STEP 3 - Personal Education:
Learn All I Can About My Problem.
The
most effective remedy for hearing loss is personal education.
You need to learn all you can about your particular
loss. To begin, you will need to know:
What is the type of hearing loss
I have?
What is the degree of loss in my
left and right ears?
How has my brain been affected?
How do hearing aids bridge the
gap?
What can I do to improve my
hearing?
What
type of hearing loss do I have? (Your hearing professional
will provide this information as indicated by your hearing test.)
The types of hearing loss:
Conductive hearing loss:
Sound isn't conducted properly from the outer or middle ear to
the inner ear.
Sensorineural hearing loss:
The inner ear is unable to properly transmit sound to the brain.
The hair cells inside the inner ear (especially those for high
frequency hearing) have withered due to age, noise or
medications, and no longer pick up sounds properly.
Mixed loss: This is
a combination of a conductive loss and a sensorineural loss.
How
has my brain been affected? If you have lost your hearing
gradually over time, then your brain has been slowly starved from
stimulation in the sound frequencies you no longer hear at normal
volume.
So, when you first begin using
hearing aids, your brain will be startled
to receive signals it has been missing. Until it becomes
acclimated to these sounds, you will think to yourself....
Everyone's voice
sounds odd to me.
My own voice
bothers me. It sounds like I am speaking into a barrel.
The hearing aids
are noisy. Unless I go into a quiet room, they pick up all
sorts of distracting noises.
Will this
condition improve with time?
Here
is a simple example of how your brain will categorize sound and
acclimate itself over time. A beautiful house in a wonderful
old neighborhood was for sale. But what about the railroad
track just beyond the alley? The prospective couple was
promised by the realtor that the train came by twice each day, but
that they would never hear it. "Just ask any of the other
neighbors who had lived in the neighborhood for years!!"
So the couple bought the house and moved in. For the first few
nights they were awakened at 2:15 in the morning as the train
lumbered by. Then, after several weeks in their new home, a
friend came for an overnight visit. At breakfast the guest
asked, "how can you sleep through the noise of that
train?" "Funny you should mention it," the
couple said. "We never hear it anymore." Did
their hearing change? No, the noise became a familiar
part of their environment and their brains categorized it and became
acclimated to it.
Because
you haven't heard normal sounds and noises for a long time, wearing
hearing aids will be like moving into a new house. At first,
the sounds amplified by your hearing aids will sound tinny,
metallic, artificial and unnatural. But, this is because you
are hearing the high frequency sounds (like /s/, /f/, /k/, etc.),
you have been missing, or have heard differently for years.
This unnatural sound quality will actually improve your speech
comprehension -- but only if you stick with your new
hearing aids until your brain has a chance to adjust. And with
practice and time, your brain will adjust. Hearing and
understanding involve more than the hearing organ. Your
hearing is a complex function which requires the cooperation of the
brain and your other senses.
Understanding
occurs in your brain, not in your ears.
Reacclimating your brain to true sound is a little like priming a
pump; you've got to stay with it long enough for the water to flow.
Once it is flowing - and it will flow - the hardest part is over.
From early
childhood the sounds of words and noises are conveyed to the
brain to gather visual images of things. This information
is stored in memory compartments which are your "sound
vocabulary."
When you lose part
of your hearing, the corresponding part of your brain - which
now has no input from your ear - volunteers that brain-part for
another assignment.
After a time of
not hearing, the brain will need a period of time
to become familiarized with the high frequency sounds of speech
and environmental sounds. This is the hardest time for a
person who begins using hearing aids.
When you begin
using hearing aids, your brain will make little use of the new
sound information for five to six weeks, then
gradually it will start to use it.
The ability to
make instant association depends on repeatedly hearing a word.
If you do not hear a word for a long period of time, difficulty
connecting the sound to its meaning
occurs.
"Auditory
Confusion" is caused by the flood of authentic sounds, noises
and voices which suddenly break into your consciousness after not
being heard for years. These are sounds which will again
become a part of your subconscious once your brain
hears them on a daily basis through hearing aids.
For example:
The true pitch of
your telephone ring.
The sound of your
clothes rustling as you walk.
The woosh of your
air conditioning vent or "hum" of your refrigerator
motor.
The crackling and
popping of the pages of the newspaper.
The whir of your
computer.
Your ability to
hear, then associate these sounds with their meaning, will increase
with practice.
GHC
offers you a Free Hearing Guide & Brochure to
provide you with detailed information on the facts about
hearing loss and how we can help. Click
here to request your free information.
SCHEDULE A FREE HEARING EVALUATION
Call
us today at 416-1551 or
866-416-1551
toll free. SEND
US AN EMAIL
TESTIMONIALS
"The
knowledge, patience and kindness of Royce and his staff
at Gateway Hearing Center has made me an extremely happy
and satisfied patient... read more
The
most effective remedy for hearing loss is personal education.
You need to learn all you can about your particular
loss. To begin, you will need to know:
What
type of hearing loss do I have? (Your hearing professional
will provide this information as indicated by your hearing test.)
How
has my brain been affected? If you have lost your hearing
gradually over time, then your brain has been slowly starved from
stimulation in the sound frequencies you no longer hear at normal
volume.
Here
is a simple example of how your brain will categorize sound and
acclimate itself over time. A beautiful house in a wonderful
old neighborhood was for sale. But what about the railroad
track just beyond the alley? The prospective couple was
promised by the realtor that the train came by twice each day, but
that they would never hear it. "Just ask any of the other
neighbors who had lived in the neighborhood for years!!"
So the couple bought the house and moved in. For the first few
nights they were awakened at 2:15 in the morning as the train
lumbered by. Then, after several weeks in their new home, a
friend came for an overnight visit. At breakfast the guest
asked, "how can you sleep through the noise of that
train?" "Funny you should mention it," the
couple said. "We never hear it anymore." Did
their hearing change? No, the noise became a familiar
part of their environment and their brains categorized it and became
acclimated to it.
Because
you haven't heard normal sounds and noises for a long time, wearing
hearing aids will be like moving into a new house. At first,
the sounds amplified by your hearing aids will sound tinny,
metallic, artificial and unnatural. But, this is because you
are hearing the high frequency sounds (like /s/, /f/, /k/, etc.),
you have been missing, or have heard differently for years.
This unnatural sound quality will actually improve your speech
comprehension -- but only if you stick with your new
hearing aids until your brain has a chance to adjust. And with
practice and time, your brain will adjust. Hearing and
understanding involve more than the hearing organ. Your
hearing is a complex function which requires the cooperation of the
brain and your other senses.
Understanding
occurs in your brain, not in your ears.
Reacclimating your brain to true sound is a little like priming a
pump; you've got to stay with it long enough for the water to flow.
Once it is flowing - and it will flow - the hardest part is over.
"Auditory
Confusion" is caused by the flood of authentic sounds, noises
and voices which suddenly break into your consciousness after not
being heard for years. These are sounds which will again
become a part of your subconscious once your brain
hears them on a daily basis through hearing aids.
For example:
