Warning Signs of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is commonly referred to as an invisible health condition and early signs of hearing loss are often overlooked. Unlike other medical conditions, you can’t physically see the signs of hearing loss. Because the changes often occur gradually, it is quite common for individuals with hearing loss to find ways to cope and grow accustomed to reduced hearing acuity.Family and friends are often the first to notice. In anarticle on CNN.com, audiologist Virginia Ramachandran explained, “People don’t always perceive that they need hearing aids, because hearing loss comes on gradually. Usually they are the last person to know. “Recognizing Hearing Loss

The following questions can help identify common warning signs of hearing loss:

• Do you have difficulty following conversations?

• Do you ask others to repeat themselves?

• Do you complain that people mumble or speak too fast?

• It is difficult for you to hear and understand women and children?

• Do you have ringing in your ears?

• Do you have a favorite ear?

• Do you have trouble hearing on the telephone?

• Do you find yourself turning up the volume of your television?

• Do others complain that you keep the volume of your television too loud?

• Do you avoid noisy places?

• Do you ever feel embarrassed about misunderstanding what others say to you?

• Do you feel tired after listening in challenging environments?

Understanding Hearing Loss

Individuals with hearing loss have difficulty following conversations and understanding the voices of women and children. Most complain that people mumble or talk too fast. Hearing loss is often accompanied by tinnitus. A buildup of earwax, medication, exposure to loud sounds and hearing loss can all cause ringing in the ears, or tinnitus. The ringing might be constant or occasional, but it is often the first sign of hearing loss. Individuals with hearing loss may prefer one ear, reporting that they have a “good ear.” They may ask others to stand close to the better ear or speak directly into that ear. Those with hearing loss may even avoid challenging listening situations including conversations over the phone and noisy environments.

Treatment Options
If you answered “yes” to any of the questions listed here, schedule a complete hearing evaluation with Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers today! Effective treatments are available for hearing loss! The most common way to address hearing loss is with hearing aids, but occasionally medication or surgery is needed. A hearing consultation with a professional is the best way to find out if you have hearing loss and what options are available if you do.Take the next step to restore your hearing. Early detection has been proven to create better treatment outcomes.

Audibel is Now in Chicago

We're growing! Please come visit us in our TWO new Chicago locations! As a gift, we will give you a free pack of batteries if you mention this webpage. Conveniently located in the South Loop Roosevelt Commons right off Roosevelt Ave, and Lincoln Park near the North Ave Whole Foods - call us today to schedule your appointment!

Lincoln Park:

Chicagoland Audibel Hearing Aid Center
939 W North Ave #750, Chicago, IL, US
(224) 325-4327
View Map Here >

South Loop:

Chicagoland Hearing Aid Center
150 West Roosevelt Road Suite b201 Chicago, IL 60605(224)
325-4327
View Map Here >

Hearing Aid Myths Exposed!

Sometimes we love to mislead ourselves by believing what we want to believe or believing what others tell us to believe.As Dr. H. Gustav Mueller once said, “You have to hear what you don’t want to hear to know what you don’t want to hear.”For example, did you know that Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb? Or did you know that cracking your knuckles really doesn’t lead to arthritis and that Thomas Crapper didn’t really invent the toilet?There are a lot of examples of beliefs that we assume to be accurate, but it’s good every now and then to reevaluate what we think we know.

So how is your hearing knowledge? For many of us, it’s time to learn about some of the misconceptions about hearing loss and hearing aids.

MYTH: Hearing loss affects only “old people” and is merely a sign of aging.TRUTH:Actually it is the reverse of what most people think. 65% of people with hearing loss are younger than age 65. There are more than six million people in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 44 with hearing loss, and nearly one and a half million are school age. Hearing loss affects all age groups.

MYTH: If I had a hearing loss, my family doctor would have told me.TRUTH: Only 13% of physicians routinely screen for hearing loss during a physical.

Since most people with hearing impairments hear well in quiet environments like a doctor's office or examining room, it can be virtually impossible for your physician to recognize the extent of your problem. Without special training, and an understanding of the nature of hearing loss, it may be and can be very difficult for your doctor to even realize you have a hearing problem.

MYTH: My hearing loss is normal for my age.TRUTH: Although it may be more common for loss at your age, it is not necessarily normal. But…isn't it strange how we look at things? It happens to be "NORMAL" for overweight people to have high blood pressure. That doesn't mean they should not receive treatment for the problem.

MYTH: I can wait until my hearing gets a lot worse before I have to do something about it.TRUTH: The longer a person waits to take care of their hearing, the less a hearing aid will do for them in the future. You may suffer auditory deprivation, a possible speech impediment, and remember- untreated hearing loss carries the same symptoms as Alzheimer's disease.

MYTH: My hearing loss is not that big of a deal. I can live with it.TRUTH: According to the 1990 National Center for Health Statistics, hearing loss is listed as the third leading cause of health problems in individuals over the age of 50. Arthritis and Hypertension are one and two.

