As part of its outreach efforts, Preferred Hearing Care is urging people with heart disease to get their hearing checked. A free, quick, and confidential online hearing check at Preferred Hearing Care can help people determine if they need a comprehensive, objective hearing test by a hearing health professional. To raise awareness among local women that heart disease is their #1 health threat, Preferred Hearing Care will host Wear Red and Hear Your Heart Day.

When: Friday, February 3 2012

Time: 11:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m.

Where:  5 East Main St., Merrimac, MA.

The event will provide free hearing screening and heart healthy tips for all.  Women who wear red will receive a Special Gift.  Heart Healthy Refreshments will be served. “Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States,” says Nancy Sideri, Hearing Specialist and Owner of Preferred Hearing Care. “At Preferred Hearing Care, we want to help raise awareness of the serious threat it poses to each of us personally and to inform people of the connection between heart health and hearing health. We urge women and men alike to know their risks and to take action today to protect their heart—and hearing—health.”

The inner ear is extremely sensitive to blood flow. Studies have shown that a healthy cardiovascular system—a person’s heart, arteries, and veins—has a positive effect on hearing. Conversely, inadequate blood flow and trauma to the blood vessels of the inner ear can contribute to hearing loss.

On National Wear Red Day®, the first Friday of each February, Americans nationwide wear red to show their support for women’s heart disease awareness. Preferred Hearing Care’s activities are in partnership with The Heart Truth®, a national awareness campaign warning women about their risk of heart disease. The campaign is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in partnership with The Office on Women’s Health (OWH) and other organizations committed to the health and well-being of women.

“Our participation in American Heart Month and National Wear Read Day® enables the hearing health community to make an important contribution to saving millions of lives,” says Dr. Sergei Kochkin, Executive Director of the Better Hearing Institute. “This is an opportunity to highlight the connection that heart health has on hearing health and to empower people with that knowledge. People with heart disease should not have to contend with the additional toll that unaddressed hearing loss takes on their quality of life.”

Some Things to Know About Heart Disease According to the American Heart Association , heart disease is our nation’s #1 killer. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about every 25 seconds, an American will have a coronary event, and about one every minute will die from one. But there is good news: There are things people can do to protect the health of their heart and reduce their risks—including adopting new habits, such as not smoking, following a heart healthy eating plan, maintaining a healthy weight, and becoming more physically active.

According to the NHLBI, family history of early heart disease and age are two key risk factors for heart disease. Controllable risk factors include smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, overweight/obesity, physical inactivity, and diabetes.The NHLBI says that the main warning signs for women and men are: Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain.

The discomfort may be mild or severe, and it may come and go. Discomfort in other areas of the upper body, including pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach. Shortness of breath, which often comes along with chest discomfort. But it also can occur before chest discomfort.  Other symptoms may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or light-headedness.

About Hearing Loss: Numerous studies have linked untreated hearing loss to a wide range of physical and emotional conditions, including impaired memory and ability to learn new tasks, reduced alertness, increased risk to personal safety, irritability, negativism, anger, fatigue, tension, stress, depression, and diminished psychological and overall health. But eight out of ten hearing aid users report improvements in their quality of life.

For more information about women and heart disease, including materials such as The Healthy Heart Handbook for Women and fact sheets about women and heart disease, please visit  Heart Truth or call the NHLBI Health Information Center at 888-577-2961.

Digital Hearing Aids

Hearing Aids have come a long way since their early development. Different technologies and manufacturing techniques have enabled these devices to get smaller and offer superior features. One such innovation has been the development of digital hearing aids. We’ll discuss these types and provide some helpful information.

The first digital hearing aids were introduced in 1987. At the time they used DSP (digital signal processors) to convert an analog sound signal into a digital counterpart. While the technology was revolutionary at the time, the size and cost of the devices were high and they caused a large drain on the battery. So this was abandoned for some time.

However recent advances in digital technology has enabled the introduction of many important digital hearing aids. So what are some of the key benefits of digital hearing aids?

