Hearing Reimagined VOL 1 / ISSUE 2
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Your Brain & Ears Your Own Dynamic Duo!
IN THE LOOP
Retailers Hear You & Want to Help
How to Enjoy Music with Hearing Loss
The Story of Evelyn Glennie
How to Enjoy Music with Hearing Loss by Jaqlyn Tinaro
“You can expose yourself to so many musical situations to find out what resonates. We are all different so take the time to find out”
–Evelyn Glennie
M
usic has charms, as the saying goes. Hearing music can uplift the spirit, soothe the soul, bring joy to the heart, and relax the body. Its power is undeniable. But music is ‘heard’ with more than just the ears, so being hard of hearing does not take away the ability to enjoy, and play, music. Just ask Evelyn Glennie, a Scottish musician who is deaf. “When I’m asked if I hear the percussion instruments I am playing or other instruments playing alongside me, my response is that I feel the music through my body – my hands, arms, cheekbones, scalp, everywhere,” the percussionist said in a recent interview. Indeed, for the hard of hearing and deaf, musical tones or pitches not ‘heard’ can be felt through the body which acts as
a conduit to sense the vibrations running through it. In some cases, people can feel higher pitched tones through their teeth, the tops of their heads and cheeks. In other cases, individuals are able to pick up the beat through the base running through their chest and sternum. Glennie, who led 1,000 drummers at the 2012 London Olympic Games, said she completely relies on the feel of the music running through her body as she plays. “I regularly play barefoot during both live performances and studio recordings in order to feel the music better,” she described. When speaking about her music, one can feel the passion Glennie has for it, especially percussion: “I love the bass drums, the Photography by Philipp Rathmer
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individual listener - but the only way to find out is to try it out. Almost any pair of hearing aids can be configured with a ‘music setting’ that disables many of the automatic functions and reduces the amount of processing that needs to occur in the hearing aids. It is important to remember to return the hearing aids to their normal setting when done listening to music. A study from the University of Colorado Boulder, which took data from 18 hearing aid users, suggests that the more processed the music is, whether done in a recording studio or by the hearing aid itself, the more distorted the result. For the study, participants listened to many different music samples from the minimally processed to the highly processed. The results of the study showed that, in general, the less processing that occurs at the hearing aid level, the better the music sounded. Be sure to ask your hearing healthcare provider which hearing aids will best serve your music listening needs. He or she can also advise you how to change the settings when necessary, or even design a music program for your existing hearing aids. triangle, the rattles and marimbas. To be able to play the whole range of different instruments is extremely satisfying. I love the variety of sounds and pitches, the different feel of each instrument, the dynamics.” For most individuals who have hearing loss or are deaf, certain pitches are not heard and lyrics are hard to understand, if heard at all, so like Karaoke, reading or seeing the lyrics along with the song can help. As can hearing aids and depending on the device, they can provide a new way to enjoy music; the tones and pitches are much cleaner, for example. Glennie has experience with those sounds and tones. “But it is true to say that some sounds are more pleasant than others, and some are tinny and squeaky to my ears. What I would encourage you to do is experience as many different types of music as you can,” she suggested.
Hearing Aids and music
With the support and technology we have today, being hard of hearing does not take away the ability to embrace and enjoy music. It can be a calming and simplified experience or a tangible bodily experience, regardless it is the motion of opening yourself up to the exploration of how music can change and uplift you that makes the difference.
‘Touch the Sound: A Sound Journey with Evelyn Glennie’ The award-winning and internationally acclaimed 2004 German documentary about Scottish classical percussionist Evelyn Glennie, ‘Touch the Sound: A Sound Journey with Evelyn Glennie’ explores and examines how Glennie perceives sound. She described the film in a recent interview as exploring the “connections among sound, rhythm, time, and the body.” “It is a film which demonstrates a completely different understanding of what and how we hear. The central message of the film is sound is all around us, but are we paying attention,” she asked rhetorically.
“You can expose yourself to so many musical situations to find out what resonates. We are all different so take the time to find out,” Glennie said.
As a child Glennie suffered a neurological disorder that left her with hearing loss beginning when she was just eight. By 13, her hearing loss had become profound, but she had already developed a passion for music having begun playing the piano shortly before her hearing loss began. Despite being told she should attend a school for the deaf and abandon music, she stayed put and switched from piano to percussion, a place where she could ‘feel’ the music.
If your hearing aid does not have a specific music program, your hearing care professional should be able to mimic one. There may be a bit of trial and error to make the settings optimized for the
“Listening is about concentrating, being focused, being in the moment and paying attention. It is amazing that when one opens the body up like a huge ear all things resonate in meaningful ways.”
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Your Brain and Ears:
Your Own Dynamic Duo! W
hen you think of great partnerships, what comes to mind? Abbott and Costello? Sonny and Cher? Batman and Robin? How about your brain and your ears?
