Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona

Real-Ear Measurement (REM): The Gold Standard in Hearing Aid Verification

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 20:01:19 GMT

If you’ve ever thought about hearing aids and wondered, “How do I know they’re actually set up correctly for my ears?” you’re asking an excellent question.

Hearing aids today are incredibly advanced. They’re tiny computers designed to process sound in real time. But even the best technology can only work as well as it’s programmed for you. That’s why at The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona we use a clinical verification process called Real-Ear Measurement (REM) during fittings.

REM allows us to see exactly how sound behaves inside your ear canal while you’re wearing your hearing aids. Because everyone’s ears are shaped differently, sound can travel and amplify differently from person to person. This step helps us to ensure your hearing aids are truly working the way they should for your ears.

What Is Real-Ear Measurement?

Real-Ear Measurement is an in-office test that measures the sound your hearing aids are actually delivering inside your ear canal. Even people with similar hearing test results can experience hearing aids very differently. The size, shape, and acoustics of your ears all influence how sound is amplified. REM lets us confirm that your devices provide the right amount of sound across different pitches for your specific hearing loss and anatomy.

In simple terms, it verifies that what we program is truly reaching your ears as intended.

Why Default Hearing Aid Settings Aren’t Always Right
Most hearing aids come with the manufacturer's “first-fit” settings. These are helpful starting points, similar to the default settings on a new smartphone.

For some people, these settings feel fairly comfortable right away. For others, they may sound too soft, too sharp, or unclear. Without verification, fittings can sometimes miss the mark in ways that impact your comfort and even speech understanding.

REM allows us to move beyond trial and error. Instead of guessing, we can measure what’s happening inside your ear and make precise adjustments. It’s especially helpful if someone says, “I hear sound, but it doesn’t feel quite right.” We can actually see why and then correct it!

Some patients will schedule REM right away, and others want to wait and see how things feel first. Either way, our goal is always to provide you with the best clarity and comfort.

What a REM Appointment Looks Like

If you’ve never had REM done before, it’s quick and painless. Most of our patients are surprised by how simple it is!

During the appointment, we will:

• Review your hearing results and listening goals

• Place a tiny, comfortable microphone in your ear canal

• Play speech-like sounds to measure output

• Adjust your hearing aids to match prescriptive targets

• Fine-tune based on your comfort and clarity

That’s it! It’s really about collecting accurate data, so we don’t have to rely on guesswork. Why REM is Considered Best Practice in Audiology

REM does require specialized equipment, training, and extra appointment time. Some high volume or retail settings skip it because using the default programming is faster.

In medically focused audiology care, verification is considered a gold standard because it leads to better outcomes and more realistic expectations. At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona we believe your hearing care deserves the same precision as any other healthcare service.

After REM, many of our patients tell us they experience:

• Clearer speech without needing more volume

• More natural sound quality

• Less listening fatigue

• Fewer misunderstandings

• Greater confidence in wearing their hearing aids

Ready to Make Sure Your Hearing Aids Are Fit Right?

At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona our goal is to recommend the right technology for your needs and to verify that it’s working properly for your ears. Real-Ear Measurement helps us deliver hearing care that’s precise, personalized, and effective!

If you’re considering new hearing aids (or you’re wearing them now and wondering if they’re fully optimized), REM can make a significant difference. Call us at 480-831-6159 to schedule an appointment. We are proud to serve patients in Tempe, AZ and the surrounding communities.

Press Release: Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona Introduces Oticon ZealTM

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:55:22 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona Introduces Oticon Zeal™ Hearing Aids: Revolutionary In-the-Ear Technology Offers A Discreet Solution

New AI-Powered Hearing Aid Combines Premium Sound Quality and All-Day Rechargeability in Nearly Invisible Design

Phoenix, AZ – Dr. Rohe at the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona is pleased to announce the availability of the Oticon Zeal™, a groundbreaking completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aid that represents a significant advancement in hearing care [1]. The new device combines cutting-edge AI sound processing, seamless connectivity, and rechargeable power in a design so discreet that it's virtually undetectable.

Advanced AI Sound Processing for Clarity and Comfort

The Oticon Zeal features Oticon's second-generation AI sound processing, powered by the proven Sirius platform used in premium behind-the-ear models. This always-on technology includes:

● DNN 2.0 Processing: Advanced deep neural network technology trained on millions of real-world sound samples, delivering up to 6 dB improvement in signal-to-noise ratio while maintaining natural sound quality.

● BrainHearing™ Technology: Processes sound the way the brain naturally processes it, rather than aggressive filtering that creates unnatural listening experiences

● Real-World Sound Optimization: Analyzes sound across 256 channels before optimizing through 15 channels, reducing background noise by up to 12 dB and improving speech clarity by up to 6 dB[4]

Rechargeability Meets Discretion

The Oticon Zeal features rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, eliminating the need for frequent battery replacements[7]:

● Full-day power with overnight charging

● Fast-charge capability : 15 minutes for up to 4 hours of power

● Up to 20 hours of total battery life with up to 4 hours of Bluetooth streaming capability[8]

The device's innovative encapsulation technology—a breakthrough manufacturing approach that encloses all electronics in protective resin—provides IP68 water and dust resistance while maintaining a robust, compact design[9].

Seamless Connectivity

The Oticon Zeal supports modern connectivity features that integrate seamlessly with daily life:

● Bluetooth LE Audio for hands-free calling with smartphones and tablets ● Auracast™ technology for broadcast audio in public venues

● Google Fast Pair for quick pairing with Android devices

● Tap control for discreet volume and program adjustments without visible buttons

Users can also stream audio directly to their hearing aids for personalized tinnitus sound therapy at any time through the Oticon Companion app.

About the Oticon Zeal

The Oticon Zeal represents Oticon's commitment to making advanced hearing care more accessible and natural. It combines the audiological performance of Oticon's premium Intent hearing aid line with a nearly invisible in-the-ear design[10].

Now available in the U.S. market, the Oticon Zeal marks the first truly complete in-the-canal hearing aid—offering the discreet style patients want with the advanced features and connectivity they need.

Availability

The Oticon Zeal is now available for fitting at Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona. Due to high demand, we recommend scheduling a consultation early to ensure timely availability.

For more information or to schedule a hearing assessment and fitting consultation, patients can visit www.tinnitusaz.com .

About Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona

Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona is a leading hearing care provider specializing in comprehensive tinnitus management and hearing aid fitting. With a commitment to providing patients with the latest advancements in hearing technology and evidence-based tinnitus treatment, Audiologists Allen and Amy Rohe are now accepting new patients.

References

[1] Oticon Hearing Aids retrieved from https://www.tinnitusaz.com/oticon-hearing-aids

[7] Oticon. (2026). The world's most discreet, complete hearing aid - Oticon Zeal. Retrieved from https://zeal.oticon.global/en-ca/

[8] This Week in Hearing. (2025, November 5). Oticon Zeal Hearing Aids Bring AI Sound Processing to a Compact In-the-Ear Design [Video]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKWVXO7qqNM

[9] Hearing Tracker. (2026, January 26). Oticon Zeal Launch: NXT Design to "Change the Game" for Invisible Hearing Aids. Retrieved from

https://www.hearingtracker.com/news/oticon-zeal-hearing-aid-debuts-in-phoenix

[10] This Week in Hearing. (2025, November 5). Oticon Zeal Hearing Aids Bring AI Sound Processing to a Compact In-the-Ear Design [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKWVXO7qqNM

Discovering the Link Between Tinnitus and Anxiety

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 18:03:28 GMT

Anxiety can cause many ailments, including tinnitus. Meanwhile, tinnitus can worsen anxiety. The two together can fuel a vicious cycle, but there are ways to tame down each and help alleviate the tinnitus and anxiety relationship.

The Vicious Cycle: How Tinnitus Fuels Anxiety

Those who have or have had tinnitus will likely agree that the constant noise is hard to get relief from. For many, it can worsen anxiety, and for some, it can directly cause it. Unfortunately, tinnitus and mental health issues often feed on each other.

When general anxiety elevates to a fight-or-flight response, it creates an elevation in heart rate and shortness of breath, which heightens tinnitus. Alone or together, tinnitus and anxiety often make it hard to relax, to fall asleep, and to stay asleep.

For some, the combination of tinnitus and anxiety also leads to social avoidance and isolation. That worsens the anxiety and contributes to depression. Concern may grow that the tinnitus will never go away and that it may be a sign of something more serious. This can lead to insecurity about the future and a feeling of hopelessness.

The Amplifier: How Anxiety Worsens Tinnitus

Stress hormones, including adrenaline, cortisol, and epinephrine, affect the nervous system and can affect the auditory system itself, leading to a reduction of blood circulation in the ears. The overstimulation of the nervous system can also cause cell damage through a lack of oxygen, worsening tinnitus, and contributing to a loss of hearing.

For those who experience panic attacks, both a temporary ringing and long-term tinnitus, along with a pulsating in the ear canals, may begin as a panic attack heightens. The sound and pulsations can contribute to anxiety and cause a fear of potential threats. As such, the tinnitus amplifies and becomes louder, more noticeable, and more irritating.

Breaking the Cycle: A Holistic Approach to Relief

Tinnitus affects millions of people around the world, yet there is no tried-and-true cure for it. However, there are holistic approaches to managing anxiety, and at the same time. If tinnitus is affecting your life, visiting an audiologist and having an assessment is the best place to start, and for those living in Arizona, the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona team is ready to help.

Exploring mindfulness and meditation can help reduce the intrusion of tinnitus and anxiety reactions to it. Hearing protection, sound therapy, white noise machines, and notched music therapy will also help.

Additionally:

Hearing protection when around loud machinery, chain saws, music, and firearms will help protect your hearing and reduce the chances of tinnitus getting worse.

Sound therapy apps and white, pink, green, or brown noise machines offer relief from anxiety as well as annoying outside noises and continuous tinnitus, replacing them with soothing, relaxing sounds instead.

Notched music therapy involves listening to music altered to eliminate the frequencies of your specific tinnitus. This personalized approach helps retrain your brain to lessen the impact of your tinnitus and the anxiety it may induce.

Finding ways to help reduce stress will further help. Deep breathing exercises, getting the proper amount of sleep, and routine physical exercise can help with your tinnitus and your mental health.

Help Is Available for Your Tinnitus and Your Anxiety

There is no doubt that tinnitus and anxiety are related, and understanding that link is your first step to finding relief. You are not alone in your struggle, and the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona offers a personalized and comprehensive approach to support you.

If you're in Arizona and ready to take control of your tinnitus and anxiety, our team will provide the expert care and support you need. Contact us today for your comprehensive evaluation.

Image credit: Studio Romantic / Shutterstock

Give Thanks for Better Hearing: Why Local Audiology Care Matters

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 22:20:33 GMT

It feels like you can’t scroll for five minutes without seeing an ad for “miracle hearing aids” or “easy order online” devices. The marketing noise is everywhere, and it can be very confusing. If you’re experiencing hearing loss, you have probably wondered whether you really need a prescription hearing aid or if you can just grab one from a big box store or the internet.

At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, our patients consistently mention that they enjoy the personal attention we provide to their questions and concerns. They’ve all heard the hype, but they want something that actually works. That’s because hearing loss isn’t just a volume issue; it’s a medical condition. And like most health concerns, something this important deserves a personalized approach.

Why Over-the-Counter is Rarely Better

It’s not like we don’t understand the appeal of over-the-counter (OTC) devices. They seem like quick, easy, semi-affordable solutions. However, just like glasses, “cheaters” will only do you so much good and can only serve a small portion of those with vision loss.

When you are fit with prescription hearing aids at The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, you’re getting more than a device. You’re getting:

● A full evaluation of your unique type and degree of hearing loss

● Top-quality devices that are programmed to your needs

● Follow-up care, troubleshooting, and personalized support

As we mentioned, you can think of it in much the same way as reading glasses. You might buy a pair of “cheaters” at the drugstore, so you have something on hand to read menus, but they’re different from lenses prescribed specifically for your eyes. Hearing works the same way. Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids can help people with very mild hearing loss, but they’re one-size-fits-most, offer limited customization, and leave you on your own for setup and troubleshooting.

Prescription-fit hearing aids, on the other hand, are tailored to your exact hearing needs. They’re professionally programmed, VERIFIED, and supported long-term by someone who knows you. Our job at The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona is to guide you through your options, explain them in plain language, and ensure you feel confident in the path you choose.

When Your Hearing Needs Extra Support

While we don’t perform surgeries in our office, we are trained to identify when a referral is needed. We work closely with specialists and are happy to provide a referral to someone local and trustworthy who can meet your needs.

Most ear surgeries involve middle-ear disease, chronic infections, or conditions that need medical treatment before hearing aids are appropriate. Examples include:

● Certain types of asymmetrical hearing loss

● Middle Ear Diseases

● Surgical options like cochlear implants or bone-anchored devices

Personalized Care Every Step of the Way

One of our favorite parts of this work? Getting to know patients and sticking with them for the long haul. We remember your history, your settings, and even the small things that matter most, like how you want to be able to hear your grandkids at the dinner table.

And because life happens, the prescription hearing aids we fit for you aren’t tied to just The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona. They are supported by nationwide networks and local providers across the country for added peace of mind. Your hearing care should support your lifestyle, not limit it.

Investing in Local Audiology Care

When you schedule appointments or purchase hearing aids at a local audiology practice, you’re doing more than looking out for your health. Any money you spend stays here, supporting local jobs, schools, businesses, and families. You’re strengthening your community while improving your quality of life.

If you’re ready to invest in your hearing health, schedule an appointment with the Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona team at 480-831-6159. This season of thanks, you’ll be grateful you chose a local audiologist.

Discovering the Link Between Tinnitus and Anxiety

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 20:37:15 GMT

The Vicious Cycle: How Tinnitus Fuels Anxiety

The Amplifier: How Anxiety Worsens Tinnitus

Breaking the Cycle: A Holistic Approach to Relief

Additionally:

Hearing protection when around loud machinery, chain saws, music, and firearms will help protect your hearing and reduce the chances of tinnitus getting worse.

Finding ways to help reduce stress will further help. Deep breathing exercises, getting the proper amount of sleep, and routine physical exercise can help with your tinnitus and your mental health.

Help Is Available for Your Tinnitus and Your Anxiety

If you're in Arizona and ready to take control of your tinnitus and anxiety, our team will provide the expert care and support you need. Contact us today for your comprehensive evaluation.

Image credit: Studio Romantic / Shutterstock

Home Exercises for Tinnitus Relief: TMJ Exercises & More

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 21:44:20 GMT

Tinnitus can be annoying, and getting upset over it may worsen your symptoms. TMJ (temporomandibular joint) pain can increase the occurrence and volume of tinnitus, often described by patients as ringing in one or both ears.

There are easy exercises for TMJ and tinnitus you can do at home to help relieve the pain of TMJ while offering a respite from tinnitus.

The Connection Between Tinnitus and Physical Tension

TMJ ailments are not the only factors that cause tinnitus, but they certainly can contribute. TMJ pain is caused by orthopedic issues and muscles of and around the jaw joints. If your jaw clicks or makes a popping sound, it is likely TMJ-induced.

Muscle tightness in the neck and surrounding the temporomandibular joint, along with the nerve pathways in the area, can influence your auditory system, including being a source of tinnitus, hearing loss, and, in some cases, ear pain. Stress reduction, gentle exercise, and light massage can help.

Targeted Exercises for Tinnitus Relief

Simple TMJ and tinnitus exercises, involving the neck, jaw, and chin, can be done at home to offer relief for tinnitus and TMJ pain.

TMJ Jaw Exercises

There are two simple jaw exercises you can do anywhere. However, if any exercise causes additional pain, stop immediately and discuss it with your audiologist or dentist.

Gentle Jaw Stretch: Starting with a relaxed jaw and your upper and lower teeth slightly apart, close your eyes and open your mouth slowly until as wide as possible. Hold that position for a few seconds before slowly closing to the starting position. Then, move your jaw while looking to the left without moving your head and neck. Hold for a few seconds, and return to the center. Then repeat on the opposite side.

Resisted Jaw Opening: Strengthening your jaw can help reduce discomfort from TMJ pain and help alleviate your tinnitus. With your head and neck in a neutral position, place your thumb (from either hand) under your chin and gently push up. Slowly open your mouth, keep it open for a few seconds, and then close it. Repeat for up to 10 repetitions and then relax.

Neck Exercises

Like jaw exercises, gentle neck exercises for tinnitus relax the area. As with jaw exercises, if you feel any pain, stop until you further consult a professional.

Side Neck Stretch: Neck stretches involve the neck, back, and front of the neck. You can see which provides the most comfort for you; perhaps all of them will help. Try tilting your head to one side, bringing your ear as close to your shoulder as comfortable. Hold for a few seconds, then relax and do the same for the other side. Repeat this for 5-10 repetitions.

Back Neck Stretch: Like the side neck stretch, extend your head and look toward the ceiling. Hold for a few seconds and slowly revert to your starting position. As with the side neck stretches, repeat 5-10 times.

Chin Tucks

Tuck your neck by bringing your chin toward your chest. As with the others, hold for a few seconds and repeat 5-10 times.

Beyond Exercises: A Holistic Approach to Tinnitus

Gentle exercise can work to alleviate tinnitus along with TMJ pain. But other mindful approaches may also help. Deep breathing exercises, yoga, mindfulness and meditation, acupressure, and acupuncture may also be helpful. Reducing stress and maintaining good posture also go a long way in reducing tinnitus.

Controlling Tinnitus Can Affect Your Quality of Life

Tinnitus can hurt your mental health, quality of life, well-being, and relationships with others. Exercises for tinnitus can help, but if your tinnitus is more than an occasional minor distraction in your life, seek the help of a professional to work with you toward a comfortable resolution.

At the Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, located in Tempe, we regularly assess tinnitus in patients and discuss treatment options specifically for you. If you're in Arizona and seeking a more thorough evaluation and treatment plan, we can help. Schedule a consultation with our experts to explore all your options for long-term relief.

Image credit: chainarong06 / Shutterstock

Why Doesn't Insurance Cover Tinnitus Treatment?

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 17:49:06 GMT

Why Doesn't Insurance Cover Tinnitus Treatment?

Tinnitus can affect people of all ages and currently has no cure. Anyone living with the condition knows that tinnitus is a frustrating experience at best and a debilitating one at worst. As you evaluate your options for how to manage life with tinnitus, you'll want to know which treatment plans are covered by your health insurance provider and which ones are not. Unfortunately, Medicare and other major insurance companies do not cover tinnitus treatment. Read on to learn why insurers often exclude tinnitus from their coverage and how to receive care despite the lack of insurance.

The Core Problem: Why Insurance Companies Exclude Tinnitus Treatment

Many of the reasons for the lack of coverage for tinnitus in most insurance plans come down to a lack of standardization. Most insurance companies do not have specific procedural codes for tinnitus treatments. This makes it next to impossible to submit claims or receive reimbursement for tinnitus-related services. There are also fewer government mandates requiring private insurers to cover tinnitus or hearing aids. Even if insurance providers recognize tinnitus, it is often defined as a "non-essential" condition, which puts it in line with procedures like cosmetic surgery or dental work.

This is one of several cost-saving measures insurance companies use to restrict their coverage. Tinnitus is a fairly common condition, and the prohibitive cost of some treatment plans leads to increased premiums, which cut into the profit private insurers are seeking. The need for objective documentation is another factor that makes it hard for those experiencing tinnitus to get treatment, as the symptoms of tinnitus are often subjective and hard to prove through objective testing.

Decoding Common Insurance Policies

Does insurance cover hearing aids for tinnitus? Here is what to expect (or not) from different health insurance providers:

Original Medicare - Medicare Parts A and B do not cover hearing aids and most other tinnitus treatments. That said, Medicare will reimburse patients for hearing and balance exams if a doctor deems it necessary for their care.
Medical Advantage - Some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans come with additional benefits, such as partial coverage for hearing aids and related services. Beneficiaries should study the details of their plan to understand what their coverage provides.
Commercial Health Insurance - Tinnitus coverage will vary substantially depending on your employer and insurance plan. Some plans may cover a yearly hearing exam or evaluation, but typically exclude the cost of devices or therapeutic treatments. Like with other insurance policies, it's smart to evaluate your options when you have the chance to get the best coverage possible.

Your Options in Arizona: Getting Effective Treatment

The lack of Medicare coverage for tinnitus is frustrating, but it shouldn't be viewed as a reason to avoid getting treatment for your condition. Tinnitus can do real harm to your quality of life, and the symptoms can get worse if not diagnosed. Waiting only makes it less likely that your situation will improve.

There are many potential paths for tinnitus therapy, so it's important to consult with a professional audiologist who can create a personalized treatment plan that suits your situation. One such option available at the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona is Lenire . Lenire represents the latest in medical innovation as the first FDA-approved bimodal neuromodulation device. The non-invasive device transmits electrical impulses through the tongue and provides sound simulation with headphones to minimize the effects of tinnitus with more effectiveness and faster results.

If you would like support to pay for any tinnitus treatments, we do offer financing plans through CareCredit.

Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona Can Help

Living with tinnitus can be challenging, and the lack of insurance coverage can make the search for affordable treatment disheartening for many affected by the condition. But just because tinnitus doesn't yet have an absolute cure doesn't mean it can’t be successfully managed. The Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona offers multiple cutting-edge, modern tinnitus treatment options to help patients both understand the underlying mechanisms of their tinnitus symptoms while reducing or even eliminating the severity of the symptoms. If you're an Arizona resident looking for relief from tinnitus, contact us today for a personalized consultation.

Image credit: // Shutterstock // Peakstock

Misophonia, Phonophobia, and Hyperacusis: Auditory Sensitivity Explained

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 00:17:49 GMT

Auditory or sound sensitivities affect many people, sometimes co-occurring with OCD, anxiety, autism, trauma, and sensory processing disorders. They can be hard to manage and treat, but there are options to reduce discomfort and improve your life. Treating auditory sensitivity can restore your ability to function and engage in activities that might be triggering.

What is Misophonia?

Misophonia is an uncontrolled emotional reaction to a specific sound or sounds. The volume of the sound can be exceedingly soft and still be highly triggering. Triggering sounds vary, but they most often include things like chewing, tapping, sniffing, ticking clocks, or other repetitive noises. Less commonly, misophonia can be triggered by footsteps, laughter, a specific person's voice, the phone ringing, animal sounds, or even a specific melody or style of music.

Misophonia symptoms include physical symptoms such as an increase in blood pressure and/or heart rate, pressure or tightness in the chest, goosebumps, and sweating. They may also include emotional and behavioral responses, such as fleeing the area, yelling at the source of the sound, or taking action to stop the sound.

Understanding Hyperacusis

Hyperacusis is often mistaken for misophonia, but it is different. Somebody with hyperacusis is sensitive to sound and may experience fear or even pain when exposed to simple sounds such as a vacuum cleaner or a car backfiring. People with hyperacusis are not triggered by specific sounds, but are affected by the volume of sound. For example, somebody with misophonia might be triggered by the sound of a voice similar to somebody who abused them, while somebody with hyperacusis will be triggered by somebody shouting, regardless of who. People with hyperacusis perceive normal sounds as louder and loud sounds as excessively loud. It is typically triggered by acoustic trauma, a head injury, or physical damage to the ears. It also overlaps with anxiety. In some cases, it's simply caused by having unusually sensitive ears.
Hyperacusis symptoms range from annoyance to difficulty with balance and ear pain.

The Difference: Phonophobia

Phonophobia is a fear of sound. Hyperacusis is entirely physical, while misophonia is often both, but phonophobia is the fear of sound in general. It's often associated with anxiety or can develop after a traumatic event involving sound. For example, somebody who is close to an explosion and temporarily loses their hearing may well develop phonophobia. Phonophobia is an anxiety disorder, not a physical problem with your ears. However, it can create similar symptoms, including ringing in the ears.

Phonophobia may be a fear of a specific sound or of loud sounds in general, and in extreme cases, can cause somebody to isolate themselves.

The Connection to Tinnitus

All three of these conditions can lead to tinnitus...ringing in the ears. Tinnitus can then cause a vicious cycle, making you more sensitive to sound and exacerbating misophonia, hyperacusis, and phonophobia. (It is, of course, possible to have more than one of these conditions, and hyperacusis can easily lead to phonophobia).

Managing tinnitus when associated with these other conditions requires working with all of these conditions, and improving one often improves the others. Sound sensitivity is treated with a number of things, including cognitive behavioral therapy to learn coping strategies, sound therapy devices to lessen sound sensitivity, anxiety-reducing medication, and lifestyle changes. We may also work with your family or your employer to help reduce symptoms. Some people find music therapy helpful to build more positive associations with sound.

How We Can Help in Arizona

All of these conditions are real and treatable. At the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, we specialize in diagnosing and treating auditory sensitivity and tinnitus. We can help you get your life back.

Schedule a consultation with us today to find a personalized path to relief.

Image credit: // Shutterstock // VashDog

4 Things That Pleasantly Surprise New Hearing Aid Users

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 14:28:21 GMT

We’re still surprised how many people have outdated ideas about what hearing aids are like. It’s common for patients to come in expecting large, uncomfortable devices that distort sounds or make everything seem tinny or artificial. In fact, one of the first things many of our patients say is, “I can’t believe how natural everything sounds!” Or they might remark on how comfortable they are to wear. We love pleasantly surprising people!

Thanks to advanced technology, modern hearing aids are nothing like what your grandparents wore. Newer models have better ergonomics and integrated features, like artificial intelligence, which can replicate how we hear. This means voices sound clearer and more natural, without the annoying feedback that used to be so common.

In this post, we want to share the four most common ways people are pleasantly surprised by modern hearing aids. If you’ve been hesitant to explore what life might be like as a hearing aid user, this information might be helpful for you!

They’re Comfortable and Practically Invisible

Patients are often incredibly surprised at just how small and comfortable hearing aids have become. If you’re imagining something big and clunky, you’re in for a reality check.

Today’s hearing aids are designed to be sleek, lightweight, and custom-fitted to your ears. Many styles (even behind the ear!) are so discreet that people don’t even notice them, and some are invisible. Gone are the days of bulky beige devices! Now you’ll find styles in a range of skin tones and hair colors that blend in naturally.

But comfort isn’t about size, it’s also about daily wearability. You’re in luck there, too. Modern hearing aids are made with soft materials that contour your ear, and their ergonomic design means they don’t create pressure or discomfort, even after hours of wear. For people who expected hearing aids to be a nuisance, this is often one of the most welcome surprises.

You Might Feel More Energized Than You Expect

Living with untreated hearing loss is more exhausting than many people realize. Your brain works overtime trying to piece together conversations and interpret sounds, especially in noisy environments. That constant strain can leave you feeling mentally drained, even after something as simple as a family gathering or trip to the grocery store.

Once our patients start wearing hearing aids, they comment that their mental fatigue often disappears, and the difference can be felt within days. Your brain no longer has to work as hard, which means you can feel more energized. You may find that you have more stamina at work, more patience at home, and a renewed interest in social activities you once avoided. When your brain isn’t constantly in overdrive, you can fully enjoy the things you love.

