Hearing screenings typically absent from routine doctor exams

This post originally appeared on Starkey.com

Today’s fact headlining the lack of hearing screenings at routine doctor exams may surprise you—or not.

If you’re surprised: It’s probably because you’ve been keeping up with the mounting research that strongly links hearing loss with dementia, cognitive decline, depression, loneliness, and falls.

If you’re not surprised: You may be familiar with the current state of shorter appointments in the U.S. and let’s face it—it’s not uncommon for physicians to prioritize other tests, labs, and questions before hearing. You’ve likely “been there,” and realize if you had any hearing loss concerns, it would be your role to mention them to the physician.

Regular hearing screenings are essential to your health

While the reasoning behind the lack of hearing screenings at routine exams isn’t clear-cut, we can take today’s fact as a reminder of how important it is to prioritize our hearing health. Regular hearing exams not only are the first step in helping to prevent the long-term detriments of hearing loss, such as dementia, but also play an immediate role in the early intervention of age-related hearing loss—which is gradual and often difficult to detect. As a result, people may not even realize they have hearing loss until it is further along and more challenging to treat.

On a positive note, the case integrating hearing screenings into regular health exams appears to be gaining some momentum: The esteemed National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, for example, recently recommended routine doctor hearing screenings in a published report titled Hearing Health Care for Adults: Priorities for Improving Access and Affordability.

But while progress continues to grow, taking care of our hearing is up to us.

Fortunately, there are two things you can do:

Option 1: Tell your physician about hearing concerns

If you think you may have hearing loss, or even if you’re unsure, tell your physician. They can refer you to a licensed hearing care professional in the same way they might refer you to a dermatologist for skin issues. A hearing specialist will have the equipment and expertise to evaluate your hearing and counsel you through treatment options for any hearing issues you may be experiencing.

Option 2: Visit a hearing care professional yourself

As it stands, experts recommend having your hearing screened every three years once you’re 50. So, you can feel empowered to make it a part of annual health checks. Hearing evaluations are simple and pain-free, and can easily be set up with a hearing care professional near you.

For a head start, simply type your zip code in here to generate a list of local providers. They will be happy to show you how your hearing is doing, and as mentioned, discuss treatment if needed.

If you’re interested in a hearing test, visit your closest Land of Lincoln Hearing office to learn more about your hearing health.

Telehealth Visits are Now Available

During these unprecedented times, when experts are recommending or governing that we keep our distance from each other — we’d like to shine a spotlight on our new Telehealth feature.

Telehealth Appointments lets you request certain hearing aid adjustments from Chicagoland Hearing Aid Centers, even when you’re quarantined at home or can’t go to their office.

With Telehealth Hearing Appointments, you can schedule your visit through our dedicated phone appointment line at 847.563.4988 or by requesting an appointment online. You can do this from the comfort of your own home or wherever you happen to be. Appointments can be conducted over the phone, or by video conference. For a video conference, you will need to have access to an internet browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox) and should have a good internet connection, with functioning audio and video capabilities (computer preferred, but smart-phone will work as well).

One less thing to worry about

The need to hear your best is vitally important every day, but even more so during challenging times like now. With Telehealth Hearing Appointments, you can enjoy some added peace of mind knowing you can still get the hearing help you need, even when our Chicagoland Hearing Professionals can’t be by your side.

For other technical questions about your hearing aids, please call Land of Lincoln Hearing by clicking here.

Photo by Christin Hume 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!

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.

Noise-induced hearing loss is becoming epidemic

Between 2000-2015, the number of Americans with hearing loss doubled, approaching 50 million people.

How many times have you heard someone say (or maybe you’ve said it yourself), “I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet”? We’re guessing plenty.

Between the noise at work (thank you, open office spaces), the noise outside (traffic, we blame you), noise inside (good luck finding a quiet restaurant…or gym…or sporting event) and the noise we subject ourselves to voluntarily (we’re looking at you, earbuds), finding peace and quiet can feel a bit like a treasure hunt.

All that noise is a big reason why hearing loss has nearly doubled so far this century, according to the American Academy of Audiology.

And though peace and quiet might sound dreamy at times, it isn’t when it’s all the time, as anyone with severe hearing loss will tell you.

