In the United States, about 37.5 million adults have some level of hearing loss. Yet according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), merely 20 percent of those who could reap the benefits of hearing aids actually use them. That suggests that millions of Americans who could enhance their life with better hearing choose not
Here’s something most people are surprised to discover: in the majority of cases of hearing loss, people can hear a number of sounds just fine, and have trouble only with specific sounds. Particularly, if you have difficulty only with high-pitched sounds, you may suffer from the most common type of hearing loss, known as high-frequency
It’s often said that we don’t truly appreciate the things we have until they’re gone, and this appears to be specifically true of our ability to hear. Hearing loss is not only difficult to detect; it’s also tough to appreciate just how much hearing improves our lives. As one of our major senses, along with
It remains a mystery as to why wearing glasses—which improve vision impairment—is perceived as a sign of intelligence, while wearing hearing aids—which treat hearing impairment—has been perceived as a sign of old age. Maybe it’s about time the stigma of hearing loss is corrected, and we redefine what it means for our bodies to collaborate
When should I upgrade my hearing aids? This is a typical question we hear from our patients, and the answer requires some thought. Although hearing aids typically have a life-span of 3-7 years, there are several scenarios in which you may desire to upgrade earlier. Here are 4 reasons you may want to consider a
By Joho345 (Own work) [CC BY 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons Just imagine being able to fine-tune the volume, treble, and bass on your hearing aids as discretely and easily as checking the time on your wrist. Or imagine fine-tuning your hearing aids for any hearing situation without ever having to touch your hearing aids. Sound
We all put things off, regularly talking ourselves out of complex or uncomfortable chores in favor of something more enjoyable or fun. Distractions are all around as we tell ourselves that we will eventually get around to whatever we’re presently working hard to avoid. Usually, procrastination is fairly harmless. We might desire to clear out
Present day hearing aids have come a long way; existing models are highly effective and feature impressive digital features, such as wireless connectivity, that markedly improve a person’s ability to hear along with their all-around quality of life. But there is still room for improvement. Specifically, in specific situations hearing aids have some challenges with
It has long been established that there are powerful connections between sound, music, emotion, and memory, and that our personal experiences and preferences determine the type and intensity of emotional reaction we have to specific sounds. For example, research has revealed these prevalent associations between certain sounds and emotions: The sound of a thunderstorm evokes
The ironic part of hearing loss is that we don’t tend to start appreciating our favorite sounds until after we’ve lost the capacity to clearly hear them. We don’t pause to think about, for example, how much we enjoy a good conversation with a friend until we have to continually ask them to repeat themselves.
The hearing healthcare marketplace has two barriers that prevent people from attaining better hearing: The inability to detect hearing loss in the first place (due to its gradual onset), and The temptation to find a quick, easy, and inexpensive remedy. Regrettably, countless people who have overcome the first barrier have been lured into the purportedly
Blausen.com staff. “Blausen gallery 2014”. That there is a right way to clean your ears suggests that there is a wrong way, and indeed, there is a very wrong way. The wrong way is prevalent, and it violates the very first rule of cleaning your ears: don’t insert foreign objects into your ear canal. That