Hearing Aids - Blog Posts

Arthur Wingfield, Jonathan E Peelle Medscape.comIntroductionAlthough estimates vary, some 40–50% of adults over the age of 65 years have a measureable hearing impairment, with this figure rising to 83% of those over the age of 70 years. These data make hearing loss the third most prevalent chronic medical condition among older adults, after arthritis and hypertension. Beyond the obvious impediment to spoken communication, we have come to realize that there are also hidden effects of hearing loss that may have significant consequences for both cognitive function and neural integrity.Of special concern when considering hearing in aging is the loss of...

Bloomberg NewsAdvances in circuitry and Bluetooth have made hearing-aid alternatives cheaper and more powerful One night in June 2010, New York composer Richard Einhorn went to bed in a motel feeling stuffy and woke up almost completely deaf. At the time, Einhorn, who wrote the oratorio Voices of Light, had limited ways to deal with his nightmare condition, known as sudden sensorineural hearing loss. He visited an audiologist and bought a hearing aid for $3,000. (His insurance plan, like most, didn’t cover it.) Unhappy with the expense and the limits of the earpiece’s technology, which struggled to adapt to different...

The people behind Nanoplug claimed it was the world's first "invisible" hearing aid.They claimed it was instant-fit, user-programmable and affordable.Now the creators are changing the claims they're making for the product and featuring an entirely new image of it on their Indiegogo page, one that bears a remarkable resemblance to an existing product. This has riled many of those who have committed money to the project.Nanoplug, based in Munich, Germany, originally made claims that it would improve the lives of many who have problems with hearing. Its product, depicted as smaller than a coffee bean, was to be "half the...

Hearing aid user and science writer, Frank Swain, has figured out how to use his Starkey Halo Bluetooth aids to listen to Wi-Fi networks. According to a December 3, 2014 online article in Wired, Swain wanted to find out if his hearing aids could do more than just amplify sound to compensate for his hearing loss. He wanted to find out if they could give him hearing super powers—that is, if hearing aids that wirelessly stream audio from an iPhone, might also stream other sounds that people without hearing aids cannot hear.The “Phantom Terrains” project for BBC Broadcasting House produced...

El Deafo, by Cece Bell and David Lasky.National Public Radio (NPR) recently featured “El Deafo,” a new book from children’s author and illustrator Cece Bell, who chronicles her own story about growing up with profound hearing loss after suffering a bout of meningitis at the age of four. According to her interview with Arun Rath on NPR, Bell’s book is a humorous memoir that follows her transformation from a mild-mannered little girl into a self-proclaimed superhero. Feeling empowered by her new hearing aids, little “El Deafo,” uses her new technology-assisted “super-hearing” to embark on a series of misadventures.To read highlights...

The purchase of Siemens Audiology Solutions has been finalized and a name has been chosen for the newly acquired Siemens hearing instrument division: Sivantos, with the tagline “the hearing company.” The private equity investment firm, EQT, with Germany’s Strüngmann family and Siemens as co-investors, are the new owners of Siemens Audiology Solutions effective January 15.

The International Hearing Society (IHS) announced that a bipartisan federal bill (HR 353) that aims to improve veterans’ hearing healthcare services was reintroduced this week in Washington, DC. This bill would enable the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make hearing healthcare more readily available to veterans, in part by allowing them to hire hearing aid specialists to help address the increasing demand for hearing aid services. The bill was introduced by US Representatives Sean Duffy (R-WI), Timothy Walz (D-MN), and Raul Ruiz, MD (D-CA), and is strongly supported by the IHS and its “Fit To Serve” campaign.Veterans represent...

A book that was first published in hardcopy under the auspices of The Oticon Foundation, Fading Sounds: About Hearing and Hearing Aids, by Kirsten Worsoe and Claus Elberling, has become available as a free digital download in PDF format. The book, originally published through a program grant from Oticon in 2006, was written for people who are looking for more information about hearing, hearing loss, and hearing aids than can be found in dictionaries or popular magazines.According to the book’s introduction, it is particularly aimed at people with hearing loss and their families, friends, and colleagues who wish to understand...

Sonova Holding AG, Stäfa, Switzerland, the parent company of Phonak, Unitron, and Advanced Bionics, has announced an agreement to purchase 100% of the shares of Hansaton Akustik GmbH, Hamburg, Germany, the family-owned hearing aid maker that is one of the best-known worldwide hearing aid manufacturers outside of the so-called “Big 6.” The dollar value of the transaction was not released, and the purchase is subject to regulatory approval. Sonova also announced that it would recommit to distribution through two German retailers, Vitakustik Hörgeräte GmbH and Fiebing Hörtechnik GmbH, that Sonova had purchased in 2006 and 2009. The company also plans...

Top 10 Causes of Hearing loss. 1. Ongoing Exposure to Noise on the Job Long-term exposure to continuous loud noise can cause lasting hearing loss. A common culprit is workplace noise, like machinery. About 30 million Americans face hazardous levels of noise at work. Things like motorcycles and power tools also can damage hearing over time. If you can, avoid or take breaks from noisy activities. Wear earplugs or ear protectors that fit over the ear.2. Injury or Pressure Changes Severe head trauma can dislocate middle-ear bones or cause nerve damage, causing permanent hearing loss. Sudden changes in pressure --...

ZPower knows that despite of all the advances made in the world of hearing aids, there is always room for improvement, which is why they have stepped forward to offer a rechargeable solution for hearing aids, and this development is set to happen at the upcoming JDVAC Conference. The company has a proud history, being the first developer of rechargeable, silver-zinc batteries for hearing aids, and they intend to showcase their spanking new technology for Active Duty Service Members and Veterans of the Armed Forces at the Joint Defense Veterans Audiology (JDVAC) conference.Silver-zinc battery technology was originally developed for NASA...