MYTH: My hearing loss does not affect anyone accept me.TRUTH: Your hearing affects everyone around you, including the ones who love you the most.

MYTH: Hearing aids are too expensive.TRUTH: Some flat screen televisions sell for $8,000 or more, but this doesn’t make us say, “All TVs are too expensive.” Just like TVs, hearing aids range in cost depending on features and performance. You can almost always ind hearing aids that fit your budget and lifestyle. The value of better hearing and a better life is almost always well worth the cost.

MYTH: You can save money buying hearing aids online.TRUTH: You wouldn’t purchase a pair of prescription glasses on the internet without consulting your eye doctor, because your glasses need to fit your vision loss. Buying hearing aids is the same. Sure, visiting a hearing specialist may be more costly, but take into account what you get for the price.You can be confident that you get the right hearing aid with the right fitting and settings, along with follow-up care, adjustments, cleanings, instructions, repair services, and more. It’s well worth it.

MYTH: I have friends that wear hearing aids and it does not seem to help them.

TRUTH: It is true that some people do not do as well as others with hearing aids. Just remember this:we all do not get the same eyesight clarity with glasses, but we still do not want to be without them. The longer you wait to correct your hearing; the less you will get in return. You have one set of ears -take care of them.

If you feel you have a hearing loss, you’re not alone. What keeps you alone is not finding the help that is needed to correct the situation. Help is just a phone call away. If you or someone you know is suffering from this debilitating problem, please contact us today for a hearing exam. Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers has 14 convenient locations across the Chicagoland area. We can guide you in the direction you need to go for proper hearing care.

For confirmation of the information provided above and any additional facts see:

http://list25.com/25-popular-myths-debunked/5/

www.betterhearing.org

We'll be back in 5! - Gone to the Starkey Hearing Expo...

Not really! Our doors are still open, but owners Benjamin Wright and Sarah Sommers are spending 5 days in Las Vegas for the premier event for independent hearing professionals. The Starkey Hearing Expo features industry experts and global thought leaders. We can't wait until they get back to hear all about how Starkey Technologies is revolutionizing the hearing aid industry and bringing new technology to our patients. Chicagoland Hearing is proud to bring the power of Starkey Technology to our patients! Want to learn more about the event and how Starkey Technologies are redefining the industry and patient experience? Click here.

Hidden Hearing Loss?

From ABC30:
"Hearing loss patient Jeff Larcomb could pass a standard hearing test just fine. But he still could not figure out what others said while in a noisy room. "It's impossible... As soon as there's competing sound, it's all mushed together," Larcomb said."I'm staring really intently at people and trying to follow their mouth and stuff like that," Larcomb continued. "It's just not normal behavior, right, and people are kind of like, 'What's this guy's deal?'"

The reason patients such as Larcomb struggled deciphering speech in noisy situations had been previously unexplained by audiologists. New research has now named the condition hidden hearing loss. "Hidden hearing loss... may very well explain a substantial number of these people who have trouble hearing in background noise," audiologist James Hall said.

Researchers studied young adults who may have regularly overexposed their ears to loud sounds and found that hidden hearing loss was associated with a disorder deep in the auditory system.The condition may also play a role in tinnitus, an experience where some hear ringing in their ears.Though not yet an official diagnosis, hidden hearing loss proves a promising start for frustrated patients. "I'm really excited about that because what I think it does is it gives credence to the fact that this patient population exists," audiologist Gail Whitelaw said.

As the research is new, there is no targeted treatment or cure. For now, audiologists said hearing aids can help in some cases, as can a greater personal awareness of the effect of background noise.”

Call Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers today to set up a free hearing evaluation.

Introducing A3i BTE 13!

Chicagoland Audibel Hearing Aid Centers in Niles Bloomingdale and Wheaton_made for iphone hearing aid

We are excited to introduce the new A3i™ BTE 13, our newest Made for iPhone® Hearing Aid. With the addition of the BTE 13 and our latest advances to our Made for iPhone Hearing Aids – the A3i family continues to break new ground leading the way in performance, personalization and connectivity.Our benchmark operating system,BluWave® 4.0, is now at the heart of all A3i BTE 13 and RIC 13 products enabling us to continually optimize audibility, comfort and sound quality to deliver Audibel Superior Sound. A3i delivers what patients want:

• A more natural listening experience through Binaural Spatial Mapping and Active Noise Control2

• Superior audibility in noisy environments thanks to our multichannel adaptive solution to directionality, Active Directional Detection and Voice Detect

• Distortion-free comfort in loud situations with ISO-Clear Compression

• Make control adjustments a thing of the past with Auto Experience Manager

Audibel’s patient-preferred TruLink™ Hearing Control app has been updated to include even more features that enhance streaming and hearing in noise to helps our patients hear better, live better and have a healthier life. With Stream Boost, our patients can have an automatic setting that boosts any incoming media stream for enhanced audio performance, while Comfort Boost allows them to aggressively reduce noise to optimize sound quality in noisy environments.A3i connects hearing and health to make life better!

