Why Can I Hear Male Voices Clearly but not Women’s Voices?

April 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

For anyone who is finding it tougher to hear ladies voices or children’s voices than to hear male voices, it may be a sign that you have suffered some degree of high-frequency hearing loss. Children’s and women’s voices have a higher frequency than men’s voices – 165 to 255 Hertz, as opposed to 85 to 180 Hertz for men. On top of that, the volume of women’s and children’s voice are often less audible because they speak more quietly that men. Although you may suspect that you have suffered a high-frequency hearing loss because you are having trouble hearing these voices, the only way to know for certain is to make an appointment for an exam.

If it turns out to be high-frequency hearing loss, you’re not alone; this is the most common form of hearing loss. High-frequency hearing loss can have many causes: genetics, aging, noise-induced hearing loss (exposure to loud sounds), certain diseases, and certain drugs. The good news is that high-frequency hearing loss can generally be counteracted with technology.

One effective option involves the fitting of digital hearing aids, whose sophisticated electronics can be programmed to respond differently to sounds at different frequencies. For a person suffering from high-frequency hearing loss, for example, a technician could program the digital hearing aid to raise the volume of high-pitched sounds, while not raising the volume of low-pitched sounds as much. Another treatment option is the use of open-fit hearing aids, which leave your ear canal open or partially open, so that low-frequency and mid-frequency sounds enter the ear normally, and only the high-frequency sounds are amplified. A third option for very severe cases of high-frequency hearing loss is a cochlear implant. Because they require minor surgery, cochlear implants are a more serious and more expensive option, but they can provide a solution in extreme cases involving industrial deafness or nerve deafness.

But the first step to finding a solution to your hearing problem is to have an examination, and allow our specialists to determine what the nature of it actually is. In some cases, for example, high-frequency hearing loss has been caused by nothing more than a buildup of ear wax, which can be cleared up without the need for any type of hearing aid. So the best “first step” in dealing with your hearing problem is to make an appointment and allow us to determine the real nature of the problem.

Filed Under: Hearing Loss Tagged With: , , , ,

What Exactly is Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) and What Types of People Can Benefit from It?

April 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Tinnitus is sadly a common condition, affecting approximately 50 million Americans over 50. Those who suffer from tinnitus hear constant sounds that no one around them can hear. These sounds vary from high-pitched ringing sounds, buzzing or roaring, or rapid clicking sounds similar to crickets chirping. Many people “learn to live with” their tinnitus, considering it as an annoyance rather than a condition. However for other people, this constant ringing in the ears leads to additional symptoms of stress and distress, sleep disorders, fatigue, depression, and anxiety.

Some forms of tinnitus respond well to treatment with hearing aids which are programmed to filter and suppress the ringing or buzzing sounds. In this article, we want to introduce you to an alternative tinnitus treatment known as Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). Using a combination of mechanisms, TRT “retrains” tinnitus sufferers and gives them the ability to reduce their perceptions of the noises they hear, so they no longer react to the sounds negatively, and thus eventually cease being bothered by them.

Discovered in the 1980s by neuroscientist Pawel Jastreboff, TRT challenges the assumptions of many audiologists that tinnitus is a physical disorder due to ear damage that cannot be fixed. Jastreboff has proposed an alternate model for tinnitus based on his background in behavioral neuroscience. Thus freed from the temptation to regard the problem as something that cannot be fixed, he set about developing behavioral modification techniques that could fix it.

According to Jastreboff’s model, tinnitus is not a disease or condition in itself, but a function of hyperacusis – the ability of some people to become aware of normal sounds generated by the auditory system that most people filter out or are unaware of. Jastreboff reasons that the true problem for tinnitus sufferers is the over-reaction and hyper-sensitivity to the ringing or buzzing sounds, not the sounds themselves. Tinnitus Retraining Therapy is a form of individualized counseling perform by people with special training and qualifications. The sessions are very precise to each individual’s needs and aim to teach tinnitus sufferers to mentally curb their reactions to undesirable sounds by focusing on the desirable ones.

Counselors trained in TRT have had remarkable successes helping patient eliminate their negative reactions to the sounds they hear, thereby relieving distress.

