We’re kicking off Tinnitus Awareness Week, which is recognized during the first full week of February. This year, it spans from February 7th to the 13th.
The purpose of this week is to inform the public about what the symptoms of tinnitus sound like and how it impacts people on a day-to-day basis. Tinnitus is the perception of noise when there is no environmental or physical source of the sound. It may manifest as a buzzing, chirping, clicking, hissing, humming, ringing, or roaring noise in the ear. About 15 to 20 percent of people experience it. It isn’t an actual condition, but it is a symptom of an underlying illness. Some of it may be caused by age, hearing loss, an injury to the ear, or a circulatory system disorder. A Brief History Lesson on Tinnitus 3100 B.C.E. Ancient Egyptians called it the bewitched ear or humming in the ear. Treatments were used with the hope of a cure. Infusions of frankincense, herbs, oil, soil, or tree sap were applied to the outer ear by using the stalk of a reed. Egyptian art, known as “ear stelae”, portrayed each ear with images of devout worshipers. They would pray to gods and ask for their symptoms to be cured. 4th Century B.C.E. Early Greco-Romans were the first to consider treating tinnitus as a symptom, and not as a condition in and of itself. Based on how the tinnitus started, different treatments would be implemented. If it was caused by a cold, the ear would be cleaned out and they’d hold their breath for as long as they could. If it started from the head, exercise, rubbing, and gargling was recommended as a remedy. Aristotle and Hippocrates utilized masking, which suppressed the noises from their tinnitus by listening to something else. 15th Century Other experimental methods were used during the Middle Ages. Different liquids were drained into the ear of those who were afflicted. They would also toss dampened pieces of wood onto a fire so that the crackling noises from the blaze would cover up the tinnitus until they fell asleep. Another method was ear candling. This is when liquified wax from a burning candle is drained into the ear, and once solidified is pulled out of the ear canal to draw out wax and debris. This is method is not recommended by any hearing healthcare professionals. 21st Century The French physician Jean Marie Gaspard Itard, made progress in studies on tinnitus during the 19th century. Itard linked tinnitus to hearing loss and gave detailed descriptions of early reports on objective and subjective tinnitus. He made attempts at creating methods for masking the noise with little results but eventually, new improvements on tinnitus research became available. Even though tinnitus has become more manageable with treatments like meditation, vitamin intake, tinnitus noise-masking apps, and hearing aids with tinnitus masking programs, there is still more research that is needed to better understand it. If you, or a loved one, are experiencing tinnitus or hearing loss, please get in touch with one of our hearing aid providers for a complimentary consultation.
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Our country has a rich history, and some of this history includes hearing-related facts. Here’s a list of hearing facts about each state.
1. Alabama American author, lecturer, and political activist, Helen Keller, was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was the first deaf-blind person who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. One of her very first words was water. It was spelled by Keller’s instructor, Anne Sullivan, with a finger. Sullivan spelled “water” while Keller’s hand was placed below a flowing faucet of water to help her associate the word with the object. 2. Alaska Alaska has a program for deaf navigators. It has several resources and services for Alaskans who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing to advance long-term employment and housing opportunities within the state. 3. Arizona Arizona-born professional swimmer, Marcus Titus, experiences hearing loss. He placed eighth in the Olympic trials and broke many world records as a deaf person. 4. Arkansas Bill Clinton, our 42nd President of the U.S., was born in Hope, Arkansas. He was diagnosed with high-frequency hearing loss in 1997 after attending political rallies, listening to loud rock music, and blasts from hunting rifles. This is a good lesson and reminder to wear earplugs or earmuffs when you engage in loud activities. 5. California Actor and native of Santa Monica, Robert Redford, has permanent hearing loss due to an ear infection. Redford has been open about his hearing loss experience. 6. Colorado The quietest town in the U.S. is reportedly Crestone, Colorado. They have a population of 150. It would make a nice and quiet vacation spot. 7. Connecticut The American School for the Deaf was the very first school for the Deaf. It was established in 1817. It was founded by Dr. Mason Cogswell, Laurent Clerc, and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. Clerc and Gallaudet later organized Gallaudet University in 1864. Their work influenced changes, improvements, and advancements in education for students with hearing loss. 8. Delaware Delaware Governor, Jack Markell, passed two laws in regards to hearing aid screenings for infants in 2012. The laws are meant to educate families about hearing loss. Families can learn if their child has a hearing loss shortly after they are born. 9. Florida The soda brand, 7UP, and Martin Garrix, a Dutch DJ, teamed up in Miami, Florida to host a concert for individuals with hearing loss. During the performance, motion and vibrations were utilized to create a sensory experience for audience members who can’t clearly hear the music. 