The man who ate his hearing aids

We recently stumbled across a news article about a man you accidentally ate his hearing aids thinking they were cashews. You can read the full story here. Though this is obviously an extreme case of failing vision, we thought we would use the incident to remind our patients that our Bloomingdale office is located within the Wohl Eye Center.Studies have show that there is a direct correlation between vision and hearing loss in adults in older persons. This sensory decline can have a cumulative effect on well-being, quality of life and connection to family and friends. Call today to book your hearing and vision examinations!  See our full post on our eye and ear center in Bloomingdale here.

What My Hearing Aid Taught Me...

 Cool techy article out from the Atlantic on hearing aids as "wearables." ...

What My Hearing Aid Taught Me About the Future of Wearables

By Ryan Budish

I was into wearables before there was Google Glass, Apple Watch, or the Moto 360. I was into them before cheap devices told you how much you had walked, run, slept, or eaten. In fact, I’ve been into them for so long now that I’m not quite sure when it started. I think it was around when I was 5, in 1986.The wearables I started wearing as a kid and still wear today are hearing aids—or, as my audiologist euphemistically calls them, "amplification devices." Although many will never need hearing aids, today’s tech firms are making it likely that, someday soon, tiny computers will become extensions of your body, just as they have been part of mine for nearly 30 years. Thanks to that experience, I feel as though I’ve had a sneak peek into our wearable future—and I can make some predictions about what it will look like.To be fair, hearing aids are quite different from the current array of consumer wearables. Hearing aids are medical devices designed to make up for a physical impairment. By contrast, consumer wearables like the Apple Watch are luxury items that let us read text messages and measure our fitness. This distinction has legal significance: The FDA tightly regulates any device that tries to either diagnose or treat a medical condition. That means certain features are unlikely to ever exist in a consumer wearable, unless Tim Cook wants to sell watches that require a doctor’s prescription.But despite initial appearances, both medical and consumer wearables share a few important goals.Broadly speaking, both types of wearables aim to fill gaps in human capacity. As Sara Hendren aptly put it, "all technology is assistive technology." While medical devices fill gaps created by disability or illness, consumer wearables fill gaps created by being human. For example, evolution hasn’t given us brain wi-fi, yet.Both kinds of wearables also need to justify being attached to our bodies. This seems pretty obvious for hearing aids, but it is just as true for consumer devices. A wearable that serves as only a slightly more convenient screen for your phone is hardly reason for the average person to spend hundreds of dollars. Instead, wearables need to offer a feature that works best when in close contact with your body, like measuring heart rate or offering haptic feedback.Also, both types of wearables need to embed themselves seamlessly into our experiences. If a wearable obstructs your experience of the real world, or is a distraction, it’s likely to end up on a shelf instead of your wrist. That’s not to say that they don’t take getting used to—even after a lifetime of wearing hearing aids, it still takes me several weeks to adjust to a new pair. But after that period, a well-made wearable should seem like a seamless extension of our bodies.In my current role at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, I’m lucky to be able to study something I care deeply about: technology’s impact on our lives. I’m sure my interest partly arises from how I’ve depended on technology for as long as I can remember. I don’t know with certainty how consumer wearables will develop, but what I do know is how much hearing aids have changed over the last 30 years. And I have some insight into what sensory-enhancing wearables—like hearing aids, and unlike data-recording wearables like pedometers—could someday become. Over the next few years, I expect that we will see four trends, rich in both opportunity and peril, shape the evolution of these wearables from toys into tools.* * *

1. Wearables will create substitute realities.

In order to justify being part of our bodies, wearables need to offer something beyond an additional screen or input device. This means that sensory-enhancing wearables will need to mediate between reality and our experiences, altering our perception of the world around us.For hearing aids, that role is enhancing sound, replacing the too-soft sounds of the real world with louder, more comprehensible ones. But modern hearing aids don’t simply make everything louder; instead, they provide a substitute soundscape tailored to my needs and my environment. When I go into a loud restaurant, the devices can identify the clatter of glasses and the din of conversation, and tune out those sounds, while tuning into the sound of a nearby voice. The result is an audio experience that is substantially different from the objective reality; the device replaces a reality that would be challenging with a substitute that is easier to understand and utilize.Just as hearing aids replace one soundscape with another, future wearables will be able to alter the way we experience the world. Microsoft’s recently announced HoloLens, for example, will be able to help a homeowner perform their own electrical repairs by projecting instructions, visuals aids, and even expert advice right onto an exposed electrical outlet. In that way, future wearables will replace traditional sensory or communications experiences with ones that are richer and deeper.

