Hear In Private Practice

Feb. 19, 2014

Make Patients Feel the Joy of Hearing Better

Bob Martin
Humans are funny creatures. We have a great capacity for logical thought and reasoning, but much of the time we fall back on our primeval emotions: caution, fear, and anxiety. It is easy for us to “think” about something that is good for us – an exercise or diet plan comes to mind, but it is often difficult for us
Feb. 11, 2014

Setting a Real-Ear Target for Hearing in High-Level Background Noise

Bob Martin
A few years ago audiologists spent a lot of time arguing about which real-ear target was best. Now, we don’t usually discuss targets any more, as most of us rely on the manufacturer’s software to give us an estimate of the sound produced by the hearing aid. (We recognize that this is a mistake, but we do it anyway.) We
Feb. 04, 2014

An Earplug is More than JUST an Earplug: Part III

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
By Dr. Toby Bateson The following is the third and final part of a series on earplugs, written by guest contributor  Toby Bateson, MD. Dr. Bateson is an Emergency Room Doctor in the UK as well as being the Managing Director of ZenPlugs Ltd.  He is the inventor of the ZenPlugs Molded Earplug System and Hammer Technologies AutoMat Rat Repellent
Jan. 28, 2014

An Earplug Is More than JUST an Earplug: Part II

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
  Back with the second part in his three-part series on Earplugs is a guest blogger, Toby Bateson, MD.   Dr. Bateson  is an Emergency Room Doctor in the UK as well as being the Managing Director of ZenPlugs Ltd.  He is the inventor of the ZenPlugs Molded Earplug System and Hammer Technologies AutoMat Rat Repellent For Cars.  His home is in Cornwall,
Jan. 21, 2014

An Earplug is More than JUST an Earplug: Part I

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
  We will have a guest blogger for the next few posts.  Toby Bateson, MD, is an Emergency Room Doctor in the UK as well as being the Managing Director of ZenPlugs Ltd.  Dr. Bateson is also the inventor of the ZenPlugs Molded Earplug System and Hammer Technologies AutoMat Rat Repellent For Cars.  He lives in Cornwall, UK, with his
Jan. 15, 2014

Address “incipient feedback” before it grows into “a monster”

Bob Martin
Everyone who works with hearing aids or wears a hearing aid is familiar with feedback. It’s that nasty screech you get when you put your hand up to your ear or when a friend gives you a warm hug. Hearing aid practitioners spend a lot of time dealing with feedback. Today, I want to discuss the “seeds” of feedback, a
Jan. 07, 2014

BACK TO BASICS: The Case of the Missing Fundamental

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
By Marshall Chasin, AuD This post was featured in the January issue of the Hearing Review. Way back in the mid-1950s, (and it was a dark and stormy night), two researchers- we will call them Miller and Licklider (actually those are their real names), had a request from Bell Labs to define the best frequency response for their telephones.  They
Jan. 01, 2014

How to Help Your Patients Hear Even When the Noise Level is High

Bob Martin
When I’m talking with my patients, I like to compare eyeglasses and hearing aids. They are familiar with bifocals and understand how they work for different viewing situations: the upper lens is for distance, the lower lens for close-up work. Similarly, hearing aids have multiple programs that are adjusted for specific listening situations. The first program, often called the default
Dec. 25, 2013

Readers Choice 2013: $8.3 Million Awarded in DePuy Cobalt/Chromium Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement Lawsuit

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
This post is a Reader’s Choice selection for 2013.   By Diana Holan, MS There are currently more than 250,000 hip replacements performed in the US annually.  This procedure was relatively uncommon before the late 1990s, but with the development of titanium and cobalt/chromium metal-on-metal (MoM) bearing surfaces, sales rapidly increased and a highly competitive market was born.  But new
Dec. 25, 2013

Happy New Year!

Hearing Health & Technology Matters
Dear Readers: During this holiday season, the editors at Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) are taking some time off. However, we are not leaving you without anything to read on our blog this week. Instead, we are publishing a special holiday edition filled with what we call our Readers’ Choices. The Readers’ Choices are the posts published on each