Interesting Facts

How much do you really know about the oily substance in your ear canals and the do’s and don’ts of cleaning your ears? Myth: If you have earwax in your ears then your ears are dirty. Fact: Everyone produces earwax, it’s the body’s way of moisturizing the skin in the ear canal and clearing out any debris. However, some individuals struggle with over production of earwax, which calls for regular wax removal by a professional. Myth: Earbuds are made for cleaning wax out of the ear canal. Fact: There is no way of seeing what you are pushing around in your ear canal when you use an earbud. A lot of the time earbuds just end up pushing wax deeper into the ear canal to eventually form a wax plug in front of the eardrum. This can negatively impact your hearing and cause other symptoms such as ear pain, ringing in the ears, balance problems, and hearing your own voice amplified in your head. It is also very difficult to remove this plug once its formed. Here are some do’s and don’ts to help you manage your earwax: DO visit your audiologist if you suspect a wax blockage in your ear canal. DO use drops of sweet oil in your ear canals the night before your wax removal appointment. DO go for a yearly/ bi yearly wax removal if you know you are prone to excessive wax buildup. DO see a medical doctor if there is any fluid leaking from your ear and/or you are experiencing severe ear pain. DON’T use anything besides a washcloth to clean your ears. DON’T use any wax drops containing acid if it has not been confirmed that there is indeed a wax blockage present in your ear canal. If you are prescribed these drops, never use it more than a few days. DON’T book your wax removal appointment the day right before/after you’ve been diving under water or flying in an aeroplane. If you are a hearing aid user, you might build up earwax a bit faster than the average non hearing aid user. The reason for this is that instead of the ear being allowed to push out earwax over time, the hearing aid is pushing the wax back into the ear canal every time you insert the hearing aid. It is therefore important to keep your hearing aid clean and consult your audiologist if you suspect your earwax is blocking sound from getting to the rest of the ear. BOOK AN APPOINTMENT

First time hearing aid use. When you first wear hearing aids, you might be astonished by all the sounds that you used to be able to hear. This is especially true if you have had hearing loss for a long time. Certain sounds may initially seem excessively loud and overwhelming. Your brain will eventually retrain itself to recognize and process specific sounds, disregarding others. This is a timely process and can sometimes take months of hearing aid use to achieve. Everyone is different Your brain will eventually retrain itself to recognize and process specific sounds, disregarding others. This is a timely process and can sometimes take months of hearing aid use to achieve. However, wearing hearing aids should never result in discomfort to the degree where wearing them causes emotional distress or pain. Sometimes the task of re introducing certain sounds to the brain requires a bit more patience, and an individual’s hearing aids might need to be set on a lower setting of amplification than is regarded as optimal. Once the wearer is comfortable with this setting, the hearing care professional can increase the amplification until the optimal level is reached. Unfortunately, due to the phenomenon of neural degradation and cross modal reorganization, some individuals are never able to handle the full prescribed amplification needed to be hearing sounds ‘normally’. Nevertheless, these individuals should still make use of hearing aids to slow down any further decline in sound processing. This is also why it is important to have realistic expectations from hearing aid use. For example, if someone has gone 10 years with an untreated hearing loss (regardless of severity), it cannot be expected that that they’ll immediately be able to process sound optimally once given access to these sounds again. Importance of hearing aid use Those with mild to moderate hearing loss usually have no difficulty following conversation in a quiet, one on one interaction without their hearing aids. The hearing loss usually becomes more prominently noticed in group situations or in scenarios with competing background noise. While it might seem like an obvious choice to only then wear hearing aids in these challenging situations, this limits the intended benefit of the hearing aids. If you’re always missing out on sounds while alone, giving your brain access to all these sounds only in a difficult listening environment will overwhelm an auditory cortex that hasn’t been kept fit for these situations. By wearing hearing aids at every waking moment, you are training your brain to become familiar with sounds amplified by the hearing aids. This way, when you’re faced with a more challenging listening environment, your brain won’t be as overwhelmed and you’ll be able to experience the full benefit of wearing your devices.