Filed Under: Tinnitus Tagged With: ,

The Difference Between Wearing One Hearing Aid or Two

April 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Hearing aids are a major investment, so if you have experienced hearing loss in both ears, you naturally think, “Do I actually need two hearing aids, or could I hear equally as well with only one?” Most hearing professionals will state that the benefits of using two hearing aids greatly exceed the additional expense, but to be fair let’s begin with the reasons why some individuals don’t require two.

To start with, if your hearing is fully normal in one ear, you clearly do not need a second hearing aid for that ear. Conversely, if you are totally 100% deaf in one ear, there is no point in having a second hearing aid. If you are prone to recurring ear infections, wearing hearing aids can potentially make the situation worse, so wearing a single aid might be an advantage. Or, if you have a specific form of hearing loss where the speech is heard garbled, a hearing aid in that ear may make your comprehension worse by amplifying the garbled speech. Except for these cases, the arguments for wearing two hearing aids are pretty persuasive, and are validated by surveys of consumer preferences and customer satisfaction – most hearing aid users vastly prefer the binaural sound provided by two hearing aids. Wearing two hearing aids greatly improves your ability to detect the source and direction of the sound. Understanding speech has been proven to be much easier when wearing two hearing aids than when wearing one, especially when the listening environment is noisy.

If you have hearing loss in both ears, wearing two hearing aids will enable you to keep stimulating both ears, whereas wearing only one can allow the other ear to deteriorate further from lack of use. For tinnitus sufferers, two hearing aids are almost always the wisest choice because the hearing aid is used to mask the ringing or buzzing sounds associated with tinnitus. Without the second hearing aid, these sounds continue in the other ear. Not surprisingly, consumer research studies have shown that wearing two hearing aids is less mentally tiring than wearing one.

Collectively, there are numerous reasons why wearing two hearing aids is the better choice and only a few situation where a single one might be recommended. But if you still have your doubts, test it for yourself by making an appointment to see us. You will be able to hear the difference for yourself between one hearing aid and two. Then decide for yourself which provides you with the better hearing experience. We think you’ll decide that two is better than one.

Filed Under: Choosing a Hearing Aid Tagged With: , ,

Quick Analog vs Digital Hearing Aids Comparison

March 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

When trying to understand the difference between analog and digital hearing aids, it is important to first appreciate the history of analog versus digital, and the alternative ways that they amplify and process sounds. Analog hearing aids came out first, and were the norm in the majority of hearing aids for many years. Then with the introduction of digital signal processing (DSP) technology, digital hearing aids also started to appear. At this point, most (90%) of the hearing aids sold in the US are digital, although analog hearing aids are still sold because they’re often lower priced, and because some people prefer them.

The way that analog hearing aids operate is that they take sound waves from the microphone in the form of electricity and then amplify them, delivering louder versions of the sound waves to the speakers in your ears “as is.” Digital hearing aids take the sound waves from the microphone and convert them to digital binary code, the “bits and bytes” and “zeros and ones” that all digital devices understand. Once the sound is digitized, the micro-chip inside the hearing aid can manipulate the information in complex ways before transforming it back to analog sound and passing it on to your ears.

Remember that analog and digital hearing aids serve the same purpose – they take sounds and boost them so that you can hear them better. Both analog and digital hearing aids can be programmable, which means that they contain microchips which can be customized to alter sound quality to match the user, and to create different configurations for different environments. For example, there might be distinct settings for low-noise locations like libraries, for noisy restaurants, and for outdoor spaces like stadiums.

Digital hearing aids, because of their capacity to manipulate the sounds in digital form, often have more features and flexibility, and are often user-configurable. For example, digital hearing aids may offer multiple channels and memories, permitting them to store more environment-specific profiles. Other capabilities of digital hearing aids include being able to automatically reduce background noise and remove feedback or whistling, or the ability to prefer the sound of human voices over other sounds.

Cost-wise, most analog hearing aids are still less expensive than digital hearing aids, but some reduced-feature digital hearing aids are now in a similar general price range. There is commonly a noticable difference in sound quality, but the question of whether analog or digital is “better” is up to the individual, and the ways that they are used.