2. Wearables will be ruled by algorithms.

The process of substituting realities means that our perceptions of the world around us will become increasingly mediated by algorithms that we do not control or even understand. The world I hear through my hearing aids is a world interpreted and translated through millions of calculations a second. Algorithms determine whether a sound in the distance is the whir of a refrigerator compressor or the whisper of your friend. If it works correctly, I may not hear the compressor at all. But if it works incorrectly, I may not hear my friend at all.Medical devices are already increasingly ruled by complex algorithms. Just as hearing aid algorithms determine what sounds are amplified and what sounds are muted, pacemaker algorithms determine when to deliver an electronic pulse to the heart. And bionic pancreas algorithms determine when to deliver additional insulin. In these examples, the algorithms don’t just shape the perception of reality—they make life-saving decisions.

Related Story

The Atlantic: Computers Are Getting Better Than Humans at Facial Recognition

The influence of algorithms is nothing new. They shape a lot of what we perceive online. When used in wearable devices that shape our perceptions of the world around us, algorithms can have a profound impact. For example, a device that reads facial expressions to assess moods could affect how you approach your boss, or whether you think your significant other is mad at you. Or a device that hides stressful visual stimuli could remove an annoying ad on your subway commute, but it could just as easily remove a helpful PSA. As wearables do more to reshape our realities, the way we perceive the world will become increasingly shaped by the algorithms that govern those devices.Not only does that make our perceptions increasingly dependent on algorithms, but it makes our perceptions increasingly dependent on the people who make those algorithms. My hearing aids use increasingly complex algorithms. Although a trained audiologist can adjust the devices to my unique needs, as the algorithms become more complex, the opportunities for customization become paradoxically more limited. My hearing aids, for example, have 20 independently adjustable audio channels, and while my audiologist can adjust each one, he usually adjusts them in groups of 6 or 7 channels at a time. If consumer wearables don’t offer significant opportunities for customization (or provide access to an expert who can help customize the experience), it will leave users even more dependent on the default algorithms.

3. Wearables will fail invisibly.

The more we rely on wearables to interpret the outside world for us, it will become critical for devices to communicate failures. And the more seamless the experience of wearables becomes, the harder it is to know when it isn’t working as intended.In some cases failures are obvious: If my hearing aid doesn’t turn on, then I can take steps to address the issue. However, in other cases failure is less obvious. At a meeting a few months ago, I was sitting near a loud air conditioner that made it difficult to hear the people across the table. I knew my hearing aids should reduce the background noise, but because the aids produce sounds using complex, personalized algorithms, I had no way of knowing whether the hearing aids were malfunctioning or whether the air conditioner was just too loud. The more personalized the device and the subjective experience it creates, the harder it is to know when things are going wrong.Future wearables will likely do incredibly complex things, and when the results are unexpected we may trust that the device knows best, privy to secret knowledge or power. But sometimes it will just be wrong. Identifying whether what we see or hear is the proper functioning, the outcome of an inscrutable algorithm, or simply a failure, may be quite challenging.

4. Wearables will record everything.

If failures are hard to detect, the solution is just as challenging: pervasive recording. The more the behavior of wearables is dependent on context and inputs, the more that troubleshooting requires data collection. After a plane crash, one of the first things that investigators look for is the "black box" flight data recorder, because it is often impossible to reconstruct what went wrong without also knowing things like the airspeed, the throttle, and the position of the flaps and gears. Troubleshooting wearables presents many of the same challenges.When I go to my audiologist, I can tell him that I didn’t think my hearing aids worked correctly at a noisy restaurant a few weeks ago. But without a record of the the noisy environment and the sound I heard from the aids, he can only guess about what happened. For the user, this trial-and-error form of troubleshooting can be frustrating, especially when it involves multiple trips to the audiologist for readjustments.Up until recently, the idea of storing gigabytes of data on a hearing aid would have been absurd. The devices didn’t have sufficient storage and persistent recording would sap the already-limited battery life. But the newest hearing aids now record certain types of data for diagnostic purposes. If I raise or lower the volume on the aids, the device records information about the new setting and lets my audiologist download the data at a later date. As data storage becomes cheaper and power efficiency improves, the collection of additional data could help the device be better fitted to my needs and enable better troubleshooting.The same drive toward additional data collection will happen in consumer wearables as well. How do you know if your mood-identifying glasses are working correctly? That requires knowing both the input (the image of someone’s face or their voice) and the output (the identified mood). It would be easy to store still images of faces for diagnostic purposes and troubleshooting, and just as easy to upload them to the device manufacturer to help improve their algorithms.In some cases, storage may not even be necessary as consumer wearables might transmit everything in real time to centralized servers for processing. With limited processing power and battery life, wearables might offload computationally intensive processing to centralized computers. This is what Apple does (or used to do) with Siri, where at least some analysis of your voice request is processed on remote Nuance servers. Although this enables more complex analysis than small wearables might be able to do otherwise, it also creates greater privacy concerns as more data is transmitted to, stored by, and kept by others.* * *

