The inability to distinguish sounds is a form of hearing loss

The National Safety Council’s Safety + Health magazine recently published an article about ototoxicants, chemicals that can cause hearing loss and balance issues.

In the article, warnings were shared from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about which industries have higher exposure risks to these chemicals — and how the adverse effects of ototoxicants increases when “workers are exposed to elevated noise levels.”

One type of hearing loss OSHA notes as “especially hazardous” is speech discrimination dysfunction. What’s that?

Speech discrimination dysfunction is when a person cannot distinguish a voice or warning signal from ambient noise. In other words, they can hear, but everything sounds the same to them. This can put the worker at an elevated risk for accidents or mistakes if, for instance, an alarm or alert goes off and they don’t register it for what it is.

It’s not dissimilar to a complaint that many people who have hearing loss — but don’t initially recognize it — say, that “I can hear, but I can’t understand.”

If this describes you, a consultation with a hearing healthcare professional is advised. Please call Land of Lincoln Hearing today!

Photo by Ahsan S. on Unsplash

Wearing hearing aids can reduce the risk of cognitive decline

Research by Johns Hopkins and other institutions have linked cognitive decline and even dementia to hearing loss for reasons you can read about here. One study found that older adults with hearing loss experience a 30-40 percent faster decline in cognitive abilities than peers with normal hearing.

But a 25-year-long study published in 2015 found that hearing aid use reduced the risk of cognitive decline associated with hearing loss. Researchers also reported that treating hearing loss in midlife is the single greatest change a person can make to lower their risk of dementia.

Contact Land of Lincoln Hearing today, here.

Hearing loss impacts memory and comprehension

Readers of the publication Trends in Neurosciences will already know today’s fact. For the other 99.9 percent of us, though, it is definitely interesting.

According to a story in the June 2016 edition, research has confirmed that “even relatively mild levels of hearing loss” can lead to cascading negative effects on the brain. Those effects can impact perception, comprehension and memory.

The thinking goes: the more effort it takes to listen and piece together what someone is saying (due to hearing loss), the more it impacts other cognitive operations, “such as remembering what has been heard.” It’s one huge reason why experts at Johns Hopkins recommend treating hearing loss sooner rather than later.

It’s best to not wait until it’s too late! Scheduling an appointment is just a phone call away. Contact Land of Lincoln Hearing today, here! We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Photo by Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash

Happy hearing makes for happy holidays!

Holidays are a time for being with family and friends and having fun! A few tips will help keep your hearing aids working well to make sure you get the most out of this holiday season!

• Watch out for the cold! Hearing aids are basically little computers, so don’t leave them in the car overnight. If you do, give them time to warm up before using them.

• Children and pets love hearing aids! Being around family can put you around children and pets you don’t see on a regular basis. Keeping your hearing aids on your ears will make sure little hands and pets don’t get a hold of them.

• Hearing aids don’t like snow! If you drop your hearing aids in the snow, take them in the house, throw away the battery and let them dry out. Please do not put them in the oven or microwave to dry them. If you have a dry aid kit, use it.

• If you have rechargeable hearing aids, don’t let the charger sit in the car/outside overnight. It doesn’t like the cold any more than we (or your hearing aids) do! If you forget it in the car, give it a chance to warm up before using it, to get the best performance.

• Family and friends can be lots of fun. The fun may often come with lots of volume and many big groups, too! Sit close to the people you want to talk to and make sure you are in a well-lit area.

• Children’s voices can be soft and they can talk fast. Make sure the children you are talking to are looking at you. Don’t be afraid to ask the child to repeat or another adult to help “translate.”

• Accessories make life easier! If you have accessories, like remote microphones, use them! They can help you enjoy the festivities even more.

As the holidays approach, tell stories, sing songs, laugh and — most of all — enjoy time with the people who bring you joy. Happy Holidays!

Why it’s important to check your hearing regularly

We are all concerned about our health and well-being! Benjamin Franklin once said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Whether it is diabetes, cancer, heart disease or hearing loss, we have become increasingly more focused on stopping illness through preventative healthcare. It’s one reason why we’re living longer and why, if Mr. Franklin were alive today, he’d agree that “60 is the new 40.”

