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...Dome tips

Often when someone imagines a hearing aid they think of the type in the picture below; beige in colour, obvious behind the ear, and filling the ear canal with the "plug" on the end, not to mention the endless whistling.

Hearing aid around 10 to 15 years old

Apart from its less then covert appearance the biggest draw back with this hearing aid is the large ear mould.
Firstly the taking of an ear mould can be an uncomfortable experience for some clients; whereby a foam block must be inserted deep into the ear canal, and the ear is filled with a quick setting gel.Secondly the ear mould will slowly discolour and need constant cleaning.

The most important factors however are occlusion and moisture; by blocking the ear the hearing loss will obviously increase and their voice will sound louder (just like it does if you place fingers in both ears) this is called the occlusion effect; whereby vibrations through the scull are transferred to the ear canal, and without an open pathway to escape reflect back into the hearing system, giving the experience of amplification.

Moisture is also an important factor when wearing a full mould such as this one. If the clients inserts their hearing aid first thing in the morning at 7am and removes it last thing at night at 10pm, they have had their ear blocked for 15 hours. Over 15 hours of being blocked the ear will produce a great deal of heat and moisture, possibly causing irritation, dermatitis, inflammation, wax build-up, and even infections.

Enter the Dome Tip. One of the most recent, and simplest innovations was the introduction of soft, generic dome tips like the one above; offering the free movement of air, moisture and sound in and out of the ear.

These tips have only been available since feedback cancellation technology came about. If a tip like this was placed on the hearing aid seen earlier it would simply whistle it's not so little head off. With the use of a feedback stopper function however this hearing aid will even struggle to whistle within a closed fist.

The benefits this type of hearing aid offer are quite simply the exact opposites to the drawbacks of earlier aids:

# Small discreet shell hidden by the pinna (outer ear)
# Disposable tips which cost literally pennies
# Better hygiene, easier to clean, and needed less frequently
# NO OCCLUSION
# Does not exacerbate the hearing loss.
# More natural sound
# Comfortable

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.
  

Have you heard...Assistive listening

Hearing aids are not the sole solution for hearing loss, in fact in many cases and for many people hearing aids would not be the correct choice. Some clients who present hearing loss, may not be in a financial position to purchase a hearing aid, others are not regularly in situations of a social nature or feel that communication is difficult to "*hear".

This is where assistive listening devices may be of more benefit than a hearing aid. Many clients come to us complaining of the TV and radio being too quiet; or more commonly their spouses bring them in complaining of the TV and radio being too loud!

In most circumstances the later may not be very excepting of a hearing aid, for some it denotes the perception of becoming old, or having a disability. In others as said above the client for a multitude of reasons may not need a hearing aid.

There are many great assistive listening devices now on the market, unfortunately there are also some that don't cut the mustard in our mind. Here we have provided our top 5:

NUMBER 5 - The CL-10 Corded Phone.
Corded phone with adjustable volume up to 28 dB, includes flashing ring indicator. Other features include tone dialling, 3 different ringer levels and melodies as well as being network service compatible.

This product has made it into our top 5 due to cost and simplicity.
It's about as simple as it could get with one cable to plug in, large easy to use keys, 3 save able numbers and a slider with 3 choices for volume control.

It works well too, we have one in the office which never leaves it's first volume setting. We especially like the ringer feature, which, with the flick of a switch, allows you to turn off the ringer sound. Great for when we are holding hearing tests (you are still alerted to the call by a flashing LED)

The cost is what really pushes this simple bit of tech into our top 5
Our Price £29.99



NUMBER 4 - CL2L Ringer

• Extra loud ringer :up to 95 dB

• Volume and tone control

• Led flasher

• Outdoor range: 60 meters

• Indoor range: 20 meters

• 3 doorbell melodies

• 3 individual tracking LED

 This feature rich door and telephone ringer comes in at number 4 on our list. With a combination of sound, lights and vibration it will alert even the profoundly deaf to the door or telephone. It's simple to install also with a simple plug and play use and convenient wireless doorbell button.

