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Sound Advice August/September 2014

The Importance of Ear Protection During the Summer Buffalo Hearing & Speech is joining the Better Hearing Institute (BHI) in urging people to use sound judgment and earplugs this summer! The single bang of a firecracker at close range can permanently damage hearing in an instant. Buffalo Hearing & Speech and BHI are encouraging people to protect their hearing when participating in loud, summertime activities, including concerts, stock car races, the use of lawn mowers and power equipment, shooting practice, power boating, and when listening to MP3 players and other electronic devices with earbuds and headphones. Noise is one of the most common causes of hearing loss. Ten million Americans have already suffered irreversible hearing damage from noise; and 30 million are exposed to dangerous noise levels each day. Children are most vulnerable. “Noise-induced hearing loss can be life-changing, but it also is highly preventable,” says Adam Wojnowski, Au.D. That’s why BHSC is raising awareness within the Buffalo community of the risk noise poses to hearing. And we are encouraging people to both leave the fireworks to the professionals and to use earplugs when attending fireworks celebrations and noisy events like concerts. Disposable earplugs, made of foam or silicone, are typically available at local pharmacies. They’re practical because you still can hear music and the conversation of those around you when you have them in your ears. But when they fit snuggly, they’re effective in adequately blocking out dangerously loud sounds. Buffalo Hearing & Speech also reminds the Buffalo community that regular hearing checks are critically important for detecting hearing loss early and for getting appropriate help in order to minimize the negative impact that unaddressed hearing loss can have on quality of life. “Prevention is so critical to preserving our hearing, especially for children who are at highest risk for noise-induced hearing loss,” says Sergei Kochkin, PhD, BHI’s Executive Director. “So make sure your family and friends fully enjoy the summer and pack the earplugs for noisy events. Remember: close to 40% of hearing loss is preventable with proper protection.” The Dangers and Signs of Loud Noise Loudness is measured in decibels, with silence measuring at 0 dB. Any noise above 85 dB is considered unsafe. Most firecrackers produce sounds starting at 125 dB – presenting the risk of irreversible ear damage. Repeated exposure to loud noise, over an extended period of time, presents serious risks to hearing health as well. If you have to shout over the noise to be heard by someone within arm’s length, the noise is probably in the dangerous range. Here are other warning signs: • You have pain in your ears after leaving a noisy area. • You hear ringing or buzzing (tinnitus) in your ears immediately after exposure to noise.

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• You suddenly have difficulty understanding speech after exposure to noise; you can hear people talking but can’t understand them. • Anyone can take the first step to addressing hearing loss by taking a simple, interactive screening test in the privacy of their own home by going to www.hearingcheck.org. Protecting Our Hearing We hear sound when delicate hair cells in our inner ear vibrate, creating nerve signals that the brain understands as sound. But just as we can overload an electrical circuit, we also can overload these vibrating hair cells. Loud noise damages these delicate hair cells, resulting in sensorineural hearing loss and often tinnitus (ringing of the ears). The cells that are the first to be damaged or die are those that vibrate most quickly – those that allow us to hear higher-frequency sounds clearly, like the sounds of birds singing and children speaking. More About Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids Advances in digital technology have dramatically improved hearing aids in recent years, making them smaller with better sound quality. Designs are modern, sleek, and discreet. Clarity, greater directionality, better speech audibility in a variety of environments, better cell phone compatibility, less whistling and feedback than hearing aids of the past, and greater ruggedness for active lifestyles are common features.

Free Informational Session

Introducing Alta by Oticon. At last, a hearing device that’s customized exclusively for you! If you’ve started to detect changes in your hearing, you owe it to yourself to find out more about Alta! Find out how you can hear more, so you can continue to enjoy more of what life has to offer. We will be conducting free individual demonstrations of this amazing new technology on Wednesday, August 20 from 1-6pm and Friday, August 22 from 8am-3pm at our Sheridan Drive location. Please call 716.204.8680 to schedule an appointment. Better Hearing Starts at Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center

Coping with Hearing Loss It starts here, with an increased awareness of the impact hearing loss has on family life, so read on and discover how to increase your awareness of hearing loss and lower the stress levels ‘round the ol’ homestead. Be patient, even when patience is wearing thin. No one is at fault, here. Use adaptive behaviors. Stand directly in front of the individual with hearing loss to provide visual clues of what you’re saying with mouth movements. Ensure you have their attention and they are aware you are speaking to them. It’s the little things that deliver positive results. Sit close to each other in crowded, noisy spaces like restaurants or parties, and again, position yourself so eye-mouth contact is easy and un-noticed by others in the group. Even with hearing loss, you can adapt discrete behaviors to lessen the stress caused by this vexing problem.

