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Hearing
Aids
Canal Receiver Technology is a new style of miniature behind the ear hearing aid in which the receiver (speaker) is placed directly into the ear canal while the technology (microphone and digital amplification) and battery is behind the ear. The receiver is at the end of a transmitter wire rather than a tube. Thus, sound is being transmitted to the ear rather than being transferred through a tube. This process eliminates impedance of the auditory signal, resulting in more natural sound. The tip inserted into the ear canal is small, open, and flexible, allowing the ear canal to remain un-occluded. This preserves natural canal resonance and eliminates the occlusion affect (feeling like you are plugged and hearing from down in a barrel).
For the past 3 years, Open Ear Miniature
Behind The Ear Hearing Aids have been available, using non-occluding
tips attached to the end of a slim tube. These hearing aids preserve
natural ear canal resonance and prevent occlusion, and have been
extremely successful in improving the hearing of people suffering
from mild to moderate high frequency hearing loss. However, these
instruments are unable to accommodate hearing losses that are lower
frequency or more moderate to severe in degree. This is due to
the use of a slim tube. The “transmitter wire and canal receiver
design” of Canal Receiver Behind the Ear technology, however, allows
for successful fitting of low frequency and moderate to severe
hearing losses since less effort is required to produce the necessary
amplification. Moxi3G
An important update for those wearing Unitron Hearing Instruments: Introducing the "Smart Alert System" – the first fully integrated hearing AND ALERTING system that communicates directly with your Unitron hearing instruments. This system keeps you aware of important signals throughout your home, such as the doorbell, the telephone, the alarm clock, and smoke detectors. This easy to install system wirelessly connects household detectors with a remote control – the same remote used with your hearing instruments. When the doorbell, telephone, or smoke detector sounds, the Smart Alert system provides alerts through lights and vibration of the remote, plus beep signals sent directly to your hearing aids. When the hearing aids are removed for the night and remote control placed in a nightstand charger, alerts are sent to a bed shaker, which is simply placed under your pillow. Thus, the "Smart Alert System" by Unitron provides total peace of mind, providing complete alertness to environmental safety sounds and signals around the clock. If you don’t have Unitron hearing aids, we can provide you access to Alerting systems that can be used around the house to keep you aware of environemental safety signals at all times. Just give us a call and we can provide you with that important information and access. DIGITAL CIRCUITRY: Sounds, especially speech signals, simply cannot be made louder. Sound must be “preprocessed” to enhance frequency patterns of each hearing loss as well as taking loudness recruitment, or abnormal loudness growth, into account. Digital processing enables the hearing aid to adjust automatically according to the different frequency bands where hearing is deficient. Softer sounds are made audible while louder sounds are attenuated, thus keeping the amplification in comfort levels for each individual. Digital processing allows for flexibility within the hearing instrument, resulting in a more efficient adjustment to each individual’s hearing loss. Digital sound processing makes Canal Receiver Technology possible. Sounds are "preprocessed" to enhance frequency patterns of each hearing loss while taking loudness recruitment, or abnormal loudness growth, into account. Across several frequency ranges, softer sounds, such as consonant speech sounds, are made more audible while louder sounds are attenuated, or compressed. Think of digital processing as an equalizer on your stereo system! Digital processing combined with a non-impeding
signal and an open, non occluding fit results in the most comfortable
fit and best listening experience possible. Digital processing along with canal receiver technology has greatly improved the ease of listening in background noise. Directional microphones focus on the speech signal in front of the listener while reducing the surrounding background noises. This improves listening and understanding in areas such as restaurants, church, classrooms, and even concerts or ball games. Thus, directional microphone with canal receiver technology provides the most success for hearing in background noise to date! Here are some digital circuitry options available in ALL styles of digital hearing aids today:
CUSTOM
FIT HEARING AIDS: However, many people still prefer and successfully use custom fit digital hearing aids. We offer custom fit hearing instruments, all of which can include the aforementioned circuitry options, for those with a preference for custom fit instruments. These are photos of Unitron Hearing Aids
Are You Affected by Tinnitus? A medical condition that affects approximately 50 million Americans is tinnitus, or "ringing" in the ears when there is nothing actually "ringing" in the environment around you. Tinnitus in most cases is only observed by the person suffering from the condition, and cannot be heard by an observer or an examiner. Tinnitus is usually a symptom of sensorineural hearing loss, resulting from damage to the sensory cells of the cochlea, or organ of hearing, along with damage to the auditory nerve and/or auditory cortex. Tinnitus can also be associated with ear infections, aging, excessive ear wax, high blood pressure, and sensory nerve disorders. Certain activities, such as smoking, drinking alcohol or caffeine, and taking excessive amounts of aspirin or antibiotics can also cause tinnitus. Although tinnitus is a common medical symptom and can be extremely annoying, it is also one of the most difficult medical conditions to treat. Many times the person suffering from tinnitus believes there is nothing that can be done to provide relief from the ringing. Most people with tinnitus will complain that the tinnitus is worse when in quiet settings, such as at night when trying to sleep. Quiet time is when the tinnitus appears to be most detrimental. An analogy would be lighting a candle in a lighted room versus lighting the candle in a dark room. The flame of the burning candle can be seen in the well lit room, but when the lights of the room are turned off, the flame becomes extremely noticeable. In essence, tinnitus is most noticeable when the environmental sound is "turned off". This causes difficulty functioning on tasks when in a quiet room, or many times difficulty falling asleep. Which picture shows the more noticeable flame?