They Help You Reconnect with the People Around You

There’s often a fear that even with hearing aids, social settings will still be a challenge. But modern devices are built specifically to help with speech clarity and background noise management. Whether you’re at a busy restaurant, a family event, or just having coffee with a friend, hearing aids can help you focus on conversations without feeling overwhelmed.

That ability to engage more confidently in conversations can bring real joy back into your relationships. Many patients tell us they feel more like themselves again once they can participate fully in discussions and jokes instead of nodding along or asking people to repeat themselves. Rebuilding these connections leads to a deeper sense of belonging and emotional well-being, something many people don’t realize they’re missing until they get it back.

Better Hearing = Better Living

Hearing better isn’t about sound; it’s about overall well-being. One of the most unexpected benefits of hearing aids is the way they can positively impact every area of your life. From improved mood and reduced stress to more active social engagement, treating hearing loss supports both mental and emotional health.

Research shows that people who treat their hearing loss are more likely to stay independent and socially connected as they age. They also tend to feel more confident navigating the world, whether that means traveling, going out to dinner, or simply talking on the phone. Many of our patients say they didn’t expect such wide-ranging physical and mental improvements, but the difference becomes clear once they begin hearing and living better!

If you're ready to experience the difference for yourself, we want to help. Contact us today at 480-831-6159 to schedule a hearing consultation and discover just how life-changing better hearing can be for you and your loved ones!

What Is Misophonia? Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

salemmediagroup01@gmail.com (SEO Salem) — Mon, 12 May 2025 18:24:43 GMT

We all have certain preferences and aversions for sensory input, including sounds. Yet for some of us, those aversions can be practically debilitating. If a given sound sensitivity triggers such negative reactions that it starts limiting your or a loved one's quality of life, it may be a condition known as misophonia.

Fortunately, advances in audiology have made the detection and treatment of misophonia available to the general public. Even better, treatment for misophonia is often as simple as booking an appointment and discussing your concerns with a qualified hearing professional.

What Is Misophonia?

Misophonia is a condition in which aural stimuli cause usually strong, sometimes overwhelming, emotions and physical reactions. Physical symptoms of misophonia, if present, can manifest as autonomic bodily processes or reactive behaviors. Treatment for misophonia depends on the strength and extent of its symptoms, but even more severe cases can be managed effectively under the care of a trained and experienced clinician.

While estimates vary, misophonia's marked decrease in sound tolerance is more common in women and may affect one in five people over their lives.

Symptoms and Causes of Misophonia

Misphonia symptoms often begin as certain unwanted emotions, most commonly:

Anxiety
Anger
Fear
Annoyance/irritation
Frustration

For those with misophonia, these emotions are often much more pronounced than for their peers, who feel the same sound/stimulus is only mildly unpleasant (or even pay it no mind). On the contrary, misophonia can become very disruptive to normal daily activity, limiting one's ability to freely engage in certain activities. Those with misophonia usually learn to avoid triggering sounds, and all that's associated with it.

Left untreated, misophonia can lead to physical symptoms, ranging from reduced self-control to physical reactions, including:

Sweating
Goosebumps
Increased heart rate or blood pressure
A feeling of tightness or pressure in the chest
Angry outbursts (both physical or verbal)

Note that the physical symptoms of misophonia are akin to certain self-protection (aka "fight or flight") instincts the body induces when it senses danger. Just as the emotional symptoms listed above may give rise to autonomic physical processes, the latter sometimes leads to increased behavioral tendencies, ranging anywhere from aversive to violent behaviors.

Diagnosis and Tests

Even if the worst physical symptoms don't manifest, failure to process or prevent the main underlying factors behind misophonia can lead to chronic stress, as well as reduced immunity and life satisfaction.

The first step is to receive a professional diagnosis and determine just how pronounced an individual's symptoms are. An audiologist will provide a series of tests to determine which type of sound frequencies the patient has developed a heightened sensitivity to. We will take your concerns to heart as we compare the test results with the personal background that led up to the onset of misophonia.

Management and Treatment

Just as the symptoms of misophonia are highly individuated, so too is the treatment. With a formal diagnosis, your audiologist can then prescribe a custom-curated list of coping skills and formal therapies to prevent misophonia from controlling your life. Doing so can help anyone take control of their reactive symptoms, whether experienced as marked annoyance and frustration on through to difficulty with felt, palpable impulse control.

All the more, professional treatment can render once-debilitating sound triggers into an afterthought, with little to no effect on their psyche or body.

When to Seek Help from Your Healthcare Provider

If certain sound sensitivities are growing out of control, you could benefit tremendously from a short appointment at our clinic. Our audiology experts will listen to the specific causes and backstory behind your experience with misophonia and conduct a few simple tests to determine what physical and "psychoacoustic" (the psychological aspect of hearing) phenomena may be contributing to your particular symptoms.

We'll then be well on our way to crafting an individualized treatment plan to help you manage overwhelming sound sensitivities in your life. Contact us to request an appointment, and stop misophonia from controlling your life.

Image Source: New Africa /Shutterstock

The Benefits of Phonak Hearing Aids

salemmediagroup01@gmail.com (SEO Salem) — Mon, 12 May 2025 18:14:41 GMT

The Benefits of Phonak Hearing Aids

For most, the sounds of life are all around us. Yet that feeling of connectedness seems to fade with hearing conditions that make it hard to focus on the sounds that bring you the most joy. Phonak hearing aids from the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona restore the comfort and clarity that come from once more hearing the world around you, just as it is.

Whether straining to hear conversations, or the music and natural settings you love most, read on to learn how Phonak's advanced hearing aid technology can restore your ability to discern and listen to the things that matter most.

Phonak Hearing Aids: An Overview

Phonak's leading-edge hearing aids provide the most fine-tuned, user-friendly experience on the market. Advanced digital signal processing (DSP) software provides over 200 discrete settings, automatically filtering and adjusting sounds to the listener's preference and comfort. It's also possible to connect and control one's listening experience via Bluetooth, facilitating remote app control and granular, real-time monitoring.

Besides mitigating hearing loss, Phonak hearing aids help tinnitus, in which a constant inner "ringing" or "buzzing" makes it hard to focus on external sounds. From age-related hearing loss to conditions straining the normal listening process, Phonak raises the bar yet further on the benefits of hearing aids. In particular:

Improved communication
Relief from tinnitus
Enhanced cognitive function
Increased sensitivity to the audible frequency spectrum

Advanced Technology Features

Older hearing aid technology involved meticulous adjustment of countless discrete settings, meaning users often spent more time focused on their hearing devices than on what they wanted to hear!

Phonak hearing aids are the culmination of years spent developing automated solutions based on the most common use patterns. A proprietary AutoSense OS technology analyzes audio input every 0.4 seconds, blending multiple head-related transfer functions (HRTF) and other settings based on the user's exact location. It's also possible to connect Phonak hearing aids with multimedia devices, allowing users to immediately engage (and disengage) with TVs and wireless headphones.

Next-Level Comfort and Design

The hearing aids themselves are incredibly robust, built to endure even the heaviest use patterns. Their flexible design adapts to any ear shape, given Phonak's support for fast and easy customization. With the cutting edge in compact battery technology, users also won't be caught recharging their listening devices to keep up with even the busiest schedules.

Before leaving our clinic, Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona’s experienced audiologists will ensure our patients know how to confidently operate their new hearing aids , plus how to learn more advanced features as they become more comfortable. From hardware to software, Phonak hearing aid users can now focus less on their technology and more on their life.

Enhancing Quality of Life With Phonak Hearing Aids

Phonak's state-of-the-art hearing aid technology combines the latest advances in form-fitting hearing devices with the most sophisticated signal processing and control software on the market. They're also much more affordable, given Phonak's focus on durable, lasting designs and upgradable support software.

Further, our customers reap the added benefit of Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona's and Phonak's highly reputable customer support services. Because we're here for our patients every step of the way on their journey to ever-greater hearing and ear health. If you'd like to learn more about how Phonak's advanced hearing assistance technology can immediately improve hearing loss, tinnitus, and overall quality of life, please contact us to schedule an appointment and speak with our friendly support staff.

Image Source: Krakenimages.com /Shutterstock

The Best Hearing Aid Brands Recommended By Our Audiologists

Mon, 12 May 2025 17:37:38 GMT

Hearing aids can improve your quality of life tremendously, but that's if they've been properly fitted -- and if you've received a model that works well with your specific type of hearing loss and your lifestyle. When you choose your hearing aids, you'll encounter a few companies that all offer good products. These four in particular are recommended by our audiologists.

ReSound

First up is ReSound, which has been helping people with hearing loss since 1943.

About the manufacturer

ReSound focuses on making sound more natural (the company calls this "organic hearing") while using the latest broadcast technology to bring you clearer sound and more efficient controls. The company also offers accessories that work with TVs to stream sound directly to the hearing aids.

Benefits of ReSound

ReSound's research and development focuses on making hearing aids as easy to control and as seamlessly integrated into your life as possible. Control the hearing aids via a smartphone app, and get ready to stream TV and radio right to your hearing aids when Auracast technology becomes available.

Why We Recommend ReSound

ReSound is adding Auracast to its Bluetooth-enabled Nexia hearing aids, which will enable you to receive TV and radio broadcasts directly to your hearing aids. The Nexia is suitable for mild to profound hearing loss. ReSound hearing aids also use Bluetooth Low Energy Audio, which preserves battery life and provides better sound.

Oticon

Next is Oticon, which has been around in one form or another since 1904. The company first used the Oticon name in 1946.

About the manufacturer

Oticon's roots lie in one Danish man's contract with an English hearing aid company to distribute hearing aids in Denmark. Over the decades, that contract grew into a full-fledged, family-owned hearing aid manufacturer with worldwide distribution.

Benefits of Oticon

Oticon's focus over the past several years has been on technology that allows for better connectivity along with sound technology that works to fill in gaps, rather than just amplify.

Why We Recommend Oticon

Oticon's hearing aid models have had internet and mobile phone connectivity for almost a decade. One of its latest models, the Intent, has AI-driven sensors that predict your hearing assistance needs in real time, adjusting to the situation you're in instead of giving you fixed amplification levels that may not work in every situation. The Intent is suitable for mild to severe hearing loss and also works with Auracast and Bluetooth LE technology.

Phonak

The third company on the list is Phonak, which has been around since 1947.

About the manufacturer

Phonak is a Swiss company that has consistently worked to improve its hearing aids in ways you never knew you needed, such as having the first water-resistant hearing aid housing for aids for severe hearing losses. Phonak is owned by Sonova, which also makes the Sennheiser brand of audio and recording accessories.

Benefits of Phonak

Phonak offers a very broad range of hearing aids and also produces the Roger wireless microphone. This helps hearing aid users overcome ambient noise -- no matter what their level of hearing loss -- so that speech is clearer even in very noisy situations.

Why We Recommend Phonak

Phonak's Naida Lumity is not only Bluetooth-enabled, but it also uses Phonak's SmartSpeech technology to zero in on speech as ambient noise levels change. Sensors locate the dominant speech in a room and direct microphones toward the sound, and the technology enhances speech cues to provide more information about what's being said.

Starkey

Last, but not least, is Starkey, an established U.S. company that's been in business since 1967.

About the manufacturer

Starkey started off as a hearing aid repair company in Minnesota. Over the years, the company has launched innovative programs for hearing education, battery recycling, and hearing aid testing.

Benefits of Starkey

The company has long been a leader in customer service, starting with fixed charges for repairs and adding trial periods and warranties, which were not typical at the time Starkey started offering them. The company was the first to design in-the-canal aids with its Tympanette model. It's also designed with advanced digital and programmable lines of hearing aids.

Why We Recommend Starkey

Starkey recently released the Edge AI hearing aid series that offers speech enhancement, rechargeable batteries, and Bluetooth LE technology. The Edge AI series works with all levels of hearing loss.

Find the Right Hearing Aid for You

The sheer number of hearing aid companies, let alone the sheer number of hearing aids, can be intimidating for anyone. Dr. Allen Rohe and Amy Rohe at the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona in the Phoenix-Mesa metropolitan region can help you find hearing aids that work best for you. Contact us to arrange for a consultation to discuss testing and fitting for your needs.

Image Souce: Janeberry /Shutterstock

Better Hearing Through Smarter Technology How AI is Advancing Hearing Health

Wed, 07 May 2025 17:37:14 GMT

May is Better Speech and Hearing Month , a time when we like to raise awareness about hearing health and the incredible advancements that have happened in the world of hearing technology. And of course, no conversation about technology is complete without mentioning artificial intelligence. In addition to all of the other ways AI is revolutionizing the world these days, it is also greatly helping people with hearing loss. It can help to make conversations clearer, reduce background noise, and even learn your unique listening preferences.

While new technology can sometimes feel overwhelming, AI-powered hearing aids are designed to make life easier, not more complicated. Let's explore how this new technology works, address some common concerns and look ahead to the future of hearing health!

How AI is Enhancing Hearing Health

Hearing aids have come a long way. In decades past, they would simply amplify sounds. But today’s technologically advanced devices incorporate deep neural networks, which is a type of AI that mimics the way the human brain processes input (like sound, for example).

Deep neural network technology allows hearing aids to learn from incredible amounts of real-world sound data. Instead of applying a one-size-fits-all approach, these AI-powered hearing aids can start to recognize speech patterns, better distinguish voices from background noise, and adjust their own settings in real time.

How Does This Benefit You?

Clearer Conversations – The hearing aids use artificial intelligence to prioritize speech over background noise, which makes it much easier for you to hear in loud environments.
Adaptive Learning – The more you use your hearing aids, the better they get at understanding your preferences and they will automatically adjust to your surroundings.
Reduced Listening Effort – By handling complex sound processing automatically, AI-powered hearing aids can reduce the amount of effort your brain uses to focus on listening.

Common Questions We Get About AI Devices

As with any new technology, it is totally normal to have questions and concerns. For example, we know that some people are concerned that AI-powered hearing aids can listen to their conversations or track their location. So let’s talk about some of those questions!

Question #1 - “Are my hearing aids spying on me?”

No. AI technology in hearing aids doesn’t record or transmit your conversations. It simply processes sounds in real time to improve clarity and reduce noise.

Question #2 - “Are AI hearing aids going to be too complicated to use?”

Quite the opposite! We have found that the integrated AI technology actually makes the listening experience easier due to the automatic adjustments. No more fiddling with the settings! Many devices even have smartphone apps for easy customization.

Question #3 - “I love my audiologist. Why can’t they just help me?”

This is maybe our favorite question because of course, we love you too. But AI is not going to replace us. Instead, it’s a tool that helps us provide you with more personalized care. We will still be here to help or just to check in and see how you’re doing!

At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, we prioritize transparency. Our goal is to help you feel comfortable with your hearing technology, and empower you to make the best choices for your hearing health. If you have questions about hearing technology or AI that we haven’t covered here, you can always reach out to us at 480-831-6159 and we’ll be happy to chat through it with you.

Looking Ahead to the Future of Hearing

We’re just seeing the very beginning of AI’s impact on hearing health. As research continues, we will likely see even more improvements in areas like speech recognition and integration with other smart devices. There are even some exciting studies being done with AI and tinnitus that could bring relief to so many people. We are watching this space closely and will be sure to share news and developments as we see them!

Take the Next Step Toward Better Hearing

May is Better Speech and Hearing Month, which is the perfect time to schedule a hearing test or a consultation. You deserve to hear the world around you and enjoy everything life has to offer. Call 480-831-6159 and we’ll take care of you. Your journey to better hearing starts now!

Oticon Hearing Aids Benefits in Tempe AZ: Custom Own, Intent & Tinnitus Relief

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 15:36:30 GMT

It's important for everyone to be able to hear the world around them. However, the reality is that around 15% of American adults over the age of 18 have trouble hearing. This can be extremely frustrating, and cause a person to miss out on important things every day. Hearing aids are a fantastic solution to this common challenge, and Oticon stands out as a leader in innovative hearing technology. Let's explore the world of Oticon Hearing Aids, uncovering their remarkable benefits and how they work to not just improve hearing and ease tinnitus, but to truly elevate your quality of life.

The Importance of Hearing Aids in Modern Life

Hearing aids are essential for those with hearing loss. In addition to helping communication and social engagement, they also offer enhanced safety, reduced cognitive strain, and provide a greater sense of connection with the world. Many people don't realize the potential dangers of even slight hearing loss. It can be difficult to hear things such as fire alarms, traffic noise, or sirens. Those who use hearing aids experience clearer communication in both quiet and noisy settings, and they help individuals stay engaged with others while reducing the social isolation that often comes along with hearing loss. Overall, hearing aids allow people to more fully participate in daily life.

Overview of Oticon Hearing Aids

Oticon Hearing Aids digitally process sounds to make it easier for the wearer to hear. By supporting the brain's natural sound processing, the hearing aids offer solutions for a variety of hearing loss levels from mild to profound as well as single-sided deafness. BrainHearing Technology is based on the brain's hearing process. It is important to understand that with normal hearing, sound waves enter the ear, where they are translated into neural signals that are sent to the brain and processed as sound. With hearing loss, however, the sounds are jumbled from the start, and it is difficult for the brain to make sense of them. Oticon Hearing Aids go a long way in helping by assisting wearers in focusing and zooming in on sounds they are trying to hear.

Key Features of Oticon Hearing

MoreSound Intelligence (MSI) 3.0 is a groundbreaking technology that makes it easier for users to enjoy, follow and engage in conversations. It comprehensively scans and precisely analyzes the sound scene. Then it organizes the sounds around the user and utilizes the brand new on-board Deep Neural Network 2.0 to process and create contrast among the identified sounds.

New MSI 3.0 brings users the full sound scene in much higher clarity and balance in any situation than ever before. And what’s more, thanks to the 4D sensors, it seamlessly adapts to the user’s specific listening needs delivering personalized support based on the situation and the user’s intention, for significantly improved speech comprehension.

What truly sets these hearing aids apart is their sophisticated sensor technology. Imagine being in a crowded restaurant – these devices can intelligently analyze the environment, identify speech, and reduce distracting background noise in real-time. This means you can actively participate in conversations, even in challenging acoustic situations, without the strain and frustration you might have experienced before. This ability to adapt to your surroundings and prioritize clarity is a game-changer, making social gatherings and everyday interactions enjoyable again.

Models and Their Unique Benefits

The Newer Oticon Intent

Experience sound the way it was meant to be heard with the Oticon Intent. Designed with cutting-edge technology, the Intent focuses on providing a rich and natural sound experience, allowing you to effortlessly engage in conversations and connect with your surroundings.

Oticon Custom Own & Custom Own SI’s

For a discreet and personalized hearing solution, the Oticon Custom Own and Custom Own SI's are tailored to fit the unique contours of your ear. These in-the-ear hearing aids offer exceptional comfort and a natural listening experience without compromising on Oticon's advanced sound processing.

Tinnitus Relief Through Oticon Hearing Aids

Through Tinnitus SoundSupport, a sound generator integrated into Oticon Hearing Aids, wearers experience tinnitus relief through the integration of various sounds into the hearing aids that help distract or mask the tinnitus. There are options for natural sounds, broadband noise, and customizable settings. Various sounds are available, including natural sounds like ocean waves, steady white noise, and broadband noise.

Contact Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona

Don't let hearing loss hold you back from anything that life has to offer. At Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona , we have decades of experience providing the best treatment available with advanced technology that focuses on your hearing loss and brain function. Hearing better means living better! Discover how Oticon and the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona are transforming lives by improving hearing, providing tinnitus relief, and enhancing quality of life. It's time to hear the world clearly again! Contact us today to get started on the path to better hearing.

Image Source: Noelle12 /Shutterstock

The Science Behind Real Ear Measurements for Improved Hearing

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 15:00:00 GMT

What Are Real Ear Measurements & Why Are They So Important?

If you’ve been researching hearing aids, you may have come across the term “real ear measurements” or REM . But what does this actually mean, and why is it important for your hearing aid fitting? And is it even a necessary step in the hearing aid process?

At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona , we believe in providing the most accurate and personalized hearing aid programming possible. That’s why we use real ear measurements to fine-tune your hearing aids so you can hear your best in every situation. Let’s dive into the science behind REM and how it improves your hearing. We promise, it’s super interesting!

What Are Real Ear Measurements?

No two ears are exactly alike. The shape and size of your ear canal impact how sound is delivered to your eardrum. That’s why a one-size-fits-all approach to hearing aid programming won’t provide you with the best results.

That’s where REM comes in!

How Real Ear Measurements Work

First, a small, flexible tube is placed inside your ear canal and positioned next to your eardrum. Then, your hearing aid is inserted while the tube measures how much sound actually reaches your eardrum.

We adjust your hearing aid settings based on these real-time measurements to ensure you’re getting the proper amplification. Our patients often say it tickles—don’t worry, it’s not painful!

Benefit #1 – A Truly Customized Hearing Aid Fit

Real ear measurements ensure your hearing aids are tailored to your uniquely shaped ear canal.

Even if two patients have the same hearing loss, the same hearing aids, and identical settings, their hearing experience can still be different. Why? Because the unique shape of each person’s ear canal affects how sound travels and is perceived.

Instead of relying on generic manufacturer defaults, we fine-tune your devices for clearer, more natural sound.

Benefit #2 – Better Speech Understanding

Studies show that patients who receive REM-guided programming experience:

Higher listening ability
Improved speech understanding in background noise
Better communication in daily life

If you’ve ever struggled to hear conversations in noisy environments, REM helps optimize your hearing aids so you can focus on speech and minimize background distractions.

Sometimes, if a patient is having trouble understanding a specific person, we even ask them to bring that family member or friend to an appointment—so we can fine-tune the devices to better pick up that person’s voice.

Benefit #3 – More Comfort, Less Annoyance

New hearing aids can take some getting used to. Certain sounds may seem too sharp or too loud at first. With REM, we can fine-tune your settings for:

A comfortable listening experience
The right balance of volume and clarity
Less listening fatigue throughout the day

Instead of “toughing it out,” let our expert audiologists make the necessary adjustments for you.

REM Helps Optimize Special Features

Today’s hearing aids come with a wide array of advanced features, from directional microphones to frequency lowering technology .

Real ear measurements allow us to verify that these features are working properly , and make sure you’re getting the full benefit from your devices.

Real Ear Measurements Lead to Greater Satisfaction

We could talk all day about the benefits of REM—but we’ve got the research to back it up!

A study by Valente et al. (2018) found that hearing aid manufacturers’ “first fit” settings often don’t match prescription targets. That means many patients aren’t getting the correct volume across all frequencies.

But when audiologists use REM, the fittings are significantly more precise. In fact, 79% of patients preferred the REM-programmed hearing aids over those using default settings.

Get the Best Hearing Experience Possible

At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona , we recommend real ear measurements for every hearing aid fitting—because we believe in giving you the best hearing experience possible.

Better programming leads to better hearing… and that’s what matters most.

Are your hearing aids performing at their best? If not, we’d love to help you fine-tune your settings and get a more personalized fitting. Schedule an appointment with us today!

Benefits of Starkey Hearing Aids: Advanced Hearing Technology

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 15:44:06 GMT

Why Starkey Hearing Aids for Better Hearing and Tinnitus

Finding the right hearing solutions and tinnitus relief can be an overwhelming journey. Your response to hearing aids and different hearing aid brands will vary, and the team at the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona is here to help you explore different options and find the right solution with less stress and frustration. Starkey hearing aids can offer solutions for many different conditions and hearing difficulties, and their hearing aids help tinnitus for many patients. Learn more about these products and how to take the next steps.

Overview of Starkey Hearing Aids

Better hearing can significantly increase your quality of life. Experiencing clearer communication, reducing persistent ringing in your ears, and being able to hear ambient noise in different environments all aid in safety, social interaction, and peace of mind. Starkey hearing aids are advanced tools that are easier for many patients to adapt to and successfully use. The Starkey brand is well-known for incorporating AI-powered technologies into their devices, as artificial intelligence can help distinguish between different sounds, prioritize vocalizations over environmental noise, and personalize the output based on each user's unique needs and preferences. This customization can help patients who have tested other hearing aids before with little success.

Key Features of Starkey Hearing Aids

There are many different hearing aids on the market that use different input and output technologies or offer different features to meet the needs of different audiences. See how features like these can factor into your unique hearing condition and preferences:

AI integration: Some models of Starkey hearing aids use AI to process sound and create millions of highly refined adjustments over time.
Custom Styles: Behind-the-ear, completely-in-canal, in-the-canal, in-the-ear, and other styles are available based on your preference for discrete models or overall comfort.
Longer battery life of over 48 hours for some models
In-built fall detection features, which add safety for senior wearers

Starkey hearing aid models may also include Multiflex Tinnitus Technology, which offers adaptive sound therapy. The science behind tinnitus relief is continuing to evolve, and many people with tinnitus use bimodal therapies, sound therapies, and other approaches to minimize the effects.

Popular Starkey Models

Audiology experts at the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona can help you choose the right hearing aid by assessing your hearing, hearing-related conditions, and lifestyle. Start by considering these popular models:

Starkey Edge AI, Evolv AI, and Genesis AI models incorporate AI to minutely adjust sound quality and prioritization. Edge AI hearing aids are Bluetooth-compatible, designed to reduce listening fatigue, and can even assist with language translation. Genesis AI products offer personal health monitoring features and excellent feedback management.
Starkey Signature Series models use enhanced hearing technologies in a discreet, custom-fit product. These hearing aids are practically invisible, can reduce transient noise, and are custom fit to each patient

Benefits of Choosing Starkey

Starkey hearing aids are a popular option for people with hearing difficulties and conditions like tinnitus. You can explore the possibilities of Starkey products as you continue to find hearing management tools, treatments, and services that best fit your lifestyle and needs. Starkey offers unique advantages like in-built tinnitus treatments, AI options for better sound processing, and modern safety and convenience features that can make hearing aids easier to use than ever. At the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, our goal is to help you find the right hearing treatments, and we'll work with you to explore multiple different brands, products, and complementary treatments. The benefits of hearing aids include:

Safety
Comfort, especially for alleviating fatigue and tinnitus
More social interaction
Greater quality of life as you enjoy conversations, music, and hobbies

Learn More at Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona

The right hearing aids can make all the difference. At the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, we work with each of our clients to develop a deep understanding of your hearing needs and the right-fit solutions. If you want expert guidance in choosing different hearing aids and hearing treatments, our team is here to help. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.

Image Source: Pixel-Shot /Shutterstock

Lenire Treatment Explained: Tinnitus Neuromodulation Therapy

AlyssaBrekken@salemtc.com (alyssa brekken) — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 15:19:08 GMT

Lenire Treatment Explained

Tinnitus, or a persistent ringing in your ears, is either physical or neurological. Even once you and your doctor determine the source of the condition, finding the right treatment is tricky. At the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, we provide numerous different types of expert treatment that offer promising results in reducing or eliminating ear ringing. Lenire is an innovative option that can reduce ringing through bimodal neuromodulation. Learn more about the Lenire tinnitus treatment, how it works, and if you may be a good candidate for the treatment.

