We’re a few months into the new year. What new things should you expect when it comes to your hearing health?
1. Rechargeable Hearing Aids The great thing about rechargeable hearing aid batteries is:
More and more hearing aid manufacturers are making rechargeable options more widely available. Eventually, this will become the norm. 2. Noise-induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) Young people in their pre-teens to mid-30s are beginning to lose their hearing. This demographic tends to engage in risky activities like turning up music/podcasts/videos too loud on their personal media players or going to loud clubs, bars, sports arenas, and concerts. Noise levels in these areas surpass the safe level of 70-85 decibels (dB) - depending on your personal hearing sensitivities. The only preventable type of hearing loss is noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). If you need others who are close by to shout for you to hear them, that means your environment is too loud. Here are some easy tips to follow so you can safeguard your hearing:
Keep up with your annual hearing tests. The sooner you notice any hearing loss and get tested, the quicker you can receive appropriate treatment options to preserve the hearing that you still have. 3. Connect Hearing Aids to Other Devices All modern hearing aids feature Bluetooth®, so connecting your TV, music, phone calls, or podcasts straight to your hearing aids is more convenient. Hearing aids act like Bluetooth® earbuds allowing you to listen to any media wirelessly. You can download compatible apps and control your hearing aids directly from your smartphone or tablet. 4. Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) When you log onto Netflix or Hulu, there will be a list of suggested movies or TV shows based on your previous viewing preferences. The thermostat in your house can set a comfortable temperature without manual assistance. Your smartphone auto-suggests words when you text someone. A subset of A.I. is machine learning, and it’s become part of everyday life. A.I. is becoming more useful with hearing aids by making things simple and more convenient. Some hearing aids can track a user’s brain and body health, detect if a user falls, translates other languages, and creates auto-captions in real-time. If you are experiencing hearing loss and need new hearing aids, contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation. Google has revealed that they will be working with Top Hearing Researchers from Australia for the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine-Learning Solutions.
Five of the top Australian hearing healthcare organizations are working to improve customized AI technology and make communication, listening, and accessibility better for individuals with hearing loss. This alliance which is part of the Digital Future Initiative from Google, includes the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL), Cochlear, Macquarie University Hearing, NextSense, and The Shepherd Center. These organizations will be taking on projects and how AI and machine learning can help lead to more customized hearing healthcare. This will be a multi-year collaboration. Researchers will study methods like big data, cloud computing, machine learning, neuroscience, and speech enhancement to upgrade hearing technologies and strategies. The intersections of academia, government, hearing, healthcare, information, research, and technology will collaborate to make these improvements. Australia and the World’s First Hearing Collaboration with Google Australia has been a long leader in hearing healthcare research. Many hearing devices including the bone-anchored hearing system, modern cochlear implant, and several clinical protocols were developed in Australia. Universal standards to assess hearing problems, developing hearing healthcare innovations, and the most widely used prescription software by hearing aid providers have been made by NAL. Google has stated that the group will work to personalize the hearing models to take care of the specific needs of each hearing aid user and enhance all listening devices and hearing aids. Using these devices in bustling environments like restaurants or live music venues. Layered noises in these spaces can make it difficult to enjoy hearing music or conversations for people with hearing loss. New apps with AI will be examined to make it easier to identify, categorize and separate sources of sound. This will make it easier for assistive listening device (ALD) users to hear a conversation or focus on the sounds in front of them instead of background noises. Google is invested in creating better accessibility for those with any range of hearing loss. Within the past several years, Google has provided the following accessibility tools through Android: Live Caption, Live Transcribe, Lookout, Sound Amplifier, and TalkBack. If you or a loved one are experiencing hearing loss and believe hearing aids can be a solution, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test and consultation with one of our hearing instrument specialists. Do you often find yourself in situations where you cannot hear others during a conversation? Do you keep asking others to repeat themselves? Does it make you feel like a pest and get frustrated? If so, don’t stop communicating altogether; communicate more. The following three ways will help you better improve communication when you have hearing loss.
1. Be Honest With hearing loss, conversations don’t have to be challenging. Be honest about your situation. Let people know you have trouble hearing. Most people will be accommodating. It is better to speak up about hearing loss than to withdraw and not socialize. Being upfront about it will lessen the pressure on you to keep up with the discussion. Mingling more often will reduce anxiety, depression, and stress. The burden to adapt should not be yours alone. People around you need to adjust their communication styles to suit your needs. But they can’t do so if you are not honest with them about your hearing loss. Tell them what’s going on so they can help you by changing how they communicate. Whether it's finding an area with better lighting so you can see each others facial expressions and gestures, or using a caption app, people are usually willing to make accommodations. 2. Find ways to Control Your Environment With hearing loss, some environments are better than others for holding conversations. But you have the power to adjust your situation. For example, asking to sit on a particular side of the dinner table or eat at a quieter restaurant because you can hear better from one ear than the other is a proactive stance. Such requests are reasonable, so friends and loved ones should understand. Choose an optimal setting for social interaction. We know that’s not always a possibility. Try to manage unavoidable, noisy situations. Get next to whoever is speaking. Observe their hand gestures, and read their lips. Pay attention to their body language. If understanding someone is still tricky, be sure to tell the individual so they can attempt to ease the situation. Pretending to understand is not very helpful and can last only so long. 3. Find a Solution instead of Struggling to Hear Open communication is key in dealing with hearing loss. Don’t just be honest with others but also be honest with yourself. Don’t continue to struggle. Contact us at Pure Sound Hearing and make an appointment to discuss your hearing loss and possible solutions. |
Categories
All
|