We get yearly physicals to monitor blood pressure, cholesterol and evaluate risks for cancer, diabetes and heart disease. We should approach our hearing the same way.

Early treatment can help prevent future issues

In recent years, research has shown that hearing is not just about our ears! Our hearing impacts many aspects of our health and life. Untreated hearing loss has been linked to increased likelihood of dementia, decreases in cognitive function, increased isolation and higher incidences of depression. Discovering and treating hearing loss sooner rather than later can ultimately improve our overall health and well-being.

Many people will wait until they are having difficulty before getting their hearing tested. The reality is that they have most likely been living with hearing loss anywhere from 5 to 15 years before they take action. Could you imagine living with high cholesterol or high blood pressure or diabetes for a dozen years before taking action?

Start with a baseline hearing test

For many of us, the last time we had our hearing checked was when we were in grade school. According to healthcare professionals, we should get a “baseline” hearing test early in our adulthood. The recommendation is around 18 or 21. If you are past 21 and have not had a baseline test, the sooner the better.

A “baseline” hearing test will provide a frame of reference for tests later in life. It is important to remember that hearing is more than just detecting beeps! A baseline hearing test will measure your sensitivity to sounds (the beeps), but it will also measure your ability to understand speech, both at soft levels and when the volume is comfortable. In addition, the overall health of the ear will be evaluated via a visual exam.

Follow-up hearing tests may be recommended 

How often you have your hearing checked after the baseline depends on a few different variables: the results of your baseline test, your risk for hearing loss, and your age are just a few. If hearing loss exists at the baseline, yearly testing is recommended.

If your risk for hearing loss is high, yearly hearing tests are also recommended. Things that increase your risk of hearing loss include noise exposure, both at work and recreational (motorcycles, guns, loud music), as well as your age. As hearing loss is found more often with increasing age, individuals 60 years of age and older are recommended to have their hearing tested every two years, if no hearing loss was apparent in their most recent test.

Is hearing loss avoidable?

That’s a great question, and a complicated one to answer! Hearing loss can be caused by a multitude of things: some are preventable and some are not. For me to write about everything that can cause hearing loss — and then all the ways to avoid each cause — would make for a very long blog post. We will save that for another day.

Instead, I am going to write about what you can do to avoid the second-leading cause of hearing loss — noise-induced hearing loss.

Did you know that one in four U.S. adults have noise-induced hearing loss? That’s a lot of people (at least 40 million)! The good news is that you can protect your hearing in most situations. And if you practice good hearing protection, not only do you increase your chances of avoiding noise-induced hearing loss, it will  go a long way towards helping you avoid age-related hearing loss, which is the number one cause of hearing loss.

Here are a few ways to protect your hearing (and help avoid hearing loss):

Minimize your exposure to loud noises

This is the best way to avoid hearing loss. How do you know what’s too loud? Environments where you have to raise your voice to talk to other people, where you can’t hear what people nearby are saying, where the noise hurts your ears or, really, where any noise exceeds 85 decibels are too loud.

Wear hearing protection

There are times when you are put into loud situations or environments and you simply can’t avoid them. These include certain work environments, sporting events, concerts, bars/clubs, mowing your lawn, etc. In those situations, you should use hearing protection.

Hearing protection comes in a variety of different styles including ear plugs, custom plugs, “earmuffs” and more. 

Watch the volume

With the way technology is advancing these days, almost everyone has something in their ears. Consider investing in higher quality earphones that block out background noise, to help you moderate your listening levels in noisier places. Also, the general rule of thumb to use when setting your volume is: You should be able to hear and converse with a person arm’s length away from you easily. If you cannot, then it is too loud.

Buy quieter products

You probably never think about how loud some of your household products are. Some products such as children’s toys, blenders and hair dryers. can get louder than 100 decibels! That means that it would take less than 15 minutes of use for you to damage your hearing. I justified buying a fancy new hair dryer because of how loud my old hair dryer was. 

There are other decisions or changes you can make in your life to help avoid hearing loss, including:

Don’t put anything in your ear

Your ears naturally clean themselves. By putting products in your ears, you can cause infections and or actually puncture your ear drum, which can lead to permanent hearing loss.

