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Hearing with Two Ears

Binaural Listening

(hearing with two ears)

You have two ears for a very good reason. Besides insurance against the loss of your receptive organ for communication two ears enable better hearing. This is particularly true in difficult listening situations with background noise.

Hearing with two ears accomplishes two things that achieve significant advantage for understanding speech in noise.

1. Localization of sound. Sound input from two ears enables the brain to identify the location of the sound by distinguishing between volume differences between the two inputs for high pitch sounds and timing differences between the two inputs for low pitch. This ‘processing’ of the inputs from the two ears takes place in the lower brainstem. Without two inputs such localization cannot be accomplished.

2. Filtering of the localized sound. After the sound from both ears is ‘processed’ in the brainstem the brain can then focus attention on the sound of interest and effectively ‘filter’ other noises in the environment.

Thus, binaural listening offers the necessary input for the brain to best achieve effective communication in the presence of background noise.

Perhaps the most important reason people with symmetric hearing loss should use hearing aids in both ears is auditory deprivation or the ‘use it or lose it’ rule. Scientific studies indicate that over the course of many years neglect of auditory input to one ear causes significant reduction in the ability of that ear to discriminate words. Therefore, if amplification is provided to only one ear of a person with symmetric hearing loss, word discrimination in the unaided ear will significantly decline over years of disuse. Keep both ears working for better hearing!

Rehabilitation - Beyond Hearing Aids

LACE for Better Listening

LACE for Better Listening

(from Winter ’09 Hearing Care by Hough Newsletter)

Many have asked about the LACE program that our clinic offers which is now free to anyone who purchases a hearing aid through our clinic. LACE, or Listening and Communication Enhancement, is a computer based programmed which helps to improve listening skills which are important in various environments or with certain speakers.

For example, in a noisy restaurant it’s easy to ‘tune out’ of the conversation in frustration struggling to hear. Anyone can have poor listening skills, but the hearing impaired, particularly, begin to develop these habits with their hearing loss.

LACE takes our clients through twenty, 30 minute sessions practicing listening to speech in the presence of background noise and listening to rapid speech. You’ll practice developing auditory memory and filling in contextual cues as well.

Those who have gone through at least ten of the LACE sessions show significant improvement in listening skills. Also, you’ll develop confidence in those challenging listening situations or with people whose speech is particularly hard to understand. Call our office for more information about this effective program

Suggestions for the Family

Suggestions for Family

Hearing loss has been called the silent hurt. Hearing loss is usually gradual and can go unnoticed for years. In fact, prior to modern testing, a child born with hearing loss could easily be misdiagnosed receiving improper treatment until age 4 or 5! Hearing loss is a symptom that is invisible, and as such, it’s not well understood by friends and family.

Please recognize and remember that I have been diagnosed with a hearing loss and your encouragement and assistance is very important to me. I’m doing all I can to make the most of my residual hearing. Thank you for taking the time to read these suggestions and, even more, to put these into practice. It’s a great demonstration of your love for me. I’ve read through these suggestions myself and have checked those that I feel would be particularly helpful.

o Please talk to me face to face. If I can see you, I’ll be able to understand you much better as I can see your mouth and facial expression. Don’t talk to me from the next room.

o My hearing aids help me hear, but they don’t fix my hearing problem. Be patient with me.

o Please talk at a normal rate. Fast speech is difficult for me to follow. If I ask you to slow down, please don’t be offended.

o If I ask you to repeat something, please rephrase the statement or question with a bit more volume to your voice. If you rephrase what you said I may be able to more easily piece together the meaning. If you shout, it won’t help me and may discourage me in our communication.

o When we go out in public consider the environment. Pick a quiet restaurant where I can hear with little background noise. Call ahead and make reservations for good seating at a play, or we can arrive early to get good seating.

o Don’t listen for me. Also, don’t answer for me. Although I may struggle it’s important that I am as independent as possible in my communication with others. I’ll ask you if I need help.

As you help, know that I’ll be doing my part. I promise to:

ü Wear my hearing aids.

ü Acknowledge my hearing loss and ask for help when I need it.

ü Honestly communicate – I’ll try not to use my hearing loss as an excuse, and I promise not to manipulate you using my hearing impairment.

10 Common Questions

10 Common Questions – 10 Brief Answers

(Published in the Edmond Sun under ‘Ask the Doctor’)

1. What’s the best way to clean my ears? You may have heard it said, ‘don’t stick anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.’ This is a good motto. If you have problems with ear wax buildup it’s best to let a professional clean your ears. A cotton swab should only be used to clean the outside of the ear and should not be pushed into the ear canal as this may impact the ear wax deeper.

2. What’s the cause of ringing in my ears? Hearing sound in your ears or head when there isn’t an external source is called tinnitus. Constant tinnitus is an associated symptom of hearing loss and can be a symptom of an even more serious disease. If you have pulsing tinnitus or tinnitus on only one side you should certainly be checked by a professional. For more information visit: www.ata.org (American Tinnitus Association), www.ohsu.edu/ohrc/tinnitusclinic (Oregon Health Science University).