When I got my first pair of hearing aids, they were large and analog, and my audiologist made adjustments to the sound outputs using a small screwdriver. My hearing aids today are so small they can fit invisibly in the ear canal, and my audiologist adjusts them wirelessly on computer. The pace of progress has been astounding, and I have no doubt that progress has changed my life for the better in significant and concrete ways.The price of progress, however, is complexity. Older hearing aids had limited customization, altered sounds in very basic and predictable ways, failed in obvious ways, and didn’t collect data. Now things are different. The endless customization available in new aids creates more opportunities for mistakes. The complex algorithms make it harder to diagnose problems. The total substitution of experience stifles attempts to identify errors. And increasing data collection means hearing aids may soon have to grapple with thorny issues of privacy.The same holds true for consumer wearables. If they follow the path of hearing aids, future generations of wearables will be more immersive, more complex, more difficult to troubleshoot, and more pervasive in their data collection. As long as we see wearables as toys or luxury goods, it is easy to write off these challenges. But there is a real opportunity for wearables to improve the lives of many in substantial ways just as they’ve improved my life since 1986. To realize those improvements, we cannot ignore these trends, and we must take wearables seriously as the indispensable tools they will soon become.This article available online here.

Find Tinnitus Relief in 2015

Every year more than 50 million Americans experience persistent ringing in the ears both day and night. This condition, called tinnitus, is one of the most common hearing loss-related impairments that historically had very few solutions. However, over the past two years, Audibel has been helping numerous patients finally find the relief that they have been looking for with the A3 tinnitus device.Up until the introduction of the Audibel A3 tinnitus device, the best clinical treatment suggestions had been a mixture of preventative actions and therapeutic solutions. Traditional methods for dealing with tinnitus have been more focused on coping with the condition instead of managing the condition, similar to what is described in this Harvard Health Publications article. However, the A3 tinnitus device helps to cover up the tinnitus by creating a sound stimulus to soothe the irritating ringing.While the ability to diminish the tinnitus side effects with the A3device varies by individual, the large majority of wearers have reported success! To learn more about tinnitus options and to try an in-office trial of the Audible A3 tinnitus device, simply visit our Contact Us page or call our office during regular business hours. We want to help you find your tinnitus relief! 

Talking About Hearing Loss is A Matter of Timing

Talking to a loved one about their hearing loss is a difficult thing to do. Each holiday season, millions of American struggle with hearing loss at social gatherings around Thanksgiving, religious holidays and New Year's Eve. For some there is embarrassment and frustration. For others their family and friends are more burdened by the challenge of communicating to their loved one with hearing loss. Since awareness for hearing difficulties tends to reach its height this time of year, we want to offer suggestions for knowing when it is best to speak to a loved one about addressing hearing loss.Accepting change is often said to be one of the hardest things to do. In fact, it has been found that there are many stages in the process such as anger, denial and, ultimately, acceptance. Far too often those with hearing loss are pushed too hard into making a hearing aid technology purchase at the early stages of this process. Many individuals will return the product and subsequently wait several more years until taking the needed actions. Just like changing any habit or situation for the better, it takes the proper mental commitment from the impacted party for successful outcomes. For a concerned loved one it is important to employ caring and patience in your sentiment when speaking to a loved one about their hearing loss. Patience is extremely important as this individual should be shown the respect to make the decision, when they are ready.By taking this suggested approach, the best possible outcomes will be achieved for all parties involved in that the loved one will be committed to improving their hearing and getting the most out of their investment. If you would like additional assistance in crafting your approach for speaking to a loved one about their hearing loss, simply reach out to our office by phone or submitting your information on our Contact Us page. Also, when that person is ready to take the first step, we offer complimentary hearing consultation appointments to help determine the best course of action for gaining better hearing.

Better Hearing Can Help Overall Health

Every New Year brings many new resolutions. Most often we aim to have better dietary habits, exercise more often or get adequate rest every night. Rarely does anyone consider taking better care of his or her hearing health! However, senses, especially hearing, play a vital role in overall health and wellness. Here are several reasons why having your hearing checked annually is an opportunity to be healthier now and in the future.Most people make a goal to regularly visit their dentist, eye specialist and physician for annual check-ups.  So why is having an annual hearing screening so commonly neglected? The biggest reason might be that symptoms from a toothache, high blood pressure or poor vision are much more noticeable than symptoms of hearing loss. Those symptoms are often more subdued over time, even though hearing is a crucial part of our quality of life.Numerous studies have shown a direct correlation between the likelihood of getting dementia and people who have untreated hearing loss.  However, a Johns Hopkins University study showed that a majority of people who treated their hearing loss with hearing aid technology were able to ward off dementia symptoms for several years. Additionally, hearing loss has been linked to heart health as the inner ear is a sensitive to blood flow and can indicate abnormalities in heart function.A simple, yearly hearing screening, which we offer at no cost, can go a long way to prevent possible health complications down the road. To get your annual hearing screening scheduled for yourself or a loved one, simply click here <contact us> and call our office during regular business hours. 

