The implant requires a surgical procedure and then therapy to learn or relearn the sense of hearing with the device, and not everyone will have the same level of success. While cochlear implants have been considered extremely successful, advancements in technology and continued research is yielding better ways for even greater hearing efficiency and to help with expanded kinds of hearing loss.

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders is supporting research to improve the benefits provided by cochlear implants. According to their website, it may be possible to use a shortened electrode array, inserted into a portion of the cochlea, for individuals whose hearing loss is limited to higher frequencies. Other studies are currently exploring ways to make an implant convey sounds of speech more clearly. In addition, research is being conducted to determine potential benefits of pairing a cochlear implant in one ear with another cochlear implant or a hearing aid in the other ear.

Give your hearing the best chance for overall continued wellness by taking the all-natural supplement PROHIERAN.

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Hearing loss is an area that many men may give the silent treatment to, ignoring symptoms and denying that there is a problem. They consider hearing loss to be an inevitable part of the aging process, and not admitting to it sometimes makes them feel like they are skirting aging. However, by being aware of some of the most common warning signs, men can detect their hearing loss early on and get treatment as needed, which can have a profound impact on overall wellness. Another way to maintain hearing wellness is to by taking vitamins and a daily supplement that promotes overall cellular vitality, such as PROHIERAN.

The Better Hearing Institute has provided the following signs specifically for men that indicate the presence of a hearing impairment:

• You have trouble understanding the voices of women and small children when they speak
• You feel that people mumble or do not speak clearly
• You seem to hear better from one ear than from the other
• You turn the TV up louder than others need to
• You increasingly have problems following conversations between the front and back seats of cars

If you suspect hearing loss, schedule a hearing test, and then know that there is a wide array of effective and discreet hearing options available on the market today.

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The objective of the study was to compare awareness of music-induced hearing loss to the behavior trends. The article states that they believe that music-induced hearing loss is an unconsciously self-inflicted public health concern and it could evolve into an epidemic because of the appeal of loud music.

The results showed that hearing loss was considered a problem by 32% of the 2500 respondents compared with other health issues such as drug/alcohol use (62%). However, nearly half of the respondents admitted experiencing symptoms such as tinnitus or hearing loss after loud music exposure.

Seventy-five percent of respondents owned an MP3 player, with 24 percent listening to their music player for more than 15 hours a week. Nearly half of the respondents also said they use their player at 75 percent to 100 percent of its maximum volume capacity.

Most respondents could not remember learning about prevention of potential hearing loss, although the media has become the most informative source. Most respondents indicated that they would adopt protective ear behavior if made aware of hearing loss risk, especially if informed by health care professionals, revealing an educational opportunity.

This is an very telling study in that it show two things.

#1 – Respondents could not recall being informed about hearing loss risks.
#2 – Respondents would be in favor of using hearing protection if they were ever educated about the risks.

Help us spread the word about the risk of music-induced hearing loss. Listening to your portable music player is detrimental to your hearing wellness. Take a look at our blog post about putting a limit on your iPod volume.

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The firefighters believe that flammable material was put through the mail slot in the apartment, but when the blaze set off an in-bed hear impaired fire alarm the elderly man was able to save the entire building. “He actually put the fire out himself” firefighters stated, “only because he was woken up by the pad.”

You can learn more about the vibrating fire alarm for the hearing impaired at fireangel.co.uk

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Athletes who are deaf or hard of hearing but didn’t let the disability get in the way of their love of sports are preparing to compete in the Summer Deaflympics in Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 5-15. Events that 2009 Team USA athletes will be participating in include athletics (track and field), basketball, beach volleyball, bowling, cycling, martial arts, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. The USA Deaf Sports Federation is the only national athletic association in the United States that coordinates the participation of American deaf and hard of hearing individuals in international sports competitions. The Federation is affiliated with the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD).

All deaf and hard of hearing individuals with a hearing loss of 55dB or greater in the better ear (three frequency pure tone average at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz) are eligible. The use of hearing aids or cochlear implants are prohibited in competitions. U.S. team participants must be American citizens and members of the Federation in good standing. During the Deaflympics, deaf athletes compete against and interact with each other in sign language.

The International Olympic Committee officially recognizes ICSD as the sole organization responsible for the administration of all sporting events involving the deaf and hard of hearing. Conditions of competition in the Deaflympics are similar to those for the Olympic Games.