What Is Lenire?

Lenire is a device that transmits electrical impulses to the user's tongue and provides sound stimulation through headphones. Wearers receive sounds and stimulation to their tongues. The device is FDA-approved and non-invasive, allowing users to conduct treatment sessions at home. Audiologists can customize the fit of the Lenire system, tailor the sound and stimulations to best fit different patients' needs, and both guide and monitor sessions remotely. Lenire has undergone extensive testing and clinical studies, and it may be an effective treatment for people suffering from tinnitus when other treatments provide no results.

How Does Lenire Work?

Lenire is a small wearable medical device. Its dual approach provides bimodal (two modes) neuromodulation to manage how the brain processes both sound and touch sensations. Because it targets both the auditory system, which handles sound stimulation, and somatosensory systems, these devices can train the body to diminish the effects of tinnitus over time. While the device isn't a "cure" in and of itself, it helps the brain manage tinnitus by retraining the brain's neurons and helping people get sound relief from the condition.

To use it, people with tinnitus put on the headphones and place the TongueTip on the surface of their tongue. Then, they press play to start a bimodal neuromodulation session.

Lenire vs. Other Tinnitus Treatments?

Audiologists have tried to create many different treatment options for tinnitus over the decades. Some are more effective than others based on your unique needs and how tinnitus manifests. Here's a quick comparison guide as you start exploring the Lenire tinnitus treatment and other options.

Cost

Many tinnitus treatments and audiology services are not covered by most insurance providers, so cost can become an important factor in your decision. Depending on the clinic you select, the cost of Lenire tinnitus treatment can be around $4,000 . Other treatments come at a wide range of price points, including:

Sound generators, which can cost in the hundreds of dollars
Tinnitus Retraining Therapies, which vary in cost based on program length but typically cost at least $2,400
Hearing aids, which partially address tinnitus symptoms and cost at least $1,000 per ear

Effectiveness

Lenire has undergone extensive clinical studies and is the first FDA-approved bimodal neuromodulation device . The vast majority of patients saw a reduction in their tinnitus symptoms within 12 weeks. Popular alternatives include sound therapy (which is most effective when used with other treatments, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), which helps the majority of patients experience sound reduction after three months, and surgery, which can help address physically caused tinnitus from otosclerosis and other sources.

How Long Does It Last?

Compared to many other treatment options, patients can see very fast results with Lenire. Patients in numerous studies experienced meaningful sound reduction in 12 weeks, compared to TRT, which requires between three and six months to see meaningful results.

Contact the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona for More Information

At the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona , we're committed to helping patients explore different treatment options and pursue meaningful sound reduction in their tinnitus condition. Many patients who experience tinnitus may be eligible for Lenire treatments. If Lenire is too expensive, we also offer evidence-based Rohe Method treatments. Contact us today to learn more about Lenire tinnitus treatment and other treatment options.

Image Source: Orawan Pattarawimonchai /Shutterstock

CBT vs TRT for Tinnitus: Key Differences & Treatment Options

AlyssaBrekken@salemtc.com (alyssa brekken) — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 18:57:16 GMT

Tinnitus can be a persistent and frustrating condition, impacting daily life and mental well-being. While there is no single cure, effective treatment options help individuals manage symptoms and improve their quality of life. Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment for tinnitus offer different approaches to relief—one focuses on sound therapy, while the other helps reframe negative thought patterns to reduce emotional distress.

For those in Arizona seeking expert tinnitus care, understanding how these therapies work can help determine the best path forward. Comparing CBT and TRT provides insight into how each method supports long-term tinnitus management.

Understanding Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Tinnitus

CBT treatment for tinnitus focuses on addressing the emotional and psychological response to persistent ringing or buzzing sounds. Instead of trying to eliminate tinnitus, CBT helps individuals change their perception of it, reducing the stress and frustration it often causes.

CBT works by identifying and reframing negative thought patterns associated with tinnitus. Patients learn coping techniques such as relaxation strategies, mindfulness, and cognitive restructuring to shift their focus away from the sound. By modifying these reactions, CBT can significantly improve quality of life, making tinnitus less intrusive and distressing over time.

Exploring Tinnitus Retraining Therapy

TRT is a structured approach that helps individuals adapt to tinnitus by reducing their awareness of the sound over time. It combines two key components: sound therapy and directed counseling. Sound therapy uses external noise—often through specialized devices—to mask or blend with the tinnitus, making it less intrusive. Counseling helps individuals change their emotional response to the sound, reducing stress and discomfort.

TRT works by retraining the brain’s reaction to tinnitus, gradually shifting it from a disruptive noise to a neutral background sound. Many patients experience significant improvement in their ability to ignore tinnitus, allowing them to focus on daily activities without distress.

Research and Effectiveness: Tinnitus Retraining Therapy vs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Extensive research supports both CBT and TRT as effective approaches for managing tinnitus. Studies show that CBT treatment for tinnitus helps reduce the emotional distress and anxiety associated with persistent ringing by reshaping negative thought patterns. Meanwhile, TRT has been proven to improve habituation, allowing individuals to perceive tinnitus as less disruptive over time.

So, what is the best therapy for tinnitus? While both methods offer relief, their effectiveness depends on individual needs. Research suggests that CBT provides stronger long-term benefits for managing emotional responses, while TRT is more effective for those seeking sound habituation.

Who Can Benefit from CBT and TRT?

CBT is ideal for individuals who experience significant emotional distress due to tinnitus. It helps those struggling with anxiety, depression, or sleep disturbances by reframing negative responses to the condition.

TRT benefits those seeking to habituate to tinnitus by reducing their perception of the sound. It’s particularly effective for individuals who want a structured approach to sound therapy combined with counseling.

The Rohe Method: A Comprehensive Approach to Tinnitus Treatment

The Rohe Method® combines the core principles of CBT and TRT to create a well-rounded approach to tinnitus management. This method focuses on brain retraining and neuroplasticity, helping the nervous system adapt and reduce tinnitus-related distress over time. By addressing both the emotional and physiological responses to tinnitus, the Rohe Method helps individuals regain a sense of control.

This integrative approach provides patients with the benefits of counseling, sound therapy, and cognitive reframing, offering a personalized treatment plan for long-term relief.

Why Choose Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona?

Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona specializes in advanced tinnitus management, offering CBT, TRT, and our exclusive Rohe Method®. Our team provides personalized care, ensuring each patient receives a tailored treatment plan that promotes long-term relief. With expertise in sound therapy and cognitive-based approaches, we help individuals retrain their response to tinnitus and improve their quality of life.

Take the First Step Towards Better Tinnitus Management

Tinnitus can feel overwhelming, but the right treatment makes a significant difference. For those seeking expert tinnitus care, the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona provides comprehensive treatment options backed by experience and innovation. Click here to schedule an appointment , or call 480-831-6159 .

Image Credit:Shutterstock/ Kulkova Daria

A Feast for the Senses: Navigating the Kitchen with Hearing Loss

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 16:53:10 GMT

As the holidays approach, many of us are gearing up to gather with family and friends for festive meals and celebrations. Cooking, especially during this time, is a multi-sensory experience. From the sizzle of meat on the grill to the bubbling of gravy on the stove to the ding of an egg timer, hearing well in the kitchen is a vital part of the cooking process.

For those with hearing loss, these auditory cues can sometimes be missed, creating challenges in the kitchen. That’s why we wanted to address some ways people who experience hearing loss can still maximize their kitchen experience, keep things safe, and whip up delicious, memorable meals for their loved ones!

Cooking Can Present Challenges for Those with Hearing Loss

In the kitchen, sound plays a pretty major role. Imagine missing the beep of your oven timer, the hiss of a boiling kettle, or the sound of sizzling onions. These are more than just enjoyable background noises; they are crucial signals in the cooking process.

For folks with hearing loss, these sounds might not be as obvious, or they might go completely unnoticed. This can lead to overcooked meals, burnt dishes, or even safety concerns. One of our patients recently shared how she missed the oven timer and ended up burning the cookies she was making with her grandkids. Situations like this can be frustrating, but they are also a good reminder of how important auditory cues are in the kitchen.

If you’ve noticed a change in your hearing, it’s time to take action. Don't wait for a kitchen disaster to get your hearing checked-schedule an appointment with one of our audiologists to ensure you're ready to serve up a delicious meal this holiday season!

Navigating Kitchen Conversations with Hearing Loss

In addition to keeping tabs on the food you’re preparing, you also want to be able to focus on the conversations that come with entertaining loved ones during the holidays. These are probably the types of complaints I hear most from my patients. For those with hearing loss, some of the joy that comes with entertainment can sadly be lost.

Conversations might be more challenging due to loud appliances, children running through the kitchen, or any number of other interruptions. Communicating in a busy, noisy kitchen can be tough for anyone, but especially for those living with hearing loss.

A useful tip to improve communication in the kitchen is the BALL analogy: Before speaking, Alert the person, ensure they can Look at you, and then they can Listen. This strategy makes conversations more effective and helps avoid miscommunications—whether you're asking about ingredients or checking to see if the turkey's done.

If possible, you can also reduce background noise by turning off unnecessary appliances like dishwashers or minimizing background music. Simple things like this can greatly improve communication and make the holiday gathering a better experience for everyone.

Boosting Confidence in the Kitchen

Cooking with hearing loss is all about adaptation. Rather than deciding to try out a new and complicated recipe for the first time, opt for a tried-and-true meal that makes you feel confident in the kitchen. This allows you to enjoy the process of cooking for your family without having to worry about missing important cues or conversations.

There are also many tools out there to help make cooking easier for those with hearing loss. For example, you can get timers with visual or vibration alerts, so you never have to worry about missing that “ding” again. In fact, most smartphones offer these features!

Enjoy the Upcoming Holiday Season!

The holidays are all about making memories, and cooking is a big part of that for many families. Whether you’re in charge of the entire meal or you’re working alongside loved ones, there are lots of tips and tools that can make the experience easier and more enjoyable for all.

Wear your hearing aids if you have them and advocate for yourself by letting others know you have hearing loss. Everyone will be happy to accommodate. And have fun—cooking is about more than just preparing food; it’s about the beautiful memories you create along the way!

No Tricks, Just Treats: Why Hearing Aids Are Nothing to Fear

Sat, 19 Oct 2024 14:29:00 GMT

Have you ever been in a situation where you completely misheard something and tried to play it off? Maybe you nodded along, laughed at the wrong moment, or responded in a way that left everyone feeling a little confused. We’ve all done it, but when it becomes a regular occurrence due to hearing loss, it starts to feel like you’re just getting “ghosts” of the conversation.

It’s ironic to me that so many people avoid hearing aids because they don’t want to feel old, yet all of the missed conversations and social interactions are what truly ages us. Just like the ghosts of those conversations past, untreated hearing loss can really haunt your social life!

Let’s talk about some common “spooky” scenarios that hearing aids can help you avoid:

Frightful Misunderstandings

Untreated hearing loss can lead to confusing situations—misunderstandings that sometimes turn into comedy routines. While this can be funny at times, when it happens it often becomes more frustrating than amusing. Blaming others for mumbling or asking people to repeat themselves can be a reflex, but it doesn’t solve the problem. In fact, it often leads to conflict or isolation. So why not address the real issue head-on?

The Nightmare of Feeling Old

Many people think wearing hearing aids will make them look older or more fragile, but untreated hearing loss is the thing that will actually make you feel older. When you’re constantly straining to hear, missing jokes, or feeling disconnected, it ages you far more than any hearing aid ever could. Think of hearing aids as a fountain of youth. Staying connected is what keeps you feeling youthful, not struggling to hear what’s going on around you.

R.I.P. Relationships

Untreated hearing loss can take a toll on relationships. Communication is the foundation of any connection, and when you can’t hear clearly, that foundation begins to crack. The frustration of constantly having to repeat yourself, the misunderstandings, and the feeling of being unheard can create distance between loved ones. Hearing aids can help bridge that gap and restore the joy of effortless communication so your relationships don’t become the stuff of nightmares.

Scary Situations

Hearing aids aren’t just devices that help you hear—they’re tools that enhance your ability to function safely in the world. Whether it’s hearing a car approaching while crossing the street or a smoke alarm going off in your home, the awareness that hearing aids provide will help you maintain your independence and give you the confidence to navigate your daily life more safely. Instead of feeling vulnerable, hearing aids empower you to live life on your terms!

Clear the Cobwebs

Hearing aids might help you rediscover the everyday sounds you may have been missing. From the laughter of your grandchildren to the rustling of autumn leaves, you’ll be able to appreciate all the little things you’ve been missing; the things that add joy and texture to life! Music, nature, and conversations all become clearer, allowing you to fully appreciate the world around you. For my patients, hearing aids have opened their ears to the beauty of sound, making life SO much more vibrant and full.

Hearing aids aren’t symbols of aging, they’re your path to a more vibrant life! Don’t let your fears stop you from enjoying everything the world has to offer. At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, we can help prioritize your hearing health so you can stay youthful. We can show you some great options that will allow you to enjoy every moment… without the jump scares we listed above.

If you’re ready to take the next step and learn more about our hearing aid options, contact us today by calling or texting us at 480-831-6159 .

How Real Ear Verification Ensures Maximum Hearing Aid Benefit

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 18:00:12 GMT

How Real Ear Verification Ensures Maximum Hearing Aid Benefit

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to get more out of their hearing aids than others? The secret lies in a crucial step called real ear verification. In this article, we will explore how real ear verification plays a vital role in maximizing the benefits of your hearing aids, ensuring both comfort and effectiveness.

The Importance of Proper Amplification

Proper amplification is a crucial factor in maximizing the benefits of your hearing aids through real ear verification. By ensuring that the sound levels reaching your ears are appropriate for your specific hearing needs, you can significantly enhance both comfort and effectiveness.

Ensuring Comfortable and Effective Fitting

To ensure a comfortable and effective fitting for your hearing aids, it is essential to collaborate closely with your audiologist or hearing care professional. They will consider not only your hearing test results but also your lifestyle, preferences, and any unique challenges you may face in different listening environments. By fine-tuning the fit of your hearing aids, you can experience clearer, more natural sound quality and improved overall satisfaction with your devices.

This personalized approach to fitting not only enhances user comfort but also ensures optimal performance, allowing you to make the most of your investment in better hearing.

Real Ear Measurements: The Gold Standard/Best Practices

Real Ear Measurements (REMs) are considered the gold standard in hearing aid fitting because they provide precise and customized adjustments based on your individual ear anatomy. By measuring the sound levels in your ear canal with the hearing aids in place, your audiologist can ensure that the devices are delivering the correct amount of amplification for your specific hearing needs. This level of accuracy is crucial in optimizing the performance of your hearing aids and maximizing the benefits you receive from them.

This personalized approach not only improves the overall quality of sound you experience but also enhances your comfort and satisfaction with your devices.

Common Misconceptions About Hearing Aid Fitting

While Real Ear Verification is crucial for maximizing the benefits of your hearing aids, there are still some common misconceptions surrounding the fitting process. One such misconception is that all hearing aid fittings are the same, regardless of the provider or method used. The expertise of the audiologist and the use of Real Ear Measurements can impact the effectiveness of your hearing aid fitting.

Another misconception is that the fit of your hearing aids is solely based on your audiogram results. While your audiogram provides valuable information about your hearing levels, it does not account for individual factors such as ear canal shape, ear anatomy, or personal preferences. Real Ear Measurements take these factors into consideration, ensuring a customized fit that is tailored to your specific needs.

Some people believe that once they have their hearing aids, they do not need to make any adjustments or follow-up appointments. However, your hearing can change over time, and regular follow-up visits are essential to ensure that your devices are still providing the optimal level of amplification. Real Ear Measurements allow for fine-tuning and adjustments to be made based on your evolving hearing needs.

By debunking these misconceptions and emphasizing the importance of Real Ear Verification, we can help you achieve the best possible fit for your hearing aids. This personalized approach not only improves the overall quality of sound you experience but also enhances your satisfaction with your devices.

In conclusion, the importance of real ear verification cannot be overstated when it comes to maximizing the benefits of your hearing aids. By ensuring proper amplification and comfortable fitting through this gold standard measurement technique, you are setting yourself up for improved quality of life and optimal hearing experiences. Do not let common misconceptions hold you back from the full potential of your hearing aids. Take the proactive step of working with a clinic like ours that uses real ear verification to optimize your hearing aid experience and elevate your overall well-being. Remember, your hearing health is worth the investment.

Silencing the Noise: How Lenire Tinnitus Treatment Is Changing the Game

Fri, 31 May 2024 14:17:24 GMT

Do you ever find yourself constantly battling with the persistent ringing in your ears, known as tinnitus? If so, you are not alone. Tinnitus affects millions of people worldwide, impacting their daily lives and overall well-being. However, there is hope on the horizon with the revolutionary Lenire tinnitus treatment. In this article, we will delve into the groundbreaking technology behind Lenire and how it is reshaping the landscape of tinnitus management. From understanding the impact of tinnitus to exploring real-life success stories and the future of tinnitus treatment, we will explore how Lenire is changing the game for those struggling with this debilitating condition. Get ready to discover a new path towards relief with Lenire.

Understanding Tinnitus and Its Impact

Tinnitus can have a profound impact on individuals, affecting everything from their concentration and sleep quality to their emotional well-being. Understanding the complexities of this condition is crucial in developing effective treatment strategies.

The Lenire Treatment: How It Works

Lenire is a novel, non-surgical medical device designed to reduce the severity of subjective tinnitus. Lenire is comprised of a handheld control device (Controller), an intra-oral device (Tonguetip) that is designed to deliver electrical stimulation on the surface of the tongue, and a set of Hi-X25BT headphones (Headphones) that delivers binaural sound stimulation.

During the treatment, the Tonguetip rests on the tip of the tongue, electrically stimulating the nerves of the tongue to provide somatosensory stimulation while the Headphones deliver sound stimulation to both ears.

The Tonguetip stimulates the anterior-dorsal surface of the tongue for the following reasons:

The tongue is a mucosal surface that is coated with a replenishing electrolyte (saliva) that enhances transmucosal electrical stimulation.

The anterior-dorsal surface of the tongue possesses one of the highest nerve densities in the human body.

The lingual branch of the trigeminal nerve innervates the anterior surface of the tongue. Studies have revealed important anatomical and functional links between the trigeminal nerve and central auditory structures, such as the cochlear nucleus and inferior colliculus. For example, it has been shown that auditory evoked activity in dorsal cochlear nucleus neurons or inferior colliculus neurons can be suppressed by electrically stimulating the trigeminal system.

The bimodal pairing of two sensory stimuli (neutral and specific) increases perception of the neutral stimulus and enhances neuroplasticity. In this pairing the neutral stimulus is the therapeutic tones, and the specific stimulus is the electrical stimulation. As neuroplasticity is triggered by bimodal stimulation, neurons in the auditory pathways become more sensitive to the sound and less sensitive to the tinnitus activity.

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to adapt its neural networks based on new inputs and experience. The brain has the ability to continuously optimize, reorganize and/or improve sensory, motor, and cognitive processing capabilities. The brain also can experience “maladaptive” neuroplasticity, resulting in imbalances in excitatory and inhibitory activity across auditory and non auditory networks that can lead to neural pathologies, such as illusory sound and distress in tinnitus patients. Deprivation of input to the nervous system is a major contributing factor in maladaptive neuroplasticity and many studies agree that hearing loss and neuroplasticity play a key role in the pathogenesis of tinnitus.

The Lenire treatment utilizes innovative technology and neuroscience to target the root causes of tinnitus. By delivering specific sequences of audio tones paired with gentle electrical stimulation to the tongue, Lenire works to rewire the brain's response to tinnitus signals. This innovative approach aims to provide relief from the symptoms of tinnitus by retraining the brain and promoting neuroplasticity. As we delve into real-life success stories, it becomes clear how the Lenire treatment is transforming the lives of tinnitus sufferers.

Real-Life Success Stories

One individual, Sarah, had been struggling with debilitating tinnitus for years before discovering the Lenire treatment. She describes how the constant ringing in her ears made it difficult to focus on work and enjoy social situations. After completing the Lenire treatment program, Sarah noticed a significant decrease in the intensity and frequency of her tinnitus symptoms. She was able to regain control over her life and found a renewed sense of peace and calm.

Another patient, John, had tried multiple traditional tinnitus treatments with little success before turning to Lenire. He shares how the combination of audio tones and electrical stimulation provided him with relief he never thought possible. John can now sleep through the night without being disturbed by tinnitus and can engage in conversations without being overwhelmed by the ringing in his ears.

These real-life success stories highlight the profound impact that the Lenire treatment can have on individuals suffering from tinnitus. By sharing these stories, we hope to inspire others to explore this innovative approach to managing tinnitus and discover the life-changing benefits for themselves. Moving forward, let us take a closer look at the benefits of Lenire over traditional treatments.

Benefits of Lenire Over Traditional Treatments

Lenire offers several key benefits over traditional tinnitus treatments. Unlike many conventional methods that focus solely on masking the symptoms, Lenire targets the root cause of tinnitus through a unique combination of audio tones and electrical stimulation. This personalized approach has been shown to provide relief for many individuals who have previously found little success with other treatments. Additionally, Lenire is non-invasive and can be easily integrated into one's daily routine, making it a convenient and effective option for managing tinnitus.

Future of Tinnitus Management

With these advantages in mind, it is clear that Lenire is changing the game in tinnitus treatment. The testimonials and success stories from patients who have experienced significant improvement in their quality of life speak volumes about the potential of this innovative approach. As we continue to uncover the benefits of Lenire over traditional treatments, it is exciting to consider the future of tinnitus management and the possibilities that lie ahead.

As technology and research progress, we can anticipate even more groundbreaking developments in the field of tinnitus management. With a personalized, non-invasive approach like Lenire paving the way, there is great potential for further advancements in understanding and treating tinnitus. The future may hold even more effective, accessible, and tailored solutions for individuals seeking relief from this challenging condition. As we look ahead, it is clear that the evolution of tinnitus management is on a promising trajectory, offering hope and an improved quality of life for those affected.

In conclusion, the Lenire tinnitus treatment has revolutionized the way we approach tinnitus management, offering a glimmer of hope to those who have long struggled with the condition. Providing a comprehensive overview of tinnitus, the innovative technology behind Lenire, and real life success stories, it is clear that this treatment is changing the game for many. As we look towards the future of tinnitus management, Lenire stands out as a beacon of promise for those seeking relief.

Finding Your Perfect Match: Hearing Aid Addition

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 16:13:02 GMT

Love is in the air, which inspired us to write a blog post about finding your perfect match… your perfect hearing aid match, that is! There’s so much information out there and so many rumors about “the best” or “the worst” hearing aids. It can be overwhelming to try to choose!

At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, we consider ourselves to be expert matchmakers when it comes to pairing our patients with the perfect hearing aids. We can help answer questions like:

• How much should I spend on a hearing aid?

• How big or small will the device be?

• Will it help me hear better in my favorite restaurant?

• How can I guarantee it’s a good fit?

There’s certainly a lot that goes into picking a hearing device, and our goal with this blog post is to help you find the perfect match for your hearing needs. If you’ve been unsure which option is right for you, we hope this post will be both helpful and informative!

Receiver-in-the-Canal (RIC) Hearing Aids

Receiver-in-the-canal (RIC) hearing aids are the most popular style of hearing aid currently available. Sometimes referred to as receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) hearing aids, they are what you typically think of when you think of hearing aids. But are they the right choice for you? Let’s go over some of the pros and cons:

Receiver-in-the-Canal Pros:

• Sleek design for discretion and cosmetic appeal.

• Room for growth with the ability to adjust the device's strength.

• Bluetooth connectivity for convenient audio streaming.

Receiver-in-the-Canal Cons:

• You might not feel if they fall out due to the lightweight design.

• Insertion and removal challenges for those with dexterity issues.

Conclusion:

This style of hearing aid is ideal for those seeking a discreet option with room for future adjustments. And, because they’re so popular, they often get upgraded with new technology first (e.g. better speech-in-noise ability, improved battery, etc).

In-the-Ear (ITE) Hearing Aids

This custom, made-for-you, hearing aid style is another popular option because they are tailored to fit the shape of your ear perfectly. There are several sizes available in this style in addition to the In-the-Ear option like Completely-in-the-Canal (CIC) and Invisible-in-the-Canal (IIC). Let’s go over the pros and cons of the various In-the-Ear hearing aid options:

In-the-Ear Pros:

• They are custom-fit based on an impression of your ear anatomy.

• Easier insertion, especially for individuals with dexterity issues.

In-the-Ear Cons:

• Less discrete, potentially visible in the ear bowl.

• The smaller size may impact features like Bluetooth or battery life.

• They are more prone to damage due to their fragile housing.

Conclusion:

In-the-Ear hearing aids might be a great option for those prioritizing a tailored fit but willing to compromise on visibility. It may not be a great option if having all of the latest and greatest features is important to you.

Behind-the-Ear (BTE) with Earmold

Many people are also familiar with this type of hearing aid. It’s the “tried and true” hearing aid style that has been around for years, and it has stood the test of time for a reason! This design can fit individuals with varying degrees of hearing loss, making it a very flexible option.

Behind-the-Ear Pros:

• Fits all degrees of hearing loss, delivering maximum amplification.

• Multiple battery options, including disposable or rechargeable.

• Secure fit with earmold for comfort and retention.

Behind-the-Ear Cons:

• More visible than other options, as it sits behind the ear and in the ear. • Wind noise may be a concern due to microphone placement.

Conclusion:

Behind-the-Ear hearing aids are a versatile choice for individuals with varying hearing loss levels. The different battery options offer flexibility based on your preferences and lifestyle.

Cochlear Implants (CI)

Cochlear implants are not typically grouped together with hearing aids, but we wanted to include them because they are a good option for certain individuals. If you’re not familiar, this is a small electronic device that helps to provide a sense of sound to those who are profoundly or severely hard of hearing. The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin.

Coc hlear Implant Pros:

• Life-changing outcomes for profoundly or severely hard-of-hearing individuals. • Improved hearing compared to traditional hearing aids in specific scenarios.

Cochlear Implant Cons:

• Time-consuming process with surgery, activation, and programming stages. • Requires commitment and adjustments to maintain a significant change.

Conclusion:

Cochlear implants can be a great option for individuals who are no longer benefiting from traditional hearing aids. They can offer improved hearing in challenging situations, drastically changing your quality of life for the better.

Finding the right hearing means weighing numerous factors, from budget concerns to design preferences to lifestyle needs. If you would like more personalized help, give us a call at 480- 831-6159 and schedule a consultation with the experts at The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona. We can help you explore the possibilities and ultimately, enhance your hearing experience!

Finding Tinnitus Sound Relief: Therapies, Devices & Sound Masking

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 14:09:52 GMT

Experiencing tinnitus can have a deeply negative impact on life. As this condition can be difficult to diagnose and treat, finding relief can be overwhelming and may require a combination of medical treatments and lifestyle changes. In this blog post, we will discuss various treatment options for tinnitus and offer advice on how to find tinnitus sound relief.