What is fatigue? Fatigue is always a subjective feeling, of exhaustion, or extreme unwillingness to continue. Cognitive or mental fatigue can result from prolonged mental effort. Additionally, some people identify “emotional fatigue” as a unique type of exhaustion brought on by ongoing emotional stress. It appears that the subjective perception of all forms of exhaustion is the same, which is that one would need to give more of oneself than one could possibly give. Impact of fatigue caused by hearing loss. The effect likely differs from person to person. To give themselves enough time to recover from exhausting episodes, some people may limit their social life, while others may continue to be as active as their peers but find less enjoyment in it. Of course, people who work regular jobs might not have complete control over their own activity level and consequently grow weary.  Extreme exhaustion outside of work, a reduction in earning potential, or an early retirement from the workforce are all potential outcomes. Addressing hearing loss Hearing devices are often fitted to help with some of the speech perception issues that are associated with hearing loss. Most frequently, these devices are hearing aids and assistive listening devices.  According to Ferguson et al. (2017), the fitting of hearing aids typically results in significant reductions in hearing impairment. Fitting hearing aids has also been demonstrated to lessen the amount of listening effort needed during conversations. It would be expected that wearing a hearing device would reduce fatigue given the suggested links between listening effort and fatigue. Hearing-loss related fatigue Research consistently shows that fatigue levels are higher in those with hearing loss than in those without. That being said, hearing loss-related fatigue is usually far less severe and affects fewer people than, say, chemotherapy-related fatigue. When hearing-impaired individuals express how tired they feel, it isn’t always only about the mental strain of trying to understand speech; there’s also the effort of coping (like figuring out where to sit ahead of time and making sure you get that seat) and the emotional strain of feeling like you’re falling behind and might even be annoying your partner. References: Professor Graham Naylor interviewed by Jane Woodward for Phonak Audiology Blog Holman JA, Drummond A, Naylor G. The Effect of Hearing Loss and Hearing Device Fitting on Fatigue in Adults: A Systematic Review. Ear Hear. 2021 Jan/Feb;42(1):1-11. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000909. PMID: 32639255; PMCID: PMC7757744. In-House Services & Repairs Our team is adept at providing in-house services, minimizing the downtime of your hearing devices.   BOOK AN APPOINTMENT

Everyone experiences aging. The process of cognitive aging presents with significant inter-individual variations. Different aspects of physical, mental, emotional, and psychosocial development interact to produce a variety of individual growth and loss trajectories as well as stability over the course of life.  The degree, pace, and pattern of age-related cognitive changes experienced differ significantly amongst individuals.  Though performance levels for other cognitive functions like language, semantic knowledge, abstract reasoning, and visuospatial ability are generally not affected by aging, declines are typically seen in cognitive functions like processing speed, executive functions, episodic and working memory. Compensating for age related changes. Those who want to age well must adjust to and make up for changes that could affect speech comprehension, which is an essential component of communication. Age-related changes in brain regions essential to speech understanding as well as normal and elevated hearing threshold levels are linked to declines in speech understanding under challenging listening conditions. Numerous parts of the brain that are not typically thought of as part of the language network are recruited to support speech understanding when listening situations become complex, the acoustics deteriorate, and the signal to noise ratio is unfavorable. Loss of resources for other cognitive tasks, listening fatigue, and loss of attention are just a few of the cognitive and behavioral effects of using extra cognitive resources for speech understanding. Dementia With more than 55 million cases of dementia reported globally, and predictions that the number will triple by 2050, dementia is a significant public health concern (Alzheimer’s Association, 2021). In light of their own cognitive decline, many older adults are especially worried about memory loss. They also worry about having to care for someone else who has dementia. Dementia is a term used to describe irreversible and progressive changes in brain function that are not a normal aspect of aging. Along with memory loss, dementia also affects several higher-order cognitive abilities, including language, executive function, perception, motor skills, and social cognition. Personality shifts as well as behavioral and emotional issues that affect social functioning are expected symptoms. Over the past few decades, a lot of attention has been paid to the interaction between age-related changes in auditory and cognitive processing during listening and speech understanding. Hearing loss is now the biggest modifiable risk factor for dementia at the population level, and hearing loss starting in midlife increases that risk, according to the most recent 2017 and 2020 Lancet Commission reports on dementia prevention. Intervention The importance of receiving hearing care throughout life, its connection to integrated care, and the promotion of healthy aging are all highlighted by the rising incidence of age-related hearing loss and the increase in life expectancy.  A proactive health promotion approach to ageing well from middle age, rather than a reactive approach after hearing loss has already caused significant disability, could help to prevent many of the negative consequences of hearing loss in later life. Key messages about brain ageing, adapted from the Institute of Medicine, 2015 (The Gerontological Society of America, 2020): Much like other parts of the body, the brain ages.  Ageing cognitively is not an illness. It’s a normal, ongoing process that happens to every person. Each person’s experience of cognitive aging is unique. As one gets older, certain cognitive abilities (like experience-based wisdom) get better. Individuals can take actions to support and maintain their cognitive health. Did you know? 1 in 4 people think that nothing can be done to prevent dementia. Reference: Julia Sarant, Ulrike Lemke, Nathalie Giroud, Sigrid Scherpiet & Barbara Weinstein (2023) Promoting hearing and cognitive health in audiologic rehabilitation for the well-being of older adults, International Journal of Audiology, DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2023.2260099 Our team take pride in the meticulous execution of diagnostic testing, employing precise measures to ensure the attainment of the most accurate and reliable results. BOOK AN APPOINTMENT