The good news is that noise-induced hearing loss is preventable. To learn ways to protect your hearing, help avoid noise-induced hearing loss, and remain in control of when those moments of peace and quiet get scheduled, consult with a Land of Lincoln Hearing healthcare professional today. Click here and we can help!

Photo by Nabeel Syed on Unsplash

Hearing loss is America’s silent epidemic

Hearing loss can have a more negative impact on the quality of life than obesity, diabetes, strokes or even cancer, according to AARP, the senior advocacy organization which recently completed a survey that revealed more people report having undergone colonoscopy exams than hearing tests.

However, there is more to just losing hearing, said Conrad Hochreiter, a hearing instrument specialist at HearUSA in East Stroudsburg, a center that’s committed to providing patients with the highest-quality hearing care.

Hearing loss is also associated with an increased risk of dementia, falls and depression.

“Research shows we can help keep that cognitive decline (hearing loss) at a normal rate with a good hearing aid,” Hochreiter said.

However, officials at AARP and other experts say that many remain reluctant to get their hearing checked or to treat any hearing disorder because, unlike other serious and potential fatal ailments, hearing loss carries the stigma of being old.

“Hearing loss usually occurs in a gradual, subtle progression,” said Dr. Susan Dillmuth-Miller, a clinical audiologist and assistant professor in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at East Stroudsburg University.

Often persons with hearing loss do not realize the impact of their hearing loss on their communication partners; however, acceptance can be difficult and persons with hearing loss will often blame others for not speaking clearly or will delay treatment for an average of seven years, Dillmuth-Miller said.

Also, it’s important to express to persons with hearing loss how much they mean to you and how communication has become difficult and how it affects your relationship with each other, she said.

“Hearing loss affects both parties, the listener and the speaker. Questionnaires like the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults can start a dialogue and help persons with hearing loss realize how much the hearing loss is impacting their life,” Dillmuth-Miller said.

“Persons with hearing loss often don’t realize their deficits if speakers always raise their voice to communicate and those with hearing loss will not accept treatment unless they realize that they have a problem,” she said.

By the numbers

According to figures published by AARP, nearly 30 percent of people in their 50s suffer from hearing loss.

For people in their 60s, it’s 45 percent. And for those in their 70s, more than two-thirds have significant hearing loss.

While getting someone to accept wearing a hearing aid remains difficult, Hochreiter said popular culture has changed much over the years and those needing such devices might be more comfortable because younger individuals are regularly wearing something in their ear.

″[Hearing aids] are very discreet and comfortable now compared to many years ago,” Hochreiter said. “Today’s society, all ages are walking around with something in their ears like earbuds and Bluetooths,” he said. “If you’re going to put something in your ear, wouldn’t it make sense to put something in there that makes you hear better?”

Also, hearing loss doesn’t only affect older people.

The World Health Organization estimates that 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of hearing loss. And that number is increasing, according to AARP which noted that boomers had their rock concerts, and millennials have their earbuds so, the impact of hearing damage will likely grow.

Cost issues

As far as the costs, Consumer Reports performed a nationwide survey of more than 1,100 people with hearing loss. They purchased 48 hearing aids and had their fitting checked by audiologists.

The survey found that two-thirds were incorrectly fitted, which led survey authors to conclude that the cost isn’t the real issue, but shoppers must become consumer savvy customers.

“Most people have the reluctancy as to how they can pay for them or do they even really need them,” Hochreiter said. “Most are going to tell you that they can’t afford something that they really don’t want and use that as a crutch.”

Hochreiter warned that internet price shopping could yield rates that are not realistic. He said there are budget plans, and, at HearUSA, free trials are offered to allow individuals the option of a sort of test drive.

The center offers access to a wide-range of the latest hearing aid styles and technologies and have a policy in which it offers a 60-day, risk-free, money-back guarantee on hearing aid purchases.

Still, some must be convinced.

Dillmuth-Miller recalled an elderly woman with a moderate permanent hearing loss who reported being left out.

The woman’s grown children grew frustrated with the difficulties encountered over the phone and during their visits and they grew worried for their mother since she’s a very social person, but she’d gradually became withdrawn, Dillmuth-Miller said.

“The woman could not afford the hearing aids on her own, but her children got together and gave them as a gift to her. She was grateful and wears them every day and her children feel she was herself again which was a social and engaged person,” she said.

Dillmuth-Miller quoted a 2016 AARP report that noted the average cost of a digital hearing aid is $2,300 a piece.