Modern Hearing Aids are like a Computer for Your Ears

Often we jokingly say, “These aren’t your grandpa’s hearing aids,” but nothing could be truer. Today’s hearing aid technology is truly a marvel in sophistication and design. Digital hearing aids encompass much more than a simple microphone and receiver. In fact, a microchip circuit board allows a wide range of features, programs and settings to function simultaneously and tailor to the individual’s unique hearing needs. In this blog we will explore what makes up a hearing aid and its many capabilities.Don’t let size fool you! Whether a larger on-the-ear device or a miniature in-the-canal device, all of today’s hearing aids are packaged with several complex components to produce the most comfortable sound amplification possible. There are five main parts to hearing aid technology. The microphone is the primary component that picks up sounds and determines the environmental settings. From there, the sound is transmitted to the circuit board for processing. This component is essentially the ‘brains’ of the hearing aid, just like the processor in a computer or mobile device.  Once the sound is processed, it is emitted to the wearer via the receiver; amplifying the sound based on the listener’s unique hearing loss needs.The antenna is an increasingly important component. As hearing aid technology continues to sync with media devices and smartphones for audio streaming capabilities, the hearing aid antenna is the primary component that picks up those streaming signals. Lastly, the battery supplies the energy needed to continuously power all of these parts for optimal performance.As you can see, today’s hearing aids are truly ‘computers for your ears.’ We encourage anyone to participate in our hearing aid trial programs, whether you’re considering using hearing aid technology for the first time or upgrading an older pair of devices. Simply submit your information on our Contact Us page or call our office during business hours. We look forward to showing you more about this sophisticated technology! 

Chicagoland Audible's 5 Steps to Better Hearing

Having a hearing loss is not something that most people get excited about. However, with the right attitude and approach, it can actually be a very manageable condition to care for. In my years of caring for those with hearing loss, I have seen time and time again peoplemake remarkable improvements by simply dedicating themselves to getting the most out of wearing a hearing aid. With hopes of similar outcomes in the future I am sharing 5 simple steps to better hearing for you or a loved one to use.

1. Admit that your hearing is not what it may used to be. Understanding your hearing has changed is difficult at first, but the sooner one begins to seek a solution the more likely they are to maintain critical speech comprehension abilities and avoid unnecessary struggles.

2. Keep an open mind and positive attitude while seeking help. Like we have all been told from a young age, attitude is everything. The same applies to having success in treating your hearing loss. Since everyone's hearing loss is unique, there are a lot of options available to consider. We strive to present those solutions that are best for you.

3. Learn about your hearing problem. Get educated on what may have caused your hearing loss and what the best solutions are for treatment and extended care. We will make sure every patient is aware of the factors and given the resources needed to be successful.

4. Set realistic expectations for hearing aids. As was mentioned in step 1, expectations for restoring perfect hearing are not realistic. Today’s hearing aid technology has produced tremendous hearing benefits for wearers. Your focus should be on improving your hearing abilities with hearing aids at a slow, gradual pace as you adapt to wearing a hearing aid.

5. Patience, practice and time are critical to success. As with anything good, it comes from hard work and practice. Improved hearing in various situations is no different. At first, regaining comprehension abilities for sounds that have not been heard in years may be difficult. However, the reward will be yours to eventually hear simple sounds that mayhave been lost, even perhaps the songs of birds on a nice day.

We are aware that an investment of money and time into hearing aids is not alwayspreferred. Yet, we are confident that with the right attitude the benefits of better hearing will justify those investments on a daily basis for you. We aim to make the process of gaining satisfaction with improved hearing as simple as possible. To start your hearing journey or help a loved one get the care they need, contact us today - visit our Contact Us page now.

We Have an App for That!

It appears as if every business has an app to support the customer shopping experience, but not many offer apps to help you after a product is purchased. We presently offer several apps aimed at helping you understand hearing loss and ensuring you get the most out of your hearing aids. Read on to learn about these apps provided by our manufacturing partner, Audibel, and the features they offer.Several of our hearing apps are used at specific milestones in your journey to better hearing. One such app is called SoundCheck. It offers a free hearing screener to test you or a loved for any symptoms of hearing loss. For new hearing aid wearers, Hear Coach offers auditory rehab games to help you re-learn how to perceive sound and understand speech. For current hearing aid wearers, we offer many user-friendly apps such as the T2 Remote app. It enables your smartphone to function as a wireless remote for adjusting your hearing aids. Another smartphone app, the TruLink™ Hearing Control app, connects to our Made for iPhone® hearing devices to offer numerous personalized options, including remembering your favorite locations and automatically changing settings to accommodate each.As you can begin to see, there are many apps to choose from and more are on the way! With these apps, more individuals can test for symptoms of hearing loss and enjoy the added benefits as current hearing aid wearers. To start your hearing journey or learn more about which iPad® and smartphone apps we offer, simply contact us! 