10. Georgia Heather Whitestone, was the first Deaf Miss America. She currently lives in Saint Simons Island, Georgia. She received her first hearing device, a cochlear implant, at age 29 after she lost her sense of hearing when she was 18-months old. She is now a writer and public speaker. 11. Hawaii Hawaii was the leading state in hearing healthcare benefits in 2012, which included coverage for hearing aids. The state will also cover your hearing aids and their replacements every 60 months. 12. Idaho The only organization in the state of Idaho that helps those with hearing loss and protects their civil rights is Idaho’s Association for the Deaf. They also host the Miss Deaf Idaho and Miss Deaf Idaho Teen pageants each year. 13. Illinois Ronald Reagan, who was born in Tampico, Illinois, was the first U.S. president to wear hearing aids. He even got a public fitting to reduce the stigma of wearing hearing aids. 14. Indiana Tamika Catchings, a retired professional basketball player who played for Indiana Fever, was born with hearing loss. She is best known for the first-ever quintuple-double, was voted as the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All Time, and has the most All-Star appearances. 15. Iowa In 1881, Iowa’s Association of the Deaf was founded. This was just one year after the National Association of the Deaf was established. 16. Kansas A gene therapy method to restore hearing by regrowing hair cells located in the inner ear has begun at Kansas State University. This would help the millions of people who have noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). 17. Kentucky In 1823, the Kentucky School for the Deaf became the first state-supported school for deaf students in the U.S. During the first few years, the administrators at the school believed they might be able to educate all deaf people in the southern and western regions of the U.S. Shortly after they were established, new schools for the deaf were created to accommodate the vast number of deaf students. 18. Louisiana Louisiana works to make sure the deaf and hearing-impaired members of their communities are granted access to everything they need. There are accessibility services like hearing aids, interpreters, education, and more which are provided by the Louisiana Commission for the Deaf. 19. Maine The Deaf Film Festival is the only annual festival in the world that features new films and contemporary videos. They were created by and for deaf communities. 20. Maryland This is the state where most stenographers also produce Real-Time captioning and CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation). CART is a speech-to-text interpreting service for the deaf or hard of hearing. 21. Massachusetts Caption Center, the first caption agency in the U.S., was established in 1972 at the Boston public television station WGBH. They captioned the first broadcast of Julia Child’s The French Chef. Captions are currently used across the globe, thanks to Julia Child. 22. Michigan A non-profit organization in Detroit known as D-PAN develops good quality American Sign Language (ASL) music videos and translates lyrics via ASL. D-PAN has translated John Mayer’s Waiting on the World to Change, Fort Minor’s Where’d You Go?, and Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful. 23. Minnesota How does the state of Minnesota currently help millions of people around the world hear better? The world’s leading hearing aid manufacturers, Starkey and ReSound, each have a headquarter in this state. Starkey, established in 1967, is located in Eden Prairie. ReSound, established in 1943, is located in Bloomington. 24. Mississippi The most common type of chronic illness in Mississippi is heart disease. Heart disease can lead to hearing loss. Experiencing poor cardiovascular health may contribute to low blood flow in the cochlea. This can lead to problems with hearing. Take care of your overall health, Mississippians, so that you can lower your risks of hearing loss. 25. Missouri The De’VIA art movement was organized by Kansas City, MS native Chuck Baird. This is an aesthetic of d/Deaf Culture. Baird was a student at the Kansas City School for the Deaf. 26. Montana Montana is known for having the lowest number of audiologists for every 100,000 residents. They are tied with California. 27. Nebraska Nebraska has the second-highest number of audiologists for every 100,000 residents. (Colorado is #1) 28. Nevada In 2016, Las Vegas, NV hosted Miss and Mister Deaf International. This is a non-profit organization that helps to “empower, enhance, and support today’s continually growing community of Deaf” people. 29. New Hampshire New Hampshire native, Laura Bridgman, was the first deaf-blind American child who received a serious education. This was 50 years before Helen Keller. She went to school at the Perkins Institution for the Blind. 30. New Jersey Out of all 50 states, New Jersey has the lowest d/Deaf/hearing population. It is also home to Joshua McGriff, basketball star and deaf Olympian. 31. New Mexico The United States Deaf Federation (USDF) is headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They manage the U.S. in the global Deaflympics, which the U.S. has participated in for more than 70 years. 