Why Men's Health?

All this emphasis on the health of boys and men - what's that about?  They're alright, aren't they?

In many cases, the answer is no.

A boy born in Australia in 2010 has a life expectancy of 78.0 years while a baby girl born at the same time could expect to live to 82.3 years old.  Right from the start, boys suffer more illness, more accidents and die earlier than their female counterparts.
Men's Health Month has a direct focus on the health impacts of men's and boys' environments.  It serves to ask two questions:

• What factors in men's and boy's environments contribute to the status of male health as indicated in the table above?
• How can we turn that around and create positive environments in men's and boy's lives?

(Sources: www.menshealthweek.org.au
                unicity-ec.com
             & bell-wellness.com)

People spend an average total of 2.5 days every year looking for lost belongings such as remote controls, mobile phones, car keys and eyeglasses, one survey indicates.

And while two-thirds of us annually spend as much as $50 to replace these items, the cost can be much higher for those who lose their hearing aids.

“It’s not as uncommon as you might think,” says Dr. Melissa Danchak, AuD, of Kos/Danchak Audiology and Hearing Aids in Arlington, Texas. “We usually see three or more people per month who lose their hearing aids. In January, I counted eight people who lost them.”

Her clinic dispenses as many as 50 hearing aid units each month. With each prescription, Dr. Danchak includes suggestions for keeping track of their new devices.


Good hearing aid habits is key

“Generally, people lose their hearing aids because they don’t develop a routine,” she said. “When I’m dispensing the hearing aids, I first tell them to wear their hearing aids all their waking hours. If they’re in their ears, they’re less likely to lose them. If the hearing aids are placed in their box/charger when they are removed, they won’t get lost. Developing good habits is important to prevent loss.”

That means taking a few extra steps, even if you’re tired and want to take a nap. It’s easy to knock the aids off a side table or counter and into the sink. Women should consider keeping a designated hearing aid container in their purses so they have a recognizable container to put them in when they take them out when not at home.

Those who don’t follow Dr. Danchak’s advice often lose their hearing aids—or find them in the most unlikely places.

“I had one man who stuck his hearing aids in his pocket along with his keys. When he pulled his keys out of his pocket, guess what happened?,” she said. “I had another patient who took out her hearing aid while she was reading and set it next to the peanuts she was eating. All of the sudden, she took a bite that crunched a bit differently. Fortunately, she didn’t swallow anything.”


Hearing aids end up in the strangest places

Hearing aids have been known to accidentally fall out of the ears, too. One patient told Dr. Danchak he found his hearing aid several months later in the bottom of his dishwasher while another said she retraced her steps and found her hearing aid in a parking lot. Remarkably, both units were unharmed and continued to work properly.

"The biggest thing I stress is to put the hearing aids in a safe place when they’re not in your ears — especially if you have a dog." 

But the biggest reason for hearing aid loss? Dr. Danchak said it’s because the family dog uses it as a chew toy. “That’s what we see the most often,” she said. "The biggest thing I stress is to put the hearing aids in a safe place when they’re not in your ears— especially if you have a dog. You may not have a dog, but if you visit a family member and they have a dog, remember that and be conscientious. And make sure the container closes really well. You don’t want your pet swallowing any part of a hearing aid.”


Watch your batteries, too

The tiny button batteries found in hearing aids and plenty of other devices can be tempting to pets and little children. If you suspect a child has swallowed a battery, immediately call 000.  As a local news station reported, these kind of incidences are on the rise, with more and more kids needing medical care after swallowing small objects. 


What to do if you lose your hearing aids

Of course, even the most diligent people can lose a hearing aid. If it happens to you, Dr. Danchak recommends checking with your provider to see if you can have a loaner while you look for your lost unit. But don’t look forever, she cautions. Although most homeowners’ insurance does not cover hearing aids, your devices are covered if they're under warranty for loss. And while replacement costs can be inconvenient, restoring your prescription sooner rather than later is important to your hearing health.

“How long they look for it depends on the circumstances,” Dr. Danchak said. “If they lost it at home, I tell them to give it a week before they replace it. If they lost it out and about, they should probably replace it immediately.”

So develop good habits about storing your hearing aids when they’re not in your ears, make sure they fit securely, and talk to your hearing health professional about any issues you may be having. Good hearing health habits begin by finding a hearing health practitioner you can trust and scheduling an annual hearing evaluation.



(Source: healthyhearing.com)

Nick Abbott, 31, of Maine, adopted his dog Emerson through the foster-based rescue, NFR Maine.

At 6 weeks old, Emerson was rescued from a shelter in Florida and later transferred up north.The black lab mix experienced seizures and an infection known as canine parvovirus. He eventually pulled through and was put up for adoption, said Lindsay Powers of NFR Maine.

