Source: starkey.co.uk)

Better Hearing Victoria's CEO Dr Caitlin Barr and Director of the National Acoustic Laboratories Dr Brent Edwards spoke to Nightlife about how hearing aids work, what problems they can address and whether you might need one.

Duration: 50min 51sec
Broadcast: Mon 25 Feb 2019, 10:00pm
(Source: abc.net.au)

Alison is an Independent Audiologist with over 27 years experience in Paediatric and Adult Audiology.  Alison's professional and ethical approach to Audiology has earned her lifelong patients and regard amongst her peers.  Her focus is Rehabilitative Audiology and the Jervis Bay Hearing Centre is a Centre of Excellence with a focus on Hearing, Hearing aids and Cochlear Implants. 

She practices from the Jervis Bay Hearing Centre located on the beautiful South Coast of NSW.  She graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1992 and has been recognised internationally for her contribution in furthering our understanding of Tinnitus and Hypercusis when she co-authored a paper with Myriam Westcott which won the Jack Vernon award at the International Tinnitus Seminar in Brazil.   She is passionate about empowering people and communities to reach their full potential.

For more information about Alison's Accreditations, Achievements and Affiliations click here.

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

When you make your reservation, make sure to ask if a hearing-accessible room is available. If none are available on the dates you’re traveling, you may want to look for a different hotel.
What makes a hotel room hearing accessible? It varies, but generally these types of rooms have:

• A telephone that allows guests to communicate via text or typing, such as a TTY phone and/or a phone with added amplification
• Sensors that shake the bed and/or flash a light to alert guests that someone has rung the doorbell, or is calling on the phone. These types of alerts are also required for emergencies. Alarm clocks also must provide some sort of non-auditory signal, as well.
• A TV with closed captioning
• Signage indicating assistive listening devices are available
  

A day or two ahead of time, make a packing list so you don’t forget any of your hearing device essentials. A checklist of the basics include:

• Hearing aid storage case/drying container
  
• Small hearing aid dehumidifier
• Hearing aid splash protectors or wind sleeves, if your plans include active outdoor activities, such as camping and hiking
• Adapter for your charger if you’re traveling abroad
• Extra batteries
• Cleaning kit
• Assistive listening devices
• Hearing aid accessories
  

Before you leave town, you may want to check in with your hearing healthcare professional. These sorts of visits are often free or require a small office visit fee. Ask them to check your hearing devices to make sure they are clean and working properly. Tell them where you are going and what types of listening environments you anticipate. Together you can determine what adjustments, if any, need to be made to your devices so you can hear effectively while you’re away from home.

If you’re planning to fill up the tank and hit the highway, buckle up, of course! You won’t have to pass through security or worry about hearing last-minute gate changes, but you may have other challenges. Here are some suggestions, and be sure to check out our in-depth piece on driving with hearing loss:

• Ask your hearing healthcare professional about purchasing an assistive listening device that will improve your ability to hear conversations with fellow travelers while in the car.
• Consider purchasing an extra wide rear-view mirror so you can see more of your surroundings. Because you may not hear cars approach or honk, this is an added layer of safety.
• If you frequently take road trips with passengers, look into having an induction loop installed. This electronic device will allow you to better hear and understand your radio, cell phone and conversation from other passengers. (Induction loops are also found in some airports and travel hubs like train stations.)
• If you rely on texting or emailing for conversations, don’t compromise safety. Pull to the side of the road to send or receive these messages or ask one of your passengers to act as your reader and scribe.
  

Taking a plane, train or bus? Regardless of which mode of transportation you choose, you will likely find yourself in some pretty noisy, even chaotic, environments. Be sure to keep the following in mind:

• You do not have to remove your hearing aids when going through airport security. 
• For any transportation, check relevant websites or call ahead to ask about services for those with hearing loss. Many facilities require at least two weeks’ advance notice for sign language interpretation, so be sure to give yourself plenty of time if this is a service you require.
• Some travel hubs have induction loop systems to allow people with hearing loss to hear announcements more clearly. 
• Pack necessary travel documents in an easy-to-reach place.
• Sign up for travel alerts via text messaging, which can be useful if announcements are garbled.
  