32. New York Rochester, New York is where one of the largest deaf communities in America is located. This is where the National Institute for the Deaf, along with the Rochester School for the Deaf attract students to Rochester. This city hosts the Deaf Festival, the only Deaf Rotary Club, and other organizations that are dedicated to helping those with hearing loss. 33. North Carolina American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, poet, and Jacksonville, North Carolina native, Ryan Adams, is known for his solo career. He released fifteen albums and was a band member of Whiskeytown - an alternative country band. In 2009, Adams was diagnosed with Ménière's disease, which led to his hearing loss. The disease did not stop him from continuing to travel around the globe and play music. 34. North Dakota Deaf American actress, and North Dakota native, Phyllis Frelich, was awarded Best Actress of 1980 for her Broadway performance in “Children of a Lesser God.” It was also named Best Play of 1980. Fact: Frelich’s parents and nine siblings are also deaf. 35. Ohio In 1880, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was established in Cincinnati, OH. This is a non-profit organization for Deaf rights that currently has a headquarter in Silver Spring, Maryland. This is the country’s top civil rights organization for the deaf. 36. Oklahoma Oklahoma City is where the most recent chapter of the National Black Deaf Advocates is held. Claudia Gordon, the first black deaf female attorney to work in the White House, was the Vice President of the National Black Deaf Advocates. This organization was established in 1982 and works to represent the black deaf community in this country. 37. Oregon Aurora, Oregon is where William Fouts House, inventor of the cochlear implant, passed away in 2012. The implant was never patented by House because he did not want to restrict others who were researching the device. 38. Pennsylvania Elena LaQuatra was crowned as Miss Pennsylvania USA in 2016. She is a news reporter, model, and advocate for those with hearing loss. She lost her hearing at age four from bacterial meningitis. 39. Rhode Island One of the first five-day Pre-Kindergarten - 12 grade is the Rhode Island School for the Deaf (SDSD) that was founded in the U.S. It was also the last deaf school that was founded in the 1800s. 40. South Carolina Roger Demosthenes O’Kelly was born the same year as Helen Keller (1880). In 1912, he was the second person who received a law degree from Yale University. O’Kelly, like Keller, was also deaf and blind. He spent the rest of his life in South Carolina and passed away there at the age of 82. 41. South Dakota In 1880, the South Dakota School for the Deaf (SDSD) was established. Their purpose was to educate children who had hearing loss. While providing great education and hearing healthcare services, SDSD is a useful resource that helps families of the deaf and hard of hearing. 42. Tennessee Songs for Sound is a charity in Nashville that helps those with hearing loss find the healthcare that they need. They raise awareness on hearing health, aid in providing free hearing tests and services, encourage people to get help for their hearing loss, and advocate for healthy hearing. 43. Texas In 1994, the first audiology program began at Baylor University in Waco, TX. 44. Utah In 1910, Nathaniel Baldwin developed the first pair of audio headphones and sold them to the US Navy, after creating the headphones from his kitchen in Utah. 45. Vermont Vermont native, James Denison, was the only deaf delegate (out of 164 hearing delegates) who attended an oral deaf education conference in Milan in 1880. The National Association for the Deaf was founded in the U.S. after Denison attended the conference. 46. Washington CenturyLink Field, where the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks play, has been reported as the loudest football stadium in the world. The stadium’s architect, Paul Greisemer, stated that the stadium is so loud because of the roof, the closed space, and the materials that were used to build it. If you go to this stadium or any stadium, it’s important to wear earplugs to protect your hearing. 47. Washington D.C. Abraham Lincoln helped to establish Gallaudet University - a school for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing, making it an official collegiate institution. Today, all current U.S. presidents personally sign each diploma for the graduates. 48. West Virginia West Virginia has the highest percentage of the deaf/hearing-impaired population in the U.S. 49. Wisconsin William Hoy, who was the first Deaf major league baseball player, began his career in baseball in Oshkosh. He is known for hitting the second grand slam in history in 1901 and initiated the use of baseball hand signals that are still used to this day. 50. Wyoming American inventor, Thomas Edison, lost his hearing at a young age after catching scarlet fever. While in Wyoming, he and a team of scientists, identified the filament that made a lightbulb last for more than 1,200 hours by studying threads from a bamboo fishing pole as they fished on Battle Lake. If you, or a loved one, live in Lancaster, PA, and need a hearing test and hearing aids, contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a free hearing test and consultation. We have offices located in Elizabethtown, Lititz, and Strasburg. Throughout history, there have been different forms of hearing instruments or devices that were used to amplify sounds. From the first hearing aid that was created in 1902 to today’s digital hearing aids, each of these devices was provided and fitted by hearing instrument specialists and audiologists. Manufacturers have produced master hearing aids. These referred to “machines that allowed dealers to select and try out different amplified responses”.
