Month: May 2023

Many people rely on hearing aids to go about their daily life and they are vitally important for a lot of individuals. By properly caring for and maintaining your hearing aids you can ensure they perform as best as possible and last for a long time.

Hearing aids are often worn for extended periods of time and therefore may have a build-up of wax, dirt and debris. By cleaning your hearing aids daily after removing them, you can help to ensure they stay clean and in full working order.

The best way to clean your hearing aids is with a soft, clean and dry cloth or a sociality cleaning brush. Gently remove any visible dirt and wax from the device to prevent build-up.

You should avoid using any water or cleaning solutions on your hearing aids as these can cause damage to the device as not all hearing aids are waterproof and some cleaning solutions can be too harsh and potentially degrade or damage the materials the device is made from.

Earwax is naturally occurring in the body and helps to lubricate and protect the ear canal, however, it can be troublesome for hearing aid users. One of the most common reasons for malfunction in hearing aids is wax build-up.

In order to prevent wax from damaging your hearing aids, you should ensure that your ears are clean and there is no accumulation of wax in the ear canal. Having this removed via ear wax microsuction is the best and safest method.

You should also ensure you regularly clean out all components of your hearing aid, including the small openings and vents which you may sometimes forget about or miss, in order to prevent clogging.

It is important that you are very gentle and careful when cleaning as hearing aids are very delicate and may become accidentally damaged if you do not take care.

Another key step in taking good care of your hearing aids is to avoid moisture. Hearing aids are not waterproof and are electrical devices, meaning any moisture can cause issues and even break them entirely.

You should make sure you remove your hearing aid before bathing, showering or swimming and avoid excessively humid areas.  While this isn’t ideal, it can help to preserve and protect the durability and longevity of your hearing aids.

You can purchase specific kits made to ensure your hearing aids stay dry which can be used overnight, or you may wish to consider purchasing a dehumidifier if you live in a particularly humid area, to help prevent excess moisture build-up.

Aside from cleaning and protecting your hearing aids, it is important that you handle them and store them carefully when they are not in use.

This helps to prevent accidental damage and keeps them safe and protected. Using a hard, protective case when transporting or storing your hearing aids can help to prevent them from breaking if they are accidentally dropped or end up in the water.

 

There are few things more distressing than sudden hearing loss. One week you can hear everything being said, the sound from your TV or radio, music playing and birdsong in the countryside, the next it has gone.

It is a distressing thing to suffer and something that has hit the headlines with news that singer-songwriter Paul Simon has been enduring exactly such a loss of hearing in his left ear, which means he currently cannot perform live. He revealed the problem in an interview with the Sunday Times about his latest album Seven Psalms.

The loss occurred while compiling the album and the 81-year-old remarked that it happened “quite suddenly” and, so far, nobody has been able to explain it.

He added: “My reaction to that was frustration and annoyance; not quite anger yet, because I thought it would pass, it would repair itself.” Simon has had to swap his residence in noisy New York for a quiet ranch in rural Texas to make hearing easier.

While Paul Simon seeks an explanation for his issue, it is worth noting that if you book a free hearing test you may avoid a similar fate, as a loss of hearing usually does have an explanation and often taking preventative measures beforehand can help.  

As Medscape notes, one form of this condition is Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, which tends to happen to people in middle age and is usually treated by steroids. It can often be accompanied by vertigo and tinnitus. Most of those who enjoy a full and sudden recovery on their own do so within 30 days.

Such symptoms could be one way of telling if a problem may be emerging, while the fact that some forms of sudden hearing loss can occur in your 40s shows you don’t need to wait to reach Paul Simon’s age before getting a test.

 

Of all the problems an audiologist in Huddersfield may deal with, tinnitus is one of the most distressing. While a hearing aid can correct hearing loss, tinnitus is not a problem of not hearing something, but of having a constant noise in the ear, which can range from buzzing or humming to a whooshing sound.  

As a condition, it can range from irritating to thoroughly distressing, depending on its severity and persistence, with the potential to diminish sleep, disrupt concentration or cause anxiety and depression. Around one in seven adults suffer from it.

All these are good reasons to get it treated if you suffer from it, as well as taking steps to prevent the condition occurring where possible. Causes can include infections, Meniere’s disease, hearing loss and some forms of medication.

However, another way to get tinnitus involves an activity one would not normally associate with hearing loss – gardening.

Tinnitus UK has issued a press release in the run-up to the Chelsea Flower Show (May 22nd-27th) urging gardeners to be wary about the dangers posed by mowing the lawn, trimming the hedge or using power tools. It has advised that ear protection should be worn to prevent possible hearing damage of a kind that could lead to tinnitus symptoms.

At first, it might come as a surprise to think that using power tools outdoors would have such an impact, as sound can dissipate more than if it is being generated in a confined indoor space. 

But Tinnitus UK warns it remains a danger and warns that with research showing only 26 per cent of gardeners habitually covering their ears, around four million people are putting themselves at risk.

The organisation said noise becomes risky at 80 decibels or higher, but petrol-driven lawnmowers can reach 95 decibels, while power washers of the sort used to clean patios can hit 94. Hedge trimmers are noisier still, at up to 103 decibels. That is enough to cause hearing damage or tinnitus in just eight minutes.

Chief executive officer of Tinnitus UK Caroline Savage said: “Noise exposure is the single biggest preventable cause of tinnitus, and it is clear from our research that people appear to be unaware of the risks.”

She added: “Even if you’re only giving your hedge a quick trim or the patio a spruce up, use hearing protection.”

Given the benefits for mental and physical health that come from gardening, Ms Savage said nobody should miss out on the good that it brings. But that should not be at the expense of anyone’s hearing. “There should be no stigma around using ear plugs; we only have one pair of ears, and damage to our hearing is irreversible,” she emphasised.

Work to understand tinnitus better is ongoing. Tinnitus UK and the Royal National Institute of the Deaf have co-sponsored a research project into the origins of chronic tinnitus.

Instead of focusing on those who have an established long-term condition, it is working with people who have only started having a problem in the previous four weeks, to study whether new clues can be gleaned at such an early stage of what leads to chronic tinnitus.