Filed Under: Choosing a Hearing Aid Tagged With: , , ,

Central Auditory Processing Disorder Essentials

March 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Central Auditory Processing Disorder, or CAPD, is a hearing disorder in which the trouble lies not with the ears, but with the brain. With Central Auditory Processing Disorder, your ears have no problem hearing sounds (especially the sounds associated with speech) properly, but something is affecting the brain’s ability to interpret these sounds. The disorder is thus characterized by a lack of coordination between the ears and the brain.

As many as 2 to 5 percent of school-age children are affected by CAPD including roughly half of all children that have been diagnosed with a learning disability. Children with CAPD often cannot discern the sounds of different words even when the words are spoken loud and clear. This inability to understand words often becomes worse in noisy environments, but is not as present in quiet environments.

CAPD is often difficult to detect, because when children’s hearing is tested in a quiet room, they can clearly hear the pure tones they hear through the testing equipment, and they similarly have no apparent problems hearing and interpreting speech in non-noisy environments. But even though their audiogram results may appear normal, children with CAPD often have difficulty locating where sounds are coming from, difficulty discerning the differences between two similar sounds, difficulty recognizing patterns of repetitive high and low sounds, and difficulty being able to hear more than one person speaking at the same time.

These symptoms may carry over into other areas of life, as the children struggle to cope with not being able to understand people speaking to them. For example, they may become easily distracted by sudden noises, have difficulty following directions, develop reading, spelling, and language difficulties, become disorganized and forgetful, or have trouble following conversations. When given standard hearing tests, these children appear to have normal hearing, so these symptoms are often confused with or mistaken for signs of other problems such as depression or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This misdiagnosis is further complicated by the fact that a child may in fact have ADHD or some other learning disorder and also have CAPD.

Properly detecting and diagnosing CAPD as eary in a child’s life as possible is crucial to avoid developmental delays both social and academic. Early diagnosis is key to ensuring that the condition is resolved, which is why it is important, if you have noticed any of the above symptoms in your children, to have their hearing professionally tested.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology Tagged With: , , ,

Addressing the Essential Safety Requirements of Loved Ones with Hearing

March 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

One component of hearing loss which is seldom discussed is the simple decrease in safety of people who have hearing difficulties. For instance, imagine that a fire starts in your house; if you’re like most people you have smoke alarms to sound an alert so that you and your loved ones can evacuate the house before a fire becomes widespread, and thus deadly. But this time imagine further, and ponder what might happen if your smoke alarm goes off at night after you’ve gone to bed, having removed your hearing aid.

The smoke detectors standard in most homes and those required by city or state governments produce a loud warning sound at a frequency between 3,000 and 4,000 Hz. Although most people can hear these tones without difficulty, these frequencies are among those most impacted by age-related hearing loss and other forms of auditory impairment. So even if you were awake, if you’re among the more than eleven million Americans with hearing loss, there is a possibility that you would not hear the alarm.

Fortunately, there are home safety products that are expressly created for the needs of the hearing impaired. For people with mild to moderate hearing loss, there are smoke alarms that emit a 520 Hz square-wave warning tone that they can generally hear. In case you are completely deaf without your hearing aids or when you turn off your cochlear implants (CIs), there are other alarm systems that use a mix of blinking lights, loud alarms, and vibrating units that shake your bed to wake you up. Several of these systems are intended to be integrated into more extensive home security systems to warn you of burglars or neighbors pounding madly on your doors in the case of an emergency.

Many who have hearing aids or who wear CIs have chosen to boost the performance of these devices by installing induction loops in their houses. These systems are in essence long strands of wire placed in a loop around your living room, kitchen, or bedrooms. These can activate the telecoils inside your hearing aid or CI that raise the volume of sound; this can be very helpful during emergency situations.

And of course there is the humble telephone, which all of us tend to ignore until we need one, but which can become critical in any sort of emergency. Fortunately, a number of contemporary mobile and home phones are now telecoil-compatible, to permit their use by individuals wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants. Moreover, there are telephones specifically designed for the hearing impaired which incorporate speakerphones that operate at high volumes, and which may be voice-activated. These phones allow you to voice-dial for assistance in an emergency situation. Other companies produce vibrating bracelets that communicate with your cellphone to wake you up or advise you if you get a call.

Other safety recommendations are less technical and more practical, such as always keeping the telephone numbers of fire departments, ambulance companies, health care providers, and emergency services handy. We are as serious about your basic safety as we are about your hearing, so if we can be of assistance with any further tips or recommendations, feel free to give us a call.

Filed Under: Hearing Loss Tagged With: , , , ,

Detecting Indications of Hearing Loss in a Family Member or Loved One

March 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Hearing loss can take many forms, and may occur either suddenly, due to injuries or trauma, or gradually, due to the aging process. Hearing loss may range from mild episodes of not being able to hear conversations correctly to extreme periods of being unable to hear at all, and can be either permanent or temporary. Moreover, a person might suffer a loss of hearing in either a single ear or both ears.

Probably the most commonly noted symptom of hearing loss is progressively becoming unable to hear and comprehend conversations properly. People’s speaking voices might seem to be at low volume or sound muffled . You may be able to hear people speaking, but not be able to differentiate specific words, especially if multiple people are speaking or the conversations are in environments with a lot of background noise.

Other usual signs of hearing loss include having to increase the volume on your television or radio, having a harder time hearing men’s voices than women’s, and not being able to differentiate sounds like ‘s’ and ‘th’ from one another. If you feel pain, tenderness, or itching in your ears, have periods of vertigo or dizziness, or hear a constant buzzing or ringing sound, these symptoms may also be indicators of hearing loss.

Because it generally arises gradually, many people with hearing loss are not aware of it. Or they may recognize it but exhibit “denial behaviors” to try to disguise or conceal their hearing loss from others. Examples of these types of symptoms include asking people to repeat themselves frequently, avoiding discussions and social situations, acting as if you’ve heard stuff that you really didn’t, and feelings of isolation or depression.

If these symptoms sound familiar to you, it is time to make an appointment with one of our hearing specialists. They can give you a hearing test to determine if you have indeed experienced hearing loss, and if so, can help you to do something about it.

Filed Under: Hearing Loss Tagged With: , , ,

How Do Bugs, Dolphins and Other Species Hear?

February 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Did you know that researchers have yet to find a vertebrate species on Earth that is deaf? That’s unlike a considerable variety of amphibians, fishes, reptiles and mammals that are sightless. However, hearing doesn’t specifically call for ears. Only vertebrates have ears, whereas invertebrates utilize other types of sense organs in order to perceive the vibrations we know as audio waves.

Insects have tiny tympanal organs that can provide them with far more acute hearing than humans; for example, the female cricket fly can pinpoint the exact location of the cricket it parasitizes just by hearing its song. Hair can also be used to detect sounds. In spiders, cockroaches and caterpillars, tiny hair cells play the role of ears. The spiders and cockroaches have the hairs on their legs, while the caterpillar has them along its body. Some animals have two ways of processing sound vibrations. For example, an elephant has extremely large ears, but it also takes in sound information via its feet. Elephant feet are sensitive to the very low frequency calls of other elephants and also the rumble of thunder many miles away.

Sound travels both faster and farther through water than it does through the air, and even though fish don’t have ears, they can effectively detect sounds using lateral lines that run horizontally on the sides of their bodies. A marine mammal, dolphins have no ears, but have eardrums on the outside of their bodies that give them the best sense of hearing among animals, over 14 times better than human hearing.

Not only do many animals have better quality hearing than humans, they can hear more sounds, detecting frequency ranges that are much higher and lower than the range that humans are capable of hearing. Cats are recognized as having the most acute hearing among domesticated animals. They can hear sounds at lower and higher frequencies than humans can. A normal human range is 64 to 23,000 HZ. A normal cat range is 45 to 64,000 HZ. Birds also have acute hearing, especially owls, whose hearing is not only far better than ours, but more precise in its ability to locate the source of the sound. An owl can pinpoint the exact location of a scurrying mouse in less than 0.01 seconds.

Some species, such as bats and dolphins, extend their hearing abilities by using a form of sonar called echolocation, in which they emit ultrasonic chirps or clicks, and then interpret the sound waves as they return from objects the waves strike. Echolocation is extremely precise. It only takes one chirp to determine an objects’ size and location. Dolphins can use echolocation to detect objects the size of a small coin over 70 meters away. And if you want a real display of hearing, bats can not only hear insects flying 30 feet away from them, they can then pursue and catch them in mid-air, all in total darkness.

Looking at the animal world is a great reminder of how vitally important hearing is.