Understanding Tinnitus: Unraveling the Mystery

To effectively manage your symptoms, it is crucial to understand the intricacies of this condition. Tinnitus, often referred to as a phantom sound that only the individual experiencing it can hear, can take on various forms, including ringing, buzzing, hissing, or even roaring sounds. While it may seem like a mystery, there are many underlying factors and probable causes that contribute to its onset and persistence.

One of the main culprits behind tinnitus is exposure to loud noises, whether from listening to music at high volumes, working in noisy environments, or attending concerts without proper ear protection. In these instances, the delicate hair cells in our inner ears can become damaged, leading to the perception of tinnitus. Additionally, certain medical conditions, such as ear infections, earwax blockages, or age-related hearing loss, can also trigger the onset or exacerbation of tinnitus.

Understanding the psychological and emotional aspect of tinnitus is equally essential. Tinnitus can be mentally draining, causing stress, anxiety, and even depression for those who live with it. The constant presence of these phantom sounds can make it difficult to focus, concentrate, or even enjoy peaceful moments. By unraveling the mysteries surrounding tinnitus, we can begin to address the underlying causes and develop strategies to mitigate its impact on our well-being.

Furthermore, it's important to recognize that tinnitus affects individuals differently. While some may experience mild, intermittent episodes, others may have more severe and persistent symptoms. The wide range of tinnitus experiences highlights the importance of tailoring treatment approaches to meet each person's unique needs.

Proven Methods to Relieve Tinnitus Symptoms

Through education and awareness, we can dismantle the mystery surrounding tinnitus and empower ourselves to seek effective relief.

When seeking relief from tinnitus, it's crucial to consult with a healthcare professional who specializes in audiology or otology. These experts can help identify any underlying medical conditions or lifestyle factors that may be contributing to the symptoms. By addressing these factors, it is possible to reduce its impact on daily life.

Additionally, developing healthy lifestyle habits can play a significant role in managing tinnitus symptoms. Regular exercise, a well-balanced diet, and adequate rest can all contribute to overall well-being and may have a positive impact on tinnitus. Proper stress management techniques, such as meditation or deep breathing exercises, can also help alleviate the emotional and physical burden associated with tinnitus.

Many individuals find relief from tinnitus by using sound therapy. This approach involves using external sound sources to mask or distract from the internal noise. White noise machines, nature sounds, or even low-volume music can be effective in providing temporary relief and promoting relaxation. Some individuals also find comfort in wearing hearing aids or using wearable sound masking devices that provide customized sound therapy.

Furthermore, some studies suggest that certain complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, hypnosis, or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), may help manage tinnitus symptoms. These therapies aim to reduce stress, improve coping mechanisms, and promote a positive mindset towards tinnitus.

Therapies and Techniques for Tinnitus Relief

Acupuncture, for example, involves the insertion of thin needles into specific points on the body to rebalance the energy flow. While the exact mechanism of how acupuncture relieves tinnitus symptoms is still not fully understood, some individuals have reported a reduction in the intensity and frequency of their tinnitus sounds after undergoing acupuncture sessions.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of therapy that helps individuals identify and change negative thought patterns and behaviors. By addressing the psychological and emotional aspects of tinnitus, CBT can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression often associated with the condition. This, in turn, may alleviate the perceived intensity of tinnitus sounds and improve overall well-being.

Relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, or yoga, can help reduce stress and promote a sense of calm. Mindfulness practices, such as meditation or mindful listening, encourage individuals to be present and non-judgmental of their tinnitus sounds, fostering acceptance and a more positive mindset.

By exploring these therapies and techniques, individuals can take meaningful steps towards finding peace. In the next section, we will delve deeper into specific lifestyle changes that have shown promise in providing relief for tinnitus sufferers – further empowering individuals to take control of their tinnitus journey and improve their quality of life.

Lifestyle Changes that Bring Peace and Quiet

One lifestyle change that can greatly impact tinnitus is adopting a healthy diet. Research has shown that certain foods and nutrients can influence the severity of tinnitus symptoms. Cutting back on caffeine and alcohol may help reduce tinnitus intensity, as these substances can exacerbate the condition. Additionally, incorporating more antioxidant-rich foods into your diet, such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts, may have a positive effect on tinnitus. These dietary changes can support overall well-being and potentially alleviate the discomfort caused by tinnitus.

Regular exercise is another lifestyle change that can contribute to calming tinnitus. Engaging in physical activity releases endorphins, which function as natural painkillers and mood boosters. This can have a direct impact on tinnitus, as stress and emotional factors often play a role in its exacerbation. Whether it's going for a brisk walk, practicing yoga, or taking up a new sport, finding an exercise routine that suits your interests and abilities can help alleviate tinnitus symptoms and promote a sense of calm.

Managing stress levels is crucial for anyone seeking relief from tinnitus. Stress has been known to increase the perception of tinnitus and make it more bothersome. Incorporating stress-reducing activities into your daily routine can make a significant difference. This might involve engaging in hobbies or activities that bring you joy, such as painting, playing a musical instrument, or spending time in nature. It could also mean practicing relaxation techniques like deep breathing exercises or scheduling regular self-care activities like massages or baths. By prioritizing stress management, you can create a peaceful environment for yourself and potentially reduce the impact of tinnitus on your daily life.

Additionally, using devices like sound machines or fans can provide background noise that can help mask tinnitus sounds, promoting a more serene atmosphere.

By taking control of your diet, exercise routine, stress levels, and living environment, you can enhance your well-being and potentially alleviate the impact of tinnitus on your life.

Though tinnitus can be a difficult condition to treat, there are a variety of treatments available to provide relief. With the help of your doctor, explore the different treatments that may help alleviate your tinnitus, incorporate lifestyle changes that can provide relief, and remember to take care of yourself with regular exercise and relaxation.

It is important to understand that there are treatment options, lifestyle changes, and sound therapies that do offer relief. Remember, action is key. Take the first step today towards a life free from the intrusive sounds of tinnitus. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "Well done is better than well said." So don't just read about it—implement these strategies and experience relief.

Budgeting for Your Hearing Aids: Weighing Over the Counter Options vs. Prescription

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 21:48:42 GMT

Trying to budget and save money in the new year is an extremely popular goal. Most of us are looking for ways to cut costs, especially now. If this is something you’ve been thinking about — and you’re someone who will need to purchase hearing aids this year — you might be wondering if switching to an over-the-counter option is a viable option.

Now, we are not against over-the-counter hearing aids. They’re a great option for certain people with certain needs. However, they are not going to be the best choice for everyone. When you are looking at options, your budget matters (of course), but so does your quality of life. If an over-the-counter option isn’t going to address your specific hearing issues, it isn’t a good option, plain and simple. So, let’s go over each option together so you can start planning!

Over the Counter Hearing Aids

As you probably heard, hearing aids are now being offered over the counter at places like Walmart, Costco, and Walgreens, to name a few. This is great news for a lot of people, but we still like to educate our patients about some of the potential drawbacks, as well as the benefits!

Over the Counter Pros:

● There is typically a cost savings when purchasing an over-the-counter hearing aid, as long as you are someone with mild or moderate hearing loss.

● There’s no appointment needed; you can set up your hearing aids at home after watching a tutorial or hopping on a video call with customer support.

● For many of these over-the-counter options, there is an app you can download that will help you make adjustments to the hearing aids as needed.

Over the Counter Cons:

● Many of these devices do not have a loss or damage warranty, and if you want to make a return, you will likely have to cover the shipping costs out of pocket.

● Over the counter hearing aids are not going to work with all types of hearing loss. Additionally, they do not come with programs for tinnitus therapy.

● It can take three to four weeks to properly adjust a hearing aid, and this can be a confusing process to go through without the help of an audiologist.

● As mentioned above, some of these devices require a smartphone to operate it. Some have batteries that will need to be replaced (at an additional cost).

Prescription Pros:

● Most audiologists will include a two-year loss and/or damage warranty with every hearing aid fitting, which is great for added peace of mind.

● During your routine hearing evaluation, you will also be screened for any inner ear diseases that would warrant medical attention before the fitting of a hearing aid.

● The lifespan of prescription hearing aids is longer. Your hearing aid, with proper care, can last 5-7 years, which is an important consideration when budgeting.

● Most prescription fit hearing aid technology comes with tinnitus retraining therapy, which isn’t something that is currently offered over the counter.

Prescription Cons:

● You must schedule an appointment for a routine hearing evaluation, and then come back in for follow-up appointments to make sure you have a good fit.

● Depending on the type of hearing loss you have, you may not be able to leave with a hearing aid the same day as your hearing test.

● They cost more, and unfortunately, health insurance doesn’t typically cover the cost of hearing aids (both prescription and over the counter options).

As you can see, there is a lot to consider when budgeting for hearing aids. If you have mild to moderate hearing loss (no tinnitus) and you feel confident going through the steps to set it up and adjust it as needed, the over-the-counter options might be great for you.

If you’re someone with more severe hearing loss or tinnitus, you may want to work with an audiologist to ensure you end up with a device that is going to work for you. Even if you save money up front, it’s not a good investment if you aren't getting the desired outcome.

Of course, we are here to help you decide! You might think that we’re always going to tell you to come in and work with us, but that isn’t the case. If we think an over-the-counter hearing aid will meet all your needs, we will tell you that. We just want you to feel your best, and if we can save you a little bit of money at the same time, we’re happy to do that. Feel free to contact us at 480- 831-6159 if you would like to discuss your options!

National Alzheimer’s Disease Month

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 13:49:24 GMT

National Alzheimers Month

No one knows your family like you do. So, you will most likely be the first to notice small changes in their cognition. It is an awkward place to be. You want to help your parent or loved one but at the same time not offend them. It isn’t uncommon for loved ones to react in frustration, anger, or fear when discussing cognitive decline. Here are a few tips to consider before you voice your concerns with your loved one.

Have a plan.

Before the conversation begins, make sure you have a plan or recommendation for your loved one. Most people start by contacting their primary care doctor with concerns. At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, we also begin with primary care when there are concerns about cognition.

According to A Place For Mom , here is a list of things to write down before they visit their primary:

When the behavior first started
Symptoms noticed
How often do they struggle, and when it happens
Changes to their regular routine or behaviors

At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, we can definitely be part of your plan as you and your loved one goes through this difficult journey. Our kind and compassionate team is here to rule out hearing loss as a contributing factor.

How you say it matters

Remember that saying, “it’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.” This phrase is a good one to remember when conversing with someone who is showing signs of cognitive decline. Depending on their stage of cognitive decline, they may not remember the specific issues you are trying to bring to their attention. Still, they will remember how you presented the idea of getting help.

We have also found it helpful to allow for pauses in the conversation. Breaks in conversation allow time for our patients or their loved ones to process and tell us their concerns. Pauses in conversation are also helpful for family members and may encourage more discussion.

Routine Evaluations

It is well-known that there is an association between cognition and hearing loss. If you are concerned about your loved one developing cognition issues hearing loss is something that we feel is very important to rule out. Make sure that when you schedule a visit with your primary care provider, you also remember to schedule a routine hearing evaluation.

Get Support

A diagnosis of any cognitive disorder is a life-changing event. It is not uncommon for our patient’s loved ones to comment that they receive support too. According to Alzheimer’s Association, there is a 24/7 hotline. To talk with a dementia expert, now call 1-800-272-3900.

Source:

8 dementia symptoms and what to do . A Place for Mom. (2018, July 5). Retrieved October 18, 2022, from https://www.aplaceformom.com/caregiver-resources/articles/dementia-symptoms-to-track

Home . Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2022, from https://www.alz.org/

5 Warning Signs of Hearing Loss You Shouldn’t Ignore

Mon, 29 Aug 2022 20:40:02 GMT

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Most of our patients don’t understand how slowly hearing loss progresses. We commonly hear from 40-50-year-olds that they are “not old enough” to have treatable hearing loss. However, hearing loss can happen to anyone, and it rarely happens all at once over a week or month. In fact, most types of hearing loss progress so slowly over the years that it is undetectable. Read more to learn to early warning signs of hearing loss and how to get started on treatment.

If you suspect that you or someone you know may have hearing loss, pay attention to the complaints you or they make. Below are the five most common complaints spoken by people with untreated hearing loss not caused by an injury and what to do about it.

1. “I can hear, but I can’t understand you because you’re mumbling!” This complaint is probably the most common one we hear. Most times, the perception of mumbling is caused by high-frequency hearing loss, the most common type of hearing loss. Someone with high-frequency hearing loss will have no difficulty hearing low-frequency vowel sounds, but they will struggle to hear (or entirely miss) high-frequency consonants and blends such as “f,” “h,” and “sh.”

2. “I can hear men fine. I just can’t hear women.” Once again, this complaint can indicate untreated high-frequency hearing loss. Women and children’s voices are typically high frequency and will become challenging to hear for someone with this type of hearing loss. Fortunately, hearing aids are designed to amplify only the frequencies you need. Audiologists can program hearing aids to fit your specific type of hearing loss. They can choose to amplify lower or higher frequencies until your hearing is perfected. If your hearing loss changes over time, programmable hearing aids can be adjusted to continue serving their purpose.

3. “It’s too loud in this restaurant. I can’t hear anything!” Struggling to hear in background noise could indicate a moderate hearing loss or auditory processing disorder (APD). This is something we definitely counsel our patient’s about daily. It can even be a problem for those who wear hearing aids. The reason is that low frequency background noise covers up those important high-frequency constant sounds!

4. “What did you say? Huh? Say that again.” Perhaps the most noticeable and identifiable comment from people with hearing loss is the request for repetition. Many times, they heard what was said—meaning that sound entered their ears, and their brains registered it as sound—but their brains didn’t understand what those sounds represented. Hearing testing is critical to discover what type of hearing loss is causing this loss of information.

5. “Thanks for the invite, but I’m going to stay home.” People with hearing loss tend to withdraw from social situations, purposely isolating themselves to avoid embarrassing situations caused by their inability to hear properly. Those who are socially isolated, especially with hearing loss, increase their risk of cognitive decline, anxiety, and depression. A study performed by Lin MY, Gutierrez PR, Stone KL, and others found that individuals with hearing loss developed between 30% and 40% acceleration of cognitive decline and 24% increased risk for incident cognitive impairment during a six-year period compared to those with normal hearing. An audiologist can offer suggestions to avoid a loss of brain function and a return to normal, happy, social living.

Do any of these complaints sound familiar or even convicting? Hearing loss isn’t always a sudden change that you immediately notice. Most often, it’s a slow progression that leaves you irritable, exhausted, or depressed. Our patients always tell us they wish they wouldn’t have allowed hearing loss to dictate their life for as long as it did. Don’t allow your hearing loss to dictate YOUR socialization habits. Reach out today at 480-831-6159 and allow us to help you identify and treat your specific type of hearing loss quickly and comfortably.

At The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona we are committed to helping you stay active and engaged with the world around you! Complaints point to the root of the problem; fortunately, we have a solution. Contact us today.

Sources:

“The Cognitive and Behavioral Consequences of Hearing Loss, Part 1.” Practical Neurology , Bryn Mawr Communications,

https://practicalneurology.com/articles/2017-oct/the-cognitive-and-behavioral consequences-of-hearing-loss-part-1.

Tinnitus Causes and What You Can Do About It

Tue, 21 Jun 2022 17:04:18 GMT

Tinnitus is the sensation of noise or "ringing" in the ears - a common problem that affects approximately 15 to 20 percent of individuals, so roughly 1 out of 6 people suffer from it. With those kinds of numbers, we feel it's a topic worth exploring, and in fact, it's an important part of our practice at Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona. The Rohe Method® of Tinnitus Treatment was created as a unique blend of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy to facilitate retraining the brain. Retraining activates plasticity in the brain, which allows the nervous system to change its function in various ways, typically for learning or self-repair.

Tinnitus is not an actual condition; it is a symptom of some type of underlying condition, such as an ear injury, circulatory system disorder or age-related hearing loss.

Although tinnitus is annoying and can be incredibly frustrating, in most cases it is not normally a sign of anything physically serious. It may worsen with age, for some individuals; if treated, tinnitus may improve. Sometimes it helps to treat an identified underlying cause such as a hearing loss or TMJ disorder, which a trained audiologist can help identify. Other treatments mask or reduce the noise, which can make tinnitus less intrusive and bothersome.

Tinnitus Symptoms
Tinnitus involves hearing sounds when there are no external sounds that are present. Tinnitus perception is considered a central deficit in the brain where cancellation of meaningless signals within the auditory pathways does not take place. The symptoms of tinnitus include the following kinds of phantom noises that you can sense inside your ears or head:

Humming
Hissing
Clicking
Roaring/Whooshing
Buzzing
Ringing

These phantom noises can sound like a low-level roar or hiss up to a very high pitched squeal or ringing. You also might hear tinnitus in one ear or in both ears. The sound, in some cases, can be so loud that it may interfere with your ability to be able to hear external sound, sleep or concentrate. Tinnitus may either come and go or be present at all times.

The Two Types of Tinnitus

There are two types of tinnitus: One type is called subjective tinnitus , which is the type of tinnitus that only can be heard by you. It is the most common form of tinnitus. This may be caused by problems in the inner, middle or outer ear. It may be caused by problems with the part of the brain where the nerve signals are interpreted in the form of sound (auditory pathways) or with the hearing (auditory) nerves themselves.

Objective tinnitus is the type of tinnitus that your doctor can hear when she or he performs an examination. It is a non-ringing sound - more typically rushing, clicking, thumping, or other atonal sounds. It is a less common type of tinnitus that might be caused by vascular issues such as turbulent blood flow through blood vessels in the neck or abnormal muscle contractions (activated by grinding your teeth for instance) that compresses some part of the auditory system. This type of tinnitus more often has an identifiable cause and may be treatable.

When you should visit your Audiologist about your Tinnitus

If you have tinnitus and it is bothering you, affecting your sleep, or affecting your ability to hear naturally or concentrate.
You develop tinnitus following an upper respiratory infection, like a cold, and it doesn't improve within one week.
You have dizziness or hearing loss with your tinnitus.
You have tinnitus that comes on without any apparent cause or comes on suddenly.

What Causes Tinnitus?
Cell damage within the inner ear hair is one of the most common causes of tinnitus. Delicate, tiny hairs within the inner ear known as the cilia move in relation to sound wave pressure. That triggers cells to release an electrical signal via a nerve in the ear (auditory nerve) over to the brain. Those signals are interpreted by the brain as sound. If the hairs inside of the inner ear are broken or bent, random electrical impulses may be leaked to the brain and cause tinnitus.

Other issues that cause tinnitus include chronic health conditions, other ear problems and conditions or injuries that affect the hearing center inside the brain or the nerves inside the ear. Many health conditions may cause or even worsen tinnitus. An exact cause, in many cases, is never found.

Common Tinnitus Causes
Tinnitus, in many individuals, is caused by one of the following conditions:

Hearing loss that is related to age. For many individuals, hearing continues to slowly worsen with age, normally starting at about 60 years old. Presbycusis is the medical term that is used for this kind of hearing loss. Usually causes a high pitch ringing sound.
Being exposed to loud noises. Common sources that may lead to noise-induced hearing loss include firearms, chain saws, and heavy equipment. Portable music players, like an iPod or an MP3 player, may cause hearing loss as well if they are played very loud over an extended period. Tinnitus can also be caused by short-term exposures to noise, such as a loud concert. It will normally go away for some, but not everyone. Both long-term and short-term exposure to loud sound may cause permanent damage and loss of hearing. Usually causes a high pitch ringing sound.
Earwax blockage. Your ear canal is protected by earwax which normally traps dirt, collects dead skin cells, and can slow down bacterial growth. When there has been an excessive accumulation of earwax, irritation to the eardrum lining or blockage of outside sounds may lead to tinnitus perception.
Changes to the middle ear bones. Stiffening of the bones inside the middle ear (otosclerosis) might affect hearing and could cause tinnitus perception. This condition, which is caused by an abnormal growth of bone, is easily identified on a hearing test, and also has a tendency to run in families.

Other Tinnitus Causes
Some other common causes of tinnitus include the following:

Meniere's disease. Tinnitus may be an early indication of Meniere's disease. This inner ear disorder can be caused by abnormal pressure build-up in the inner ear fluids. It is sometimes also referred to as endolymphatic hydrops and may be accompanied by sensations of fullness in the ear and dizziness or vertigo. Often described as a low-pitched roaring sound early on. A hearing test and other lab tests can help to establish a diagnosis.
TMJ disorders. Temporomandibular joint problems. This is the joint that is on both sides of the head in the front of the ears, where the lower jawbone meets the skull and is well known to create tinnitus symptoms in some people. Often a low pitch sound, or clicking, ringing, or popping - accompanied by a feeling of fullness and sometimes pain in the ear.
Neck injuries or head injuries. Neck or head trauma may affect the hearing nerves, the inner ear, or brain function that is linked with hearing. Generally, these injuries cause tinnitus in one ear only.
Acoustic neuroma. This type of noncancerous (benign) tumor may develop on the cranial nerve running from the inner ear to the brain. Also referred to as an acoustic/vestibular schwannoma, generally the condition causes tinnitus and hearing loss in one ear only.
Eustachian tube dysfunction. With this condition, the tube that aerates the middle ear stays always expanded, and that can make the ear feel full. This type of dysfunction may be caused by radiation therapy, pregnancy, or losing a lot of weight.
Muscle spasms inside the ear. The middle ear muscles may tense up (spasm), and that can cause tinnitus, a fullness feeling in the ear, and hearing loss. Sometimes it occurs for no reason but may also be caused by multiple sclerosis or other neurologic diseases. Fluttering sensations may indicate stapedius muscle contractions. Clicking can suggest contractions of the tensor tympani or nasopharyngeal muscles that control opening of the eustachian tube.
Somatic or body-based sounds (Head and Upper Cervical). Dental, TMJ, or muscular involvement. Can be caused by whiplash injury. The sternocleidomastoid, masseter, splenius capitus, middle and upper trapezius, and temporalis muscles are often the culprits. Properties suggest a somatic component: intermittency, large fluctuations in loudness, and variability of location. Seeing a dentist or physical therapist may be helpful in reducing the severity of the tinnitus symptoms.
Metabolic causes. Hyperthyroidism (Grave's Disease). An auto-immune response that over stimulates the thyroid. Tinnitus is usually associated with increased cardiac output and causes a pulsing or rushing noise. Hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's Disease) is an inflammatory condition that also affects the thyroid. The tinnitus is usually a constant sound.
Perilymphatic fistula. Tends to be high frequency (hissing, crickets) and may be caused by barotrauma, head trauma, Valsalva (plugging the nose and forcefully blowing out to make the ears "pop"), and erosion to the bony labyrinth caused by inflammatory or neoplastic processes or following middle ear surgery (stapedectomy). May be diagnosed with a fistula test that produces nystagmus when air pressure is applied into the ear canal.
Other factors. Cervical misalignment, menses/menopause, renal disease, kidney transplants, Lyme disease, and poor circulation.

Pulsatile Tinnitus and the Link with Blood Vessel Disorders
A blood vessel disorder may cause tinnitus in rare cases. The type of tinnitus is referred to as pulsatile tinnitus. The causes may include the following:

Atherosclerosis. Growing older, as well as the buildup of cholesterol and other types of deposits will result in major blood vessels near the inner and middle ear to lose some elasticity - or the capability of being able to expand slightly or flex with every heartbeat. This causes the flow of blood to be more forceful and make it easier for the ear to detect beats. Generally, this form of tinnitus can be heard in both ears.
Neck and head tumors. A tumor pressing on the blood vessels in your neck (vascular neoplasm) or head may cause tinnitus as well as other types of symptoms.
High blood pressure. Hypertension as well as other factors which increase blood pressure, like caffeine, alcohol, and stress, can cause tinnitus to become more noticeable.
The turbulent flow of blood. Kinking or narrowing of a neck artery (or carotid artery) or a vein in the neck (jugular vein) may cause irregular, turbulent blood flow, that can cause tinnitus.
Capillary malformation. Arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is a condition where there are abnormal connections between veins and arteries that may cause tinnitus. Generally, this kind of tinnitus occurs in one ear only.

Medications that may cause tinnitus
There are several different medications that may worsen or cause tinnitus. In general, the higher the dose of the medication, the worse the tinnitus will become. Frequently, the unwanted noise will disappear once you stop using the drug. Some of the medications that are known to cause or make tinnitus worse include the following:

Antibiotics, which include neomycin, vancomycin (Firvanq, Vancocin HCL), erythromycin, and polymyxin B.
Cancer medications, which include cisplatin and methotrexate (Trexall).
Water pills (diuretics) like furosemide (Lasix), ethacrynic acid (Edecrin), or bumetanide (Bumex).
Quinine medications that are used for treating malaria and other types of health conditions. Even Tonic Water contains Quinine.
Some antidepressants might make tinnitus worse.
Taking unusually high doses of aspirin (12 or more per day).

Also, some herbal supplements may cause tinnitus, as well as caffeine and nicotine.

Risk factors
Anybody may develop tinnitus. However, the following factors can increase your risk:

Exposure to loud noise. Exposure for long periods of time to loud noise may damage the tiny sensory hair cells inside the ear that send sound to the brain. Individuals who work in a noisy environment - like construction or factory workers, soldiers, or musicians - are at especially high risk.
Age. As people grow older, the amount of functioning nerve fibers inside the ears decline, which can potentially cause hearing issues that are associated with tinnitus quite often.
Gender. Men have a higher chance of experiencing tinnitus.
Smoking. Smokers are at a higher risk for developing tinnitus than non-smokers.
Cardiovascular problems. Certain conditions that affect the flow of blood, like narrow arteries (atherosclerosis) or high blood pressure can increase the risk for developing tinnitus.

The Impact of Tinnitus
Tinnitus may have a significant impact on your quality of life. Although it can affect various people in different ways, if you develop tinnitus, you might experience any of the following as well:

Irritability and anxiety
Depression
Memory problems
Trouble concentrating
Sleep problems
Stress
Fatigue

Treating those linked conditions might not directly affect tinnitus but can improve how you feel.

Prevention
Tinnitus in many cases is caused by something that cannot be prevented. However, there are still precautions that may be taken to help prevent certain types of tinnitus from developing.

Use hearing protection. Exposure to loud noises over time may damage the nerves inside of your ears, and cause tinnitus and hearing loss. You should always wear hearing protection if you use firearms (particularly shotguns or pistols), work within an industry where loud machinery is used, are a musician, or use a chain saw.
Turn the volume down. Being exposed to amplified music over the long term without wearing any form of ear protection or when music is listened to through headphones at high volumes, may cause tinnitus and hearing loss.
Take good care of your cardiovascular health. Eating right, exercising on a regular basis, and taking other steps to ensure your blood vessels stay healthy can help to prevent blood vessel disorders that are linked to tinnitus.

