss, or deafness, is the partial or total inability to hear sound in one or both ears.

The human ear is amazing. It is one of the smallest and most complex organs in the body, capable of turning the tiniest disturbances in air molecules into a form the brain can understand - and doing so instantaneously, over an enormous range of pitch and loudness. Considering the ear's delicacy, it is remarkably resilient. Nevertheless, illness or injury can impair our ability to hear properly.
In recent years, substantial advances have made it possible to determine the cause of hearing impairment in nearly all cases, and to treat the hearing loss in many ears.

How Does Hearing Loss Affect One's Life?

Virtually no condition in medicine can have as profound an effect on quality of life as even moderate hearing loss in some people.
Hearing loss makes even routine communication difficult. High frequency hearing loss often involves loss of ability to hear consonants such as s, f, t, and z, even though vowels can be heard normally. Consequently, people hear but cannot make out what is being said.
This may result in frustration, withdrawal from social activities, depression, and marital discord. People lose the ability to take in the sounds like bird songs, rustling of leaves, and the voices of children. In general, these infringements on the quality of life can be overcome through medical or surgical treatment or with hearing aids.
When hearing loss occurs early in childhood, its devastating consequences are more obvious than when it occurs late in life. A hearing deficit in infants can interfere with psychological, emotional, and speech development. It also makes learning a mammoth task and can cause frustration or isolation.
Even more mild forms of hearing loss early in life can cause great difficulties, including poor attention and bad grades in school. Frequently, such children are considered "not too bright," before anyone realizes that a hearing loss is present. When it is corrected, the changes in the child's performance, attitude, and interactions are often remarkable.

Key facts

• In 2004, over 275 million people globally had moderate-to-profound hearing impairment, 80% of them in low- and middle-income countries.
• Infectious diseases such as meningitis, measles, mumps and chronic ear infections can lead to hearing impairment. Other common causes include exposure to excessive noise, head and ear injury, ageing and the use of ototoxic drugs.
• Half of all cases of deafness and hearing impairment are avoidable through primary prevention.
• A large percentage can be treated through early diagnosis and suitable management.
• Depending on the cause of hearing loss, it may be treated medically, surgically or through devices such as hearing aids and Cochlear Implants.
• Production of hearing aids meets less than 10% of global need. In developing countries, fewer than 1 out of 40 people who need a hearing aid have one.

Newspaper information piece; "Have You Heard"

Each and every single week from Friday 27th onwards Bexhill Hearing Centre will be dispensing a little bit of knowledge in the Bexhill, Hastings, Rye and Battle Observers as well as the local Resident. Tiny snippets of information about the world of hearing, to remind our customers that our knowledge and advice is always available.

From the latest audio technology to hearing loss management, there will be something for everyone, whether you suffer from a hearing loss or not.

Items to be covered in the first 6 weeks include: (in no particular order)

Hearing loss; why it happens
Ear Wax maintenance
History of Hearing Aids
Coping with Tinnitus
Waterproof Hearing
Ototoxicity

We are hoping that the articles will become Blog like, allowing the public to follow the story. They will also be teamed up with further information here and on our website (www.BexhillHearingCentre.com) so that more complete information can be provided.