Don’t call out from another room to an individual with hearing loss. Sound bounces from wall to wall and by the time it reaches the person with hearing loss it’s a garbled, muffled noise. Walk to where communication can take place. Turn down or get away from background noise and focus on the communication by speaking at a normal level and proving visual cues to the hearing-impaired listener. Do NOT purchase one of those low-cost, poorly-made personal sound amplifiers advertised on TV. These unregulated assisted-listening devices can actually do more damage to an already weakened hearing system.

September is Balance Awareness Month 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Balance (Vestibular) System

1. The word “vestibular” refers to the inner ear balance system. To achieve good physical balance we rely on our brain, eyes, inner ear, and muscular-skeletal system to work in harmony. Healthy people usually take balance for granted until it is impaired. 2. Over 35% of US adults aged 40 years and older (69 million Americans) have had vestibular dysfunction at some point in their lives. 3. Balance problems can occur from inner ear disease, a virus, a traumatic brain injury, poisoning by certain antibiotics (ototoxicity), autoimmune causes, migraines, and aging. 4. People with vestibular disorders can have any or all of the following symptoms: vertigo (spinning sensation), dizziness, fatigue, jumping vision, unsteadiness, “brain fog,” nausea/vomiting, hearing loss, and ringing in the ears (tinnitus). 5. People with vestibular disorders can suffer cognitive impacts, such as poor concentration, memory, and word recall; difficulty reading while tracking printed text; and impaired mental stamina. 6. Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT) has consistently been shown to be an important part of the management of vestibular patients. Research by UTMB (2000) shows that most studies state that patients who use VRT improve by 70-80%. 7. Some low-impact exercise routines can help improve balance, such as Tai Chi or use of the Wii video game console in conjunction with the Wii Balance Board. 8. Balance disorders are an invisible chronic illness – invisible because they can’t be seen by the casual observer and chronic because they may or may not get better. They are difficult to diagnose and treat, and because others can’t “see” the outward signs they may assume the patient is overreacting or faking their symptoms. 9. Some of the early research on the vestibular system came from NASA’s study on returning astronauts in the space program. 10. A support group can provide helpful information and support. To find a vestibular disorders support group in your area visit VEDA’s website at http://vestibular.org/findinghelp-support/support-directory

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August 16th – National Tell a Joke Day An older man had serious hearing problems for many years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the man to hear 100%. The old man went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, “Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.” The man replied, “Oh, I haven’t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to their conversations. I’ve changed my will three times!” _______ Morris, an 82 year-old-man, went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous lady on his arm. At his next appointment, the doctor spoke to Morris and said, “You’re really doing great, aren’t you?” Morris replied, “Just doing what you said, doc, ‘get a hot mamma and be cheerful!’” The doctor said, “I didn’t say that. I said you got a heart murmur and be careful.”

Better Hearing Starts at Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center

Why You Should Use Your Hearing Aids Consistently “I only need to wear my hearing aids when I go out” is one of the worst things you can think or do for yourself once you have made the decision to wear hearing aids.

The majority of our hearing is done in the brain and not with our ears, this is why it is so important to consistently expose the brain to sound through the use of hearing aids. The ears pick up sound and deliver it to the brain. When hearing loss is present the brain is deprived of sound at a normal level (auditory deprivation). This becomes “normal hearing” to the person with hearing loss but it is not normal hearing. The brain needs to be consistently exposed to sounds at normal levels to put them into different categories as it once did. We are retraining the brain to hear again at a normal level. Unfortunately, you will never hear as well as you did when you were a teenager and the hearing loss cannot be “cured” but the hearing will be significantly improved. Some people with hearing loss feel that their hearing is fine while they are at home or that they do not

