One in 6 Australians is affected by hearing loss – that is an estimated 3.5 million people.  The prevalence of hearing loss rises from 1% for people aged younger than 15 years to 3 in every 4 people aged over 70 years.

On World Hearing Day 2019, WHO will draw attention to the importance of early identification and intervention for hearing loss. Many people live with unidentified hearing loss, often failing to realize that they are missing out on certain sounds and words. Checking one’s hearing would be the first step towards addressing the issue.

Feeling isolated and disconnected is one of the main consequences of hearing loss.  People simply want to belong.  It can be embarrassing when you misunderstand the joke or a simple request, you give up and stop trying after a while.  This can make it difficult to get and keep a job and put quite a strain on relationships.  When you keep making simple errors your confidence gradually erodes.  Sometimes mistakes can be entertaining but when they happen a lot they become frustrating for the people who share your life and you begin to lose your confidence.  

World hearing day is on day the 4th of march and aims to highlight the issues faced by people with a hearing loss and encourage them to actively manage their loss.  For World hearing day and hearing awareness week,

• Check your hearing with a free hearing check, its fast fun and free!
• Learn about your hearing loss and what options are available to help you
• Find out if you are eligible for free hearing services which include free quality hearing aids through the Australian Government Hearing Service Program.

Make contact with the Jervis Bay Hearing Centre on 44418886 or 44556000 and visit Vincentia, Ulladulla or Sussex Inlet.

According to research from the National Acoustics Laboratories it is common for children to start school with undiagnosed hearing problems.

An intervention program is being rolled out nationally to identify children with hearing problems including sensorineural loss, conductive loss, or auditory processing disorder.

The Federal Government has allocated $4 million to provide free testing for 600,000 children aged between 4 and 17.
Parents can register their details to be notified when the free test sessions are available in January.

Scotch College's junior campus head Ieva Hampson said particularly in the early years, hearing issues could impact a student's ability to develop phonemic awareness.

"Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear specific sounds and then relate them to letters and then hear them within words so it's fundamental to reading and writing," Ms Hampson said.

"There are lots of children who work in classrooms and you get a sense that they are probably using a bit of body language [and] lip reading to pick up on some of those gaps in the language."

"Moving beyond the classroom and outside into the playground, to know that Anna and my other child Liv can hear well and can engage and interact with her peers is a really comforting thing," Ms Nikula said.

For those students who appear to have hearing problems, the app generates a report at the end of the game that shows what the issues might be and provides a referral to an audiologist, medical practitioner or speech pathologist.
Last year Australian Hearing fitted more than 600 children with hearing aids for the first time.

Australian Hearing's clinical coach Gemma Cooper said it is hoped the new program would also identify kids with auditory processing disorder who were unable to filter out background noise.

"Kids with this disorder can present with things like, saying 'what' all the time, not following instructions and needing lots of repeats and repeated instructions consistently," she said.

(Source: abc.net.au/news)

Better Hearing Australia has partnered with the British Tinnitus Association and the American Tinnitus Association to help address and reduce the suffering of Tinnitus.  This is the first time that focus on this condition has been addressed in Australia under a network of collective medical and allied health organisations.

Tinnitus is the often debilitating presence of sound in the ears or head with no known source. It may be a ring, buzz, whistle, hiss, hum or cicada like sound. This constant irritation can lead to depression, cause anxiety and greatly affect lives.

Many people suffer tinnitus without realising that there is a scientifically validated rehabilitation method available which has an 83% success rate.  First, have a diagnostic hearing test.  This will tell your Audiologist whether there are any patterns which indicate further medical investigation. is required.  Tinnitus can be caused by a range of things from wax up against the ear drum to an acoustic neuroma (or tumour).  Your Audiologist wants to help you identify what is causing your tinnitus.  Once the initial testing is complete he/she will work with you to make a plan.  If there are no medical indications then you may be a candidate for Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (based on CBT).  Find an Audiologist trained in this specialised area and ask them about your situation. 

There are also strategies available to help you to manage Tinnitus.  Speak to an Audiologist who has trained in the area of Tinnitus for more help in this area.

Did you know some quick facts about Tinnitus.

• Tinnitus can happen at any age.
• Tinnitus affects 1 in 10 Australians – that’s over 2,000,000 of us.
• Anxiety and depression can be associated with Tinnitus.
• Tinnitus doesn’t discriminate and can affect people from all walks of life.

The Jervis Bay Hearing centre is committed to helping those that suffer with this condition, and will be posting about Tinnitus all week to raise awareness.

For more information or to donate to Better Hearing Australia (VIC) visit: www.betterhearing.org.au