I’ve tried Lyric, the invisible hearing aid, in the past but it didn’t fit in my ear, is there anything new?

Lyric is an extended wear hearing aid.  What this means is that it can stay in your ear canal for months at a time.  The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has approved the Lyric device to remain in the ear canal for up to 4 months at a time.  The longevity of the device in your ear canal all depends on your personal body chemistry, meaning wax build up and how much your ear canals sweat.  The average lifespan of Lyric is about 2 months.  At the end of the two months, we remove the old devices and replace them with new devices.  The Lyric device doesn’t not fit everyone.  The only way to know if it is the right device for you is to try it.  Your audiologist first needs to measure the length and width of your ear canal.  To answer your question, yes there is something new with Lyric.  There are two new sizes.  There used to be only 5 sizes and now there are 7 sizes.  Lyric added an XXS and XXL.  If you are still interested in Lyric but were contraindicated in the past based on sizing, make an appointment to try Lyric again.  Allow your audiologist to resize your ear and allow you to trial it again for 30 days risk free.  

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

You mentioned using Sound Therapy as a means of tinnitus management. What is Sound Therapy?

Tinnitus is the presence of sound in the ears or head.  Commonly, people report ringing, humming, buzzing even clicking sounds and at times, there may be multiple sounds.  Tinnitus can present in various degrees and can be constant or intermittent.  When severe, it can cause stress, anxiety and sleep deprivation.  Often there is no cure for it.  Sound Therapy is a means for you to change your perception of it and decrease its interference with your life.

Many times people are able to just ignore tinnitus.  While others’ can’t seem to take their focus off it.  We know that those who shift their attention to other things are much less bothered by it.  Progressive Tinnitus management including Sound Therapy, is a method for triaging, assessing and managing tinnitus on an individual basis.  It provides you with tools to aid you in changing your perceptions of your tinnitus and shift your attention away from your tinnitus.

Sound Therapy is a corner stone of tinnitus management.  It uses three types of sound, interesting sounds, soothing sound and background sound.  Soothing sound can reduce anxiety and stress.  Background sound reduces the contrast of tinnitus to the room noises, reducing perceived intensity of the tinnitus. Interesting sound shifts attention from the tinnitus to other sounds.

If your tinnitus interferes with your life, causing anxiety, stress and or sleep deprivation, call for an appointment.  It will start with an evaluation of your hearing and tinnitus.  From there we will assess your candidacy for sound therapy and work with you to design and implement a personal management plan including Sound Therapy.  

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

Is there anything you can do for ringing in the 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.

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, 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.  Treatment really becomes a matter of managing your reactions to it.

One of the newest approaches for managing 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 constant ringing or humming.

At Advanced Audiology Concepts we use a progressive tinnitus management strategy which begins with a hearing and tinnitus evaluation.  From there we assess the degree of the problem and work with you to design and implement a personal management plan including 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