Blog

There are three different types of hearing loss; sensorinueral, conductive or mixed.

Some patients are in denial, they don’t believe they have a hearing loss because it doesn’t affect their lifestyle and they don’t know what they’re missing. Many patients thank me at the two week follow up, they now realize what they haven’t heard in such a long time. That being said, the first two weeks are difficult, you will hear everything. W hether you want to or not! Some sounds you will notice are; You will hear your own voice Background noise Going to the bathroom will sound like Niagara Falls Paper will sound to sharp or to crispy The tap will sound loud The clock Creaking and cracking of the floors

It all depends on your hearing loss and your lifestyle! Think of the keys on a piano; if you divide the keys in half, you have a two channel hearing, the lows and the highs (like the bass and treble control in you car stereo). Typically, the more hearing aid channels there are, the more expensive they get! But the more channels there are, the more control the professional has and therefore the clearer the hearing aids should sound. If you have a hearing loss that is “flat” then you can probably benefit from a basic, less expensive hearing aid. If you have a hearing loss that fluctuates form frequecy to frequency then it might be in your best interrest to get something more advanced. Another thing to consider is your lifestyle! Are you active socially, working, retired? If you live a basic lifestyle, you can probaly benefit from a basic hearing aid and most likely don’t need all the “bells & whistles” as someone with an active or busy lifestyle such as a CEO of a company.

Plugged ears? Have a professional look into your ears, do not try to clean your ears yourself! Why? You can’t see what you’re doing, you might push the wax deeper in your ear canal. You might also go to deep and puncture your own eardrum, OUCH! Earwax or cerumen can be a yellow or brown substance which secretes out of the ear canal. It’s a defense mechanism, it cleans and protects the ear canal from bacteria, fungi, insects, water and wax filters (from hearing aids). There’s also impacted wax, which is a black hard type of wax. If you have impacted wax, the best thing to do is buy some mineral oil or baby oil and put a couple of drops in the ear twice a day for about two or three days before you go see your doctor to get your ears flushed out. Another way to remove wax is to let a hearing healthcare professional remove the wax by using a curette. Another way to remove wax is by candling, I personally don’t believe in it. Plugged ears or impacted wax can occlude the external auditory canal and/ or press against the tympanic membrane or eardrum which can impair your hearing. If you have plugged ears, you shouldn’t get a hearing test since the results won’t be accurate and you will have to do it again once wax is removed. Wax is also a big problem with hearing aids! If your hearing aid doesn’t sound right or seems week, it’s probably because of wax. Have a professional look at it, they have the tools and resources to clean it.