"Once we got him home from the vet's office from Florida, we realized he had hearing difficulties," Powers told "Good Morning America. "He doesn't let it bother him at all, though he's a typical puppy."

"He had such a rough start to life and he ended up with an absolute fairy tale ending," Powers added.

Powers said she's unsure if Emerson was born deaf or if he lost his hearing later on.

In March, Powers shared a Facebook post in hopes to find Emerson a forever home. Weeks later, NFR Maine received an application from Abbott.

"Right off the bat he said, 'I'm deaf also and I feel like we'd have a good connection,'" Powers recalled, adding that she processed the application within a day.

Abbott and Emerson soon met in person and hit it off. Richelle Abbott, Nick Abbott's mom, told "GMA" that her son and the pup were "meant for each other."

"It's amazing," she said of their relationship. "Whenever they're together, Emerson is always finding a way to lean on Nick."

Richelle Abbott, a mother of two, said Nick has been teaching Emerson sign language to sit, lay down and come.

"If Nick reaches up and shakes his ear lobe, Emerson will bark -- it's so cute," she added.

(Source: abcnews.go.com)

Late February I was home alone. Having just finished working at home for the day, I headed upstairs to my room. Just as I reached the landing I felt the house shake with a bang. I looked out the window ahead of me and saw white smoke. ‘There must be car accident outside,’ I thought. ‘Maybe they hit the house?’

I ran back down and found nothing outside, then I looked up and saw that the smoke was pouring out from my bedroom window. Back up the stairs, I found my bed blazing.

I quickly thought through what to do in a fire.
1. Water: it could be electrical, and water could make that worse;
2. Smother: it is too big. I can’t safely smother it;
3. Cut off oxygen: the fire is between me and the window, I can’t close it – close the door and get out.
And number three is what I did. I closed my bedroom door and ran out of the house. As soon as I was outside, I knew I had to call 000 – but how?

The thing is, I am profoundly deaf.
I didn’t know there was a fire because I didn’t hear the fire alarm, and I can’t hear very well on the phone. The problem was my hands were shaking, and I knew it would take much longer to use the text-to-voice National Relay Service as I can speak faster than I can type. So, I jumped into the deep end and called using the normal telephone service. I think I mostly just spoke at the person on the other end. I remember just repeating “Fire, fire, my house is on fire.” Then rattling off my home address to make sure they had the information they need. I had a lot of trouble hearing on that phone call, but I’m sure I did the right thing in that moment.
A good Samaritan driver stopped and stayed with me as we watched the tongues of fire start appearing out the window and watched the glass break.
The fire brigade was there in minutes, as soon as the first truck arrived they started gearing up – full-face oxygen masks, which were half-clear, half-black covering their mouths. One of the men came over to ask some very important questions, but I couldn’t lip read him through his mask and it was muffling his voice – I couldn’t understand a thing. I kept asking him to repeat himself. He was yelling, needing to know some really important information, but it didn’t help. Then my brain finally clicked in: “I’m deaf, and I need to lipread.” He ran into the house and another firefighter came to speak with me; he needed to know if anyone was in the house and where the fuse box is. From then onward, they always had someone who wasn’t wearing a mask come to speak to me, which made it much easier.

Soon there were three firetrucks, two police cars and an ambulance – it was so surreal.

It was about an hour before I was allowed into the house. By that point, one of my housemates had made it home and my mum had arrived. After my statement was taken by a police officer, we were taken upstairs to see the damage. My room was destroyed, everything was charred and burnt. My bedroom door had half burnt before the fire brigade arrived, just in time to stop the fire reaching the rest of the house.
I lost almost everything I needed as a deaf person – a vibrating alarm clock, my cochlear implant charger, spare parts, dehumidifying box for my devices, a waterproof kit for my cochlear. Thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

It was hard and frightening, but I’m not the only one who can end up in this situation. Culturally and linguistically diverse individuals who struggle with English would have difficulties communicating as well, and anyone else with a disability who relies either assistive technology or medical equipment could stand to lose everything they need to participate in an able-bodied world.

I was blessed that I have friends and family who could loan me spare parts or old alarm clocks until I can get a new one, while the NDIS failed me in replacing any of what was lost and I was not eligible for any Centrelink support. But what is the average Australian supposed to do? At the end of the day, I faced my biggest fears: I was in an emergency situation where I couldn’t communicate. I lost most of the technology I rely on to participate in a hearing world, but I survived.

Bec was diagnosed with a bilateral mild loss at three years old and began wearing hearing aids at five. Bec has recently received her first cochlear implant late 2017 and wears a hearing aid. She works for Hear For You as the Western Sydney Coordinator and was recently featured in the 'Deaf' episode of ABC's You Can't Ask That.

(Source: cochlearimplantlife.com)

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)