Hearing Aids - Blog Posts

Summer is (finally) almost here. Many people look forward to this season because it gives them the opportunity to indulge in activities requiring warm, sunny days, like boating, swimming, hiking, and traveling.Wearing hearing aids shouldn’t keep you from enjoying yourself, but it is important to remember exposure to high heat can damage their outer casings and interior components. Therefore, whether you plan to spend your days basking in the sun by the beach or pool, or visiting exotic destinations, you should prepare to keep your hearing aids safe and functioning.Avoid extreme temperature changesThe plastic outer shells of hearing aids can...

It’s a rock adage that if the music’s too loud, you’re too old, but a new study finds that all that sound adds up: Professional musicians are almost four times more likely to suffer noise-induced hearing loss than other people.That’s according to what’s likely the largest study to date of hearing disorders linked to people who pursue music as an occupation. German researchers who combed through health insurance records of 7 million people from 2004 to 2008 found that working musicians topped the charts for hearing loss.The professionals were also about 57 percent more likely to suffer tinnitus — constant...

Posted: Monday, May 5, 2014 5:00 pm | Updated: 12:51 am, Tue May 6, 2014. Brandpoint(BPT) - Think you might have hearing loss? It turns out procrastinating about that hearing test appointment may put more than just your hearing at risk. Primary care doctors now know hearing loss may be a symptom of another, more serious medical condition.Over the past decade, studies have linked hearing loss to three concerning co-morbidities:Cardiovascular diseaseCardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Poor cardiovascular health causes inadequate blood flow throughout the body. “One of the first signs of a problem...

Most technology gets cheaper over time -- think about what you used to pay for a flat-screen TV or a laptop.Not so with hearing aids, which can set you back as much as $6,000 a pair and last only three to five years, according to the Better Hearing Institute. What's more, Medicare doesn't cover aids, and private insurance typically hasn't either. Listen up Hearing aids are not cheap, but not using aids when you need them can prove costly at work. REASONS FOR NOT GETTING AIDS Can get by without 68% Stigma 43% Not worth the expense 39% HIT TO...

People who have lost their hearing will be injected with a harmless virus carrying a gene that should trigger the regrowth of their ears’ sensory receptorsIN TWO months' time, a group of profoundly deaf people could be able to hear again, thanks to the world's first gene therapy trial for deafness.The volunteers, who lost their hearing through damage or disease, will get an injection of a harmless virus containing a gene that should trigger the regrowth of the sensory receptors in the ear.The idea is that the method will return a more natural sense of hearing than other technologies can...

If you're concerned about losing your hearing because of noise exposure (earbud deafness syndrome), a new discovery published online in the FASEB Journaloffers some hope. That's because scientists from Germany and Canada show that the protein, AMPK, which protects cells during a lack of energy, also activates a channel protein in the cell membrane that allows potassium to leave the cell. This activity is important because this mechanism helps protect sensory cells in the inner ear from permanent damage following acoustic noise exposure. This information could lead to new strategies and therapies to prevent and treat trauma resulting from extreme...

A novel treatment using human embryonic stem cells has successfully restored some hearing to previously deaf gerbils, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature.Hearing loss is generally caused by the interruption of two different types of cells: The loss of hair cells in the ear, which transform vibrations into electrical signals, and loss of the auditory nerve, which transmits the signals detected by the hair cells to the brainstem. While cochlear implants have proven effective in restoring hearing in cases of hair cell damage, no such treatment has existed for the roughly 10% cases in which...

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News EditorReviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on April 1, 2014 The aging process, like all life processes, is characterized by change. And while most do not become grumpy old men and women, research does show those older individuals are generally less outgoing.New research from the University of Gothenburg shows that this change in personality is intensified among people with impaired hearing.The findings emphasize the importance of acknowledging and treating hearing loss in the elderly population.In the new study, researchers studied 400 individuals 80-98 years old over a six-year period.Every two years, the subjects were...

Starkey Hearing Technologies Introduces Halo, A Revolutionary New Hearing AidApril 04, 2014 --Made for iPhone Hearing Aid Brings Personalized Hearing to MillionsMISSISSAUGA, ON, April 4, 2014 /CNW/ - Starkey Hearing Technologies, one of the world's leading hearing technology companies, is excited to introduce Halo™, a Made for iPhone® hearing aid engineered to be compatible with iPhone, iPad® and iPod® touch. The Halo hearing aid gives the nearly 30 million North Americans with untreated hearing loss a new, discreet option that seamlessly connects with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.Available in Canada on May 1st, Halo, which is sold under the Starkey...

The ring of a smartphone nestled at the bottom of a purse. A quiet conversation in a crowded restaurant. The sound of an alarm clock telling you it’s time to rise. If you suffer from hearing loss, you often don’t know what you’re missing around you.In response, the tech industry is hard at work developing solutions for the 48 million Americans who complain of hearing loss. Yet only 23 percent of Americans with significant hearing loss use hearing aids, in large part due to the high cost of these devices. ADVERTISEMENT Despite rapid improvements in miniaturization of batteries, microphones and...

(Reuters Health) - Hearing-impaired adults are more likely to be depressed than those with excellent hearing - and than those who are fully deaf -according to a large U.S. survey.Higher rates of depression were most common among women and among the middle aged, compared to people over 70, researchers found.Read it all here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/us-especially-for-women-idUSBREA2A1UE20140311

(Reuters) - New smartphone apps that link to hearing aids are helping people with impaired hearing to pump up the volume on their devices or to use them as headphones to stream phone calls, YouTube videos and music.About 36 million American adults have some hearing loss, according to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. But only a fifth of people who could benefit from a hearing aid wear one."People will always need really good hearing aids, but moving forward, what will differentiate competitors will be connectivity (to smartphones), and it will need apps," Lars Viksmoen, chief executive...