Tinnitus can be managed. Remember, it is the STRESS AND ANXIETY caused by the tinnitus that is the pathology, rather than the tinnitus itself. However, if you have tinnitus, you should be evaluated to determine what the best options are for managing it. If it is determined that tinnitus is being caused by a medical problem such as high blood pressure, ear infections, excessive ear wax, or even excessive use of aspirin or antibiotics, or drinking too much caffeine, the tinnitus can be medically treated. Still, if there are no specific medical issues involved and the tinnitus cannot be medically treated, simply knowing that no serious medical pathology such as a benign tumor or neurological degeneration exists can be a huge relief. But if stress and anxiety resulting from tinnitus persists, there are options that can help provide relaxation and relief. As mentioned earlier, silence in the environment can cause the individual to become more aware of the tinnitus. A "sound enriched environment" can be created to substitute the tinnitus with more pleasant environmental sounds such as music, a ceiling fan, or ocean waves or background noise provided by sound machines. Research studies have shown that music is one of the most effective environmental noises helping people relax and cope with their tinnitus. But in many cases, the individual experiencing tinnitus also has a hearing loss. The use of hearing aids to amplify sounds and in essence create a sound enriched environment can also help cover up the tinnitus and make it less distracting. But in conjunction with research pertaining to music as a valuable tool to provide tinnitus relief, a major breakthrough from advanced hearing aid technology has been achieved. Widex has developed a hearing aid that makes use of fractal technology, offering a harmonic sound program called ZEN. This ZEN program generates soothing sounds, acting as a sound therapy tool to relax the patients and distracting their attention from their tinnitus. The best way to describe ZEN is to imagine yourself sitting in your back yard on a quiet breezy day listening to windchimes ringing in the distance. ZEN provides a sound enriched environment, especially in quiet situations, that allows the individual to be able to function in situations that would otherwise be hindered by the tinnitus.
The ZEN program is only available in Superior and Premium level hearing aids from Widex, one of the world’s most respected manufacturers of hearing instruments. These instruments also provide ultimate performance in hearing of soft and distant speech, and also contain many helpful features to improve hearing at home, at work, on the telephone, in a noisy restaurant, and listening to music. But it is the ZEN feature that is unique in providing tinnitus relief. And today, millions of people of all ages who experience tinnitus now, finally have a promising option for tinnitus management! Hearing Aid with Sound Therapy, Only by Widex
For a free demonstration on how ZEN from Widex can help you cope with your tinnitus AND hearing loss, call us today at (770) 345-6600. Answer that "RING" today! A select group of patients in our office
are unable to wear hearing aids in the ear canal, including the
Open Fit BTE with slim tube and the Canal Receiver BTE Technology.
Now there is a hearing system available for this select category of patients. Introducing the BAHA DIVINO and BAHA INTENSO, a surgically implanted system that uses bone conduction, in which skull bone vibrations act as a pathway for sound to travel to the inner ear without involving the ear canal or the inner ear. This is accomplished by surgically implanting a small titanium implant on the bone behind the ear. The bone (mastoid process) actually ossifies around the implant, thus stabilizing the implant so a sound processor can be connected and disconnected by the user. This surgical procedure is performed under local anesthesia and is considered minor surgery from both the physician’s and patient’s point of view. Prior to this surgery, a demonstration of the Baha system is performed using the Baha Testband, so that the patient can experience the results of this system prior to surgery. The testband with the hearing device is placed around the wearer’s head, with the sound processor against the bone behind the ear. This gives the patient the information and listening experience needed for his/her decision to proceed with the surgery. The Baha system, being considered a surgical procedure, is also covered by insurance and medicare. "I can hear more sound with the Baha which has helped a lot with my piano playing. I can now hear soft sounds and lower frequency sounds much better and the quality is far superior to the bone conduction hearing aid I was wearing." Daniel T. "It is not an exaggeration to say that my use of Baha over the past few months has given me a glimpse of what my life could have been like." Jennifer A. "Listening used to take a lot of energy. With the Baha, group conversations are so much easier. I can hear where the sound is coming from and don't look at the wrong person any more. I can also hear all the little things in life, that others often take for granted." Vreni C. "Music and singing are very important to me. I started when I was 6 years old and now jazz is my favorite!" Arnold B. "After testing the Baha, I immediately decided to go for it. Once the Baha was fitted, I noticed an instant improvement in my hearing. I also noticed a real difference when shopping. Despite the music and lots of other sounds, I can hear everything effortlessly. I am so happy with a Baha - it has improved my quality of life." Ansvan V. "What a change - wow! The quality of sound produced by this device is clear and useful to me even in noisy environments. The Baha is so easy to use I often forget it is attached." Doug M.
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CANAL
RECEIVER TECHNOLOGY:
Canal Receiver Technology has gotten smaller….and even better! Introducing the Latitude Moxi 3G the smallest canal receiver hearing aid from Unitron. This instrument is more discrete, but more importantly presents improved technology to help you hear more clearly, even when distracting background noise is high. And even though it is smaller, this instrument is easier to control. The instruments will actually communicate with each other while they are in the ears. For example, if you enter a noisy restaurant and want to change to a setting that reduces even more background noise, simply press the memory button on one instrument, and the other aid will also change to that setting. Plus, the features such as wireless Bluetooth communication with cell phones and wireless TV listening that were available only in Superior models are now available in the lesser expensive premium level hearing instruments.
