Have you heard.....Hearing Tests

Whether with ourselves, the NHS or other independants, we want your experience with hearing aids to be a good one. So below is a guide for the steps you should take when tackling your hearing loss.

To guide you through your next steps, below is a checklist of what you need to plan for and consider:

• Find a licensed, reputable Hearing Health Care Professional
  This could be an audiologist, hearing instrument practitioner, otolaryngologist or an otologist. Most offer the hearing test at no cost, so check beforehand.
  
  
  
• Make an appointment for your hearing test
  The Hearing Care Professional will examine your ears for possible physical causes of hearing loss like excessive wax build-up, infection, or growth. A hearing test will also be performed to measure your ability to detect sounds at various frequencies or pitches. The entire process may take about an hour. It doesn‘t hurt and will help your Hearing Care Professional find a solution to suit your particular needs. Don’t hesitate to ask questions and try to be as open and relaxed as possible. The more your Hearing Care Specialist knows about you, the better he or she will be able to help you.
  
  
• Choose your hearing system
  Depending on your test results, your Hearing Care Professional will give you a recommendation of hearing solutions best suited to your hearing and personal needs. Feel free to do your own research as well on the solutions available and perhaps compare prices at other Hearing Instrument Specialist stores.
  
  
• Have your ear impression made
  If you have chosen a custom hearing instrument, then you will be scheduled for an ear impression, which is an exact duplicate of the contours of your ears. Your ear impression is sent to hearing instrument manufacturers to make your hearing instrument. This usually only takes a few days.
  
  
• Schedule your fitting
  Your next appointment will be for your Hearing Care Professional to optimally adjust your hearing instrument. The adjustments are done with a computer, based on an audiogram and your own comments. Your audiologist will teach you how to operate your hearing instrument, and how to hear best in different environments. You will also practice inserting and removing your hearing instruments and learn how to clean and care for them.
  
  
• Follow up visit(s)
  Wear your new hearing instruments for a few days in your regular surroundings. You may want to keep a diary to record your impressions of the sounds you hear. Based upon how well you can hear in your everyday surroundings, your Hearing Health Care Professional may make additional adjustments to your hearing instruments if necessary.
  
  
• Learn to enjoy sound again
  Learning to listen with hearing instruments takes time and a degree of patience in the beginning. You may need to learn to ignore unwanted sounds, just as you used to do with normal hearing. It‘s also important to be realistic and not to expect 100-percent hearing in every situation.
  

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.’

Hearing Dogs

A former rescue dog that now works as a hearing dog for her severely deaf owner in Grimsby in Humberside has been named Hearing Dog of the Month by the charity that trained her in recognition of her caring nature and her ability to overcome her unfortunate beginnings.

When Daphne Tuff (78) saw pretty Poppy in a rescue centre she fell in love with the three-year-old Cairn terrier and could not resist taking her. For a year Poppy lived as a much-loved pet but in 2006 fate took a hand in her future. Daphne’s daughter, Sue, came across a Hearing Dogs for Deaf People stand at a country show, and the seed was sown as to whether Poppy would be able to be trained to help alert Daphne to sounds.

Hearing Dogs generally select all the dogs they train themselves, but occasionally they will assess a person’s own dog to see if they have the temperament and ability to learn new skills. Poppy was assessed, and in 2007 she became a fully qualified hearing dog after undergoing four months’ soundwork training where she learned to alert to various household sounds. Since then she has made a huge difference to Daphne’s life and also that of her husband, Dennis, who is also hard of hearing. “Poppy alerts me to sounds including the doorbell, the telephone and the smoke alarm,” says Daphne. “She will also fetch me if Dennis wants me or vice versa. Poppy has also taught herself to alert me to the post when it arrives; she comes and finds me, touches me with her paws then leads me to the post.”
Poppy is a real character, with a fun-loving side as Daphne explains: “Poppy loves to play hide and seek games. We hide treats in various rooms and we send her to go and sniff them out. Sometimes when she is given a treat she will take it into the garden and bury it for later … even if it is only an hour later!”

Being such a small assistance dog means that Poppy attracts a lot of interest when she is out and about, and she is certainly a star in their local area of Grimsby. “Everyone knows her and she is welcomed everywhere,” says Daphne proudly. “As Dennis and I have to take her out for walks, she is keeping us active, which is beneficial to us particularly as we both have bad health.”
As well as her amusing side, Poppy has a serious, caring side to her too. Her loving nature really came to the fore recently when Daphne was very poorly. She had just come out of hospital after a short stay there, and from the minute she got home Poppy would not leave her side as if she knew she was not well. “Poppy came in and out of the bedroom to check on me,” says Daphne. “She was very doting, and seemed very keen to do the call – fetching my husband for me – when I was ill. She understands me so well and is very considerate of my feelings, always knowing what is going on.
“Poppy is a quiet girl, affectionate and adaptable to whatever we are doing. She is no trouble, and such a joy to have around. She is an absolute star.”

So when Daphne visited the rescue centre that fateful day and fell in love with Poppy, not only did she end up with a lovely pet dog – she began a chain of events that led to a life-changing partnership for both of them.