Our price is only £54

NUMBER 3 - CL8300 Mobile Phone

Extra Loud Mobile Phone with volume control up to 45dB

Product Features:

•     Volume control (up to a record +45dB)
•     Tone control (+/- 10dB)
•     Hands free speakerphone
•     Visual ringer indicator
•     Vibrating alert feature
•     Extra loud ring (up to 100dB)
•     External boost button on the handset
•     Three direct memory buttons
•     Extra large black and white display
•     Extra large characters (adjustable size and contrast) 
• ....and more 

As with all current mobile phones the CL8300 is feature rich providing all that you would expect in the latest technology. Something you may not expect however is the volume this handset provides, making it one of the loudest phones in the world, added to that the large buttons and LCD display this unit can be used for either a hearing or visual impairment.

Our price, only £105

NUMBER 2 - A200 Headset

The A 200 is a stereo personal sound amplifier for people who may sometimes need to rely on artificial assistance for their hearing. Due to the stereo amplification via two integrated permanently polarised microphones, the user can clearly determine the direction of the sound source. Dynamic headphone transducers ensure a natural and transparent sound reproduction with optimum speech intelligibility.

Great for the localisation of sound, especially in social environments and particularly popular in meetings and seminars due to its portable, wireless nature.



This products sits comfortably at number 2 because of it's functionality. We have fitted hundreds of these products with only good comments.


Particular benefit may be for those whom a hearing aid is just slightly out of their financial reach.


Our price £280






NUMBER 1 - 830-TV

 

The Set 830-TV is an infra-red stereo TV assistive listening system. The set enables assistive listening anywhere in the room without the need for cables and without disturbing others. Directly connectible to a TV, hi-fi system or radio, the Set 830-TV guarantees outstanding sound quality, which, for example, thanks to treble emphasis, can be customised to the listener’s hearing.
What’s more, the receiver is extremely lightweight and, with its perfect-fitting ear pads, offers maximum comfort when worn. Ergonomic controls and
visual signals for the individual control processes mean that operation of the Set 830-TV couldn’t be easier.



Our number 1 assistive listening product, although named the 830-TV this instrument can be connected to any device with with an audio output, and even numerous devices at once. Functionality and reliability along with great sound puts this device at the top of our list. It's easy to use too, simply placing the headset into your ears turns it on and the large volume control can be used with out looking, giving volume independent of the level the TV is set at. Whats more clients with a unilateral hearing loss can adjust the volume to each ear giving maximum control of sound.

 Our price is only £257

Have you heard....Custom headphones

Music lovers are being warned that the popular 'earbud' headphones worn by users of iPods and MP3 players could lead to hearing loss.

The reason for the warning is because earbuds placed directly into the ear, can boost the sound signal by as much as six to nine decibels.

During the 1980s, when Walkman portable devices first hit the market, audiologists were warning users about potential hearing loss. Nowadays, with MP3 players topping the Christmas wish lists of people all over the world, history is repeating itself.

Hearing loss in younger people typically found in aging adults is becoming far too common. Unfortunately, the earbuds preferred by music listeners are even more likely to cause hearing loss than the muff-type earphones that were associated with the older devices because of this increase in volume.

As well as a more intense sound signal, today's music devices have longer battery life and the ability to store vast amounts of music, facts which encourage users to listen for longer periods of time than their 1980s counterparts.

MP3 devices now reach upto 110 to 120 decibels. That's a sound level that's equivalent to a jet engine and enough to cause hearing loss after only about an hour and 15 minutes.

So what can we do? One solution is the 60 percent/60 minute rule, whereby people use their MP3 devices for no more than about an hour a day and at levels below 60 percent of maximum volume.

Noise-cancelling headphones are another suggestion because they reduce or eliminate background noise eliminating the need to turn the device up to excessive levels.These headphones can be custom made; still as descreet as the fashionable ear-bud types and far more comfortable.

They come as a sleeve which fits over any ear-bud headphone, so even if the headphones need replacing the sleeve can simply be swapped over. At less than £100 they could be the last set of headphones you ever use.