Researchers have long observed the negative impacts of otitis media, or "glue ear", on children's education, childhood development and social outcomes, and say it needs to be detected far earlier.

"If I'm actually doing surgery on these kids, we've missed the boat," Kelvin Kong said.

Dr Kong is an ear, nose and throat surgeon who will be one of the leaders of the new initiative, delivered by Charles Darwin University (CDU).

The $7.9 million five-year program is funded jointly by the NT and Federal Governments and philanthropic venture the Balnaves Foundation.

It will attempt to reduce the need for FIFO specialists by training and employing local community members as support workers who can recognise the symptoms of glue ear, assist with the diagnosis process and help families treat and manage infections.

Amanda Leach from the Menzies School of Health Research will lead the project with Dr Kong, and said that while a lot of evidence had been collected about the best way to treat ear infections, implementation was where children fell through the cracks.

"We think this program will provide a culturally safe and appropriate long-term service every day," Professor Leach said.

"Our goal is that every ear of every child is hearing normally every day; that's just not happening at the moment.

"Only around 10 per cent of children have bilaterally normal ears in their preschool ears. 10 per cent is not good enough."

Communities will be asked for input about how the program should be rolled out and which community members should be involved.

"[The ultimate aim] is that we don't have a role in this because it's actually run by the community, they can identify the problems and they can navigate the health system and get the help they need to," Dr Kong said.

"It's all about Aboriginal governance which will have the leadership in this."

Dr Kong was Australia's first Indigenous ear, nose and throat surgeon, in a Western sense — he points to Aboriginal Ngangkari healers who would perform some procedures as his forebears.

He said the long-term impacts on children with hearing impairments could be profound.

"If this is your child and they're not speaking for two years, that's a huge impact on interactions, on smiling, on story time, on cultural passing down, dancing, on singing," he said.

Professor Leach said six months was too long for children to wait for an audiologist to fly in to their community.

"That's too long to wait when these children are going through their rapid brain development, language skills, and you just see that they're not progressing in their development," she said.

NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the need in the Northern Territory warranted a significant investment, noting that children's experience in the classroom informed the rest of their lives.

She said that Aboriginal Territorians were grossly over-represented in jails.

"This [program] is generational change," she said.

"This will mean the next generation of Territory kids won't be dealing with their hearing loss later in life, that has the social impacts that cross across government agencies and community."

The partnership was an exciting opportunity to fight preventable hearing loss among current and future generations, federal Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt said.

"Lifting the capacity of local families to recognise, report, and treat ear problems early promises to help our children reach their full potential," he said.

The number of Indigenous children affected by glue ear was "not fair and it's certainly unequal," CDU chancellor and founder of the Balnaves Foundation Neil Balnaves said.

"The amount of children affected by it would be regarded in any other place in the world as an epidemic, and it's got to stop," he said.

Ear health specialists from around the country and overseas have gathered in Darwin this week for a biannual conference on otitis media.

On Tuesday, child development expert Steven Guthridge from the Menzies School of Health Research presented findings from a study funded by the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet, confirming a long-suspected link between otitis media infections and poor educational outcomes.

The study used data on Aboriginal children in years one and three in the Northern Territory and measured school attendance and school performance.

"Across all our measures, hearing impairment has significant impact … to the extent that those children with hearing loss will have something in the order of one-and-a-half to twice the risk of not being ready for school or not performing to the national standard," Professor Guthridge said.

"It's been widely recognised but this actually demonstrates that association and actually quantifies the extent of it."

The data gathered will also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of new programs to combat the issue.

(Source: abc.net.au)
Author: Emilie Gramenz

For anybody with hearing loss, articulating the isolation it causes is almost impossible.For a child, it's even harder.

the 360-degree VR experience replicates what life is like for a child with hearing loss

But a new virtual reality (VR) experience, designed to immerse users in a playground and classroom as a child with hearing loss, is helping to foster empathy in parents, teachers and other students.

"They didn't think I could hear so little," eight-year-old Tyler Potaka said of his peers.

Tyler has bilateral mild to moderate hearing loss, meaning he has hearing loss in both ears.

For his mother Philippa, the experience wasn't quite so matter-of-fact.