If a person has hearing loss in both ears, two hearing aids are typically recommended for the best results, she said.

“You can see that buying hearing aids can be pricey especially since Medicare and most insurance companies do not cover them. Some practices offer payment plans which helps manage the costs and, for children under 21, the Medical Assistance program covers hearing aids, and for qualified working adults, the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation can offer help,” Dillmuth-Miller said.

She said some veterans qualify for a hearing aid benefit which provides hearing aids and services and, for others who have difficulties affording hearing aids, there are charities which help with costs like Hear Now, Sertoma, and the Lion’s Club.

“Hearing aids are fit specifically to one’s hearing loss like glasses, requires counseling to become adjusted to the changes in sound, and some require special molding and fitting,” Dillmuth-Miller said. “Buying online often does not result in helping the person hear better.”

Contact Land of Lincoln Hearing today to schedule a consultation! 

Photo by Wenni Zhou on Unsplash

These iPhone-connected hearing aids let doctors make adjustments remotely

Connected hearing aids are nothing new, but today a company called ReSound has the iPhone-compatible LiNX 3D, which can be adjusted remotely. This means doctors can access their patients’ hearing aids and make minor adjustments without the person having to revisit their office. The hearing aids also pair with an app for iOS, watchOS, and Android. Through the app, patients can talk to their doctors or learn more about the hearing aid they’re wearing.

Similarly to its predecessor, the LiNX 2, the LiNX 3D prioritizes voices over ambient sounds in a noisy environment. 

Isn't technology amazing?! Call us today to schedule an appointment to learn more about what heraing aids can do for you!

Land of Lincoln Hearing in Lake Forest!

LAND OF LINCOLN HEARING IS THE AREA'S MOST TRUSTED AUDIOLOGY & HEARING AID CENTER!

We are excited to announce our newest Land of Lincoln location in Lake Forest, IL! The Land of Lincoln location in Lake Forest is conveniently located off Highway 94 and Townline Road in the suburbs of Chicago. 

Address:
100 S Saunders Rd. 
Suite 150
Lake Forest, IL 60045

At Land of Lincoln Hearing, we are changing the way you hear. We don't only fit you with a hearing aid - we walk with each patient step by step throughout their hearing journey. We would love to help you get started on your hearing journey. Please make an appointment with one of Hearing Practitioners to schedule your first hearing evaluation. 

We truly can't wait to hear from you!   

Which hearing aids are best for me?

You’ve been diagnosed with hearing loss and the hearing healthcare professional says you’ll benefit from wearing hearing aids, but which devices are best for you? The decision you make will depend greatly on the severity of your hearing loss as well as your health and the lifestyle you lead. Before you sit down to discuss options with Land of Lincoln Hearing, here are a few things to consider.

Are you a technology buff?

Hearing aids have changed a lot in the last ten years. Today’s devices are nothing like those your parents or grandparents may have worn, mainly because of advances in technology. While your parents’ hearing aids had to be adjusted with a tiny screwdriver by a hearing care provider, today's digital devices are programmed via computer. Gone are the days of fiddling around with bulky volume control wheels and buttons. Most of today’s devices can be controlled discreetly by the wearer with smartphone apps as listening environments change. Bluetooth technology allows hearing aids to connect wirelessly to that smartphone you bought the moment it became available, tablets, televisions or car audio.

How much of a techie are you? Chances are, there’s a hearing aid that can keep up with your fascination for cutting edge gadgets. If you're not a technology lover, don't despair - the technology in your new hearing aids can also work behind the scenes automatically so you can just focus on hearing your best.

Is your world noisy?

Let’s face it -- life can be loud! Depending upon what you do for a living and how often you’re socially engaged with people you love spending time with, directional microphone technology can help you make sense of that noise. Dual microphones in the hearing aid work to help you understand speech in challenging listening environments such as noisy conventions, crowded restaurants and bars or a family room filled with chattering children by focusing on the sound directly in front of you and minimizing sound to the sides and back. 

Nearly all hearing aids today have some form of noise reduction built in. This technology is best for increasing your comfort in noisy situations, but it's the directional microphones that have a noticeable impact on your ability to understand conversation in these same situations. Be honest about your lifestyle and talk with your hearing care provider about which features you need.

Are you self-conscious about your hearing loss?

