Age-related hearing loss
Age-related hearing loss is known as presbycusis. Several studies have revealed that hearing loss has many adverse consequences that should give cause for concern. When someone loses their hearing, it can affect relationships with loved ones and service providers alike. Hearing loss sufferers may shy away from interactions, avoid discussion, and reduce their participation in recreational activities. Even family dynamics can deteriorate if loved ones fail to understand the impact of
Myths surrounding the use of hearing aids
Are you embarrassed to wear glasses because you want to keep others from knowing you have vision problems? Are you always pushing off correcting your vision until later? Do you use a magnifying glass to read the newspaper instead of wearing your glasses? Then why keep your hearing problems a secret? If you have a hearing loss, why are you embarrassed about wearing hearing aids? Could it be the myths surrounding
The negative effects of diminished auditory discrimination on the performance of your hearing aids
When getting fitted for hear-ing aids, certain obstacles can influence the expected results (hearing aids + % discrimi-nation = expected results). One such obsta-cle is diminished auditory discrim-i-nation, represented as a percent-age on your hearing test results. To determine this percentage, the audiologist has the patient listen to several words and repeat them. The purpose of this test is to measure the patient’s ability to recognize words at a comfortable loudness
Interview with Marie-Josée Taillefer: Making deafness visible!
Marie-Josée Taillefer is the spokesperson for the inaugural fundraising campaign for the Fondation Sourdine pour l’École oraliste de Québec pour enfants malentendants ou sourds, and she met our interview request with enthusiasm. As the inspirational parents of two deaf children, Marie-Josée Taillefer and her husband René Simard understand better than anyone the importance of our awareness campaign, which seeks to inform people about the impact hearing has on our daily lives. When
The Zen program: Clinically proven to help reduce the effects of tinnitus
Do you hear a noise in your ears? If so, you’re not alone. Tinnitus is a condition characterized by constant or intermittent sounds such as ringing, whistling or buzzing. It is a common problem that is unrelated to age or hearing ability, such as whether or not the sufferer has a hearing loss. Over 70% of hearing-impaired individuals report some degree of tinnitus without it necessarily posing a problem. Of that
Sensory deprivation
It is common for those suffering from hearing loss, and the people in their lives, to underestimate this problem, in light of the embarrassment they may endure as a result of existing prejudices. Hearing-impaired individuals wait an average of seven years before seeking professional help. Not only does that long wait force them to struggle with daily hearing difficulties, but depriving themselves of proper hearing also has repercussions on their
Tinnitus in a nutshell
If you frequently hear a noise in your ears or in your head for more than five minutes, when there is no actual sound to be heard, you may have tinnitus. Tinnitus is a condition that affects 10% to 15% of the population. That rate is four times higher among people who work in noisy environments. In over 90% of cases, only the person with tinnitus can hear it; the sound
Tinnitus in children: Myth or reality?
Tinnitus is a condition whose existence is well established in adults. Regardless whether it is continuous or intermittent, whether the sound is low-pitched or high, or whether it is heard in just one ear or both, it can have a major impact on the quality of life of many adults. So it’s worth asking: do children have tinnitus too? For many years, it was believed that children were unaffected by tinnitus. Yet
The ABCs of Protecting our Children’s Hearing
When thinking about hearing loss resulting from exposure to loud noise, one may often think this only concerns workers in industrial settings. However, our children’s hearing may also be at risk if they are exposed to loud sounds or noises. This article briefly presents a few points that parents should be aware of regarding their children’s hearing and how noise may affect it. What happens when the ear is exposed to high levels
I have a hearing loss, what do I do now?
After a thorough assessment of your hearing, you recently found out that you have a hearing loss. Now that you’ve gone through a range of emotions, you suddenly find yourself full of questions. Know this: you are not alone! More than 10% of the population has some form of hearing impairment. What should I do? First and foremost, you should make an appointment with an audioprosthetist. These are the only health professionals
Does my child have a hearing loss? How can I know for sure?
It is difficult for parents to accept the notion that their child may have a hearing loss, especially if he is in perfect health and no one else in the family is hearing impaired. Deafness in children often goes unnoticed from family members and health care professionals, until the child begins to show signs of delays in his or her language development. Generally speaking, hearing impairments are only detected after
Hearing without ears (auditory brainstem implant)
Nowadays, it is possible to hear without ears. People who are completely deaf in both ears and who do not have an auditory nerve between the brain and the ear can now benefit from a new auditory technology. An auditory implant can be implanted in a part of the brain that is accessed via the ear and mastoid. The implant is placed in the wall of the lateral recess of the
The importance of early hearing loss detection in people over 50
When our children head back to school, eye exams, dental checkups, vaccines and even auditory tests should make the list of important things to do to get them started on the right foot. For adults, annual medical checkups are now the norm over the age of 50. But where does hearing health fit in? Although close to one in five people aged 45 to 65, and nearly one in three people
Hearing: One of our most vulnerable senses
Our hearing is one of the most vulnerable senses. In the past, people working in certain industries were at a much greater risk of hearing loss. Today, sound pollution permeates the world of entertainment and leisure, and there are no signs of stopping, with engines too powerful for our needs and excessive noise levels from such things as motorcycles, jet skis and snowmobiles. While speed limits are being lowered on our
Presbycusis: Why deprive oneself of the joys of hearing?
Presbycusis is the leading cause of deafness in humans. It is the slow, gradual loss of hearing in people over 50. People suf-fering from this condition report increasing difficulty understanding and participating in conversations in noisy environments. Tinnitus (ringing in the ear) is also a common symptom of presbycusis. This disorder especially affects a person’s ability to hear high frequencies, which are critical to understanding speech. People also frequently blame today’s fast-paced life and the constant influx
Risk factors associated with adult deafness
With age, people often notice their hearing isn’t what it used to be. Hearing loss due to age is called presbyacusis. It is the primary sensory loss in the aging process, affecting 33% of people aged 65 and over, and 50% of those aged 70 and over. Presbyacusis is characterized by bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (affecting the inner ear), which is more acute at high frequencies (high-pitched tones). The degree
Protect your hearing
Scientists at the Northwestern University are warning the public about the intra-auricular (‘bud’ or ‘gel’) style earphones often sold with MP3 players. According to Dean Garstecki, a professor at Northwestern University in the United States, using intra-auricular (“bud” and “gel” sound isolating style) earphones is more hazardous to hearing than the larger headsets that cover most of the ear. Because intra-auricular earphones are directly inserted into the ears, they increase the
Deafness, it can sneak up on you!
Deafness develops slowly. As the years pass, we ask people to repeat themselves more often, pretending not to have been paying attention, or we cite tiredness as the reason for having missed what they said, or, perhaps we think they mumble. On a daily basis, the effort it takes to understand conversation, instructions or even a friend or co-worker’s joke, can be tiring. Without knowing why, dining out in restaurants
Hearing : a key element of academic success
At school, most lessons are taught verbally, placing primary demand on the sense of hearing. It is therefore very important to ensure that the learning environment is conducive to good listening and that hearing acuity is optimal in order to facilitate academic success. Several factors can contribute to communication breakdown, including the acoustic environment and the student’s hearing sensitivity. Classroom noise is a significant environmental obstacle to learning. There are a variety
One or two hearing aids?
People with bilateral hearing loss often question the need for two hearing aids. “I know someone who wears just one hearing aid. Why must I wear two?” “Can I start out by wearing only one hearing aid and wait to see if I need one for the other ear?” There are good reasons why humans are born with binaural or “stereo” hearing. To begin with, two ears are essential for determining