While their functions are distinctly different, your hearing health depends on how well your brain and ears work together. Your brain relies on both of your ears to collect sound, comparing the incoming data to decide what to focus on. The comparison helps the brain decide which information is important in understanding speech and focuses on that source while ignoring the background noise. 4
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Your brain and ears also work together to fight debilitating medical issues. Because we hear with our brains, untreated hearing loss can lead to cognitive difficulties and increase the risk for developing dementia and Alzheimer’s. When the brain “forgets” what it’s like to hear, it is difficult to regain those pathways. Not hearing well can lead to social isolation, loss of income or earning potential, depression, anxiety, and anger. Untreated hearing loss may also be an underlying symptom for a larger health problem, such as cardiovascular disease or diabetes.
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HEAR BETTER WITH LESS EFFORT mind-challenging activities, such as crossword puzzles. To keep your hearing healthy, hearing healthcare professionals recommend having a baseline hearing test at age 50 — or sooner if you suspect you have hearing loss — and to address any hearing loss diagnosis immediately. Your brain and hearing are a dynamic duo that work together not only to help you hear, but to maintain your overall health. Oticon hearing instruments can help you achieve better overall wellness and come in a wide range of styles, fitting options, colors and price points to meet your preferences for comfort and discretion. BrainHearing™ technology enables our hearing instruments, like the Alta2, to be finely tuned to match your unique hearing profile and personal sound preferences. It delivers sound with the clearest, purest signal possible in the way your brain is best able to understand it. The result is a clearer, more effortless listening experience, allowing you to hear better and communicate more effectively! Anywhere, Anytime.
Call 1-844-704-5457 to schedule a hearing screening and take advantage of special AARP member discount pricing on a wide variety of Oticon digital hearing aids!
Scientists have been studying the relationship between hearing and the brain for decades. Their findings are used by hearing instrument manufacturers to improve hearing solutions. Thankfully, the majority of age-related hearing loss can be treated with hearing aids. While hearing aids do not restore normal hearing, hearing aid users report greater satisfaction with their daily routines. To keep your brain healthy, medical professionals recommend getting good sleep, regular physical exercise, and engaging in Call HearUSA today 1-844-704-5457
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IN THE LOOP Retailers Hear You and Want to Help
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or folks with hearing loss, those unremarkable everyday errands – from picking up a prescription in a bustling pharmacy to paying for groceries at a busy check-out line – can occasionally be at once frustrating and challenging. And forget about the drive-thru; many people with hearing loss often forego that convenience. But some retailers, including supermarkets and pharmacies, and a handful of fast food restaurants, are working to help. Given the loop’s short range, between three and five feet, the technology is efficient in that the pharmacist or check-out per-
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son and the customer may converse privately, which is especially appropriate when having a conversation with a pharmacist. A century after it was founded, Rochester, NY-based Wegmans Food Markets is pioneering the next level of customer service for those with hearing loss. Beginning in January, Wegmans began installing induction hearing loop stations in its stores at pharmacy counters, customer service desks, and designated checkout lanes. “The beauty of induction loops is that they are so unobtrusive,” says Wegmans IT director Matt Sawyer. Wegmans stores are located in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia and in each of those states at least one store (and in many cases more than one) is already equipped. The company’s plan is to have hearing loop systems in all Wegmans stores by the end of 2016. “They help those who can benefit, while others in the area are usually unaware of the hearing loop’s presence,” Sawyer says.
Crystal Clear with Audio Induction Hearing Loops Audio induction or hearing loops are changing lives. The assistedlistening technology allows the deaf, hearing-impaired and those with some hearing loss using hearing aids to listen to what they need to hear clearly, without ambient noise, like when at the checkout line in the grocery store or at a pharmacy pick up window. According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, induction hearing loop systems work “seamlessly to help people wearing a hearing aid or cochlear implant equipped with a telecoil (T-coil), to hear speech more clearly.” In some pioneering supermarkets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, for example, a condenser microphone built into a checkout lane captures an employee’s voice and a ‘smart’ amplifier gets rid of background noise and sends the clear sound to an induction
loop, which converts it into a wireless electromagnetic field. The T-coil in a hearing aid or cochlear implant acts like an antenna, picking up the signal and “takes sound straight from the source and delivers it right into the listener's ear.”
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Hearing Loop
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For More Details! It is a straightforward technology that turns hearing aids with telecoils into wireless receivers; customized loud-speakers for the user’s ears. Hearing loops require just the push of a button for distinct and clear sound to be delivered directly to the person with hearing loss.