Becoming Master Artists of Better Hearing

Many times when people ask why someone wants to become a hearing care specialist, they say a loved one was given the gift of being able to hear again and they want to share that with others. Yet rarely does anyone ask what it takes to become a practicing hearing specialist. Let’s take a look at the requisites needed to receive certification for dispensing and fitting hearing aids.While every state has slightly different requirements for its hearing instrument specialist certification, there are still many common fundamentals for all specialists-in-training.  

Just like other specialized professions, there is a governing board called the National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences. It requires examinations as well as experience working with a current, certified hearing instrument specialist. The exam requires extensive time studying and preparing for questions on varying topics such as assessing patient needs, analyzing test results, fitting hearing aids, counseling practices and much more. Additionally, a letter of recommendation from a current employer confirming at least 15 months of supervised hearing aid dispensing is a mandatory requirement to even take the exam.  Once certified, continuing education is required to maintain our license and stay at the cutting edge of hearing technology and patient care.

We are very serious about the level of care given to our patients and hearing aid technology that assists your hearing difficulties. Our goal has always been, since we started down the path to a certified hearing specialist, to help you or a loved one with hearing needs. If you have hearing-related questions, reach out to us using our Contact Us page or call the office during business hours.

How to Buy the Right Hearing Aid

When a hearing aid is recommended, the hearing healthcare professional tries to offer the best option for that particular patient’s unique listening needs. As part of that decision, consider a few important factors such as lifestyle hearing needs, technology features and cost. In this blog we discuss each factor to help anyone who is considering purchasing a new hearing aid.The first consideration is how hearing needs interact with a lifestyle. For people who are active in the community or workforce, managing background noise is an important feature to consider. New hearing aid technology offers many levels of this sophisticated feature to help speech clarity in noisy settings. This allows for more comfortable listening experiences in social venues such as loud restaurants, meeting rooms or gatherings.Also consider the overall sophistication of the technology. Not only does hearing aid technology help manage background noise, but it also helps with compatibility with media devices and with telephone conversations. For example, the new Audibel A3i™ hearing aids are Made for iPhone® devices which allow the user to wirelessly sync hearing aids to an iPhone® to stream music, television and phone calls.Lastly consider cost. This is a significant concern for many people, but we advise not letting it be the primary decision-maker. There are many cheap, quality hearing aid solutions for anyone who needs hearing assistance. In particular, we offer no-interest financing plans to help manage the cost of new hearing aid technology.We recommend always taking advantage of hearing consultations to determine the degree of hearing loss and then discussing the most beneficial hearing aid technology options with a professional. To get started, simply call during business hours or submit your information on the Contact Us page.  We look forward to helping you find the right hearing aid technology.

Don’t Let Earwax Spook You!

This Halloween we are going to discuss a topic that is very scary for many patients; earwax! Earwax isn’t just spooky because of its unsightly appearance, but it can also terrify in-the-ear hearing aid wearers for fear of repairs due to buildup. However there is reason to rejoice for Audibel hearing aid patients! The new wax guard protectors have alleviated most occurrences of earwax buildup that may cause damage to hearing aids.Everyone's ears produce earwax to different degrees. For some individuals, their earwax production is much higher than others, causing greater chances of damage to in-the-ear styles of hearing aids. Wax guards use plastic tubing that is placed within the hearing aid receiver. This catches any wax that would normally find its way into the hearing aid components when the devices are inserted and removed from the ear canal. These wax guards are simple to insert into the hearing aids and even easier to remove with a simple tool. While the cost for wax guard protection packs is minimal, the savings can be huge by avoiding potential costly out-of-warranty repairs.Though earwax is nothing to be afraid of, it is important to protect your hearing aids from unnecessary repairs due to earwax on the components. If you are presently wearing hearing aids or considering a purchase and have concerns or questions about earwax protection, simply submit your inquiry on our Contact Us page or call our office during business hours. We’re always happy to answer your questions!

Seeking old hearing aids to help children hear.

One of our favorite patients (who are we kidding, we love them all!) came across a newspaper article from the Wheaton Leader that was written up about us a few years back and brought it into our office. They wanted to know if they could still donate their old hearing aids to help children around the world hear better. We said of course! We are quickly approaching our 6th year in partnership with the So the World May Hear charity of Starkey Hearing Foundation, and we feel like that is a reason to celebrate!

In recognition of the upcoming anniversary, we thought it would be great to get the article and information out to our patients again - as a reminder that we would love to have you join in our fight to ensure quality hearing for ALL children in need! Thank you to all of the kind-hearted patients who have already joined us in helping children hear around the world. It is because of YOU we can make a difference. Read about the charity in the full newspaper article here: Audibel specialist Benjamin Wright in Wheaton seeks old hearing aids to help children through So the World May Hear charity of Starkey Hearing Foundation, Wheaton, Ill.

