Hear In Private Practice

I have been dispensing hearing aids since 1991, longer than some, but just a kid to others in the business. Lately it seems that common politeness has taken a back seat to expressing oneself with no filter; if you are demanding, you may believe you’ll get what you want more quickly. This attitude does not work that way with me. I

In my two previous blog posts, I discussed various ways of clearly showing patients the benefits of hearing aids. I explained how to conduct demonstrations using test words and pulsed warbled test tones. Today I want to talk about demonstrating a hearing aid’s ability to handle “background noise.” But be warned, this topic is fraught with danger. Not all patients

A new resource was introduced recently; Researchers from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School and Harvard University programmed a new game that can help both mice and humans hear soft sounds in noise. The study was published the week of June 9-13 in PNAS Online Early Edition. There are other computer or digital programs to help train the brain

In his previous post, published June 11, Dr. Robert Martin explained the importance of giving patients a “black and white demonstration” that clearly proves the benefit of aided hearing over unaided hearing. This week, Bob continues his three-part discussion of how to provide compelling demonstrations.   There are many different types of demonstrations you can use to show your patients

(The first of three parts) If you are an Audiologist, it is easy to delude yourself into thinking that people will listen to you and accept what you are saying. You spent a lot of time and energy going to graduate school, and you have a license to practice Audiology. So, because you are a trusting individual, you believe other

Cystic Fibrosis is a chronic, inherited disease which affects the lungs and digestive system from a defective gene and its protein produces unusually thick sticky mucus. Worldwide, 70,000 and nationwide 30,000 children and adults are affected.  Those with CF have their lungs clog which leads to life-threatening lung infections. This mucus can also obstruct the pancreas and stop natural enzymes

If you are working with a hard-to-please patient, I suggest that you introduce two concepts at the same time: maximum comfort (what feels good to wear) and maximum hearing (the fitting that will give the patient the “best” hearing). When a new hearing aid user is finicky, you need to win instant approval from the person. It is easiest to

By: Holly Hosford-Dunn Ph.D. This week is a guest post from the Hearing Economics blog editor. To our HHTM readers, Eyes and ears are linked in our thinking and speaking, as in  “The eyes and ears have it.”  Have what, exactly?   Seeing and hearing are so different, why they are treated like kissing cousins?   Here are some reasons

Many of us make a living doing hearing tests and fitting hearing aids. Unfortunately, the diagnostic tests we use were developed to provide a medical evaluation of hearing. They were not designed with rehabilitation in mind. Conventional hearing tests provide a lot of useful information, but they do not give us a sufficient perspective on how best to help the

By Diana Holan, MS Hearing loss is the #1 disability for military veterans, which is attributed to acute or chronic exposure to excessive noise. However, studies from the last 20+ years have shown that working in excessive noise while inhaling toxic chemicals, including jet fuel, may be even more ototoxic than noise exposure alone. Such hearing loss may take 2-5 years