What To Do About Your Tinnitus
Tinnitus can be successfully managed and thankfully there are a variety of therapies and tinnitus treatments that you can read about in detail here. These include:

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) - CBT is designed to modify cognitions and behaviors that fuel the reaction to the tinnitus, which can escalate anxiety, insomnia, fear, or stress.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) - a blend of sound therapy and a specific course of directive counseling aimed towards desensitization and demystifying.
The Rohe Method ® - a unique treatment designed and trademarked by Dr. Allen Rohe of the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, called the Rohe Method ® , in which sessions can be conducted online, or in his clinic in Tempe, Arizona. With guidance from Dr. Rohe, there have been countless patients that have obtained tremendous relief from the noise in their ears, as well as a substantial and lasting reduction in the loudness and awareness of tinnitus that affect so many of his patients.

The good news is that there is hope and relief for tinnitus, and research continues to progress. Some exciting research to watch is going on in Ireland at this time, https://www.neuromoddevices.com/ .

It's worth mentioning here that Dr. Rohe is currently the only audiologist in the US that is trained and experienced in audiology, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, making him uniquely qualified to address all aspects and options for your tinnitus treatment, whether in his Tempe AZ clinic, or online.

To schedule a consultation, please call the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona at (480) 831-6159 .

What Does It Take to Be an Audiologist?

Thu, 12 May 2022 22:48:31 GMT

Audiology is a challenging career option consistently rated as a top job choice each year. Since May is Better Speech and Hearing Month, we wanted to highlight the wonderful profession of audiology and what it takes to be successful in this career.

How Much Education?

Many people don’t understand the amount of education needed to excel in this field. To become an audiologist in the United States, you must obtain both a bachelor’s degree and a Doctorate of Audiology (aka an Au.D.). While completing your Au.D., you undergo three years of classes followed by a one-year fellowship or externship. After graduating, all audiologists must continue their education to maintain state licensure.

Also, some audiologists choose to complete special training in areas such as tinnitus, cochlear implants, pediatrics, hearing aids, and more. Sound like a lot? It is, but it’s worth it!

Why Become an Audiologist?

After naming all the work that goes into this career, some may wonder if the benefits equal the output. Some of us were led to this career because we witnessed a friend or family member struggling with hearing loss. Others began their college careers in speech pathology majors and were later introduced to, and absorbed by, classes on hearing loss and audiology.

Another benefit of being an audiologist is that they have a lot of flexibility with their career. Audiologists can work in many different settings–from private practices, to hospitals, to university clinics, to schools. Audiologists can also work with patients of all ages–newborns to the elderly–and they also have several options for specialties, including:

→hearing aids

→cochlear implants

→tinnitus

→pediatrics

→dizziness

→auditory processing disorder

→and more!

A Brief History of Audiology

The field of audiology is relatively young, with the first audiology program created only in 1946. As World War II progressed, service members who were deployed often returned home with reduced hearing and speech recognition. As a result, the field of clinical audiology was

formalized to assist the many young and otherwise healthy service members who required rehabilitation (audiology.org).

The Numbers

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, about 13% or 30 million people aged 12 and older suffer from hearing loss. As the prevalence of hearing loss rises, the shortage of audiologists in the United States increases.

Conclusion

Audiology as a career is not for everyone, but the select few who seek out an expertise in this area are highly trained, motivated, and determined to provide you with exceptional care. If you are interested in learning more about the topics audiologists are interested in, be sure to read some of our other articles.

As always, we are happy to answer any questions that you may have, and if you know someone who is currently struggling with their hearing, you can recommend them in confidence, knowing that our team has the expertise to provide careful and caring service.

Sources:

Lin FR, Niparko JK, Ferrucci L. Hearing loss prevalence in the United States. [Letter] Arch Intern Med. 2011 Nov 14; 171(20): 1851-1852.

Did you know that not ALL middle ear fluid has to be treated with antibiotics? Check out our latest blog that breaks down 3 common myths associated with ear infections!

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 23:46:03 GMT

3 Myths Your Parents Told You About Middle Ear Infections

As audiologists, we are trained to find and identify problems in the middle ear and counsel patients on treating their specific hearing problems. During this time of the year, we often encounter patients with misconceptions about ear function and infection treatments. Believing these myths, some patients blame the wrong culprit for their ear trouble or turn to the wrong remedies. Today’s article seeks to examine and debunk these all-too-common myths!

Ear Anatomy

Before we debunk the most common myths about ear function, we’ll briefly explain the anatomy of the middle ear and ear drum. Most people do not understand that the ear canal is shaped like a cylinder with one end closed and one end open. A normal eustachian tube (the passageway connecting your throat to your middle ear) is a two way valve. It opens to equalize pressure and then closes when resting. When someone is experiencing fluid trapped in their middle ear, the flow inside the eustachian tube has malfunctioned or become obstructed, yikes!

3 Myths About Middle Ear Infections

Myth 1: Fluid in the middle ear must always be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics are prescribed only when there is an active infection in the portion of the middle ear behind the eardrum. Most often, the fluid will drain out and into the back of your throat within 6 weeks without intervention. Sometimes, however, your eustachian tube will not open properly, trapping fluid inside. Even in this case, the middle ear does not always become infected. Some children and adults have consistent middle ear fluid that never results in pain. Their only complaint is that their ear feels "full" with a slight reduction in hearing.

Myth 2: Swimming can cause a middle ear infection. External liquids cannot enter the middle ear space. Whenever you have an infection of the ear after swimming, your infection is usually bacterial and is in the outer ear. Only fluid already inside the body can enter the middle ears. For instance, when a baby drinks a bottle while laying on his/her back, the liquid can wash bacteria from the throat right into the eustachian tube and middle ear space.

Myth 3: If you lay on the side of an infected or "full" ear at night, the fluid will drain onto your pillow. Absolutely not! Lying on the side of your infected ear will actually worsen your pain! Even middle ear fluid that is not infected can cause mild pain when slept on because sleeping on that side puts pressure on the ear drum. If one middle ear contains fluid, we suggest lying on the good ear. This way, the fluid does not put pressure on the eardrum and has a higher likelihood of draining down the eustachian tube and into your throat.

Uninfected fluid in the middle ear typically causes only mild hearing loss with slight pain, if any. However, if your hearing is noticeably decreased don’t hesitate to call us. We will evaluate your middle ear and, if needed, make the proper referrals.

Sources:

https://www.osmosis.org/notes/Ear_pathology

https://www.nightlitepediatrics.com/truth-ear-infections-6-common-myths-every parent-know

https://familydoctor.org/condition/otitis-media-with-effusion/

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17929-airplane-ear

https://familydoctor.org/condition/eustachian-tube-dysfunction/

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Resolve to Treat Your Hearing Loss in 2022

Mon, 17 Jan 2022 03:20:00 GMT

https://www.hearatlanta.com/hearing-loss-articles/hearing-loss-overcoming-barriers-treatment/

Hear for the Holidays

Sat, 04 Dec 2021 19:43:00 GMT

10 Tips for Those With Hearing Loss

Severe Tinnitus Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 17:56:00 GMT

Nidhi Saha, BDS

Background

Case presentation

Previous research on tinnitus and COVID-19

Study takeaways

Mental Health & Hearing Loss

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 17:46:00 GMT

Mental Health & Hearing Loss: How to Help

MENTAL HEALTH & HEARING LOSS

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

COVID-19 and Tinnitus

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 17:36:00 GMT

If you experience ringing or buzzing in one or both ears, you may have tinnitus. In my other article, I discuss the different causes and treatment for tinnitus. The purpose of this article is to investigate research that links COVID-19 to tinnitus.

HEARING LOSS AND DEMENTIA

Sat, 29 May 2021 22:10:00 GMT

Learn more about hearing loss and dementia.

Hearing Specialists in Tempe AZ: Audiology, Tinnitus & Hearing Aids

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 15:06:00 GMT

Hearing Specialists in the East Valley Explain Cognitive Overload and Hearing Loss

Your hearing is one of your most valuable assets. It connects you to your friends, family, and the world around you. What you may not realize, however, is the degree to which hearing takes place in your brain, not in your ears! In fact, because your brain is different from everyone else’s, you hear differently from other people around you. Our 5-star-rated hearing specialists in Tempe, AZ are happy to discuss the fascinating ways that your brain helps you to hear…and the ways that BrainHearing™ technology has brought hearing aid treatment to an entirely new level.

What Does Your Brain Have to Do with Hearing?

Think of your ears as microphones that pick up sounds. Once those sounds enter your ears, your brain has to decode and figure out what the sounds mean. Without your brain, you wouldn’t be able to process, enjoy, or comprehend anything that you hear.

Your brain does something else amazing with the sound received by your ears. To demonstrate this, try reading the following verse:

Roses are red
Violets are _____
Sugar is sweet
And so are you!

Did your brain figure out that the blank in that verse is supposed to say “blue”? It does the same thing when you are listening to someone speak in a noisy room. Sometimes, your ears might not catch sound completely. When this happens, your brain works to fill in the gaps to create meaning.

Avoid the Danger of Cognitive Overload

Unfortunately, when you suffer from hearing loss, your brain must go into overdrive to fill in numerous sound gaps all the time. After a while, this can take its toll. You may end up feeling tired, and social gatherings can start to feel like work instead of fun. Your memory can suffer, as well, since your brain can only work so hard at so many things at once.

What Is BrainHearing™?

BrainHearing™ is part of the broader NeuroTechnology™ field of the science of hearing, and as the name suggests, this technology works in harmony with your brain. It automatically adjusts and optimizes sound to match your unique hearing profile and personal sound preferences. The result is a more natural hearing experience that’s customized exclusively for you.

When your hearing aid incorporates BrainHearing™ technology, your brain doesn’t have to work as hard to filter out unwanted background noise to create meaning from sound. The result is greater enjoyment and more energy to listen to your friends and family!

Schedule a Hearing Assessment with Trusted Audiologists in Tempe, AZ & the East Valley

Our experts can provide you with a hearing assessment, during which we will be happy to answer all your questions about our hearing rehabilitation technologies. Call our friendly office today to schedule your appointment!

The information provided in this article is not meant to be medical advice and is for educational purposes only. If you would like to learn more about this and other hearing-related topics, feel free to contact Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona by clicking here or by calling 480-831-6159 .

Tempe, AZ Ear Doctor Explains How to Stop the Ringing in Your Ears

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 15:04:00 GMT

Tempe, AZ Ear Doctor Explains How to Stop the Ringing in Your Ears

Ringing in your ears or Tinnitus (pronounced tin-NY-tus) is an annoyance at best. When it continues as a chronic problem, it can also disrupt your life in more ways than one. Whether you suffer from unwanted sound in your ears on rare occasions or as part of an ongoing battle, our Tempe, AZ ear doctor offers cutting-edge treatment to help quiet the ringing in your ears.

What Is Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is the name for unwanted sound in your ears. This sound can be present in a variety of forms. Some people hear ringing; others hear a rushing sound, yet others experience a buzzing in their ears or in their heads.

Tinnitus is a surprisingly common condition in people who suffer from hearing loss. In fact, as many as 75% of hearing loss patients report tinnitus as a side effect. If you suffer from chronic tinnitus, it’s important that you have your hearing evaluated, since that unwanted sound could be a sign that your hearing has diminished.

What Causes Tinnitus?

There is still some discussion in the medical community about what causes Tinnitus, but the prevailing theory suggests that Tinnitus is your brain’s way of compensating for your hearing loss. When you cannot hear well, your brain loses the stimulation that sound normally provides. To make up for this missing stimulation, your brain creates phantom sound in your ears.

How Can You Treat Tinnitus?

Dr. Rohe is currently the only audiologist in the US that is trained and experienced in both audiology and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, making him uniquely qualified to address all aspects and options for your tinnitus treatment.

After years of study and practical experience in treating patients with tinnitus through methods such as CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) and TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy), Dr. Rohe has designed his own highly effective program called The Rohe Method ^® . This is tinnitus management that provides you with real tools and a comprehensive step-by-step approach to promote enduring relief. Our aim is to retrain the brain, desensitize the nervous system from the sound, and emotionally separate the patient from the sound.

Learn more about The Rohe Method ^® at your initial assessment!

Schedule Your Assessment with Our Tempe, AZ Ear Doctor Today

At Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, we strive to stay at the forefront of safe, advanced treatment options for tinnitus. If you suffer from ringing in your ears or other unwanted sounds in your ears, schedule your New Patient Assessment today. We will be happy to explain more about tinnitus and our 5-star-rated treatment.

Hearing Aid Devices in Tempe, AZ - The Benefits of Invisible Hearing Aids

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 15:02:00 GMT

Hearing Aid Devices in Tempe, AZ - The Benefits of Invisible Hearing Aids

If you have been considering hearing rehabilitation for yourself but dislike the appearance of hearing aids, then we have great news for you! Thanks to the incredible advancements in hearing-assistive technology today, hearing aids are now available that can improve your sound experience with true discretion. Keep reading to learn more about our invisible hearing aid devices in Tempe, AZ.

What Is an Invisible Hearing Aid?

Invisible hearing aids, as you might have already guessed, are not literally invisible. However, their incredibly small size allows them to be placed deep in your ear so no one will know you are wearing a hearing aid unless you tell them. Because these compact hearing aids fit snugly into your ear, they are also sometimes called invisible in-the-ear hearing aids.

What Are the Benefits of Invisible Hearing Aids?

In addition to the obvious benefit of having a truly discreet hearing solution, there are many other reasons to love invisible hearing aids:

Learn More About Our Invisible Hearing Aid Devices in Tempe, AZ

You can learn more about invisible aids and other styles of hearing aid technology during your Hearing Assessment with our expert team. Click here to schedule your appointment today!

Hearing Loss in Tempe, AZ: How Does Loud Noise Cause It?

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 14:59:00 GMT

Hearing Loss in Tempe, AZ - How Does Loud Noise Cause It?

At Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, our experienced team for hearing loss in Tempe, AZ strives to be the most compassionate expert of hearing loss. That’s why we want to emphasize the importance of protecting your hearing from loud sounds so you can avoid the difficulties that accompany noise-induced hearing damage. By opting for earplugs during a loud concert or in a noisy work environment, or by keeping the volume low when you wear headphones, you help to ensure a lifetime of better hearing. Why does noise cause such damage to our ears, however?

How Does Sound Travel in Your Ears?

When sound enters your ear, it must journey a little further before your brain receives the signal:

Can You Restore Your Hearing?

Once a hair cell becomes damaged, it is not able to regenerate, and your body won’t grow new ones. Therefore, you cannot restore your natural hearing once it is damaged. Happily, significant advancements have been made in the science of hearing, and you may be able to restore your hearing to a certain degree with the help of a hearing care professional.

Today’s hearing aids are a far cry from the ones of the past. Many are so small and can sit so deeply in your ear that no one will notice them. In addition, today’s advanced wireless technology can even link your hearing aid to devices such as your cell phone or television!

Call Our Experts for Hearing Loss in Tempe, AZ for Your Hearing Assessment

Do you believe you or a loved one is suffering from noise-induced hearing loss? If so, call our hearing center at 480-831-6159 , or click here to request a Hearing Assessment. We look forward to helping you once again enjoy the sounds of the world around you!

Hearing Aid Measurements in Tempe, AZ - Our Expert Explains the Importance

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 14:56:00 GMT

Hearing Aid Measurements in Tempe, AZ - Our Expert Explains the Importance

According to our expert audiologist, recent studies on hearing aid use have made an astounding discovery. Although hearing loss treatment technology has improved significantly during the last decade, hearing instrument user satisfaction has not increased at the same rate. If you wear hearing aids or are thinking of pursuing hearing loss rehabilitation, this may be the most important article you read all year! Keep reading to learn how to ensure a 5-star hearing aid experience for yourself with real-ear hearing aid measurements in Tempe, AZ.

What’s Wrong with Today’s Hearing Aids?

Reports published by Hearing Review and the Hearing Journal indicate that 34.25 million people in the United States suffer from some type of hearing loss. Of those people with significant hearing loss, 25% already own hearing instruments, and the majority of these owners experience moderate-to-severe hearing loss.

More than one million of these patients report that they are not satisfied with their hearing instruments and confess to leaving them in the drawer. If hearing instrument technology and design have improved, why are people not having an improved experience?

Key factors expressed for keeping hearing instruments in the drawer are:

How to Improve Your Hearing Aid Experience

Our goal at Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona is to help our patients achieve the best benefit possible from their hearing instruments. Studies have shown that if hearing care providers adjust your hearing aid solely based upon the manufacturer’s fitting algorithm, without real-ear fitting, it may result in an inaccurate hearing prescription. Studies found that these initial-fit algorithms are often an inadequate amplification prescription, and research in England showed improvement in patient satisfaction when patients were fit with real-ear measurement.

What are Real-Ear Measurements (REM)?

Real-ear measurements provide a method for objectively assessing the accuracy of how your hearing aid fits your ear. The reason for real-ear measurements is that individual ears are very different between patients, and occasionally one ear can even differ from the other ear on the same patient! Those differences have a major effect on the benefit a hearing instrument provides to the wearer.

The only way to truly account for those individual ear differences is for our specialist to take a physical measurement of how your hearing aid is amplifying sound in the specific ear canal. Real-ear measurements make this possible, and that is why they are considered the gold standard method for achieving a proper hearing aid fit.

Learn More About Real-Ear Hearing Aid Measurements in Tempe, AZ Today!

At Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, we use the most advanced equipment on the market to measure Real-Ear Measurements (REM) on our patients who use hearing instruments.

Real-ear fitting enables measurement of the sound delivered by a specific hearing aid in the ear canal of a specific individual. It is the most accurate procedure for measuring actual results. If you are interested in having your optimal hearing experience, schedule your hearing assessment with our team today by clicking here or by calling 480-831-6159 .

Newsletter - Early Fall 2019

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 15:09:00 GMT

Newsletter - Early Fall 2019

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How wearing hearing aids can help enhance your safety

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 12:50:00 GMT

How wearing hearing aids can help enhance your safety

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Hearing Loss & Depression: How Better Hearing Improves Mental Health

Tue, 27 Aug 2019 12:28:00 GMT

Understanding the Link Between Hearing Loss and Depression

Why Studies on Hearing Loss and Depression Differ

There are several reasons for the differences in the findings of these studies. First and foremost, many of these studies that report a connection between depression and hearing loss are of the epidemiological sort. These cohort or cross-sectional studies are often tainted with bias on the part of the researchers and this will obviously affect the conclusions and makes the findings dubious.

The second reason has to do with the use of pure tone audiometry, and others use a form of self-reported measuring. Naturally, the outcomes of these different trials may produce a wide range of outcomes and biased results and can't be used as hard evidence.

Third, many of the studies in question do not consider the influence of cognitive decline that also occurs as part of the aging process and how it plays into the association between hearing loss and depression. This is despite the well-known fact that cognitive decline has been found to have a positive association with hearing loss in aging adults. Therefore it remains uncertain whether the use of a hearing aid will improve conditions of depression.

Finally, a good portion of the studies that examine the connection between hearing loss and depression in elderly people fail to include results adjusted by participant psychosocial characteristics and this shakes the foundations of their certainty.

Considering these points, it was clear that only systematic review and meta-analysis of the assortment of studies would provide any solid evidence that supports the possible connection between depression and hearing loss.

Research and Meta-Analysis on Hearing Loss and Mental Health

And so such a systematic review and meta-analysis on the possible association between these two common conditions of aging was conducted and identified all the studies performed on the subjects from the first dated publication to the July 17, 2018. The outcomes of study characteristics, participants and other research on hearing and depression as they could be associated in aging adults were reported from the cohort but different study. The effect size of this meta-analysis has been represented by an Odds Ratio. Smaller ORs are greater or equal to 1.68, medium ORs to 3.47 and large ORs to 6.71.

A total of 1,435 titles and abstracts were examined in their online databases and from these, only 35 suitably matched the criteria of this meta-analysis. From these studies, 147,148 included participants from 18 countries, 24 has cross-sectional designs and the remaining 11 were cohorts. In the studies that used samples from the demographic in question, the tests subjects were always older (with an average age of 73.43) and mostly female (58.69%).

In general, there was a small but significant increase in depression associated with the loss of hearing (OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.31 – 1.65). But there were no significant connections observed when the studies were arranged by the proportion of participants, type of hearing measurements used, presence of cognitive impairment or inclusion of covariates in results.

The Hearing Loss–Depression Connection Explained

Within the broader population, depression is frequently associated with negative life events (e.g., death of a loved one, loss of income), long-term stress, personality disorders, substance abuse, and poor diet, and these factors may be exacerbated considerably in adults with health concerns and preconceptions of the aging process. In the broader scheme of things, depression can be related to a wide range of conditions including life events, stress, long term health conditions, and more.

This means that, health providers and especially audiologists addressing the conditions of hearing loss in older adults must be sure they consider the heterogeneous etiology of depression. In other words not all of their elderly patients suffering from hearing loss will be depressed about it.

Addressing Depression in Patients with Hearing Loss

The next important finding by the meta-analysis, was that the association between a loss of hearing and the risk of depression is not affected by the type of measuring unit, physical or social characteristics or any form of hearing aid. There has been evidence that suggests that social support is an effective treatment to counterbalance hearing loss and depression in later life and suggest that counseling and educational training may be the best thing to improve their quality of life.

Aging adults suffering from loss of hearing have reported wanting, but not being offered, psychosocial counseling as a part of their overall aural rehabilitation. It is also worth noting that many older adults introduce stigma with depression and it can also contribute to depression and other mental disorders. This may make them reluctant to look for help and this can make it increasingly difficult for those geriatricians and audiologists trying to provide help to know where and when help is needed.

Supporting Seniors with Hearing Loss and Depression

Audiologists can get ahead of this issue by learning more about the difficulties older adults will face when their hearing is becoming reduced and what kind of psychosocial challenges they will experience. This will increase your capacity and confidence in speaking to older patients about their needs for aural help. Furthermore, health professionals working in the field of adult hearing loss will benefit from depression scorning tools to zero in on patients that may already be at risk. This will also allow more people to benefit from suitable psychological and psychiatric care for depression.

So, while hearing loss sufferers may experience a marginal level of depression over non-hearing loss individuals, we suspect that anyone frustrated with not being able to hear conversations, music, television, or movies is at risk of a decrease in enjoyment of life, and even as far as detachment and withdrawal from social environments. Whether you call that depression or not, there are options to improve your hearing. We can help you at Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona. Call us to schedule a consultation at (480) 831-6159 .

Gene-Editing Tool Saves The Hearing Of Beethoven Mice?

Mon, 26 Aug 2019 20:07:00 GMT

Gene-Editing Tool Saves The Hearing Of Beethoven Mice?

The latest approach involves a more enhanced and precise version of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system. This system is better able to recognize a mutation which results in hearing loss that is progressive in an animal model called the "Beethoven mice." The tool provided researchers with a way to disable Tmc1 which is a hearing gene known as the defective-copy without affecting or disturbing the copy that is healthy.

David Corey, Ph.D., a co-senior investigator of the study stated that the aspect that was the most surprising was how well it worked, providing just about undetectable cutting when it came to the inappropriate genes. He went onto say that this significantly reduces the risks in clinical settings, and also means that the CRISPR approaches might be ready for use for the purpose of gene therapy a lot sooner than expected.

The system was able to recognize the 1 incorrect DNA letter from a defective-copy across 3 billion letters in the genome of a mouse. Regardless of this success, there is still a lot of work required before this therapy of gene-editing will be appropriate for human use, stated the authors of this study. However, this latest therapy has become necessary to improve the effectiveness and safety associated with the standard gene-editing technique.

Corey told the Hearing Journal that this specific mutation that they were studying in mice happens to be somewhat rare when it comes to humans, which somewhat limits the overall impact of this research. Corey does go onto say that when they analyzed the DNA sequences for the disease-causing mutations that are known in various other genes, they were surprised to discover that many of these, close to a quarter, could also be targeted with the modified SaCas9-KKH.

With the original CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tools, they worked in the way of using a "guiding molecule" known as gRNA, in order to identify a DNA sequence that is mutant. When the mutant DNA has been detected, the Cas9 enzyme cuts it off. Up until now, gene-editors have not been very accurate. In order to overcome this challenge, researchers have adapted the tool which was developed originally by Keith Joung, MD, Ph.D., and Ben Kleinstiver, Ph.D., in the way of using a modified Cas9 enzyme derived from Staphylococcus aureus rather than the bacterium Streptococcus pyogenes, that the original Cas9 was derived from. In order to improve the accuracy of detection, the latest system utilizes the gRNA to detect mutant genes along with the optimized Cas9 in order to find the specific DNA mutation.

The idea that is critical to this study has to do with how it is used, along with the guide RNA, of the “PAM site”, in a modified SaCas9-KKH enzyme which mediates a secondary-recognition of a mutant gene, states Corey. He goes onto say that they were hoping this approach would lower off-target effects of the Cas9, which involved either inappropriately cutting of a normal copy of the TMC1 gene or inappropriately cutting off any other genes that are unrelated.

Due to the ability of the tool to target the single-point gene mutations, this system is able to mediate as much as 15 other types of deafness that are inherited which are also caused from a single-letter mutation in the DNA sequences of the other types of hearing genes.

Corey says that they will continue to work alongside other colleagues within the field linked to deafness and hearing in order to apply the method to other types of deafness that are hereditary. They are hoping that others that work in the community of gene therapy will take on these approaches to treat other disorders.

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What Are The Benefits Of Treating Hearing Loss?

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 07:00:00 GMT

What Are The Benefits Of Treating Hearing Loss?

Inside your ear, there are tiny hairs that send sound waves to your brain. If there is any damage to these hairs, they will never grow back. You might be doing something to your ear that damages it so you need to find out immediately. Did you know that normal drugs such as antibiotics or aspirin can actually cause hearing problems?

It's important to have your ears checked to take care of any hearing problems immediately. Nerve damage is one of the most common hearing problems. We're an audiologist in Phoenix , and we've seen plenty of patients that come in early enough that they can avoid hearing aids or surgery. But most people wait until their hearing damage is past the point of no return, and need hearing aids to keep their lifestyle intact.

Hearing Aids And Their Benefits

There are so many misconceptions about hearing aids that keep a lot of people from getting the help they need. In the last few years, these devices have actually come a long way. If you have mild hearing problems, you can definitely benefit from wearing them. Of course, you need to get a hearing test to determine the extent of your hearing loss and whether or not you need hearing aids.

You might assume that there is nothing you can do to cure your hearing loss. Previously, doctors were limited when it came to helping people who had hearing troubles in one ear, experienced nerve damage, or who couldn’t hear high-pitched sounds. However, technology has changed a lot of that. All these individuals can make a lot of strides with hearing aids.

As much as hearing aids might make you "look old," if you can’t hear, that's actually more of an "old person" stereotype. You need to remain sharp and hearing aids will help you get there. Note that with diminished hearing, you could develop a host of other issues such as dementia. Yes, hearing aids might be slightly noticeable to someone, but so what? Most patients we know would rather hear sounds than worry what people think about some tiny device on their ear. Hearing aids are so small these days that they're barely noticeable at all.

Note that the age of hearing aids making everything sound too loud is in the past. Now, you can enjoy a sane amount of volume to whatever you are listening to, with split-second compression that mutes loud sounds.

Keep in mind that having hearing loss can change the quality of life. Most people eventually develop anger, stress, loneliness, depression, and memory loss, and even dementia. It could hurt your chances of being promoted at work, and prevent you from hearing words from your loved ones, friends, and family. By using hearing aids, you can improve your self-esteem, physical health and much more.