If your hearing aids start giving you trouble while you’re traveling, our troubleshooting guide can help you problem-solve on the fly. If case of emergency, you also can always research local hearing clinics and get their help and advice.

When searching for a spot for lunch, seek out food stands and cafes with outdoor seating and quiet corners. Excess noise and loud interior spaces make it difficult to hear and focus on the conversation with the ones you love. Having an eye for ear-friendly locales can cut back on the stress and mental exhaustion it takes to decipher multiple sounds at once.

If you’re traveling internationally where the people speak an unfamiliar language, communication is difficult enough without factoring in your hearing loss. There are a number of things you can do to facilitate communication, including:

• Downloading a translator app on your smartphone or keeping a translation dictionary in your bag
• Alerting the travel personnel ahead of time about your hearing loss, so they can help point you in the right direction when you arrive
• Seeking out translator and hearing loss services ahead of time online
  

Being your own advocate can make a huge difference in the quality of your vacation. If you take a little time to research your trip before you go, you’ll save time, feel more confident and be better equipped to enjoy the adventure.
Also, your hearing aid professional or audiologist can provide you with more tips on what to consider before traveling the open skies, rails or roads.

(Source: healthyhearing.com)

The four most common issues hearing aid wearers experience are:

• My hearing aids aren't producing any sound (or my hearing aids are "dead")
• My hearing aids aren't loud enough
• My hearing aids sound "funny" or distorted
  
• My hearing aids are "whistling" or producing feedback

Troubleshooting steps for these common issues are highlighted below and in the downloadable checklist. We ordered the checklists with the simplest fixes at the top. If you're not able to fix your hearing aids yourself, you may need to come into the hearing Centre to find out what to do to get your hearing aids repaired.

(Source: healthyhearing.com)

Hearing impairment has long been accepted as a fact of life for the aging population.  However, scientists have long observed that other animals -- namely birds, frogs, and fish -- have been shown to have the ability to regenerate lost sensory hair cells.

"It's funny, but mammals are the oddballs in the animal kingdom when it comes to cochlear regeneration," said Jingyuan Zhang, Ph.D., with the University of Rochester Department of Biology and a co-author of the study. "We're the only vertebrates that can't do it."

Research conducted in the lab of Patricia White, Ph.D., in 2012 identified a family of receptors -- called epidermal growth factor (EGF) -- When triggered, these cells proliferate and foster the generation of new sensory hair cells. She speculated that this signaling pathway could potentially be manipulated to produce a similar result in mammals.

"In mice, the cochlea expresses EGF receptors throughout the animal's life, but they apparently never drive regeneration of hair cells," said White. "Perhaps during mammalian evolution, there have been changes in the expression of intracellular regulators of EGF receptor family signaling. Those regulators could have altered the outcome of signaling, blocking regeneration. Our research is focused on finding a way switch the pathway temporarily, in order to promote both regeneration of hair cells and their integration with nerve cells, both of which are critical for hearing."

In the new study, the team tested the theory that signaling from the EGF family of receptors could play a role in cochlear regeneration in mammals. The researchers focused on a specific receptor called ERBB2 which is found in cochlear support cells.

The researchers found that activating the ERBB2 pathway triggered a cascading series of cellular events by which cochlear support cells began to proliferate and start the process of activating other neighboring stem cells to become new sensory hair cells. Furthermore, it appears that this process not only could impact the regeneration of sensory hair cells, but also support their integration with nerve cells.

"The process of repairing hearing is a complex problem and requires a series of cellular events," said White. "You have to regenerate sensory hair cells and these cells have to function properly and connect with the necessary network of neurons. This research demonstrates a signaling pathway that can be activated by different methods and could represent a new approach to cochlear regeneration and, ultimately, restoration of hearing."