need to hear while reading the paper or watching television. They feel it is not important to hear the furnace or air conditioning running, footsteps on the floor, people moving around in the house, etc. Actually, it is very important to hear these subtle sounds. As you hear more amplified sounds you build a tolerance to the louder volume levels of sound which helps the amplified sounds seem more natural. More exposure leads to optimal performance with hearing aids. This is all done by the brain automatically without people being aware that it is happening. Hearing loss is not only present when you go out into the noisy world. It may be more noticeable when you are in more demanding listening environments but the loss is always there. If a hearing aid wearer only wears the hearing aids occasionally, the brain has no idea what to do with all of this newly introduced noise and stimuli. This can be overwhelming and cause people to reject their hearing aids saying, “All I hear is noise.” If sound is introduced on a regular basis by wearing the hearing aids consistently, it will be more acceptable when background noise is introduced. When the hearing aids are not worn consistently the brain reverts back to the hearing loss mode which puts hearing aid wearers back to where they began — having trouble hearing. Consistent hearing aid use will help to eliminate this over-stimulation effect and sounds become very normal again. We are immersing the brain with the new sound, desensitizing it to the extraneous sounds, and allowing it to focus on listening to more important things like speech. This whole process does not happen overnight. The more consistently hearing aids are worn, the faster all sounds, both background and foreground, will become more natural. The amount of time this process can take will vary for everyone. For this reason, wearing the hearing aids regularly throughout the day is critical to “hear” the best you can in multiple situations. There is no magic number of hours that are given to suggest that the hearing aids be worn throughout the day but they should be worn as much as possible. It is recommended to wear hearing aids all of the time; except when you are sleeping, showering, having your hair done, swimming or when in a dangerously loud environment. Be patient and give your brain a chance to adapt to all of the wonderful new sounds of life!

On August 11th – We Celebrate Son and Daughter Day! Son and Daughter Day is a day to spend with your children. After all, your son and daughter are the joy of your life. We hope that everyone reading this has the opportunity in their life to see these joys born and raised happily, and successfully. Today is a great day to spend with your son and daughter. It’s not a day of gift giving… except for the gift of time. If your son and daughter are still young

and live at home with you, be ever aware that time goes by quickly. So, spend as much of today and every day in their company. Your children want to make the most of these opportunities… if you’re struggling with your hearing, your loved ones are often the first to notice. Often, it’s harder on them than it is on you.

Better Hearing Starts at Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center

Help Loved Ones Deal with Hearing Loss – the Right Way

Mission

Does someone you love often ask you to repeat what you’re saying? If so, you may not be doing your loved one a favor by repeating what you just said. Some people associate hearing loss with growing older. But in reality, hearing loss can – and does – affect people of all ages, especially in this day of loud music and other loud noises that can damage hearing. To compensate for hearing loss, people in denial often ask those around them to repeat information at greater volume, unintentionally compelling their loved ones to act as their ears. Yet acting as ears for a loved one with hearing loss in denial can actually do more harm than good. Studies link hearing loss to feelings of irritability, negativity and anger, fatigue, tension, stress, depression, social isolation, reduced alertness, impaired memory, poor job performance and earning power, and diminished psychological and overall health, according to the BHI Web site. First, understand that although you may think your efforts are loving and helpful, acting as ears for someone you love is actually counterproductive, Carmen says. With you to act as their ears, why would they seek treatment for their hearing loss? So stop repeating yourself, raising your voice, and acting as messenger. Rather, involve your entire family in your efforts to help your loved one hear independently of your help. A concerted effort can help your loved one finally admit he has a hearing problem. Carmen suggests family members explain to their loved one with hearing loss – in a calm loving voice without condemnation – that they will no longer repeat themselves or raise their voices. Instead, when the person with hearing loss asks for information to be repeated at greater volume, you will use words like “Hearing Helper” or some other signal to alert the family member with hearing loss that he is relying on someone else to act as his ears. By doing this, you help your loved one with hearing loss realize how often he has to ask for help. Hopefully, the inescapable realization will finally move him to seek treatment for his hearing loss. Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center offers innovative services to children and adults with communication disorders and specialized education needs. We believe communication is a basic human right, and as such, we offer a variety of communication-based therapies to service Niagara and Erie counties and school-based programs in Chautauqua County.

50 E. North Street | Buffalo, New York 14203

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Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center enriches lives through our caring collaborations, innovative programs and dynamic approaches that successfully impact educational, therapeutic and communication needs of children, adults and families. Vision

We will be recognized by both patients and medical professionals as a world class resource for excellence in clinical and educational outcomes for children and adults.

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www.buffalohearingcenter.com Sound Advice is a monthly newsletter of Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center. ©Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. For information contact Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center, 50 E. North Street, Buffalo, NY 14203. (716) 885-8318