For children, hearing loss needs to be treated very early. Note that if they can’t hear, it can seriously impact their development if they can’t talk, make friends, communicate or develop normally. When babies are born, their hearing should be checked in the hospital or at least when they are one month old. If there are any issues, they should receive professional help immediately. Check on your toddler who has frequent ear infections. Note that the hearing loss caused by ear infections may be temporary but it might lead to bigger problems in the future if not checked early enough.

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Hearing Screening and Hearing Testing in Phoenix

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 15:44:00 GMT

Hearing Screening and Hearing Testing in Phoenix

If you live in the metro area of Phoenix, hearing testing might come up when speaking to your doctor, and he/she may ask you to get your ears tested. This does not in any way mean that something is wrong. It is just that the doctor needs you to have a hearing test to make sure that your ears are working as they should.

Hearing loss becomes a possibility as you grow older. Between the ages of 45 and 64, 14% of people have some loss in hearing, and this percentage rises to 30% among people who are 65 years old or older. That is the reason doctors want to have your hearing tested every few years, instead of just once after you have become an adult.

It is recommended by experts in the audiology field to get your hearing tested once every ten years till you cross the age of 50, and once every three years after you have crossed this age. Of course, if you have any concerns about your hearing, you should get a hearing test immediately.

Thankfully, hearing tests are painless, quick, and inexpensive.

The Need for a Hearing Test

At times you may suspect that you have a hearing loss. You may have trouble hearing what is being said to you when you are in a crowded room or find that you have to turn on the volume high on your TV.

Not everybody realizes that they have a hearing problem. Hearing loss is a gradual process, and this prevents it from being realized. So, even if you think you might be fine, and the doctor suggests a hearing test, just do what they say!

Hearing loss in adults can be due to several reasons:

Older people who have hearing loss, and do not do anything about it, will feel they are being left out of social events which they have always enjoyed, just because they are unable to hear what is happening. This inability to hear well can be embarrassing and can lead to their avoiding both friends and family. This isolation can lead to depression unless they get themselves some help with their hearing.

What Can You Expect During Testing

The entire process of testing can take about half an hour, and there is no pain. Adults who undergo these tests will be asked to wear headphones while they listen to tones played at different pitches and volumes in both the ears, but one at a time. Your ability to listen to each short burst of sound will show whether you can hear low or high pitched sounds, loud or quiet sounds, and if any of the ears has hearing loss.

Some of the hearing tests involve listening to speeches at varying volumes and will require to hear them one ear at a time. The voices will come to you quietly in the earphones, and you are required to repeat the words that you have heard. This test can be carried out in rooms that are quiet or noisy, as your hearing of voices can be troubled when there is any background noise.

A test for hearing does not mean that you have passed or failed. The results will indicate your loss of hearing in each ear and the degree to which it is affected.

Sound intensities are measured in decibels. A whisper is 30 decibels. Normal speech measures 60 decibels, while anyone shouting in your ear will do so at 80 decibels or higher.

Adults who have normal hearing will have a loss of 25 decibels. The degrees of hearing loss are:

At times hearing test results can surprise you when they say you have mild, moderate or severe hearing loss, and this is because the loss of hearing is gradual.

Hearing loss can rarely be restored, but you can make up the loss and also protect whatever hearing you have left.

If you need to wear hearing aids than you can choose aids that come in many styles. They are nowadays much smaller than what the elders in your generation used to wear. Models can go into the ear or sit behind it. Some may be completely hidden in the ear canal.

Some hearing aids are devices that amplify the sound you want to hear. They will be able to make phone calls louder. Others can help you hear better when you are in a theatre or a place of worship. Some specialize in loud, crowded environments like restaurants, and others combine hearing amplification with tinnitus treatment.

Lip reading can help you understand what people are saying. You can learn how to do this with a little training.

Your audiologist can suggest the wearing of earplugs when you go to places where there is too much noise, concerts, restaurants, or even while using loud yard equipment. This can help to prevent any increase in hearing loss.

How to talk to someone with a hearing problem

Wed, 14 Aug 2019 07:00:00 GMT

How to talk to someone with a hearing problem

Sometimes those who live or work with someone that's "hard of hearing" find it difficult to figure out the best way to communicate with someone who suffers from hearing loss.

Certainly hearing aids are the easiest remedy for those who suffer from loss of hearing, but sometimes cost can prohibit the purchase. Lipreading is an important skill for many people who have hearing loss. They are able to recognize the lip shapes, gestures and facial movements of someone when they speak. This helps them to communicate well. Next time you speak with someone with the loss of hearing, assist them to lipread the speaker in a variety of ways.

Here are some simple tips to help you to effectively communicate with them.

Speak slowly, clearly and loudly

It is important that the person understands the conversation. Speak slowly, naturally, and loudly - but NOT shouting or exaggerating mouth movements. Use simple words and short sentences. Repeat yourself if necessary, or rephrase it. Make sure that one person talks at a time. Shouting distorts the sound of speech and the person will find it difficult to understand. Pause to check if the person has understood what you said before you continue the conversation.

Remember that the person with the hearing loss is certainly aware of their condition, but can be tremendously frustrated about their situation. Speak to them in a mature way - after all, it's only their hearing that's affected, not their mental capacity.

Include them in a group and address them by their name

Reduce background noise

In a social gathering, find a quiet place to talk to help reduce background noise. It will be useful if you switch the TV or the music off when they come to visit. Some people with hearing loss may be very sensitive to loud sounds. You should be aware of this reduced tolerance and consequently avoid loud sounds.

Let the person see your expression

Make sure you are in a well-lighted area where the person can see your facial expression and gestures. This helps in better lipreading and understanding. Also, face the person and maintain eye contact. Remember, not to hide your mouth, eat, or chew gum while speaking. Beards and mustaches may act as barriers as well. Additionally, avoid talking from another room for the same reasons.

Be patient, stay positive and relaxed

If you are talking to someone who has loss of hearing, it is vital to make an effort by being patient and tolerant. If you relax and make the person feel relaxed, then it would help the person communicate better.

Familiarize the listener with the general topic of the conversation

If you change a topic without warning, it might confuse the person with hearing difficulty. Avoid sudden changes of topic and warn about the change. When you are in a group, it may help if you repeat the important points and information before you continue with the discussion.

Pay attention to the listener

Expression speaks a thousand words. If the person has a puzzled look, it may indicate misunderstanding. Be tactful and make sure the person has understood you, You may ask leading questions so you know your message got across.

Help them readjust their hearing

After a performance or a conference, allow the hearing-impaired person a few moments after the event is over to readjust their hearing. By either mentally or manually (changing the program on a hearing aid, for instance). They likely cannot hear you if you whisper to them in the middle of a performance as well.

Provide information in writing

Consider providing specific information like directions, phone number, work assignments in writing. You could talk them through the details and then provide the same thing in writing or drawings. That way, you would be sure that the person has the information. Alternatively, you could ask them to repeat the specifics back to you.

If you suffer from hearing loss, we would like to hear from you. Do you have any tips that would help us communicate better with you?

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Can Older People Still Perceive Musical Notes Perfectly?

Tue, 06 Aug 2019 07:00:00 GMT

Can Older People Still Perceive Musical Notes Perfectly?

Presbycusis or age-related hearing loss is common in elderly people that occur because of natural neurodegenerative processes. It affects the cochlear receptor cells and brain circuits that are involved in auditory perception. Clinically, older people may have high-frequency hearing loss on both sides and reduced ability to understand speech. Using a hearing aid is the best way to deal with hearing loss at old age. However, you may wonder, if the ability to differentiate different notation of music changes too.

Can you enjoy music at old age?

Even though aging is associated with a decline in both cognitive and auditory abilities, whether aging damages music perception remains controversial. The question is, do you enjoy the harmony of different musical notes?

Harmony is the process when two or more notes are played at the same time. It is composed of simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches (tones, notes), or chords and this is analyzed by hearing. When two musical notes are compatible, the musical chord is pleasing and evokes a sense of resolution or “consonance." A mix of different frequencies, on the other hand, might evoke a feeling of tension or “dissonance”. Harmony is a combination of this consonance and dissonance.

Even though anecdotal evidence suggests that harmony is enjoyed by the older population, interestingly, a study revealed that older listeners found consonant chords less pleasant compared to younger listeners and had less distinct neural representations of consonant and dissonant chords. Which means that there may be age-related differences in perception which is likely to be related to differences in neural temporal coding.

Despite aging, music perception is relatively spared. How does that happen?

Other studies, however, strongly suggest that the decline in music perception is relatively spared. Despite relying on auditory and cognitive abilities that tend to decline with age, it is likely that older adults engage in some form of a compensatory mechanism in the way the neurons in the brain processes music. Scientists have shown that the underlying mechanism to process music is very different between young and old but the ability to perceive it is similar.

Both could equally detect inconsistencies in music. Compared to the younger, the older person had reduced perception of amplitude but increased perception to detect out-of-key notes. This means that the perception of the tonal structure is preserved in older adults, despite aging.

Evidence shows that if older individuals were musically trained, their perception of music was better than the untrained older individuals. Also, the level of education seemed to make a difference. Performance of temporal tasks, which includes enjoying musical notes, was better in highly educated older individuals.

This means that music training and education are important factors as they can slow the deterioration of music perception produced by age-related hearing loss.

Aging does not alter specificity to music

Further evidence on the age differences in music perception reveals that even though the young and old have differences in the perception of valence and arousal in music, there is no difference in perceiving musical notes. Valence means whether the music has a positive or negative effect, and arousal measures how calming or exciting the music is.

The study also found that there was no difference in perception of the quality of the music. This reiterates that with aging, music perception does not change.

If you are above 65, you may need a hearing aid due to aging, but you will still distinctly recognize and enjoy all the musical notes.

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Audiologist clinic near Sun Lakes AZ

How Younger vs Older People Respond to Sound: Hearing & Tinnitus Insights

Tue, 30 Jul 2019 11:21:00 GMT

How Older and Younger People Respond to Sound Differently: Hearing and Tinnitus Insights

You may have had no problem with loud restaurants and even enjoyed bars and nightclubs when you were 20, but many seniors find this type of environment stressful and overwhelming. This is not just a change in what older people enjoy doing; it is also largely due to physical changes in how their ears work and how their brains process sound. The "sensitivity gap" is a very real difference in how older people perceive sounds and how well they can identify and focus on the specific sounds that actually matter.

The Science of the "Sensitivity Gap"

Changes to the level of noise that you are able to comfortably tolerate as you age are not merely your imagination or a sign that you are not as much fun as you used to be. Instead, there is a strong scientific basis to differences in how older ears work and even perceive the same sounds.

Younger people's ears and brains tend to be better at subconsciously identifying the most important parts of what they hear, focusing on what matters, and tuning out everything else. Aging often causes people to gradually lose this subconscious discretion, which leads to overstimulation by making older adults hear everything at the same volume. This is why it is so easy to feel annoyed by the "loud" refrigerator while simultaneously struggling to carry on a conversation or focus on the TV. This shift in an older person's auditory threshold is caused by reduced auditory cortex adaptation. Choosing calm, quiet environments can significantly reduce the impact of this change.

Understanding Age-Related Tinnitus and Other Hearing Differences

Understanding how hearing typically changes with age can help you identify potential issues early on and seek professional intervention while they are still minor. Presbycusis is a broad term that describes a wide range of natural age-related hearing differences that older adults might notice. Some of these changes are purely genetic and can affect anyone. Others can be linked to spending a significant amount of time in a loud environment, such as spending several decades in a noisy workplace. Hearing changes that occur with age can sometimes lead to tinnitus or worsen symptoms you already have.

Beyond Hearing: Balance and Quality of Life

While hearing is, of course, your ears' primary job, they also play an important role in maintaining proper balance. Your vestibular system, which is found in your inner ears, is responsible for detecting and interpreting head movement. This system's hair cells, canals, and fluid send signals to your brain that compensate for movements and tell your brain when it is upright. Older adults tend to be more likely to experience vestibular system problems, which can cause dizziness or stability issues. These balance concerns can arise at around the same time that seniors start to notice hearing changes.

When to Seek a Professional Evaluation

Knowing when to have your hearing evaluated by a professional can go a long way toward managing common issues before they become severe enough to have a noticeable impact on the quality of your life. Hearing changes are a natural part of aging that most older adults experience at some point, but they can often be controlled with hearing aids, proactive lifestyle changes, or other clinical interventions. Some common signs that you can benefit from seeing a hearing professional include:

Struggling to follow conversations, especially in louder environments
Persistent signs of tinnitus, such as ringing, hissing, or buzzing
Feeling unusually stressed, anxious, or otherwise exhausted in loud environments, especially those that did not used to bother you

Specialized Care at Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona

Tinnitus and other age-related hearing changes can be frustrating, but early intervention can make a significant difference when it comes to reducing their impact. Specialized treatments, such as The Rohe Method, give Arizona seniors even more options for preserving their hearing for as long as possible. Contact Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona today to learn more about how we can help you regain your equilibrium and social confidence at any age!

Featured Image: LightField Studios /Shutterstock

In-Ear Monitors (IEMs)

Fri, 26 Jul 2019 07:28:00 GMT

In-Ear Monitors (IEMs)

During a live performance, you are surrounded by a myriad of sounds in various frequencies like the PA system, the amplifiers, sound from different instruments and of course the crowd singing along with you. The challenge is to be able to listen to your own instrument or voice in the midst of the cacophony

Wedge speakers vs IEMs

For a long time, the traditional wedge-shaped speakers on stage, have been used. These speakers substantially increase the volume of one sound, so that you can hear it above all the competing noises. This just makes things worse and the musicians are exposed to unsafe sound levels.

During the 1980s, IEM's were introduced to address this issue.

IEM removes the need for floor monitors from the stage and significantly reduce onstage volume levels. With an in-ear personal monitor system, you can choose which sound you would like to hear, and the quality of the sound will be good. This would essentially mean that you get a studio-quality sound during a live performance.

In-ear monitors would help you preserve your voice if you are a singer because if you cannot hear your own voice, you strain the vocal cords and distorting the voice. In ear monitors for singers can "save your voice" if your singing voice tends to fatigue.

With wedges, you get intense feedback on stage as the amplified sound from a loudspeaker is picked up by a microphone and re-amplified. There is no feedback when you use IEMs and so enhances the experience.

One of the major advantages of IEMs is its small size compared to the wedges. They are portable and very easy to use. You can easily move on stage without having to worry about not hearing the sound properly. IEMs also empower you to have personal control of which sound you would like to hear. You can even choose to listen to one instrument in one ear and another in the other.

IEMs, therefore, help a musician to get a precise and controlled sound when performing. It dramatically buffers unwanted external noise such as drums and electric guitars. Also, it allows stereo sound similar to our natural listening environment. As a result, the sound you will hear will be clear, clean and of high performance. In ear monitors for drummers improve your technique, since you're able to hear everyone while you play at the volume level that's most appropriate for the song - not quietly enough so you can hear the band.

IEM systems include a transmitter, which transmits the monitor mix to a receiver. This receiver is connected to your earpiece.

IEMs prevent hearing loss

Most importantly, it prevents hearing loss as there is reduced exposure to loud noise.

The earpiece is vital. Often, they are custom molded to make it comfortable to wear and allow the sound to be sent directly into the inner ear. The customization provides a better seal and reduces noise almost by 25 to 34 dB. This means that loud onstage instruments, such as drum kits or guitar stacks, are less likely to cause hearing damage for onstage musicians.

Custom fit in ear monitors are tailor made - not only to your individual ear canal, but also depending on your requirements. The dynamic ones are used if you are a bassist or a drummer for example, for improved bass response. The other type, the balanced armature speakers delivers a more detailed sound that improves the treble performance, have a faster response and provide a flatter frequency response. Isolating the ear with silicone helps but this makes the performer feel detached from others. However, it protects the ears.

To prevent the sense of isolation, certain IEM systems embed a microphone in it, so that you can hear the music and crowd reaction in low volume.

We are experts in IEMs

If you are a musician, visit our audiology clinic, Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona , for a hearing check and to learn about IEMs. As experts, we help you at every "stage."

Curious about how In-Ear Monitors could help your performance? We've fit hundreds of musicians for IEM's, including The Phoenix Symphony, members of Pink, Jimmy Eat World, Gin Blossoms, Night Ranger, and many more - from worship groups to rock bands to DJ's to Recording Engineers.

Call us at (480) 831-6159 to schedule a consultation and viewing of the IEM's we represent, fit, and service of the best brands on the market. Don't trust your ears to retail stores - get proper ear canal fitting by an Audiologist clinic in Scottsdale that knows musicians' needs so much that we're known as "The Musician's Clinic!"

Hearing Loss for Military Veterans: VA-Friendly Hearing Solutions in AZ

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 15:09:00 GMT

Hearing Loss For Military Veterans Is Common

Scary Statistics

Causes:

The challenges:

Exposure to blasts affects central auditory processing

Treatment

(480) 831-6159

Oticon OpenSound Navigator (OSN) and Multi-Speaker Access Technology (MSAT)

Sat, 20 Jul 2019 15:10:00 GMT

Oticon OpenSound Navigator (OSN) and Multi-Speaker Access Technology (MSAT)

In 2016, Oticon Medical introduced its Opn™ hearing aid , which offers Multi-Speaker Access Technology (MSAT) in Oticon’s OpenSound Navigator™ (OSN).

Oticon OpenSound Navigator (OSN)

The Open Sound Navigator (OSN) is a technology that removes excessive background noise in a split second so you can focus on what’s important. It also assists you to locate the exact direction from where the sound is coming.

OSN is a noise reduction algorithm consisting of three modules - Analyze, Balance, and Noise Removal. These three together identifies the direction of the exact speech, sharpens it and then amplifies it.

Multi-Speaker Access Technology (MSAT)

MSAT technology is a BrainHearing™ technology. BrainHearing™ technology is a feature that emulates the way your brain normally processes a sound.

To understand further, imagine a normal hearing person, trying to listen to Julie talking about her vacation, in a busy restaurant. The brain would quickly work in four stages. Firstly, it will orient itself to the noisy place; secondly, it would distinguish Julie's voice from the rest. Thirdly, the brain would focus on the exact words spoken, and finally, it will rebalance the sounds and help distinguish every word clearly.

Speech in Noise (SIN)
If you suffer from hearing loss and even though you use a hearing aid, you may find it frustrating to understand speech in noise (SIN). If you tried to listen to Julie in that busy restaurant, it would probably be difficult to be able to distinguish Julie's speech from others talking in the room. Most hearing aids cannot effectively filter the speech in noise.

The new Oticon hearing aids with BrainHearing™ technology help to mimic exactly what the brain normally does, which means it can extract the speech in noise.

MSAT technology is an extraordinary application used in hearing aids. It selectively reduces disturbing noises while maintaining access to all distinct speech sounds. It does not isolate one voice, instead maintains access to all distinct speakers. It frees the capacity of the brain to store and recall information.

Advantages of OSN and MSAT technology

1. Efficient
Listening is where hearing meets the brain. Listening effort is higher in a noisy environment. More cognitive processes need to be engaged in a noisy environment in order to recognize speech. To be able to actually ignore the surrounding noise, and understand the meaning of the words spoken, is not that easy!

Comparison of the ‘giving –up’ recent study observed the listening effort of two groups of people, one with OSN and the other with a non-OSN hearing aid. These two groups were compared with the normal hearing group in the study.

They used a method called pupillometry that measured pupil dilation as a reaction to stress.

The idea was, to see at what point do people ‘give up’ trying to listen. Giving up happens if the task becomes too difficult and the benefit does not outweigh the listening effort required.

Using Open Sound Navigator (OSN) is as good as normal. Normal-hearing listeners were able to focus till -4 dB SNR (signal to noise ratio) after which they started giving up. The OSN group had a very similar experience but the non-OSN group gave up much sooner.

Further research like the SWIR Test (Sentence-Final Word Identification and Recall) and speech recognition showed that the OSN algorithm significantly improves memory for speech heard in noise and better speech understanding in noise.

The processing speed of the new BrainHearing™ technology is 50 times faster than the previous generation of essential hearing aids. It delivers high-resolution sound quality to improve speech understanding.

All these data support the fact that OSN technology is efficient.

2. Useful if you have tinnitus
A study by Jensen in 2018 reported that OSN significantly reduced listening effort for people with tinnitus. Usually, when the pupil dilation test is carried out in people with tinnitus, they display severe stress and fatigue. With OSN, their stress level reduced and they needed less effort to listen.

3. High user satisfaction
Based on feedback to questionnaires distributed to regular OSN users, user satisfaction is high. The ON app that comes with the hearing aid, make it very easy to use. It allows them to expend less effort, have better recall, and better speech understanding in noisy environments.

This technology empowers the user to actively participate in social situations in the same way as their normal-hearing peers.

4. User-friendly
As already mentioned, the ON App makes the Oticon hearing aids very user-friendly. Besides the OSN, MSAT and BrainHearing™ features, there is another additional feature called HearingFitness™ that optimizes the hearing health behavior. It monitors the duration of wearing the hearing aid and prompts you to reach your goals. It also tracks the noise levels of places you frequently visit.

There are many easy to use features that make it very attractive. It is small in size and comes in a variety of styles that you can choose from. It also has a long battery life and can be connected online, with Bluetooth. These features are useful if you are traveling or if you want to check your user behavior.

5. Recommended for first-time users
According to Oticon Medical, this range of hearing aids is the “smallest hearing aid style Oticon has ever produced,” making it very attractive to first-time users.

Clinicians can encourage people using the Opn™ hearing aids to explore listening and social situations they may have avoided or given up on in the past. HearingFitness is another feature that would attract the first time user.

Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona

Oticon hearing aids

(480) 831-6159

Notch Therapy for Tinnitus

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 15:11:00 GMT

Notch Therapy for Tinnitus

Tinnitus defined

Tinnitus is when you hear noises that are not caused by an outside source. There may be a constant or intermittent ringing, buzzing, throbbing sound in one or both ears or in the head. Clearly, this is a very annoying condition. It can occur due to many reasons including exposure to loud noise or an ear infection.

Tinnitus can be broadly grouped into two categories – tonal and non-tonal tinnitus. The former is more common where you experience a constant sound of a well-defined frequency, similar to whistling, ringing or buzzing. The non-tonal has a different pattern, with varied frequencies similar to humming, clicking and rumbling.

Tinnitus takes away the basic joy of listening, to anything that is enjoyable and enriching. Your quality of life can deteriorate and it is therefore important to seek help from a qualified audiologist.

The Signia Notch Therapy aims to solve just that. To quote the company website:
"As a leading manufacturer and innovator of hearing aids, our philosophy revolves around improving the quality of life for people with hearing difficulties, including tinnitus."

Three tinnitus therapies

The use of a hearing aid is one of the best ways to get relief from hearing conditions. For the first time, a hearing aid contains a built-in system called the Notch Therapy that is able to not only reduce the effects of tinnitus, but claim to completely remove it. The technology enables to amplify sounds and improve hearing and provide a range of solutions to alleviate the effects of tinnitus.

This is fantastic news!

To elaborate further, the Signia hearing aid provides three options for you to help with tinnitus. The first two options are based on the principle that a continuous pleasant and relaxing sound would override the rings and the buzz that you experience. Gradually, the brain ‘un-learns’ the tinnitus noise and the replaced gentle sound help you to relax and concentrate. The third option is the new technology where you can use a mobile app to teach your brain to ignore the repetitive ring.

Static noise tinnitus therapy signals – A continuous soft sound in the ear distracts you effectively from the tinnitus buzz, providing the much-needed relief. You are able to relax and enjoy life using this therapy. The hearing aid has a range of five preset signals to form a static noise, and the healthcare professional customizes the signal to your specific needs. This signal produces a sound that merges with the frequency of the tinnitus noise and quickly, you are able to hear, only the softer tune.

Ocean wave tinnitus therapy signals – A slight modification of the previous therapy, the aim of this version is to replicate the tranquil effect of the ocean sound waves to alleviate tinnitus. The experts will help you identify which one of four frequencies is the most soothing and favorable for you. Again, you will be happily distracted away from the annoying buzz in your ears and only hear the soothing ocean waves instead.

Signia Notch Therapy – If you suffer from tonal tinnitus, then the Notch Therapy is for you. This built-in therapy does not use another sound wave like the previous two. Using your hearing aid for a few weeks will potentially treat your tinnitus noticeably, without any external noise and obstruction.

This therapy is very unique. There is no external stimulation involved in this process. The Signia Notch Therapy hearing aid is all that you need, and for your audiologist to spend some time with you on a consultation to determine the exact frequency of your tonal tinnitus. Amplification of the hearing aids is done as normal to your specific hearing test, with the exception of your tinnitus frequency , which is then reduced so that it is integrated harmoniously into the overall background sound.

According to Signia, Notch therapy within their hearing aid models can reduce the effects of tinnitus and may even make it disappear completely. According to a recent study, 65 percent of patients experienced an improvement.

Continuous use of the aid for a few months will lead to relegating the tinnitus sounds into the background. The constant ring and buzz will gradually fade and the brain ‘learns’ to take no notice of tinnitus.

The Signia hearing aids are widely available in a range of small, discreet styles for every form of hearing loss. There is a model to meet your needs and it is very convenient to use. The technology can be utilized through an app on your mobile phone.

For more details on this amazing technology, see the Signia website here.

If you suffer from tinnitus, please contact us at the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona and ask for your treatment options including the Signia Notch Therapy Hearing Aid. (480) 831-6159 .

How to Prevent Ear Pain When Flying?

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:14:00 GMT

How to Prevent Ear Pain When Flying?

‘Airplane Ear’ is very common. It is usually quite moderate and fixes itself in many cases. However, it may turn severe and the pain may get worse. The pressure in the ears may resemble that of an underwater diver. Furthermore, you may experience moderate to severe hearing loss, ringing in your ear (tinnitus) or spinning sensation (vertigo). The ears may also bleed in extreme cases.

Why does it happen?

This happens because a rapid change in air pressure stretches the eardrum, suddenly.

We need to understand two aspects here. First, the structure of the ear and second, what happens to the air pressure during ascent and descent.

The Ear

Air pressure and how it affects the ear

A rapid change in altitude creates an instant difference in air pressure between inside and outside the ear. When your flight takes off and the plane begins to ascend, the air pressure inside the inner ear quickly becomes greater than the outside air pressure. The eardrum then swells outward. Imagine a cake rising inside the oven while baking. This causes discomfort and you feel that your ear is ‘blocked’.

The opposite happens while landing. The pressure inside the inner ear rapidly becomes less than outside and the eardrum goes inward. Imagine a vacuum pulling in all the air that causes stretching of the eardrum and flattening of the Eustachian tube. This results in extreme discomfort and also pain.

Often, a quick swallowing or yawning action alleviates the symptoms because it allows the Eustachian tube to open up and restore the air pressure to normal levels. We feel that the ear has just ‘popped’.