While the 2009 games have not yet gotten under way, plans are already in the works for the 2013 Summer Deaflympics, which will take place July 31-August 13, 2013, in Athens, Greece. These international events require tremendous effort and volunteer commitment to be successful. You can track details about the 2009 U.S. team’s success at the 2009 Summer Deaflympics from the website: http://www.usdeafsports.org.

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As written, the bill would:

• require that mobile and other Internet-based telecommunications devices and equipment be fully hearing aid compatible, have accessible user interfaces, and offer people with disabilities use of a full range of text messaging and other popular services that are currently largely inaccessible;
• provide people who are deaf-blind with vital but costly technologies they need to communicate electronically;
• establish a process and time table for the provision of real-time text capability;
• clarify existing relay-to-relay, Lifeline and Linkup service requirements to ensure their relevance to the real world communications needs of people with disabilities;
• restore the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) modest video description rules and unambiguously establish the FCC’s current and ongoing authority to expand such regulations;
• require emergency announcements and similar information to be accessible to people with disabilities through audible presentation of on-screen alerts;
• ensure that video programming offered via the Internet will be both captioned and described;
• call for all devices that receive and playback video programming to employ accessible user interfaces and allow ready access to captioning and description;
• strengthen consumers’ ability to enforce their rights to communications and video accessibility through the establishment of a clearinghouse of information about service and equipment accessibility and usability, a meaningful FCC complaint process that holds industry accountable for their accessibility obligations, and judicial review of FCC action to ensure FCC accountability.

What are your thoughts about the bill? Let us know the comments below.

Prohieran.com

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A new review of existing employer hearing protection programs seems to indicate that there is little evidence to support the workplace programs. That doesn’t mean that workers don’t wear earplugs and other hearing protection devices, but the study reviewers indicate that they may not always be effective.

Review lead author Jos Verbeek indicated that in terms of the big hearing wellness picture, “We still rely too much on hearing protection, which is not sufficient.” In an article published by Health Behavior News Service, a Colorado audiologist agrees, saying that hearing loss is a very common workplace injury and itís very invisible, saying it takes a while for it to get bad enough for people to pay attention.

Reasons cited that hearing loss protection programs may not work include people not wearing earplugs when they are supposed to, and being exposed to excessive noise levels as a result. Also, low-quality earplugs that are designed as a “one-size-fits-all” may not work properly for everyone. Further, proper use of earplugs requires simple training, because proper use consists of more than just sticking them in your ears.

The overall best solution to protecting hearing wellness is to reduce exposure to loud or extended noise, which may not always be feasible due to expenses — especially in today’s tough economy. However, the study authors recommend some less-costly measures such as enclosures around noisy machinery and simply soundproofing noisy workrooms.

Ultimately, people must take personal responsibility of ensuring hearing health. Taking hearing wellness supplements like ProHieran can also help provide hearing wellness as well as promote overall cellular health.

Prohieran.com

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The most interesting feature of the application is that it continuously keeps a recorded buffer of what it hears, allowing you to quickly replay the last five to thirty seconds of a misheard conversation. So you can actually rewind whatever was just said the replay it. I can think of a lot of arguments that would have been quickly settled if I’d had this little app around.

The price is $9.99 and it currently has 16 ratings at an average rating of 3.5 stars. iTunes link.

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A recent Italian study claims that individuals are more likely to perform a task when information is received in the right ear than the left. Researchers conducted three studies looking at ear preference in communications between people, especially in noisy social situations, and found a natural side bias. Right-ear dominance is believed to reflect the brain’s left hemisphere which features the processors for verbal information. According to researchers, the findings indicate an advantage for human understanding and compliance to tasks or instructions when information is received in the right ear only vs. the left. This doesn’t apply to normal conversations when persons are spoken to in a normal, face-to-face setting, but rather situations call for conversations directed to a person’s particular ear.

Next time you are in a noisy setting or need to discreetly tell someone something, you may wish to choose to deliver the information in the right ear for the best overall chance of hearing success.

Prohieran.com

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It covers frequently asked questions like “May an employer request medical information about an applicant’s hearing impairment that is obvious or that the applicant has disclosed?” as well as important information about accommodations for people with hearing disabilities.

Know your rights, at EEOC.gov’s Questions and Answers about Deafness and Hearing Impairments in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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