3. What’s the best way to protect my ears from loud noise? Acoustic earmuffs are one of the best methods to protect your ears. Earplugs offer varying degrees of protection, as well. Combining the two does the best job. There are also high-tech electronic earmuffs and ‘earplugs’ that enable normal hearing, even enhanced hearing, but suppress certain types of noise like the report of a hunter’s weapon or the engine noise of an airplane.

4. My hearing is fine. Why do I struggle understanding speech? If you haven’t had your hearing tested, you should. You hearing at certain pitches might be compromised. Your complaint is typical of someone with a high pitch hearing loss as some consonant sounds, like the –s or –th, might be inaudible. Background noise might make understanding even more difficult. The problem might lie in the way your brain processes speech. See a professional for a hearing assessment.

5. Are there implants available for nerve type hearing loss? There are some effective implantable devices depending upon the severity of your hearing loss. For the profoundly deaf, the cochlear implant uses an electrode surgically placed into the inner ear to stimulate the hearing nerve. Some middle ear implants have been developed for sensorineural deafness, but they’re quite expensive and haven’t demonstrated many benefits over conventional hearing aids. To date, there are no FDA approved totally implantable hearing devices.

6. My hearing tests normal, but at times I can’t follow the conversation. Can anything help? If you’ve had your hearing tested and your test is normal, then you may need a more thorough evaluation by a professional to pinpoint the problem. Your brain may not be processing sound as it should even though you hear well. Rapid speech and background noise can be particularly bothersome. There are a variety of helps depending on the cause of the problem.

7. Is allowing water in your ears harmful? Not for most people. If, however, you’ve had ear surgery or ear infections in the past you should consult with your physician. Some people have a propensity toward external ear canal infections and swimmer’s ear. Swimmer’s ear plugs may be appropriate.

8. What causes ear infections? Ear infections can take place in the external ear canal, middle ear and even the inner ear. Bacteria or viruses can invade any one of these three and even fungal infections can take place in the external ear canal. Infection of the middle ear, behind the eardrum, can occur via the eustacian tube following a throat infection producing an infectious fluid and even a perforated eardrum. Consult your hearing healthcare professional for help.

9. Is there a treatment or cure for tinnitus? Tinnitus is perceived sound (like ringing, roaring or buzzing) when no environmental sound is present. Prior to treatment, you should be examined by a professional as there can be a number of causes of your tinnitus. Treatment may be as simple as the removal of some earwax. Most constant tinnitus can not be cured, but relief may be found with the use of maskers, stress reduction techniques and coping strategies.

10. I need a hearing aid, but I’m quite vain. Are the smaller hearing aids more expensive? In the past, reduction of the internal electronics significantly added to the price of hearing aids. Today the primary expense related to hearing aids is the research and development behind amplification strategies to increase their effectiveness in difficult listening situations. Inexpensive hearing aids can be just as cosmetically appealing but their performance may not suite your listening needs if you’re socially active.

For more information go to: hearingcarebyhough.com

Hearing Loss - The Silent Hurt

The Silent Hurt

Excerpt from “Well Preserved with Eunice Khoury”

Talk Radio 1000KTOK

"My father, Dr. Jack Hough, called hearing loss ‘the silent hurt’. Besides the obvious, that is, ‘silent hurt’ equated with hearing loss disease, he used this phrase primarily because hearing loss is a condition that is misunderstood and many times goes unrecognized. In the past, good examples of this were children born with hearing loss. Without the sophisticated tests we apply today to infants at birth for hearing screening, hearing loss might go undetected for years –even well past the prime window for language development of two to three years of age. Besides this, misdiagnosis was common – a young child having only a hearing loss with no other pathology might have been diagnosed with mental retardation. So hearing loss was many times misunderstood and unrecognized.

Today, as people age they may begin to withdraw socially. They may feel uncomfortable in groups and isolate themselves to a few friends in controlled settings. If they’re in a busy restaurant or party listening becomes such a struggle they give up, tune out and begin to think they have some attention deficit disorder.

Even in easier listening situations, they know that they can hear, but they’re not understanding words or sentences and these lead to misunderstandings with family and friends. They think, ‘am I having mental problems?’ ‘My family says that they told me the birthday party was on the fifth, but I know they told me the sixth!’ Or with someone who talks quickly, they may feel confused and actually believe they’re becoming mentally slow.

Hearing loss usually develops gradually and tends to sneak up on us. It’s cumulative, and after years of noise exposure or just due to the aging process and genetics or perhaps toxic medications our hearing becomes deficient in certain frequencies. This … affects the way that we relate to others and the quality of our lives. Hearing loss then is the ‘silent hurt’ that is misunderstood and unrecognized as a source of stress, anxiety, frustration and anger, misunderstanding and isolation and the list goes on including depression. So, when someone in the family has a hearing loss the entire family has a hearing problem, but it may not always be recognized as the source of the related communication problems of the family.

Also, the prevalence of hearing loss is astounding with 10% of the general population affected by this disease and well over 30% of those over the age of 65, And over half in their eighties. It’s the third most prevalent chronic disease among the aging. So we call hearing loss ‘the silent hurt.’"