“Those with hearing loss do not have to ask others to speak up because the system helps them hear speech more clearly.” – Matt Sawyer “Those with hearing loss do not have to ask others to speak up because the system helps them hear speech more clearly.” Another century-old retailer has stepped up, too. New York and Vermont-based Kinney Drugs has installed portable amplified loop systems in more than 75 of their stores. And for customers who use devices without a telecoil, or those without hearing aids or cochlear implants, a portable headset receiver can be requested to access the hearing loop technology. Kinney Drugs also has in-store iPads available upon request for customers to access online sign language interpreter service called Video Remote Interpreting. The pharmacy chain, which opened its doors in 1903, says it is “committed to providing the highest quality pharmacy services to our patients who have a hearing loss or who are deaf.” Supermarket chain Publix has also embraced hearing loop technology. Publix first began testing the hearing loop technology, which turns hearing-aids into wireless receivers via an electromagnetic signal at the push of a button, in 2012. Initial success informed the company's decision to begin a pilot program in three of its Central Florida stores: Lakeland, Sun City Center and The Villages. The loops are located in pharmacy drop off and pick up locations in the stores as well as at the customer service desk and one dedicated check-out line. According to the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), several of its Florida chapters supported and indeed advocated
for the loop program. Following strong support for the technology by customers and groups and agencies that advocate for those with hearing loss, Publix committed to extending its program. By winter of 2015, Publix announced it was expanding the pilot to include stores in other locations in Florida including Longboat Key (Sarasota) and Venice, Florida. Publix, which has nearly 1,098 stores in the South including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and North and South Carolina, will make the loop technology available at stores based on need as decided by individual store managers. The Central and Southwest Florida store locations that currently have the technology were chosen based on identified customer needs. Like the loop systems already in place in Wegmans and other retailers, the hearing loops at Publix Supermarkets allow people with hearing loss to hear and be heard. And since the addition of hearing loops to stores across the South is at the discretion of each store manager, people living in communities where Publix is their supermarket should consider informing managers about the benefits of the hearing loop and request that the pioneering technology be implemented in their neighborhood Publix store. The HLAA and the American Academy of Audiology advocated for hearing loops several years ago with their 2010 collaborative public education campaign “Get in the Hearing Loop.” The campaign was designed to “enlighten and excite hearing aid users, as well as audiologists and other professionals who dispense hearing aids, about telecoils and hearing loops and their unique benefits.”
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H
Ringing Ears
ave you ever noticed a sound in your ears such as a buzzing, humming, high pitched tone, or other noise that was not coming from your environment? If so, you are one of the 10% of adults who have experienced tinnitus, or “ringing in the ears.” (Tinnitus is pronounced either tin-NIGH-tus or TIN-eh-tus.) For some, the ringing may come and go and is not worthy of much attention. But for others, it can seem extremely loud and persistent causing stress, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating or sleeping. Tinnitus is not a disease but a symptom of changes in the auditory system. These changes may be caused by age, medications, vascular issues, excessive wax, injury, or other underlying diseases. One of the most common causes of tinnitus is exposure to loud noise, either in a single event (such as a blast) or as a result of repeated exposure over time. Most tinnitus sufferers also have hearing loss. If accompanied by dizziness, pain, infection, or other urgent symptoms, then one should see a doctor.
The Brain’s Role
Tinnitus is not simply a condition of the ears; it also involves the brain. In the tinnitus sufferer, electrical activity in the brain is perceived as sound. Stress and anxiety are related since the part of the brain that controls emotions is also involved. This makes tinnitus a complex condition to treat and is the reason there is no simple pill or cure. Some researchers say, “the absence of sound caused by hearing loss in certain frequencies, due to normal aging, loud noise exposure, or to an accident, forces the brain to produce sounds to replace what is now missing.” 1
Relief With Sound Therapy
Fortunately, tinnitus can be effectively managed. Sound therapy,
which involves listening to a specific type of soft therapeutic sound, is one good option. These therapeutic sounds give the auditory system, including the brain, a different signal to process rather than the tinnitus. Used correctly, sound therapy corrects the brain’s “hypermonitoring” (or over-perception) of tinnitus, and leads to increasing windows of time during which the tinnitus is not perceived at all, or is perceived as much quieter and less bothersome. This process is known as habituation. Many types of therapeutic sounds can be used and treatment is customized to the individual. Relief may occur gradually, over a period of months, as the brain adjusts to new patterns. Treatment program supervision by an audiologist trained in tinnitus care is important. Sound therapy also appeals to those who prefer a “natural” remedy since sound is completely natural. One should always avoid “miracle cures,” unregulated substances, or potentially dangerous supplements that sound too good to be true. It is also helpful to find time to relax and reduce stress, as stress can make tinnitus worse.
Tinnitus Expertise and Care
Tinnitus Treatment Solutions is the nation’s largest tinnitus-focused care network. Their treatment approach is called Habituation and Retraining Therapy (HaRT™). It is a sound therapy based approach supported by personal care from a tinnitus expert clinician, with inperson care and counseling support provided by phone and internet as well for patient convenience. Click here to learn more http://aarphearingcare.com/tinnitus-solutions-hrc/ or by calling (888) 300-6093. 1
Georgetown University Medical Center, Science Daily, January 2011, Tinnitus is the result of the brain trying, but failing, to repair itself. http:// www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110112122504.htm
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