The first thing is that it has the ability to amplify sounds which are of interest while keeping the overall sound to a comfortable level. It’s no longer an all or nothing type of situation.

These devices are also very good at discerning what is conversation and what is background noise. So a conversation can be held in a noisy environment . This was often very difficult with the traditional types of analog hearing aids.

Digital speech enhancement is an effective way to provide more natural sounds from speech and allow listening to speech more enjoyable.

There are a number of other important features of these devices as well. This technology allows for a great deal of customization and sound enhancement so the features will continue to evolve and be improved upon.

Can you imagine!  There’s no doubt that the Invisible Hearing Aids is the solution of choice.

In spite of economic issues, the invisible hearing aids is getting people motivated to finally address and seek treatment for their hearing loss. 

In good economic times, seeking hearing help has not been on the top of anyone’s priority purchase list.  No one wants to wear hearing aids.  Certainly not the one’s that are obvious to the world!

As an industry, we spend much time educating the public on the importance of protecting one’s hearing and the importance of seeking treatment sooner than later.  The 100% Invisible Hearing Aid has changed all that.

Are you a candidate?  It’s important to seek the advice from a reputable Hearing Healthcare Professional who’s focus is on four important criteria: Evaluating and Understanding your Hearing Loss, Medical History, Ear Anatomy and Lifestyle. 

If you are a first time wearer, ask family and friends about their experience with their Hearing Professional.  Hearing Loss is very private and personal and you should be comfortable with the professional you choose. 

Price shopping is just that!  Professional shopping is something different!  Hearing aids are just one factor in your treatment for your specific hearing loss.  A knowledgeable professional will provide you with a realistic recommendation based on the four criteria above.

There are a number of 100% Invisible Hearing Aids on the market today and more to come with each and every month.  Which one is right for you?  Here is a brief description of the different kinds of 100% Invisible Hearing Aids on the market today.

There are 3 categories of Invisible Hearing Aids

•     Surgically Implanted by ENT  Physicians
•     Non-Surgical Medical Placement by Hearing Healthcare Professionals
•     Traditionally Inserted and Removed by Wearer and fit and sized by Hearing Healthcare Professionals
•     (Both Custom and One-Size Fits All)

The Invisible Hearing Aids

All invisible hearing aids are designed to use the ear’s natural ability to pick up sound and their close proximity to the ear drum can provide a more natural sound quality. 

The surgical implant uses the natural ear as well and converts sound with the sophistication of a uniqe processing system which created vibration and delivers electrical impulses to the cochlear without a microphone or speaker.

Like all hearing aids, no one is best for everyone.  Even when all the criteria is met for candidacy of any Invisible Hearing Aids, there is no guaranty for result, satisfaction, and or acceptance.

I’ve discussed experience and satisfaction/dissatisfaction with many, many, patients and professionals over the past year and a half on each type of device.  Beginning with the Esteem, the surgically implanted device has no microphone or speaker, and batteries need changing every few years with another surgical application. 

The result seems to be very favorable.  Though many wish they opted for a non-surgical solution.  Having been through the surgical procedure once for implantation, dreaded the though of additional surgical procedures for battery change.  It is very expensive and not covered by insurance as it is elective surgery.

It appears to be a specialized procedure and discussion with the top Otolaryngologist in the country chose to not perform the procedure due to the success rate for treatment with today’s advancements in hearing aid technologies.  Some feared the risk of failure may be too high a risk to take.

The Lyric and Wow Invisible Hearing Aids are a popular choice.  The claim of 24/7 wear and up to 4 months for a battery change was enough to get younger, first-time wearers to finally seek treatment.  Patient claims of hearing better far outweighed the lesser claims. 

With only two sizes, small and large, fit and discomfort issues seem to be common.  Many indicated that irritation in one or two ears as a result of finding the correct size, was so intense that waiting up to 4 months for the inflammation and in many cases infection with antibiotics, to subside, before trying again. 