"It was very emotional to put your mind and your head and your body and transplant into your own child and to experience what they see and hear, or don't hear.

"You really are able to have more empathy, you're able to sympathise with not being able to hear."

The VR project was launched by Sydney charity The Shepherd Centre and filmed at a Newtown primary school.

"We decided we should do it from the perspective of a child ... in the classroom and in the playground and do a comparison as to what it would be like with [hearing aids] and without."

Nick Hunter, the creative director from innovation company Paper Moose which led the design, said the VR team worked with audiology specialists to accurately recreate how hearing loss sounds.

"You start in the playground and the audio is quite muffled," he said.

"I was really surprised when we were talking to the specialists and we did our first pass at what we thought would be moderate hearing loss, and the expert said, 'No, you need to go further — it's much more degraded than that."

After experiencing the muffled audio in the playground, the user is moved to the classroom where the teacher asks you a question but you're unable to understand.

"When the whole experience was finished, and we sat down and watched it in its entirety, I found it surprisingly emotional at how isolated and vulnerable I felt," Mr Hunter said.

Dr Anne Fulcher, principal listening and spoken word specialist at the Shepherd Centre, said she believed the technology was so powerful that it could lead to better clinical outcomes.

"It's wonderful to help new parents to see the impact of hearing loss and why it's so important to help them with amplification and early intervention as soon as possible," Dr Fulcher said.

And the benefit came from empathy, which would encourage parents and carers to intervene earlier, she said.

"A lot of the families say they don't want their children to wear devices because it makes them look different and the kids will bully them.

"Often our reply is, 'Well, if they don't have hearing aids, that's setting them up for being bullied because they will sound different, they will act different, they won't be a part of the groups because it will be too difficult, their speech and language will be delayed; so it's setting them up for all types of social and long-term poor outcomes'."


While the technology is offered at The Shepherd Centre, Dr Fulcher said the team would work towards sharing it with schools and government bodies

(Source: abc.net.au)
Author: Harriet Tatham

The first use of a hearing aid can be somewhat shocking for many people.

Most hearing-impaired people wait far too long before getting hearing aids and they have often forgotten what it is like to have normal hearing.

This is why voices and traffic noises may seem very loud when using a hearing aid for the first time.

Generally, the sounds are quite different when compared to normal hearing.

Below is some good advice for first-time users of hearing aids

• You cannot compare hearing aids with spectacles. When you use glasses for the first time, you see the difference right away, but with hearing aids you have to get used to hearing differently.
• It is a good idea to practise being a good hearing aid user. This means that you must keep wearing your hearing aid - do not put it away if it irritates you. You need to have a good and ongoing dialogue with your audiologist and supplier. The more you tell them about your experience using hearing aids, the better they can be fitted.
• Fitting is an ongoing process. When you become more familiar with your hearing aid, you can tell your audiologist that a certain sound seems as if it is too close to you. He/She may then focus the hearing aids more accurately, making them work better.
• Wearing hearing aids for the first time is also a psychological process. It is a good idea to talk to the staff at the hearing clinic about your expectations and your experience.
• Set a personal objective and a plan of action: What you have to be aware of and the different expectations in certain periods, etc. This will be of great help to you while you get used to your hearing aids - both physically and mentally.
• Talk to other people who suffer from hearing problems and who use hearing aids. They will most likely have a lot of experience for you to draw on.

(source: hear-it.org)

There are times when you purposely plug your ears -- think fingers or earplugs -- and then there are, well, other times when your ears feel clogged for no good reason. Why is sound muffled when there doesn’t appear to be anything inside your ear canal? Here are four of the most common reasons why your ears might feel clogged.