Sometimes it is not that easy. It becomes more painful during descent if you have any other condition like congestion of the nose or swelling due to infection. The air gets trapped in the area behind the eardrum putting pressure on it giving rise to excruciating pain.

How to Avoid Ear Pain During Flight

Before flying, check if your nose is congested. Use a decongestant spray into each nostril, an hour before flying. However, always check the label before you do so. If you have any medical condition and please check with your doctor if you can use a spray decongestant.

Some people find chewing gum helpful during landing.
Yawning is also one of Nature’s ways to manipulate the air pressure back to normal.
Use earplugs that are specifically designed with a filter to balance air pressure, which can be purchased in most airport convenience stores.

Pressure Equalization Techniques

Try the Valsalva maneuver when the airplane begins to descend:
Close your mouth and nose tightly so that no air escapes and then gently (gently!) begin to blow your nose. This will oppose the build-up of the negative air pressure that occurs.
Please avoid doing this if you are not feeling well as you may risk having an ear infection.
Instead, try the Toynbee maneuver where you swallow the air with the nostril and mouth closed.
It will balance the air pressure effectively and prevent ear pain.

Tips for Children and Babies

If you have a baby or a child:

The easiest solution is to allow the child to drink from a milk or water bottle as the plane descends.
The act of swallowing helps to equalize air pressure.
Babies often start crying when the airplane begins to land and this is actually Nature’s way to clear the Eustachian tubes and equalize the ear pressure.
Before you travel, check with the doctor if you can give any medication to your child during a flight in case of nasal congestion.

General In-Flight Tips

It is good to stay hydrated during flight.
Avoid sleeping when taking off and landing.

When to See a Doctor

Should there be any severity, leading to:

hearing loss
dizziness
or severe pain

Please see your doctor as soon as possible. You will regain hearing and be pain-free with the help of your ENT doctor.

(480) 831-6159

If Hearing Loss Is Affecting You

Thu, 11 Jul 2019 15:15:00 GMT

If Hearing Loss Is Affecting You

Tempe audiologist

Taking a Hearing Test

In order to start your path for a better living and to determine if you are suffering hearing loss you must take a hearing test at an audiologist clinic (like Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona). As your audiologist, we will perform hearing tests that will help determine what type of hearing loss you have and how much hearing ability has been lost .

If you have already visited an audiologist and want a second opinion, you may take an online test that The National hearing test has made available at a small cost, though not as accurate as a clinical hearing test.

Choose the right audiologist

At the Tinnitus and Hearing Center, we are very committed to helping our patients find the best way to treat their hearing problems as we offer a wide variety of hearing aid brands and other assistive pieces of technology that can help you with your current situation. You can rest assured that we have taken care of many patients that have been very satisfied with the service we have provided and how accurate and precise our approach has been.

We will have you try at least two different hearing aids (or as many you need to find the most comfortable one) in order to find the one that fits your needs perfectly. We'll also take time to fit it and find the right configuration for you as we need to make sure after you decide on one specific hearing aid to cover all your needs, that is why these have a testing period before you complete your purchase. We will set the different configurations and you will inform us which one is the best for you.

In order to find the best fitting hearing aid for you, know that the hearing aid can only do so much and realistic expectations have to be made.

For more information or to schedule an appointment contact us at (480) 831-6159 or visit our website at https://www.tinnitusaz.com/ .

Happy Tinnitus Patient Treats Dr. Rohe to a Flight in a Vintage Plane

Fri, 05 Jul 2019 15:18:00 GMT

Happy Tinnitus Patient Treats Dr. Rohe to a Flight in a Vintage Plane

Our patient, Lt. Colonel Ralph "Slick" Aguirre, USAF (Retired) started his career in aviation flying Huey helicopters in Vietnam at the age of eighteen. He went on to fly F-15 fighter jets in the US Air Force. From there he transitioned into a civilian career in aviation flying for Southwest Airlines. The years he spent in aviation started to seriously affect his ears. The situation reached the point where he grounded himself from flying any longer, for fear it was no longer possible without causing further damage to his ears. Slick arrived at our clinic looking for any possible help. We're happy to report that we have Slick flying again and he couldn't be happier. Slick graciously offered Dr. Rohe the opportunity of a lifetime to fly in this plane as a way of saying thanks for treating his tinnitus and keeping him up in the air. He recently told Dr. Rohe that all the time he spent flying was the equivalent of three full years in the air. That is quite an accomplishment.

The plane pictured below is a Pilatu PC-7, a turboprop with 750hp. If you are a pilot or a frequent flier that suffers from tinnitus, know that with the right guidance, you can absolutely keep flying! Thank you Slick.

Tinnitus Sufferers: Check Out NeuroMod

Fri, 05 Jul 2019 15:17:00 GMT

Tinnitus Sufferers: Check Out NeuroMod

A start-up in Ireland has developed a totally fresh concept for treating tinnitus, and it's one that employs a fascinating technology.

Now, it hasn't come to market yet, so we can't get too excited. But know that we at Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona are watching this development closely.

Most people know tinnitus as 'ringing in the ears.' Some sufferers hear a high-pitched droning noise, whereas others might describe it as more of a buzz, hiss, or whoosh. 'Tinnitus' is the formal medical terminology, but whatever you call it, it's certainly something that can wreak havoc on a person's life. They might have trouble sleeping, working, socializing, or even focusing on basic activities.

At the time of writing, no medical solution is known. On the other hand, Neuromod Devices, an Irish tech start-up, is rolling out a brand-new product that has the potential to provide breakthroughs in tinnitus treatment.

The name of the product is Mutebutton. Ross O'Neill is a neuroscientist who oversaw the development after spending six years at the Hamilton Institute at NUI Maynooth looking into a number of neuromodulation technologies prior to starting up a business in 2010.

In a little more than four short years, Neuromod Devices has plowed through the many regulatory, medical, and logistical challenges necessary. Their product is already available to those in the Irish Market.

O'Neill says that Mutebutton is a totally fresh way to treat tinnitus. Other various technologies are able to offer sufferers relief, but only when the specific devices are used. Alternatively, Mutebutton is able to generate genuine improvement in the condition of a patient.

Symptoms

Tinnitus happens both as a chronic condition and a temporary one. It can get induced due to underlying disease, although many times it's simply a matter of hearing loss that happens with age.

People of any age can suffer tinnitus, but adults over the age of 50 have double the odds of having it. Everyone has hair cells in their inner ears which turn physical sound waves into the neural impulses the brain uses to 'listen'. These hair cells get damaged over the passage of time.

In Ireland alone, roughly 45,000 individuals suffer from this affliction, according to the Irish Tinnitus Association.

The UK also has a similar association, projecting that 1 in 10 Brits of adult age are impacted. The association of the United States has a higher estimate of 15 percent of their population, meaning more than 20 million citizens suffer the condition to the level of being debilitated.

Tinnitus isn't just a matter of noise, either. Frequently-seen auxiliary symptoms include loss of sleep, anxiety, and even depression.

O'Neill goes on to say that he's spent almost a decade developing the treatment, and the goal was always to find something minimally invasive out of consideration to the patients. He was hopeful of avoiding implantation through surgery.

Every year across Europe and the United States, 12 million patients consult their physicians about clinically significant levels or conditions of tinnitus. Also, between aging populations and growing volumes of exposure to sounds, it's turning into a worldwide phenomenon that's anticipated to grow in the near future.

One way that tinnitus can be treated is by diverting the attention of the brain away from the sound or noise of the condition. Having said that, quite a few of the current masking devices utilized for this are unisensory and unfortunately not that effective.

Mutebutton is different, because it's a multi-sensory treatment which mixes soothing sounds along with mild stimulation of particular tongue nerves.

The mix of these two employs multi-sensory integration, which is one of the human brain's natural phenomena, so that it can learn how to better discern real sounds from fake ones.

Mutebutton has a small control unit, a tiny tongue pad, and a headphone set. Users should spend half an hour a day with it for at least 10 weeks in order to see results.

The Hermitage Clinic in Dublin carried on clinical studies in partnership with NUI Maynooth. This research demonstrated that the Mutebutton device can lower the volume of tinnitus by nearly half.

The development involved the collaboration of numerous experts. One of them was Caroline Hamilton, a tinnitus specialist and clinical audiologist. Stephen Hughes is a design engineer who also helped and also an MIT colleague of O'Neill back when he was employed there in the research department. Finally, Brendan Conlon, a senior ENT surgeon from St James's and Tallaght Hospitals helped out with contributions as well.

O'Neill claims that it's simple to make prototypes, but the real difficulty is scaling things up for high levels of manufacturing. He's happy that Mutebutton is being made in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland.

Intended Markets

In every market, the company is using both B2B and B2C vectors. Given how very creative this device is, the public needs to learn about it, but so too do the medical community and possible distribution networks.

The company has a current emphasis on getting Mutebutton off of the ground, but that's not to say that Neuromod is a one-hit wonder.

Tinnitus is only one of many chronic conditions that creative neurostimulation technologies might be able to help out with.

Mutebutton is certainly a stable technology platform, and it might be used for quickly developing and evaluating a variety of different neuromodulatory interventions. It's a core technology that is likely to be the foundation for many new products that can provide valuable market openings due to clinical needs that aren't currently being met at a global level.

O'Neill won't get into specifics, other than to say the same technology might work in circumstances of neuro circuits 'misbehaving'. These can include situations of illusory perceptions, tremors, and spasms.

Mutebutton's development enjoyed financial support by Enterprise Ireland, the Higher Education Authority, and Science Foundation Ireland. Several million in both seed and angel capital also helped, and the company is now enjoying a positive revenue stream.

(480) 831-6159

Who Needs A Hearing Test?

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 15:23:00 GMT

Who Needs A Hearing Test?

Hearing is one of the five senses, as we all know. A newborn is usually tested for hearing to determine if there is any permanent hearing loss at birth. Those with normal hearing are re-examined again at school at some point. There is no regular hearing test requirements carried out after school, which means, unless someone identifies any symptom, hearing loss is not diagnosed until symptoms are noticeable.

The audiologists at Tinnitus and Hearing Center provide hearing tests in Tempe AZ and serve residents of the Phoenix metro, including Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert, Sun Lakes, and throughout the East Valley. If you suspect that you or a family member has a problem related to hearing, it is important to understand that there are experts who can explain and help you resolve the issues with ease.

What is the role of an audiologist and what are the different hearing tests available in a clinic?

When you attend a clinic, you will have an initial consultation with an audiologist. Audiologists are specialists in ear conditions, hearing, and hearing rehabilitation. The first step is a general screening, which involves asking questions which may reveal vital symptoms.

An otoscope is then used to check the eardrum. It is a very common device, has a conical end and is pressed against your ear. Being illuminated and magnified, the audiologist can clearly see through this device, if there is any abnormality in the eardrum. A diagnostic hearing evaluation is the next step.

This evaluation can be done for both children and adults to help identify the type and the degree of hearing loss. This may also give an insight into the cause of the hearing loss and help the audiologist determine the appropriate treatment recommendations and referrals.

Please note that these tests are completely safe and painless. They can mostly be performed even if you have other medical condition.

You will be asked to go and sit inside a soundproof booth and relax with headphones on. Usually, you will be given a button to press and follow simple instructions. Your response will be automatically recorded by a machine, and a chart will appear. Imagine an electronic cash register or an ECG machine. This chart is called an audiogram. Based on the audiogram, your audiologist will be able to decide on treatment options.

Types of hearing tests

The ear is a complex organ and is connected to the brain with a network of nerves. Any damage or alteration along the way might affect the hearing.

In our clinic, expert audiologists will conduct a combination of diagnostic tests depending on the symptoms of the patient. The aim is to find the cause and also the extent of any damage.

These tests are quick and painless, and as mentioned before, mostly involves sitting in a silent booth with headphones on.
Here is a list of some of the hearing tests:

1. Acoustic Reflex Testing (AR) — AR test measures the reflexes in the ear. It measures the involuntary muscle contractions of the middle ear, in response to sound. The middle ear is home to the three smallest bones of the human body, the ossicles. When sound reaches the middle ear, two muscles, the stapedius, and tensor tympani muscles, attached to the ossicles, contract involuntarily. On contraction, these muscles create a movement of the bones which in turn stimulate the inner ear. If the reflex action is reduced, the hearing mechanism will be impaired. This broadly means, this test will indicate if the problem lies in the middle ear.

2. Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing— OAE test is a quick, non-invasive method that measures the cochlear (inner ear) function. This is the test done on newborns to establish any hearing loss at birth. A small probe is placed in the ear and clicks or tones are played. The machine attached to the probe records the response of the hair cells of the inner ear. Any change from normal, in the audiogram pattern indicates that the problem lies in the inner ear.

3. Tympanometry —It is a simple and painless testing method that measures the air pressure on the eardrum. Air pressure will be abnormal if there is a build up of fluid or wax, presence of a tumor or if the eardrum is damaged.

4. Pre-tone and pure-tone testing — This test, uses air conduction to measure your ability to hear various sounds at low, mid, and high frequencies. You will hear a series of sounds through the headphones and you will be instructed to press a button every time you hear a tone. Any abnormal pattern in the audiogram chart will indicate a problem in the middle ear.

5. Speech-in-noise testing — In case of any abnormality in the previous test, a speech-in-noise (SIN) test is carried out in older children and adults. Similar to the tone-testing procedure, it determines if the person can hear speech in the presence of background noise. So in essence, this is considered as a “real world” test. It also works as part of the counseling process and helps the patient reach their hearing expectations.

5. Bone conduction testing — This test measures the inner ear’s response to a sound. A conductor is placed behind your ear which sends tiny vibrations through the bone directly to the inner ear. The experts can interpret the audiogram and the results will indicate if there is any loss of hearing.

Benefits of Hearing Aids: Improving Quality of Life with Hearing Loss

Tue, 18 Jun 2019 15:21:00 GMT

How will a hearing aid improve your life?

On the other hand, use of a hearing aid is not something that needs to be hidden. We don't hide the fact that we wear glasses to improve our eyesight, do we? It's just a tool, just like a hearing aid.

Statistics show that in older people who are likely to experience hearing loss also, consequently, suffer from depression. Their quality of life diminishes because the person begins to lose confidence in all social situations.

To be able to hear clearly with the help of hearing aids will improve your life in the following ways:

Happiness and improved relationships
A lack of hearing means that your relationships suffer.

For instance, people may lose their patience with you, or get annoyed with you probably because the volume levels on TV or radio is too high.

Slowly you find yourself resigning into isolation and it affects your mental well being. With a hearing aid, you regain the sense of happiness along with your hearing. The communication is restored and you are able to avoid misunderstandings thereby improving your relationships.

Better social life
You will be motivated to participate in group activities when you start using a hearing aid. When hearing becomes too hard, you stop listening, stop engaging in conversations, and often refuse to leave home. Having a quality pair of hearing aids reverses that.

Improve your quality of life
With the loss of hearing, there is a loss of the quality of life as well. Hearing aids allow you to hear better in social settings and you can actively participate in a conversation. That, in turn, reduces depression. There will be an improvement in self-confidence, self-image, self-esteem, independence, and communication.

If compared with someone who is not using a hearing aid, the overall health of the hearing aid user will be better than the non-user. Users are more likely than non-users, to engage in activities involving other people. Hearing aids improve most aspects of emotional life and will pull you out of that feeling of helplessness and burden.

Your optimism will return and people around you will not be anxious as well. Simple tasks will …. Well, be simple again.

Since we are surrounded by nearly constant background noise almost everywhere, you may not be able to discern what people are saying. You might think they're not enunciating enough, or not speaking loudly enough, but chances are, it's your hearing that's not cooperating. This makes a huge impact on your life and you start avoiding public places. The hearing aid is an amazing technology that's designed in a way to filter the noise and capture spoken words.

Stay sharp and alert
Did you know if hearing loss is untreated, you are more likely to experience dementia or Alzheimer’s than someone without hearing loss? Our brains are used to hearing the everyday sounds and this helps us stay alert and keeps our mind sharp. So regaining this with the help of a hearing aid is a positive step.

It will not only help keeping our brains active, it will keep us safe as well. Alertness improves, as you would be able to hear the alarms, doorbells or sirens. It will also improve the reflexes and response to any kind of sound.

Do better at work
Hearing loss is an occupational hazard in many professions. A hearing aid will help you improve your productivity and conduct. You will be happier, safer, and be able to communicate better with clients and co-workers alike.

It's important to note that if you have concerns about your hearing, it can be worse the longer you wait.

At Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, our experienced audiology team would guide you to choose the right hearing aid that will add tremendous value to the quality of your life. You'd get expert care from the hearing test, to consultation conversations, to exploring options for hearing aids for Scottsdale and other Phoenix metro clients. Then, if you do move forward with hearing aids, you can try a set for a few weeks to see how you like it. We carry four major brands (considered the best hearing aids on the market), so you can experiment with others if you like.

We've seen so many patients that were either hesitant, or skeptical, and nearly all of them thanked us later for not only our friendly guidance in the appointment, but for helping them hear better in all situations, which led to better interactions and communications with friends and family.

We can't tell you how many times we've been thanked for "getting my life back." Is it time to improve your life with better hearing? Contact us today by phone at (480) 831-6159 or use our online scheduler .

Learn What Misophonia Is: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment | Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 15:25:00 GMT

What Is Misophonia?

Misophonia is common but rarely known

Misophonia usually develops during childhood or early adolescence. The feeling of anger or rage appears suddenly or after an emotional incident. Very often, people misunderstand and don’t realize that it is because of a hearing problem.

It is important to point out that usually everyone has a dislike of any particular sound, but it can be categorized as a condition only when it severely affects the persons’ quality of life.

Doctors have argued that Misophonia is either a psychological or an auditory condition or both. In 2012, experts suggested that this condition is a particular form of DST (decreased sound tolerance). This means it can be associated with the broader medical diagnostic categories of abnormal auditory perception and/or hyperacusis.

However, doctors still believe that Misophonia is not specific to the inner ear, but a combination of different parts of the brain that controls hearing, memory, balance and other reflexes.

Misophonia Testing and Treatment

Misophonia symptoms are found in people with other conditions

A few of the conditions are:
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Autism spectrum disorder or Asperger's syndrome
• Tinnitus
• Hyperacusis
• Multi-sensory hypersensitivity
• Hearing loss
• Phonophobia
• Family relational problems
• Intermittent explosive disorder (IED)
• Tonic tensor tympani Syndrome (TTTS)
• Acoustic shock
• Major depressive disorder
• Anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and agoraphobia
• Bell’s palsy
• Ramsay Hunt syndrome
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Superior canal dehiscence syndrome
• Stapedectomy
• Perilymph fistula
• Lyme disease
• Williams syndrome
• Lacunar stroke
• Epilepsy
• Narcotic and benzodiazepine withdrawal
• Migraines
• Head injury

Coping with Misophonia

There is no medicine to treat Misophonia. However, there are several effective options available to manage this condition:

1. Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) – this therapy is widely available, especially in auditory clinics. It is a way to teach the brain to tolerate specific sounds that affect you.
2. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) – This therapy focuses on altering the negative associations you have with triggering noises. Studies have shown that this therapy is very effective for most people with Misophonia symptoms
3. Counseling – You and your family can benefit from counseling sessions with a psychotherapist.

Thankfully, Dr. Allen Rohe of Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona is a qualified audiologist that treats patients with Misophonia. You can read more about his approach to Misophonia here.

If you or someone you know suffer from Misophonia, we encourage you to contact us to set up an initial consultation to discuss misophonia treatment. Dr. Rohe can conduct consultations either in his Tempe, AZ office, or online via Skype teleconference.

Some of Our Services

Tinitus Treatment

Hearing Loss

Misophonia

Audiology for Children

Tinnitus – Overview and Treatment Options

Fri, 07 Jun 2019 15:31:00 GMT

Tinnitus – Overview and Treatment Options

Last week, we talked about reducing your exposure to loud sounds by using custom earplugs that are more comfortable and perform far superior in terms of frequency response than the cheap foam earplugs. Any hearing protection is designed to reduce two things: hearing loss, and a hearing condition called tinnitus - also known as "ringing in the ears."

Tinnitus is often described as a phantom sound sensation where you hear ringing noises which are not caused by an outside source. It is a very common condition in which one in about every seven people experiences ringing sounds in their lifetime. This means millions are affected worldwide.

The exact cause of tinnitus is not known. Various conditions like exposure to very loud noise, certain strong medications, head or ear injuries, ear infection, bereavement or extreme stress are few of the factors that may cause tinnitus. It affects many musicians and those who work and live in noisy environments.

What happens in tinnitus?

There is considerable debate about what exactly happens in tinnitus. Damage of nerve cells, triggered by one of the factors mentioned above, is believed to cause tinnitus. This nerve damage generates an automatic ringing noise in the brain. Simply put, it is a compensation mechanism of the brain.

The part of the brain responsible for hearing is called the auditory cortex. About two million nerves from the two ears are connected to this auditory cortex. These nerves transmit all types of sound signals to the brain. A group of nerves is ‘tuned’ to a particular frequency and they assemble together at a region of the cortex.

In case of an episode of hearing loss, this sound frequency is disturbed in the cortex. Very soon, the brain triggers a compensation mechanism. Therefore, instead of remaining silent, the nerve assemblies throw a tantrum by spontaneously ‘ringing’ in a way as if the brain is confused. It results in an annoying ‘ringing tone’. Ironically, this ‘tantrum’ slowly becomes synchronized and generates a pattern and the vicious cycle of ‘ringing’ continues. Over time it becomes permanent. Almost like a broken piano key, where a sound keeps going even without the pianist.

You are not alone

About 19% of Americans experience tinnitus in their lifetime and more than half do not seek help. Majority of sufferers are over 60 years of age. That said, tinnitus can affect people of all ages. Many tinnitus sufferers also suffer from severe depression, which is worrying. People describe the noises as ringing, roaring, hissing, whistling or whizzing. Daily life is severely affected and is often very distressing. Tinnitus can be an all-consuming phenomenon for the person. Constant ringing in your ears would naturally be an irritant that would consequently lead to a lack of concentration, lack of sleep, fatigue, and anger.

Surprisingly, most people resign to the fact that nothing can be done and learn to live with it. There is a feeling of hopelessness and wish that one day it will disappear on its own.

This is not true.

What can you do?
Seek help.

There are many effective ways in which experts can resolve your problem. These are easily available in a specialized audiology clinic like ourselves. Since we perform Tinnitus Treatment in our Tempe office, as well as online remotely from any location via Skype, there are several options to choose from. You can read more about those options here .

Tinnitus cannot be treated using medicine or surgical intervention, but there are effective ways to manage this condition. Expert audiologists can provide effective tools and self-control techniques that can modify the way you react to the ringing sensation.

There are standalone techniques available like Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). These techniques either modify the persons’ behavior or mask the sound, which in turn provides relief.

In our clinic, we are in the enviable position to offer another technique which is a unique treatment method called the Rohe Method. This trademarked method, designed by our own Dr. Allen Rohe, combines the main principals of these standalone therapies and personalizes it for you to get maximum benefit.

Essentially, it is a method used to retrain the brain, desensitize the nervous system and emotionally separate the patient from the ringing sound. Regardless of what’s causing your tinnitus, and the nature and extent of the tinnitus, we would be able to address your individual concerns with the help of this program.

(480) 764-3682

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Getting Hyperacusis Treatment: Therapies for Sound Sensitivity

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 15:32:00 GMT

Getting Hyperacusis Treatment

Hyperacusis Symptoms

You might be suffering from hyperacusis if:
•    You feel sudden discomfort hearing a sound that would be otherwise perceived as normal. So, the everyday sound seems much louder.
•    You will have an increased sensitivity to sounds, for example, a dog barking, vacuum cleaner or a car engine.
•    You feel pain and distressed as a result of a normal sound.
•    The general well being and productivity is affected due to different sounds.

If you feel uncomfortable with normal sounds that people usually tolerate, then it might be worth getting evaluated.

This condition can sometimes be associated with phonophobia, fear of noise because the noise becomes associated with pain followed by distress and anxiety. Hyperacusis is often experienced along with tinnitus and misophonia.

Categories of patients with hearing problems

It is worth mentioning, there are four broad categories of treatment stages assigned to patients with tinnitus and hyperacusis:
Category 1 — Patients with severe tinnitus, but do not have hyperacusis or subjective hearing loss.
Category 2—Patients have tinnitus and have significant hearing loss, but no hyperacusis.
Category 3 —Patients have hyperacusis, but no prolonged ear discomfort or severe tinnitus when exposed to noise. Ear discomfort and/or tinnitus is usually brief, and, if present, resets itself after a while. Hyperacusis is addressed first in this case. Amplification of the hearing aids may be considered after the hyperacusis problem is resolved.
Category 4—Patients have tinnitus and hyperacusis, along with excessive ear discomfort and/or exacerbation of tinnitus when exposed to noise. This category is treated very cautiously and monitored regularly.

Therefore, there is a huge overlap between symptoms of all these conditions.

Causes of Hyperacusis

The most common cause of hyperacusis is high noise levels .

Adverse drug reactions, ear infection, Meniere’s disease, Lyme disease, surgery, trauma like accidents or head injury may cause sudden hyperacusis. An antibiotic called ciprofloxacin is believed to cause a particular condition called ciprofloxacin related hyperacusis.

There are a few other diseases associated with hyperacusis. They are Bell's Palsy, Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome, Stapedectomy, Perilymphatic Fistula, Migraine, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Head Injury, Fibromyalgia, William's syndrome, Addison's Disease, Autism, Myasthenia Gravis, Middle Cerebral Aneurysm, and Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) High Pressure.

Also, symptoms can be linked with anxiety and depression, making a person feel isolated.

Prevention

Hyperacusis Treatment

While there is a lot of debate about the cause of hyperacusis, there is treatment available.

Diagnosis of this condition is not always straightforward. This is because hyperacusis often occurs in combination with other conditions like loss of hearing or tinnitus.

Sound therapy is the most common treatment for hyperacusis, similar to the treatment of tinnitus but with changes to the protocol - TRT Hyperacusis Protocol. Additional treatment options that are available include cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT ) which may also help tame the feelings of anxiety and depression. Taming the anxiety is crucial as the anxiety can make the symptoms much worse. Following an extended course of sound therapy and counseling, your sound tolerance thresholds have the potential to be reset back to normal levels.

Auditory experts decide on the treatment stages based on the severity of your condition. It may well be that your tinnitus or loss of hearing is treated first. Sound intolerance is thoroughly evaluated throughout the course of treatment.

Medical evaluation is carried out carefully because other conditions are associated with hyperacusis (see infograph above). This includes an examination of the nerves associated with the ears and temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ) which is essentially checking the painful jaw muscles. Blood and serum are tested to rule out any additional deficiencies that need to be considered prior to treatment.

What to do next

At Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, Dr. Allen Rohe is a uniquely qualified audiologist that offers hyperacusis treatment . He's familiar with associated hearing conditions, including tinnitus, misophonia, and hearing loss.

It's recommended to schedule a consultation to discuss your options. Whether you're from out of state, out of country, or local to the Tempe, Arizona office, call the clinic at (480) 831-6159 , or use the convenient online scheduler . Therapy sessions can be conducted remotely via internet Skype teleconference to those that qualify.