Do it Through a charitable project, you can donate old hearing aids of any style and vintage to be recycled into new hearing instruments for children in need within the United States and around the world. Coordinating collections at his three suburban offices is Benjamin Wright, the hearing instrument specialist who owns Chicagoland Audibel. He says the So the World May Hear outreach mission is under the auspices of the Starkey Hearing Foundation. The Starkey company manufactures the Audibel brand of hearing instruments, a newer term for hearing aids that Wright says reflects technological advancements within the last few years. Starkey has dedicated an entire department to rebuilding hearing instruments for charity.

“(I) partner with Audibel because of their technology and because of the philanthropic work that they do,” Wright says.

Whom it helps “We believe everyone deserves a chance to hear,” says Wright of the project. “By donating hearing aids and accepting other donations, we are able to help the whole world hear better. One child at a time, we can really make a difference and an impact in their lives. The goal is to fit 1 million children (with hearing aids) this decade.” He says in the last one, 335,000 kids were helped.

Wright says there are additional avenues for people to find assistance, and notes he offers free hearing tests to anyone in the community.

“We also have a Hear Now program, where we can help people who can’t afford new hearing aids (in) our area,” he says. “(There’s) a small fee for the application. As long as (they’re) approved, we can fit them with hearing aids at no charge. We’re a mom-and-pop family business trying to help the community.”

How to help Donate any hearing aids no longer being used. The project takes them apart for such components as microphone and receiver.

“No matter the age or the style, we can salvage it for parts (and) put it to use,” Wright says.

Also sought are monetary donations to help fund the work, as well as trips overseas to fit children with the devices that can open up the world to them. Gifts can be made through Wright’s offices or the Starkey Hearing Foundation.

--By Renee Tomell, rtomell@mysuburbanlife.com Wheaton Leader

Original article here: Audibel specialist Benjamin Wright in Wheaton seeks old hearing aids to help children through So the World May Hear charity of Starkey Hearing Foundation, Wheaton, Ill.

The Costs of Better Hearing

One of the most common questions we receive from new patients is, “How much do your hearing aids cost?” Many are surprised to learn that the price can range from several thousand dollars to several hundred dollars, depending on how sophisticated the hearing technology is. We respect that an investment in hearing aid technology, for yourself or a loved one, can be a major financial decision. Yet, it is equally important to consider the personal costs of not purchasing a hearing aid when needed and going through life with limited hearing.Too often the cost of hearing aids prevents an individual from taking the action they need to improve their hearing difficulties. Unfortunately, many patients realize the importance of better hearing after they have struggled to enjoy an important event, like a child’s wedding, a family gathering or a reunion. We want to make sure everyone is aware of the personal costs associated with missing out on these moments.As for the cost of hearing aid technology, every year the technology significantly improves to better meet the lifestyle demands of a wide variety of users. These advances include management of background noise in conversations, smaller styles for less visibility and even options to wirelessly stream audio of phone calls and TV. The millions of dollars that manufacturers invest every year into developing this technology contribute to the price of hearing aids today.We understand every patient has a different budget and we offer many affordable hearing aid options as well as patient financing programs with no-interest plans. To get started with a free consultation to evaluate affordable hearing aid technology options, simply submit your information on our Contact Us page or call our office during business hours. 

Small Buttons on Hearing Aids Causing Frustration?

We sometimes hear from patients with arthritis or other dexterity issues that they have a tough time operating the buttons on their digital hearing aids. We understand that it’s a real frustration and one that some people don’t consider until after purchasing a hearing device. Fortunately, we have a couple of options that will make it easier for you (or a loved one) to personally program and have success with your hearing devices.

While it’s exciting that hearing aids have become smaller and more trendy, the buttons have also become smaller, which can present problems for people with poor dexterity. There are two user-friendly smartphone apps available to help! If you download the free Audibel T2 Remote app, it will enable your smartphone to function as a wireless remote for adjusting your hearing aids. You’ll be able to adjust volume, switch memories and mute your devices if you would like. The other free downloadable app is TruLink™ Hearing Control, which is for our more technology savvy patients. This app pairs specifically with the Made for iPhone® Audibel A3i™ Hearing Aids. In addition to allowing you to easily change volume and memories, this app also remembers your favorite places and automatically switches to your preferred settings when at those locations. It offers a variety of other features worth checking out as well.

AudibelT2

If you don’t have a smartphone, the SurfLink® Remote accessory is another option to consider. Keep it in your pocket or purse and change the settings on your wireless hearing aids just like a television remote.

We want you to have a satisfying experience with your hearing aids and these tools are one way to help you. If you need help deciding which option works best for you – give us a call or email us here. We can help you decide which hearing aids are right for you and your lifestyle.