Impacted earwax 

Normally, earwax is the body’s way of protecting the ear. Its sticky consistency traps dirt and other pollutants, act as a lubricant, and because it naturally falls out of the ear canal on its own, serves as a natural self-cleaning agent. On occasion, however, it can become impacted and affect your ability to hear.
According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, the following symptoms indicate earwax is causing a problem:

• A feeling that the ear is clogged
• An earache
• Partial hearing loss
• Tinnitus, or ringing in the ear
• Itching, odor or discharge
• Coughing
  

The only way to know for sure -- and to remove the earwax safely from the affected ear -- is to see a physician or your hearing healthcare professional. Please note that it is never appropriate to try and remove the earwax yourself using a cotton swab, baby oil, or hydrogen peroxide. Not only could you accidentally puncture your eardrum or push the earwax deeper into the canal and cause impaction, removing this natural protective lubricant can lead to the development of dry, itchy ears. It’s best to let a professional determine whether or not your ears need a more thorough cleaning beyond what you can safely do with a warm, soapy washcloth.


Fluid in the ear

Avid swimmers are likely too familiar with this painful condition; however, even non-swimmers can suffer from fluid in the ear, too. Fluid can develop in the ear for a couple of different reasons:
Ear infection -- children and adults who develop middle ear infections may experience a plugged ear sensation due to fluid build-up behind the eardrum. Although this condition usually clears on its own, it can be painful. It’s time to call a doctor if the pain is severe, you notice a fluid discharge or symptoms persist for more than a day. Children younger than six months should be seen immediately.
Swimming or bathing -- here’s another reason to appreciate earwax. It acts as a deterrent for water to enter the ear when you swim or bathe. Even so, there are times water can become trapped inside the Eustachian tubes from swimming, bathing or moist environments. If it does, try these simple techniques to encourage it to drain.

• Tilt your head sideways and pull the earlobe gently.  
• Use a warm compress. This helps open up the Eustachian tubes so water can drain naturally.
• Yawn, chew, take a deep breath or use the valsalva maneuver by holding your nose and blowing gently.

Sinus pressure

You may be familiar with stuffed nasal passages and facial tenderness brought about by sinus pressure, but did you know it can also cause temporary hearing loss? The sinus cavities, hollow spaces located in your bones near the nose and between the eyes, are also located beside the ear canal. When you experience an inflammation in your sinus cavities, it can cause your Eustachian tubes to swell. When that happens, the connection between the middle ear and throat is closed which puts pressure on the eardrum causing that clogged ear feeling -- or worse -- pain and hearing loss.
Fortunately, most hearing loss caused by sinus infection, pressure or sinusitis is temporary and hearing returns to normal once the sinus congestion clears. Even so, if you experience pain or sudden hearing loss due to sinus congestion, see your family doctor. They can determine the cause of your discomfort and prescribe medication to alleviate the pain and swelling.

Noise damage

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is one of the most common types of sensorineural hearing loss. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), as many as 40 million Americans have hearing loss in one or both ears which may have been caused by exposure to excessive noise over a long period of time or a one time exposure to an extremely loud noise, such as an explosion or blast.
If your ears feel clogged or you hear ringing in your ears (tinnitus) after an evening with friends at the club or an afternoon in a rowdy sports stadium, it’s likely due to excessive noise exposure. Although these symptoms typically clear within 48 hours, you can prevent permanent hearing loss by taking precautions the next time you know you’ll be in a noisy environment:

• Wear earplugs or other hearing protective devices when you’re involved in an activity where sound measures more than 85 decibels (dB).
• Turn down the volume on the television, car radio or any personal electronic device with which you use ear buds.
• If you can’t protect your hearing from the noise or reduce the volume, move as far away from it as possible.

Before trouble starts...

Although we’ve covered four of the most common reasons you ears may feel clogged, it’s always wise to seek the advice of a hearing healthcare professional whenever you are having trouble hearing. Unclogging your ears at home using home remedies or a cotton swab is never a good idea!

The Jervis Bay Hearing Centre can help you!  Call 4441 8886

(Source: healthyhearing.com)
Author: Debbie Clason

Outstanding new evidence from two independent studies shows how today's hearing aid technology empowers people to actively participate in the same noisy environments as people with normal hearing*, such as restaurants and similar environments that were previously too demanding.

This is thanks to the OpenSound Navigator technology, which helps people with hearing loss to interact with multiple speakers, while significantly reducing their listening effort.** 

Click HERE to read the Whitepaper

* Juul Jensen 2018, Oticon Whitepaper
** Le Goff and Beck 2017, Oticon Whitepaper