Filed Under: Anatomy and Physiology Tagged With: , , , ,

Hearing Aid Accessories 101

February 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Many hearing aid buyers are curious about add-ons and options, so in this article we provide some of our suggestions. Certain accessories work only with a particular hearing aid model, but these broad recommendations are applicable to nearly every hearing aid user.

First of all, stock up on batteries. These aren’t exactly an accessory, but take any opportunity you can to buy them in bulk or at a discount since you will need them. Expect that disposable batteries will need to be replaced every 5 to 14 days.

A dehumidifier is optional, but a very good idea. The electronics in hearing aids are very susceptible to damage from moisture. To use it, you remove your hearing aids at night before you go to sleep and leave them in the dehumidifier overnight, while you’re not wearing them. Cleaning kits are also a sensible investment, as are ear wax filters to keep ear wax away from the unit, because the cleaner you keep your aids, the longer they’ll provide you with trouble-free service.

There are various Bluetooth extensions for specific hearing aids that will extend their capabilities. Many digital hearing aids support the Bluetooth wireless connection standard, which means that they can be configured to stream sound directly from many mobile phones, audio players such as iPods, and televisions. Having a Bluetooth connection to these devices means that you don’t have to sit near them or turn the sound up to enjoy them.

Another way of doing this if you have an analog hearing aid is to use an FM system, which is basically a remote microphone/transmitter that you can place near the TV or stereo and a remote receiver/amplifier that you place closer to your hearing aid. These low-cost FM systems can be an advantage in noisy environments or those shared with other people; you can hear conversations spoken in a normal tone of voice near you while also hearing music or the TV played from much further away.

There are constantly new hearing aid accessories being introduced. If you have questions about these or any others, just ask. Smart selection of accessories goes a long way toward maintaining and enjoying your aid.

Filed Under: Caring for Your Hearing Aid Tagged With: , , , , ,

Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans Left with Tinnitus and Hearing Loss by the Millions

February 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Veterans – especially those who’ve served in conflict zones – have much higher percentages of hearing loss than the general public. Seeing as 20% of the public in the United States has some level of hearing loss, the rates among veterans are alarmingly high. Hearing loss and tinnitus have become the most common service-related disabilities among troops who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2011, the number of veterans receiving disability benefits as a result of hearing loss or tinnitus (148,000) was more than triple the number of veterans receiving benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder (42,700). The result is a public health problem of the highest order, one that cannot help but get worse in the future, as the noise-induced hearing loss experienced by these soldiers gets worse as a result of normal age-related hearing loss. The tinnitus component is often worse because of the side effects. The constant ringing in the ears is know to lead to headaches, mood changes, anxiety, insomnia, vision changes and depression. On top of that, many veterans have suffered profound levels of hearing loss and deafness. According to Brett Buchanan, a VA-accredited insurance claims agent who has made a study of hearing loss in veterans, “The military, in general, is just a high noise-producing environment.” In the Navy, most sailors work below decks in high-noise environments, filled with “the constant drumming of engines and metal-on-metal noise.” In the Army or Marines, soldiers spend most of their day inside or near noisy vehicles such as tanks or transport carriers. Of course, in a war zone this background noise is often punctuated by the sounds of gunfire and explosions, creating pretty much an ideal environment for creating hearing loss. Many efforts are made to reduce the risk and exposure. The US military provides hearing protection and noise-reducing ear plugs. These safety measures are used consistently in training, but are a secondary concern in actual battle. When faced with bullets flying, IEDs and mortars exploding, the soldier isn’t going to turn back for ear plugs. It is worth noting that a soldier wearing ear plugs may not be able to hear whispered instructions or may miss clues about the enemies whereabouts.

The military is doing what it can to increase the use of hearing protection by providing more sensitive earplugs that block loud noises but allow soldiers to hear even the faintest normal conversations. While better solutions are in the works, the Veteran’s Administration has become the largest buyer of hearing aids in the US. Hearing aids are provided at little or no cost to veterans who need them. If you are (or know) a veteran who has suffered hearing loss, encourage them to get tested. Our expert staff would be happy to determine the extent of the loss, recommend solutions and help you navigate the VA benefits system.

Filed Under: Hearing Loss Tagged With: , , , ,
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