About half stated that the batteries did not last for 4 or even 3 months and in many cases the batteries failed in a very short period of time.  Changing batteries requires a trip to the Hearing Professional’s Office.

The general consensus was that, though it seemed like a good idea at the time, having control of taking it out and changing the battery whenever necessary was well worth the effort to hear better.  One individual was upset to have to take time off from work for a battery change!

As a result of the unique purchasing program of the Lyric,  I’ve seen many patients opt out of the next year renewal and seek SoundLens, a traditional type, but 100%  Invisible alternative solution.  SoundLens by Starkey Laboratories has been the choice of dissatisfied or unsuccessful Lyric wearers. 

Patients love to be able to remove from their ears whenever they feel like it, can change a battery any time necessary and anywhere without an appointment or inconvenience.  Being custom fit and removable, patients find SoundLens comfortable to wear love to be able to give their “ears a rest.” 

The SoundLens is a State-of-the-Art, Premier Level Programmable Hearing Device with 16 Channels and Bands, is Multi-Memory and features the most advanced Noise Management System in the industry.

Most patient satisfaction resulted from Lyric wearers.  Satisfaction/dissatisfaction for wearers of traditional hearing aids was improved as a result of being invisible.  Caution here is that ear anatomy is key to a great fit.  Starkey reports about 70+% of hearing aid wearers can be fit and will enjoy success with this product.

As for the one-size-fits-all Traditional type Invisible Hearing Aids, AMP, also by Starkey Laboratories is fast becoming the product of choice. 

Though simple compared to the advanced technology of today’s programmable digital hearing aids, it’s sophistication comes from the fact that it is a Digital device, compared to the Analog sound of Lyric, and has broad range ability to emphasize high and low frequency need – and is programmed wirelessly with an iPad. 

At a fraction of the costs of other Invisible solutions, AMP’s popularity is growing week after week and first time wearers are happy to have an affordable solution to addressing mild-moderate hearing loss.

Like all other devices, no one device is for everyone.  Again, Ear Anatomy is critical to insure a proper fit.  Though deep in the canal, in a small number of cases, the device will not stay put. 

This can occur with all other canal hearing aids for some with jaw movement that can force the hearing aid to slide out.  There is no solution for this with the AMP.  When this occurs in a custom hearing aid, there are numerous ways to remake and solve this problem.

My years experience fitting and counseling thousands of patients with all kinds of hearing losses, hearing aids, sizes shapes, etc., most will agree that hearing better is most likely more important than how hearing aids look.  Some of the same individuals and most of my younger patients agree that it’s really nice to have an invisible solution.

Preferred Hearing Care is a leader in Invisible Hearing Aids solutions.  To see if you are a candidate for an invisible solution, contact us at 866-330-HEAR(4327).  Preferred Hearing Care is a full service Hearing Healthcare Practice.  Featuring hearing aid solutions for all which includes invisible hearing aids.

Need to repair your hearing aid? There are several ways to do that. The easiest and most practical option will be to contact the makers of the hearing aid. If the aid is still under the warranty period, the manufacturer will make the necessary repairs, pay for it to be repaired or in rare cases replace the product.

This wholly depends on the extent of the damage incurred. However if the warranty time is exceeded, most manufacturers offer easy solutions to get them repaired by a third party. One could also check their website as it offers solutions to common problems.

Ways to repair Hearing Aids

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Patient Testimonial

Preferred Hearing Care is very helpful and professional.

Call Preferred Hearing Care today

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Claire has been wearing hearing aids for 4 years. She only wore her first hearing aid about four times. She was not hearing well with them. She came to Preferred Hearing and she was fitted with her new hearing aids.

She says they are doing the job they are supposed to. They are very comfortable. She cleans her hearing aids every morning, and when she puts them in, she doesn't even realize they are in.

Claire's Testimonial

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The office Visit

Your hearing specialist will conduct a painless visual examination of the ear with a manual or video otoscope. There are seven tests of hearing and speech recognition. Your hearing specialist may conduct some or all of the following tests…

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