Hearing Aids from the 1920s Hearing aids that were created in the 1920s utilized parts that were also found in telephones with batteries, which boosted the signal to amplify sounds. Boosters/amplifiers, microphones and receivers were all connected through cords, and the devices were worn on the body. Each element had different resonant frequencies and through assembling an appropriate combination, it was possible to establish an additive frequency response. Back then, companies typically only manufactured one model, so a large number of components were unnecessary. The leading hearing aid featured all of the main parts, and the dealer tested out various combinations on patients until they settled on something that worked. Hearing Aids from the 1930s and Beyond During the late 1930s, manufacturers made hearing aids by using vacuum tube technology that was developed for radios. This replaced the previous carbon telephone assemblies. The hearing aid devices continued to be worn on the body, with parts that were linked by cords. The amplification that these devices provided significantly improved. When vacuum tube-based, master hearing aids were produced, the process of testing out a variety of parts and components until the patient could hear their best was implemented. The hearing aid provider was able to order a hearing aid from the manufacturer with the same combination of components that the user preferred, but there wasn’t always a perfect correspondence of parts. This type of fitting, which could be viewed as a “substitution method” was used until transistor hearing aids became available. In 1937, approximately 50,000 hearing aids were used in the U.S. In the late 1940s there were more than 100 large and small businesses that made hearing aids. Annual sales of hearing aids grew to more than 220,000 units by 1948. Ear-level hearing aids and transistors appeared in the early 1950s. Transistorized master hearing aids were developed. The previous substitution method was no longer practiced. It was replaced by asking patients to listen to speech tests, as the hearing aid provider shifted between a variety of amplified responses at the different gain and output settings that were provided by the master hearing aid. Test results were used to choose a hearing aid from the provider’s inventory that matched up with the needs of each patient. Computerized fitting software that is used today, is a modern version of the original master hearing aid. It’s a direct relative of the three computer-based systems that developed in the 1980s. When Starkey Hearing Technologies transformed the world of hearing aids by making custom hearing devices more popular, the performance of each hearing aid was chosen by proprietary computerized fitting algorithms that were established in the company. Probe-tube microphone instruments were soon introduced, which used automated, computer-facilitated measurements and verified the fit by using prescriptive formulas. Hearing aids that could be programmed began making its way through the marketplace around the same time. Hearing instrument specialists who used computer-based programming devices were required to choose and manipulate the frequency-gain responses that were pre-installed within the hearing aids. Even though the fittings that are used with master hearing aids have significantly evolved, one thing has stayed the same. A hearing aid fitter is still going to ask how it sounds and make sure that it is properly fitted. This shows how difficult it is to create an objective norm for an adequate hearing aid fitting, even with modern advances in fitting protocols. If you, or a loved one, are in need of hearing aids, please get in touch with one of our hearing instrument specialists at Pure Sound Hearing Aids for a complimentary hearing test and consultation. We offer a variety of standard and customized hearing aids for your hearing needs. |
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