Let’s be clear: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wearing hearing aids -- no matter whether they’re visible to others standing close to you or fit snugly out of sight inside your ear canal. These miracle devices not only help you hear your favorite sounds, they also alert you to emergency warning signals and decrease your risk of falling, developing dementia and feeling depressed. What’s not to love?

Unfortunately, some prefer to be more discreet about their hearing loss. For those individuals, tiny receiver-in-the-canal (RIC) or receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) styles with ultra-thin tubing and an availability of colors which blend with skin or hair may be desirable. For even more invisibility, invisible-in-the-canal (IIC) or completely-in-the-canal (CIC) styles may be an option.

The discretion of small hearing aids can come with some tradeoffs. Land of Lincoln Hearing can help you decide, given the severity of your hearing loss and your personal preferences, which style is best for you.

Do you have dexterity issues?

Diabetes, Parkinson's disease and other health conditions can cause numbness in the fingers or a decline in fine motor skills. The smaller the hearing aid, the smaller the features -- such as the battery door or volume control. If you struggle with putting on jewelry or activities which require fine motor skills, you will likely benefit from wearing hearing aids that fit behind-the-ear (BTE) or a larger custom style. It’s much better to own devices you can operate confidently and effectively than one which frustrates you so much it spends more time in your nightstand than in your ear.

Summary

It’s important to remember that no two people or their hearing losses are alike, but there are hearing aids to suit most every need. The best hearing aids are the ones that work for you. Instead of waiting to make a decision because you’re afraid you’ll make the wrong one, find a hearing healthcare professional to guide you. Working as a team, the two of you can determine which devices will work for your unique hearing situation. Contact Land of Lincoln Hearing today to set up your first hearing evaluation to discuss all of your options!

**Original article from Healthy Hearing 

The world... with a hearing aid.

What it feels like to wear tech that actually solves a health problem

I walked out onto the road, nervously, self-consciously, as one who has newly been given a hearing aid usually does. I have lived half my life, 20 years or so, without anyone really knowing that I didn’t hear very well in one ear. In fact, audiometric tests revealed that while my right ear had normal hearing, the left one had moderate-to-severe hearing loss. (An audiometry test entails a series of blips going from loud to soft, across different frequencies, testing one ear at a time, using headphones). Part of the reason I hadn’t explored getting fitted with a hearing aid was that it seemed uncool and sabataged my youth. Also, I got on with life just fine, except when someone whispered something into my left ear. I made sure I kept people on my right.

A month ago, I read about personal-health technology advancing so much that ReSound had showcased their newest product, a hearing aid, LiNX 3D, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), in Las Vegas (this was their fifth year there). ReSound is a 75-year-old Danish company that has been in India from 1995, and the reason they were at CES was to show that hearing aids could be cool! In fact, this particular model was named an Honoree in both the Accessible Tech and Wearable Tech categories.

The device consists of an almost invisible receiver fitted into the ear canal, a microphone and amplifier on the ear. There’s a tiny visible transparent tube that looks like you could be contacting aliens and not just trying to hear the world around. The company’s new LiNX 3D technology does three things, according to M Dattatreya, who heads the Audiology Department, GN ReSound India: it enhances sound quality, can be personalized and reprogrammed by both the user and clinician.

Now, in layperson’s terms

Most hearing aids today are automated, which means that they detect the kind of environment you’re in and take decisions for you. In audiologist-speak, “The signal processing is done by the device. We found the efficiency of the classifier (the technology that decides the environment) could be improved,” says Dattatreya. So their engineers worked on tech that they now claim has a 98% efficiency. Which means if you’re at a noisy restaurant, it will identify that it is a restaurant (because of the acoustic characteristics), not confusing it with a home environment or a theatre, for instance.

That brings us to directionality, or the ability of the device to pick up sounds from specific directions. Again, in the restaurant example, the hearing aid will intuitively know that it’s supposed to ‘listen’ to the person in front and not to the people having a loud conversation behind.

Then there’s the matter of speech understanding, or the ability of the aid to decipher what a person is saying, so that it’s not just the feeling of sound or noise, but you hear actual words.

So does it work?