Don’t smoke

Research studies have shown a positive correlation between smoking and hearing loss. It’s better just to say no.

Keep a healthy diet

Other research studies show that women who maintain a healthy diet have reduced risk/rates of moderate to severe hearing loss compared to women who do not eat healthy.

Get your hearing tested

Having your hearing tested regularly is a great way to know how your auditory system is working. By getting your hearing tested regularly, you will be able to monitor your hearing easily, know if any changes are occurring, and treat any hearing loss early, before it gets to be a problem.

Nothing is guaranteed to prevent hearing loss. But the advice above should help you avoid it, or at least put it off for as long as possible.

Call Land of Lincoln Hearing, today! We are hear to help :)

Photo by Bahram Bayat on Unsplash

How wearing hearing aids can help enhance your safety

You already know that hearing aids can improve hearing and communication. But did you know they can also enhance safety? Several studies have confirmed what many hearing healthcare experts and their patients already knew — that using hearing aids improves quality of life, and can provide the wearer with an increased sense of safety and independence. Here are a few reasons why:

Improved balance. Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine found that adults performed better on balance tests when wearing hearing aids. This study supports the idea that treating hearing loss (with properly fit amplification) might help reduce the risk of falling.

Increased awareness. Hearing is an important sense for environmental awareness and preventing accidents. Hearing aids can help an individual detect hazards in their surroundings, such as automobiles, sirens, and pets. Hearing well can also help you recognize where a potential danger may be coming from. Addressing changes in hearing will help you be alert and hopefully stay safe during your daily activities.

Enhanced safety. Numerous studies have linked untreated hearing loss to an increased risk of safety issues including accidental injuries, injuries at work and more frequent and longer hospitalizations. Using hearing aids can provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones by decreasing safety risks and delivering an enhanced sense of security.

We want you to feel safe everyday! Call Land of Lincoln Hearing today to learn more about why hearing aids are important.

Why it’s important to check your hearing regularly

We are all concerned about our health and well-being! Benjamin Franklin once said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Whether it is diabetes, cancer, heart disease or hearing loss, we have become increasingly more focused on stopping illness through preventative healthcare. It’s one reason why we’re living longer and why, if Mr. Franklin were alive today, he’d agree that “60 is the new 40.”

We get yearly physicals to monitor blood pressure, cholesterol and evaluate risks for cancer, diabetes and heart disease. We should approach our hearing the same way.

Early treatment can help prevent future issues

In recent years, research has shown that hearing is not just about our ears! Our hearing impacts many aspects of our health and life. Untreated hearing loss has been linked to increased likelihood of dementia, decreases in cognitive function, increased isolation and higher incidences of depression. Discovering and treating hearing loss sooner rather than later can ultimately improve our overall health and well-being.

Many people will wait until they are having difficulty before getting their hearing tested. The reality is that they have most likely been living with hearing loss anywhere from 5 to 15 years before they take action. Could you imagine living with high cholesterol or high blood pressure or diabetes for a dozen years before taking action?

Start with a baseline hearing test

For many of us, the last time we had our hearing checked was when we were in grade school. According to healthcare professionals, we should get a “baseline” hearing test early in our adulthood. The recommendation is around 18 or 21. If you are past 21 and have not had a baseline test, the sooner the better.

A “baseline” hearing test will provide a frame of reference for tests later in life. It is important to remember that hearing is more than just detecting beeps! A baseline hearing test will measure your sensitivity to sounds (the beeps), but it will also measure your ability to understand speech, both at soft levels and when the volume is comfortable. In addition, the overall health of the ear will be evaluated via a visual exam.

Follow-up hearing tests may be recommended 

How often you have your hearing checked after the baseline depends on a few different variables: the results of your baseline test, your risk for hearing loss, and your age are just a few. If hearing loss exists at the baseline, yearly testing is recommended.

If your risk for hearing loss is high, yearly hearing tests are also recommended. Things that increase your risk of hearing loss include noise exposure, both at work and recreational (motorcycles, guns, loud music), as well as your age. As hearing loss is found more often with increasing age, individuals 60 years of age and older are recommended to have their hearing tested every two years, if no hearing loss was apparent in their most recent test.