The Hearing Knowledge Hub
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OOPS!! You got your hearing aids wet! Tips to help
One of the hottest topics for our clients at this time of year is whether they can wear their hearing aids for a dip in the pool or sea. Our answer? Unless you have devices that are specifically marketed as being waterproof – such as the Phonak Audeo Life – it’s a resounding ‘no’! As with any electronic device, water is no friend to your hearing aids. Yes, most hearing aid models are water-resistant, but that’s very different from waterproof! You can wear water-resistant devices for a run or in light rain, but they shouldn’t be worn in the shower or when swimming, surfing, or for any other water sports.…
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Does your child have Auditory Processing Disorder?
Supporting every child to fulfil their potential It’s the start of the school year for many schools. If your little one is starting school for the first time, or even if they’ve been at school for a few years, it’s important to be alert to any potential hearing issues they may have. Children are great at compensating for any problems, and never want to feel singled out. However, left unchecked, and any hearing or learning problems can have a serious impact on your child’s language development, confidence, social skills and performance at school. Around 5% of school age children experience auditory processing difficulties, or APD, which is a hearing problem.…
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Genetic Testing can help save newborn hearing.
Imagine being the parent of a baby admitted to intensive care and needing antibiotics. You don’t question what antibiotics they are, or their long-term effects. However, one in 500 babies born in the UK possess a gene that can lead to permanent hearing loss if they’re given the common emergency antibiotic, Gentamicin. The first hour of a baby’s treatment in an Emergency Department is key. Up until now, any test to show a genetic vulnerability to Gentamicin took days for results to be known. By which time, antibiotics had been administered. But a new genetic test trialled by the NHS now takes less than half an hour to show if…
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Hearing underwater
Hearing in a watery world. If you’re lucky enough to be heading off on a summer holiday this year, have a listen to what you can and can’t hear as you dive into the hotel pool and submerge yourself in a watery world. Consciously listen to the difference in sounds that you hear underwater compared to those you experience on dry land. Underwater, sounds are muffled, and it’s hard to work out where they’re coming from – left, right, back or front. That’s because, underwater, we pick up very little sound via our normal hearing pathway. Instead, sound tends to travel directly through the head. It also travels much faster…
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Diabetes and hearing loss
Discover the diabetes-hearing loss link Today marks the start of Diabetes Awareness Week, making this the perfect time to highlight the link between hearing loss and diabetes. Did you know that hearing loss is twice as common in adults with diabetes compared to those who don’t have the disease? While the cause of hearing loss here isn’t fully known, it’s widely thought that nerve damage is to blame. The prolonged high blood glucose levels associated with diabetes may affect the supply of blood or oxygen to the nerves and blood vessels of the inner ear, in much the same way as diabetes damages blood vessels and nerves in other parts…
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New book to guide your through hearing loss
If you’re living with hearing loss – perhaps you’ve only recently learnt that you have a hearing loss – you may find it hard to come to terms with the news. Luckily, there’s a newly published book that may help you to change the way you feel about hearing loss. ‘Hear & Beyond: Live skillfully with hearing loss’ is by author, blogger and film maker, Shari Eberts, who has an adult-onset, genetic hearing loss. She has co-written the book with Gael Hannan, a speaker, writer and trainer on hearing loss issues who has severe-to-profound hearing loss, which was diagnosed at age three. Both women bring their experiences to this easy-to-read…
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Noise pollution
The creators of a new technological innovation are hoping to give city dwellers a chance to open their windows untroubled by noise from the street. The Sound Eclipse, designed by design firm Kristil & Shamina, hangs in a window with a microphone on the back of the device to capture noise from the outside. Speakers on the room-facing side emit sound waves that match and invert the wave of the external sounds, cancelling them out. Tests show that Sound Eclipse reduces noise by up to 15 decibels, similar to wearing noise-cancelling headphones. The prototype of the Sound Eclipse is one of six finalists in the prestigious…
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Electrodes stimulate the hearing brain to improve hearing speech in noise
Sometimes the biggest scientific breakthroughs happen by accident. Recently surgeons found that stimulating a specific part of the brain’s auditory cortex near the planum temporale immediately improved speech perception over background noise. They happened to be implanting electrodes into a patient’s brain to pinpoint the area that triggered the person’s epilepsy seizures – a tactic used in severe cases of the condition. Surgeons stimulated the patient’s planum temporale while playing sound clips of someone talking in extensive background noise. The patient deciphered the spoken sentence and rated the clarity as a 4 or 5 out of 5. Without stimulation, the patient could hear only a few of the words and rated…
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103 year old gets cochlear implant
When 103-year-old Leslie Hodgson went to the hospital on his birthday, he told doctors that he had researched cochlear implants, and it was time for him to have one. Leslie, who is also registered blind, underwent the procedure to fit the electronic device in March at James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough. The implant, which was inserted behind his ear, uses electrical stimulation to provide a sense of sound.The retired architect from Cumbria has no family and lost touch with friends after losing his hearing 10 years ago. He had communicated with friends via telephone but even that became too difficult. Surgeon Noweed Ahmad, who fitted Leslie’s cochlear implant, said: “Leslie…
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Tips to help with Auditory Processing Disorder
How to live well with auditory processing disorder (APD) If we diagnose you or a loved one with APD, it’s important to know that there’s plenty that can be done to manage the condition so you get the most out of each day. Use the technology available: There are excellent amplification and assisted listening devices to help you to hear a person who is speaking and to block out background noise. We’ll advise you of the best option for you and your situation. Brain training: No matter what your age, your brain can improve its processing skills. We can support you with brain training programmes to enhance your ability to…