I found that the world seemed an incredibly noisy place! For starters, when the aid came on, I heard EVERYTHING, from the guy at the far corner tap-tapping away at the computer to someone’s footsteps as they walked into the room. It was almost as if everything was magnified. This could be for two reasons, says Dattatreya. One, there is a "hearing-aid adaptation period", where the brain that has not been getting signals from a ear takes time to adjust, and will slowly begin to filter out sounds that aren’t important to the body. This could take anywhere from 2-3 weeks. Also, each person has their own preference, in terms of setting, and this can take a few sessions to sort out with the audiologist.

The aid can be adjusted in two ways through an app: you can yourself tweak elements like wind control, noise cancellation, volume and focus; or you can put in a word to your clinician via the app for it to be done remotely. Once the adjustment is made, you can either accept or reject it. I didn’t get the device for long enough to test all of these, and I’m sure it takes a couple of months to find a sweet spot.

What also takes getting used to is speaking on the phone. You need to angle it to ‘catch’ the microphone, but after so many years I could finally use the idle ear. The main thing about the aid was the sense of balance. I hadn’t realized it, but I have been inadvertently straining to concentrate, in order to listen.

The earpiece fits into the canal with ease. It's location can be picked up, of course, since it has a near-field communication system, which means you can track its location via GPS. And this one doesn’t even have to be charged (there are chargeable ones too). Whether you buy it or not depends on affordability, comfort and your clinician’s recommendation. But should you get a hearing aid at all if you have hearing loss? Doctors unanimously say yes.

Contact Land of Lincoln Hearing today to set up your own personal consultation!

ReSound Smart Hearing Aids: A Tale of Lost and Found

Bandera County, Texas is home to the “Cowboy Capital of the World” and ReSound LiNX² wearer Lee W. Bailey. Lee, 65, retired from his career in surgical sales three years ago and is an avid outdoorsman and volunteer EMS first responder with his local fire department.

Lee first became aware of his hearing loss 30 years ago during a routine appointment. “I love spending time outdoors,” said Lee, “I’ve enjoyed shooting sports for a long time, since before there was the increased awareness around hearing protection while shooting.” He feels that this greatly contributed to his hearing loss.

It wasn’t until 15 years ago that Lee got his first pair of hearing aids. However, he wasn’t very happy with them. “They didn’t have any vents and were just amplifiers.” When he would go into noisy environments, such as restaurants, he would just remove them. The second pair of hearing aids Lee owned had vents, but were still uncomfortable. When he wasn’t wearing them, Lee often found himself missing out on conversations with friends and family.

Lee dealt with his uncomfortable hearing aids for over five years, until last fall when he was introduced to ReSound LiNX² by his audiologist.

Lee is now able to be more engaged with his family and friends. “They [his hearing aids] have such better sound quality, are easier to use and much more comfortable. I can carry on a conversation much easier than I could before.”

When he’s out on a call, his ReSound LiNX² are particularly helpful. “When I’m driving the ambulance, I can hear what’s going on in the back, or can talk to my partner much easier than I could before,” said Bailey.

The Made for iPhone® feature was also a game changer in Lee’s book. “I was able to get rid of the hands free accessories that I had to talk on the phone while driving. Now I can just stream everything directly into my hearing aids from my iPhone. It’s great.” Lee is also a fan of adjusting his Smart Hearing aids through the iPhone and ReSound Smart app. Recently, Lee was able to use the ReSound Smart app for more than adjustment.

“My hearing aids fell off the ranch cart as I drove though the pasture. I wasn’t supposed to forget they were sitting on the back seat! They’re so comfortable I didn’t notice I wasn’t wearing them and I got in a hurry. I drove into the pasture that was being planted.” He didn’t realize until afterwards that they had been planted over. Using the ReSound Smart app’s finder feature, Lee set out looking for his hearing aids.

“I retraced my route using the Finder and I soon got a hit on my left. After about 45 minutes I found it undamaged. It only need a good cleaning. Proceeding on I got a hit on the right hearing aid. I searched 30 more minutes until dark, came back after dinner for another 30 minutes and covered the area with a tarp. The next morning my wife and I searched another 45 minutes before getting another signal and found it!”

“I never thought I’d want a BTE hearing aid, but I’ve been amazed by the comfort and forget I’m wearing them. With ReSound LiNX2 my concerns were alleviated,” said Lee, “I’m thankful for my ReSound LiNX2. For over five years, I didn’t really wear my hearing aids. I recommend that others try them out – they’ve made a big difference.”

If this is something you'd be interested in, please contact Land of Lincoln Hearing today to schedule your first hearing evaluation!