Can you get a service dog to help with hearing loss?

As you may already know, dogs have been used for years for a variety of reasons as service animals.  Dogs can be used to help warn their partners of on-coming seizures, used as seeing-eye dogs, companion dogs for those who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or a variety of other concerns and including those with profound hearing loss.  Yes, there is such a thing as a hearing service dog.  Hearing service dogs can be trained to respond to American Sign Language (ASL) in the case of those with significant hearing loss that are non-verbal.  Hearing dogs are trained to alert their partners to common sounds such as doorbells, fire alarms, morning alarms, cooking timers, a telephone ringing, a baby’s cry etc.  The service dog is trained to nudge their partner, get their attention and take them to the location of the sound source.  As you can imagine, for people who have significant hearing loss that cannot hear these common sounds, their companion dog can help them live independently.  The service dog could also protect them and save their lives when thinking of something as serious as fire alarms or alerting them to someone trying to break into their homes.  So yes, hearing loss is no different, there are service dogs available that can be trained to support those who need it.  

Life sounds great!  Enjoy every moment!

Jane Kukula, AuD & Ashley Spisak, AuD

8897 Mentor Ave

Mentor, Ohio 44060

440-205-8848

Fax: 440-205-9818

What can I do for the ringing in my ears?

Ringing in the ears is called tinnitus.  Sometimes people hear more of a buzzing or humming sound, regardless of the quality of the sound, it is all called tinnitus.  There are many causes, sometimes it’s as simple as ear wax on the eardrum. If this is the case, the tinnitus will stop when the wax is removed.  But for millions of people this is not the case.  Most often tinnitus is caused by decreased function in the hearing nerves called haircells.  When these haircells malfunction, they cause decreased hearing ability and at times, they tell the brain there is sound when there is no sound.  When this happens, there is no medicine or surgical procedure that can cure it. 

For most people treatment becomes a matter of minimizing the impact of the tinnitus and managing your reactions to it.  Typically, when someone has hearing loss with their tinnitus hearing aids are recommended.  When sound is amplified, it can minimize tinnitus.  One of the newest approaches for managing reactions to tinnitus is Sound Therapy.  The goal with Sound Therapy is to shift your awareness and focus away from the tinnitus to other things.  Sound Therapy can provide relief from the tinnitus and reduce stress related to the ringing.

At Advanced Audiology Concepts we use a Progressive Tinnitus Management strategy which begins with a hearing assessment and tinnitus evaluation.  From there we assess the degree of the problem caused by tinnitus and design and implement a personal management plan which may include Sound Therapy.  Call today to schedule your appointment.  

Life sounds great!  Enjoy every moment!

Jane Kukula, AuD & Ashley Spisak, AuD

8897 Mentor Ave

Mentor, Ohio 44060

440-205-8848

Fax: 440-205-9818

http://aacHEAR.org

What does “looped” mean?

This is a great question.  Some public establishments such as theaters, movie theaters, concert halls, museums etc. will advertise a looped system as an assistive listening technology to their patrons.  This is often particularly helpful to those patrons that wear hearing instruments.  The goal of a looped system is to bring the sound source directly to your ears either via headphone or directly to your hearing device/hearing instruments.  This helps facilitate the listening experience so that patrons can focus on the actual event/performance rather than trying to understand and listen.  How does a loop system work?  The name itself has meaning, a looped system is just that, it means that there is an induction cable that surrounds the area of interest, room, building, hall, etc.  This induction loop generates a magnetic field that can be picked up a hearing instrument with a telecoil or a special handheld loop receiver within that looped area.  The patron, simply switches their hearing instrument into the telecoil program and the induction loop and magnetic field connects and transmits directly to the hearing instrument.  In order to utilize a looped system with your hearing instrument it must have a telecoil or T-coil.  If you are interested in utilizing a public looped system, contact your audiologist, so that they can walk you through the steps using your hearing instruments and program your hearing instruments accordingly. To make an appointment, contact us at 440-205-8848. 

Life sounds great!  Enjoy every moment!

Jane Kukula, AuD & Ashley Spisak, AuD

8897 Mentor Ave

Mentor, Ohio 44060

440-205-8848

Fax: 440-205-9818

http://aacHEAR.org