Noise Induced Hearing Loss: Why Musicians Should Wear Ear Protection

Fri, 31 May 2019 15:35:00 GMT

Musicians – What’s Your Excuse For Not Wearing Protection?

Did you know – musicians have occupational hazards? Yep, the two biggest dangers to musicians are noise induced hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). (The occasional food truck burrito gets honorable mention). The quality of life of a musician is diminished over time due to hearing loss, unless proper precautions of hearing protection are taken.

Would you voluntarily stand right by an ambulance for a 90-minute set? I sure hope not. But concert-goers and musicians do about the same at loud concerts.

While music is very beneficial for our mental wellbeing and happiness, continuous loud music is not. The good news is that there’s an ingenious way to prevent it, which we’ll get to in a bit.

There's a strong link between hearing problems and professional musicians. Musicians have a 60% greater chance of experiencing tinnitus or ringing in the ears. A large study looked at more than two thousand musicians and found that more than 10% of them suffered from significant hearing loss.

Given that musicians are able to hear a broad range of sounds, their sensitivity to different sound level is high as well. That increase in risk however, overshadows much of the enjoyment of being surrounded by loud music.

Music lovers are affected too. There are growing concerns regarding ever-increasing noise levels in entertainment settings like concerts, cinemas, and festivals. Personal music devices and digital games emit sounds whose levels are dangerous. Loss of hearing can be temporary or permanent. It might take just one concert to cause major damage.

What happens in the ear, exactly?

There are very sensitive hair-like cells in our inner ears called cilia. These hairs become overactive when the noise levels are high. On repeated stimulation, the hairs become weakened and they stop responding to sound. In turn, the nerve that is attached also gets stressed because of not getting any signal. As a result, the brain generates a typical ringing sound. This ringing sensation is called tinnitus. The whole impact of loud noise can be temporary. If the ear gets a break from loud noise — it gets a lifeline.

If you stop the loud music, chances are that the tired hair cells may return to their active state. However, years of prolonged exposure to loud noise may ultimately permanently kill these hair cells and then, unfortunately, the loss of hearing becomes permanent, and the tinnitus becomes challenging to treat.

Awareness and prevention

There should be a raised awareness of the cumulative effect of loud music and lack of protection. The sound levels in parties, restaurants, movie theaters, music festivals and even gyms should be clearly mentioned and advise the visitors to take the necessary protection.

Young musicians should take precautions to reduce the long term impact of loud noise. Generally, moderated use of headphones and earbuds would be a good start. The volume of the personal sound system should be turned down and switched off at regular intervals. All concert halls and music studios should incorporate acoustic designs with sound absorbing panels to reduce the effect of loud noise on people who are inside the room, rather than just soundproofing them.

What can you do?

As a start, being aware of loud environments and ear pressure is important, and removing or distancing yourself from the source is helpful.

Bringing earplugs to events you think might be loud is the next step. We have our recommendations for earplugs beyond the cheap foams, which we list below.

If you feel concerned about your hearing and are experiencing symptoms of tinnitus or hearing loss, it’s not too late. Tinnitus is treatable and loss of hearing can be managed.

Audiologists at the Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona offer a specialized hearing service for the needs of musicians, sound engineers, and members of the entertainment industry.

As trained audiologists, we would diagnose and treat a musician effectively. An initial consultation may include a pressure test, testing your eardrum and a few other standard hearing tests. They are all very quick and painless. The next steps will be taken based on the test results.

We would discuss hearing protection, conservation and preservation. You may be offered custom-fit or musicians earplugs or in-ear monitors (IEM). These would help empower you to improve your quality of life while keeping your condition discreet and you can continue to enjoy the music.

There’s no easy way to say this, but…

Loud music damages the ears. Before you realize it, loud music has altered the inner ear, causing a ringing or buzzing sensation called tinnitus, or causing hearing loss – or both.

Plenty Of Excuses To Go ‘Round

Even with all the evidence that loud music causes hearing issues, surveys have found a few common threads, so let’s discuss them here:

1) “By the time I need hearing aids or have tinnitus, technology will have developed replacement ears.”

A patient told me that he thought that very thing 20 years ago, but of course we still don’t have replacement ears. Research is still being done with replacing the cilia (the tiny hair cells that are the receptors of sound in your ear), but even that has its complications. Will we have better technology 20 years from now? Sure, but don’t risk your hearing on the hope of technology saving you. Keep and preserve what you’ve got now, which is certainly better than robot ears.

2) “I just can’t hear the same with earplugs on stage, and it affects my performance.”

If you’re using the cheap foam earplugs you find at the pharmacy, then that would explain why you can’t hear naturally. They’re simply not designed for sounding good. They sound plugged up, mid-range heavy, and congested. By contrast, there are speciality earplugs made specifically for musicians, called, you guessed it – “Musicians Earplugs.” These custom molded earplugs have two great features:

a) They are "flat frequency" designs, so you’ll hear the same spectrum of frequencies – from the deep bass to the shimmer of cymbals – but the sound pressure level is lowered, so it’s like you turned down the volume on everything. Again, remember the ambulance scenario referenced above – if you can reduce the decibels you can reduce your risk of hearing damage.

b) Musician ear plugs have removable filters that you can customize to your environment. These little discs pop in and out of the earplugs, and come in three dB (decibel) levels – 9dB, 15dB, and 25dB. Loud concert? Use the 25’s. Restaurant or nightclub conversation? Use the 9’s. We feel this is the customizeable and best hearing protection you can buy.

3) “Earplugs are uncomfortable and hard to get in and out.”

This is common with people that use the cheap foam earplugs, and they’re right – they feel unnatural and are hard to insert properly. By contrast, the Musician Earplugs are customized to your individual ear canal, so they’re a perfect fit every time you use them. You’d schedule a visit with your audiologist (like us, hello!), and they would take an impression of your right and left ear canals. The impressions get sent in to the manufacturer, and in a week or so you’d get the reusable ear plugs back.

These custom ear plugs usually cost about $150 or so. One patient reported that "it's the best $150 I ever spent." Certainly more than the $5 at the pharmacy for the cheap foamies, but, how much is your hearing worth? How valuable is it to not have ringing in your ears, night and day, or struggling to hear everyday conversations due to hearing loss? Your future self will thank you profusely for taking care of your ears now.

What are the best earplugs for musicians?

We're proud distributors of the Sensaphonics brand, which are made of premium silicone unlike other manufacturers. Vinyl used by other companies shrinks over time, and will progressively get looser in your ear canal, allowing sound to enter in - the very thing you're trying to prevent! We carefully chose Sensaphonics and we've been extremely happy with their products and service. They even make sleeves for those generic fitting Shure monitors, giving them a more customized fit, feel, and look.

Sensaphonics also happens to be our choice for the best earplugs for concerts. You can read more about our Musician's Clinic products and services here.

The most valuable instrument you own

At Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, we’ve fit countless musicians with custom ear plugs – from members of the Phoenix Symphony to the Gin Blossoms and members of Pink’s band. We just had a member of Night Ranger in here, as well as jam band Spafford to get fit for musician ear plugs and in-ear monitors.

We understand musician’s needs – so much so that we’re known as “The Musician’s Clinic.” We know the concerns musicians have about their ears and hearing, and have designed effective strategies to combat hearing loss, tinnitus, and other hearing conditions.

Curious about the status of your hearing? Schedule a hearing test today. Just like we get our vision tested every so often, when is the last time you had your ears checked? Musicians value their hearing, so treat your hearing like the most valuable instrument you own.

Call us today at (480) 764-3682 , or use our convenient online scheduler.

Hearing Loss and Hearing Tests in Scottsdale AZ: Why Early Testing Matters

Wed, 29 May 2019 15:37:00 GMT

Hearing Loss and Hearing Tests in Scottsdale AZ

If you are unable to hear as well as a person with normal hearing, which is about 50 decibels (dB), then you may be affected by hearing loss. It can affect one or both your ears.

To give you an understanding of the decibel levels, city traffic noises are usually 85 dB and sirens are 120 dB. Regular exposure to sound levels above 75 dB might cause hearing loss.

Recognizing Hearing Loss: Warning Signs

Newborns are usually tested after birth and the audiologists take appropriate steps. If a child is slow to learn talking or if their speech is not very clear, then their hearing should be checked.

If you, whether young or old, talk very loudly, find it hard to hear a conversation or even hear the alarm, doorbell or watch television very loudly, then you should see an audiologist.

Hearing loss has a stigma and it should not be. According to the World Health Organization, around 466 million people experience from severe loss of hearing, worldwide. Estimates suggest that the numbers will double in the next thirty years.

This means, you are not alone.

Common Causes of Hearing Loss

Besides hereditary cause, newborns may be affected with loss of hearing if they have a difficult birth or have jaundice. If the mother had complications during her pregnancy with illnesses like rubella or syphilis, or had certain strong medications, the newborn may have a loss of hearing.

Aging is one of the most common causes of progressive hearing loss. Hearing loss affects their daily life. They may find it difficult to have a conversation or even respond to the doorbell. There is a risk of older people falling into depression and memory loss because of their problems with hearing.

The other common cause of hearing loss is long term exposure to loud noise. Modern life tends to be noisy, including traffic noises, various modern gadgets and loud music. When surrounded by such loud noise, people may experience a gradual loss of hearing.

How Does Hearing Actually Work?

In the center of the hearing mechanism is the eardrum, present in the inner ear. The ear is a very sensitive and complex organ. It converts the sound wave to an electrical wave in the brain through a series of steps. The middle ear is a bony structure that vaguely looks like a snail. This structure called cochlea and the fluid inside it helps the sound wave to reach the eardrum which sits deep inside the inner ear. The vibration of the eardrum, in turn, triggers the tiny hairs on it converting it into an electric wave. This wave travels to the brain via the auditory nerve.

What Causes Hearing loss?

Loud noise, ear infection or putting objects in the ear like a cotton swab can injure the hair cells in the eardrum. A very loud burst of noise like an explosion may cause sudden loss of hearing. Fluid or earwax in the ear acts as a sound barrier and cause a temporary loss of hearing. Otosclerosis or growth of excess bone and Cholesteatoma, which is an abnormal collection of skin in the ear are two conditions where hearing is affected.

Illnesses like Meningitis, Meniere’s disease and certain conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, heart conditions, and viral infection can cause loss of hearing. The chances are higher in older people.

Use of certain medicines used for treating severe infections, heart conditions and cancer may affect hearing. These medicines known as ototoxic drugs may damage the eardrum. Otosclerosis is thought to be a heredity condition that affects hearing.

Just as you might have an annual eye exam to measure your vision, you should have a hearing test to measure your other important sense - your hearing.

We provide hearing tests for Scottsdale AZ and Phoenix residents, and any patient in the Valley. Call us directly at (480) 831-6159 or use our convenient online scheduler to book an appointment on your computer or phone.

Tinnitus Causes Explained in Tempe AZ: Symptoms, Triggers & Solutions

Tue, 14 May 2019 15:45:00 GMT

Tinnitus Causes Explained in Tempe AZ: Symptoms, Triggers & Solutions

Let's talk about some of the common tinnitus causes and what you can do about it. Tinnitus is a sensation of noise or "ringing" in the ears - a common problem that affects approximately 15 to 20 percent of individuals, so roughly 1 out of 6 people suffer from it. With those kinds of numbers, we feel it's a topic worth exploring, and in fact, it's an important part of our practice at Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona. The Rohe Method ® of Tinnitus Treatment was created as a unique blend of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy to facilitate retraining the brain. Retraining activates plasticity in the brain, which allows the nervous system to change its function in various ways, typically for learning or self-repair.

Tinnitus is not an actual condition; it is a symptom of some type of underlying condition, such as an ear injury, circulatory system disorder or age-related hearing loss.

Although tinnitus is annoying and can be incredibly frustrating, in the majority of cases it is not normally a sign of anything physically serious. It may worsen with age, for some individuals; if treated, tinnitus may improve. Sometimes it helps to treat an identified underlying cause such as a hearing loss or TMJ disorder, which a trained audiologist can help identify. Other treatments mask or reduce the noise, which can make tinnitus less intrusive and bothersome.

Tinnitus Symptoms

Tinnitus involves hearing sounds when there are no external sounds that are present. Tinnitus perception is considered a central deficit in the brain where cancellation of meaningless signals within the auditory pathways does not take place. The symptoms of tinnitus include the following kinds of phantom noises that you can sense inside your ears or head:

Humming
Hissing
Clicking
Roaring/Whooshing
Buzzing
Ringing

These phantom noises can sound like a low level roar or hiss up to a very high pitched squeal or ringing. You also might hear tinnitus in one ear or in both ears. The sound, in some cases, can be so loud that it may interfere with your ability to be able to hear external sound, sleep or concentrate. Tinnitus may either come and go, or be present at all times.

The Two Types of Tinnitus

There are two types of tinnitus: One type is called subjective tinnitus , which is the type of tinnitus that only can be heard by you. It is the most common form of tinnitus. This may be caused by problems in the inner, middle or outer ear. It may be caused by problems with the part of the brain where the nerve signals are interpreted in the form of sound (auditory pathways) or with the hearing (auditory) nerves themselves.

Objective tinnitus is the type of tinnitus that your doctor is able to hear when she or he performs an examination. It is a non-ringing sound - more typically rushing, clicking, thumping, or other atonal sounds. It is a less common type of tinnitus that might be caused by vascular issues such as turbulent blood flow through blood vessels in the neck or abnormal muscle contractions (activated by grinding your teeth for instance) that compresses some part of the auditory system. This type of tinnitus more often has an identifiable cause and may be treatable.

When you should visit your Audiologist about your Tinnitus

If you have tinnitus and it is bothering you, affecting your sleep, or affecting your ability to hear naturally or concentrate.
You develop tinnitus following an upper respiratory infection, like a cold, and it doesn't improve within one week.
You have dizziness or hearing loss with your tinnitus.
You have tinnitus that arises without any apparent cause or comes on suddenly.

What Causes Tinnitus?

Cell damage within the inner ear hair is one of the most common causes of tinnitus. Delicate, tiny hairs within the inner ear known as the cilia move in relation to sound wave pressure. That triggers cells to release an electrical signal via a nerve in the ear (auditory nerve) over to the brain. Those signals are interpreted by the brain as sound. If the hairs inside of the inner ear are broken or bent, random electrical impulses may be leaked to the brain and cause tinnitus.

Other issues that cause tinnitus include chronic health conditions, other ear problems and conditions or injuries that affect the hearing center inside the brain or the nerves inside the ear. Many health conditions may cause or even worsen tinnitus. An exact cause, in many cases, is never found.

Common Tinnitus Causes

Tinnitus, in many individuals, is caused by one of the following conditions:

Hearing loss that is related to age. For many individuals, hearing continues to slowly worsen with age, normally starting at about 60 years old. Presbycusis is the medical term that is used for this kind of hearing loss. Usually causes a high pitch ringing sound.
Being exposed to loud noises. Common sources that may lead to noise-induced hearing loss include firearms, chain saws, and heavy equipment. Portable music players, like an iPod or an MP3 player, may cause hearing loss as well if they are played very loud over an extended period of time. Tinnitus can also be caused by short-term exposures to noise, such as a loud concert. It will normally go away for some, but not everyone. Both long-term and short-term exposure to loud sound may cause permanent damage and loss of hearing. Usually causes a high pitch ringing sound.
Earwax blockage. Your ear canal is protected by earwax which normally traps dirt, collects dead skin cells, and can slow down bacterial growth. When there has been an excessive accumulation of earwax, irritation to the eardrum lining or blockage of outside sounds may lead to tinnitus perception.
Changes to the middle ear bones. Stiffening of the bones inside the middle ear (otosclerosis) might affect hearing and could cause tinnitus perception. This condition, which is caused by an abnormal growth of bone, is easily identified on a hearing test and also has a tendency to run in families.

Other Tinnitus Causes

Some other common causes of tinnitus include the following:

Meniere's disease. Tinnitus may be an early indication of Meniere's disease. This inner ear disorder can be caused by abnormal pressure build-up in the inner ear fluids. It is sometimes also referred to as endolymphatic hydrops, and may be accompanied by sensations of fullness in the ear and dizziness or vertigo. Often described as a low pitched roaring sound early on. A hearing test and other lab tests can help to establish a diagnosis.
TMJ disorders. Temporomandibular joint problems. This is the joint that is on both sides of the head in the front of the ears, where the lower jawbone meets the skull and is well known to create tinnitus symptoms in some people. Often a low pitch sound, or clicking, ringing, or popping - accompanied by a feeling of fullness and sometimes pain in the ear.
Neck injuries or head injuries. Neck or head trauma may affect the hearing nerves, the inner ear, or brain function that is linked with hearing. Generally, these injuries cause tinnitus in one ear only.
Acoustic neuroma. This type of noncancerous (benign) tumor may develop on the cranial nerve running from the inner ear to the brain. Also referred to as an acoustic/vestibular schwannoma, generally the condition causes tinnitus and hearing loss in one ear only.
Eustachian tube dysfunction. With this condition, the tube that aerates the middle ear stays expanded at all times, and that can make the ear feel full. This type of dysfunction may be caused by radiation therapy, pregnancy, or losing a lot of weight.
Muscle spasms inside the ear. The middle ear muscles may tense up (spasm), and that can cause tinnitus, a fullness feeling in the ear, and hearing loss. Sometimes it occurs for no reason, but may also be caused by multiple sclerosis or other neurologic diseases. Fluttering sensations may indicate stapedius muscle contractions. Clicking can suggest contractions of the tensor tympani or nasopharyngeal muscles that control opening of the eustachian tube.
Somatic or body-based sounds (Head and Upper Cervical). Dental, TMJ, or muscular involvement. Can be caused by whiplash injury. The sternocleidomastoid, masseter, splenius capitus, middle and upper trapezius, and temporalis muscles are often the culprits. Properties suggest a somatic component: intermittency, large fluctuations in loudness, and variability of location. Seeing a dentist or physical therapist may be helpful in reducing the severity of the tinnitus symptoms.
Metabolic causes. Hyperthyroidism (Grave's Disease). An auto-immune response that over stimulates the thyroid. Tinnitus is usually associated with increased cardiac output and causes a pulsing or rushing noise. Hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's Disease) is an inflammatory condition that also affects the thyroid. The tinnitus is usually a constant sound.
Perilymphatic fistula. Tends to be high frequency (hissing, crickets) and may be caused by barotrauma, head trauma, valsalva (plugging the nose and forcefully blowing out to make the ears "pop"), and erosion to the bony labyrinth caused by inflammatory or neoplastic processes or following middle ear surgery (stapedectomy). May be diagnosed with a fistula test that produces nystagmus when air pressure is applied into the ear canal.
Other factors. Cervical misalignment, menses/menopause, renal disease, kidney transplants, Lyme disease, and poor circulation.

Pulsatile T innitus and the Link with B lood Vessel Disorders

A blood vessel disorder may cause tinnitus in rare cases. The type of tinnitus is referred to as pulsatile tinnitus. The causes may include the following:

Atherosclerosis. Growing older, as well as the buildup of cholesterol and other types of deposits will result in major blood vessels near the inner and middle ear to lose some elasticity - or the capability of being able to expand slightly or flex with every heartbeat. This causes the flow of blood to be more forceful and make it easier for the ear to detect beats. Generally, this form of tinnitus can be heard in both ears.
Neck and head tumors. A tumor pressing on the blood vessels in your neck (vascular neoplasm) or head may cause tinnitus as well as other types of symptoms.
High blood pressure. Hypertension as well as other factors which increase blood pressure, like caffeine, alcohol, and stress, can cause tinnitus to become more noticeable.
The turbulent flow of blood. Kinking or narrowing of a neck artery (or carotid artery) or a vein in the neck (jugular vein) may cause irregular, turbulent blood flow, that can cause tinnitus.
Capillary malformation. Arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is a condition where there are abnormal connections between veins and arteries that may cause tinnitus. Generally, this kind of tinnitus occurs in one ear only.

Medications that may cause tinnitus

There are a number of different medications that may worsen or cause tinnitus. In general, the higher the dose of the medication, the worse the tinnitus will become. Frequently, the unwanted noise will disappear once you stop using the drug. Some of the medications that are known to cause or make tinnitus worse include the following:

Antibiotics, which include neomycin, vancomycin (Firvanq, Vancocin HCL), erythromycin, and polymyxin B.
Cancer medications, which include cisplatin and methotrexate (Trexall).
Water pills (diuretics) like furosemide (Lasix), ethacrynic acid (Edecrin), or bumetanide (Bumex).
Quinine medications that are used for treating malaria and other types of health conditions.
Some antidepressants might make tinnitus worse.
Taking unusually high doses of aspirin (12 or more per day).

Also, some herbal supplements may cause tinnitus, as well as caffeine and nicotine.

Risk factors

Anybody may develop tinnitus. However, the following factors can increase your risk:

Exposure to loud noise. Exposure for long periods of time to loud noise may damage the tiny sensory hair cells inside the ear that send sound to the brain. Individuals who work in a noisy environment - like construction or factory workers, soldiers, or musicians - are at especially high risk.
Age. As people grow older, the amount of functioning nerve fibers inside the ears decline, which can potentially cause hearing issues that are associated with tinnitus quite often.
Gender. Men have a higher chance of experiencing tinnitus.
Smoking. Smokers are at a higher risk for developing tinnitus than non-smokers.
Cardiovascular problems. Certain conditions that affect the flow of blood, like narrow arteries (atherosclerosis) or high blood pressure can increase the risk for developing tinnitus.

The Impact of Tinnitus

Tinnitus may have a significant impact on your quality of life. Although it can affect various people in different ways, if you develop tinnitus, you might experience any of the following as well:

Irritability and anxiety
Depression
Memory problems
Trouble concentrating
Sleep problems
Stress
Fatigue

Treating those linked conditions might not directly affect tinnitus, but can improve how you feel.

Prevention

Tinnitus in many cases is caused by something that cannot be prevented. However, there are still precautions that may be taken to help prevent certain types of tinnitus from developing.

Use hearing protection. Exposure to loud noises over time may damage the nerves inside of your ears, and cause tinnitus and hearing loss. You should wear hearing protection at all times if you use firearms (particularly shotguns or pistols), work within an industry where loud machinery is used, are a musician, or use a chain saw.
Turn the volume down. Being exposed to amplified music over the long term without wearing any form of ear protection or when music is listened to through headphones at really high volumes, may cause tinnitus and hearing loss.
Take good care of your cardiovascular health. Eating right, exercising on a regular basis, and taking other steps to ensure your blood vessels stay healthy can help to prevent blood vessel disorders that are linked to tinnitus.

What To Do About Your Tinnitus

Tinnitus can be successfully managed and thankfully there are a variety of therapies and tinnitus treatments that you can read about in detail here. These include:

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) - CBT is designed to modify cognitions and behaviors that fuel the reaction to the tinnitus, which can escalate anxiety, insomnia, fear, or stress.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) - a blend of sound therapy and a specific course of directive counseling aimed towards desensitization and demystifying.
The Rohe Method ^® - a unique treatment designed and trademarked by Dr. Allen Rohe of the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, called the Rohe Method ^® , in which sessions can be conducted online via Skype teleconference, or in his clinic in Tempe, Arizona. With guidance from Dr. Rohe, there have been hundreds of patients that have obtained tremendous relief from the noise in their ears, as well as a substantial reduction in the anxiety and insomnia that affect so many of his patients.

It's worth mentioning here that Dr. Rohe is currently the only audiologist in the US that is trained and experienced in audiology, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, making him uniquely qualified to address all aspects and options for your tinnitus treatment, whether in his Tempe AZ clinic, or online via Skype conference.

To schedule a consultation, please call the Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona at (480) 764-3682 , or use their online scheduler here .

Why Cheap Hearing Aids Fail: Risks & Hidden Costs Explained

Thu, 09 May 2019 15:47:00 GMT

Cheap Hearing Aids Are A Bad Deal

Cheap doesn't always get you what you need
In our opinion, it is best to buy hearing aids from a local provider who will be able to provide ongoing adjustments and service for the lifetime of the hearing aid (normally the purchase price includes this). Free unlimited office visits on the life of the hearing aid are offered by Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona if you purchase the hearing aid from us.

A hearing aid is a type of medical device. There are many reasons why you should not buy one online. You should get tested before you buy hearing aid so that you know what your hearing loss is. Hearing aids are also custom and must be adjusted. If you buy hearing aids online, a majority of medical professionals will not be able to program your hearing aids. It is recommended that you consult with a professional before you make a decision on any of your medical needs, including hearing aids.

The greatest risk, which is something you should be concerned about, is your overall hearing health. Without proper evaluation and testing, you will not know why you have suffered a hearing loss. Without that knowledge, you easily could mask serious problems that could potentially put your health at risk. It could potentially be an undiagnosed medical problem that is causing your hearing loss that could even result in death. Even if you don't have a medical issue that has to be addressed, a hearing aid that is improperly adjusted could damage your auditory system, and lead to even more hearing loss. You should take your hearing aid device purchase very seriously and realize that hearing sciences training is necessary for treating hearing loss properly. I recommend that you find a reputable local audiologist (us, preferably :) ) who can treat your loss properly and who is available for future adjustments and follow-up. When it comes to your hearing health, you definitely get what you pay for.

With hearing aids, it is important to allow your brain to adjust to being able to hear sounds again. If it is the first time you have used hearing aids, be aware that often they will need to be set lower and adjusted several times until you are accustomed to hearing sounds accurately and comfortably according to your preferences (and everyone is different).

You can't just take your hearing aids and be done
It is important to have a good service program with an actual audiologist so that they can be programmed properly for your specific hearing loss, and help you make the adjustments to them. To ensure they are working properly, you need to visit your audiologist regularly for checkups and cleaning. When you purchase hearing aids online or from a supermarket bulk store, chances are you won't be getting service from experts that are necessary when you buy hearing aids.

The following are a couple of "regrets" we hear from customers that bought hearing aids online:

1. Sound is really personal. If you had visited an audiologist instead and gone through the process with them, you might have picked out a different hearing aid than the one you bought online.

2. When you purchase through an internet provider, you can only buy instant fit CRT aids. You might need custom aids or custom tips.

3. Although they might suggest having an audiogram with the hearing aid, what about Real Ear Measurements, over-all levels, feedback, and more? Just sending a hearing aid and audiogram to a patient is not an actual fitting.

It is essential for hearing aids specifically be programmed for the person's individual ear that is based on an audiometric test. Therefore, the first issue is to ensure that the hearing aids are programmed using a current hearing test.

While there are numerous places online that sell hearing aids, some do this without the manufacturer's permission. One manufacturer sent a letter out that stated it wouldn't honor the warranty for any of the hearing aids that were sold through a specific company (second risk).

Although mild hearing losses may be accommodated through an initial fitting, a majority of hearing losses need to be fit by programming the hearing aid below the loss followed by the hearing aid amplification being increased over time (and over several different office visits) as the person's brain continues to accommodate the increased hearing level.

This is not done by online companies themselves. Some contract with a local provider to do the initial fittings and a certain number of follow-up visits. There are other online companies that don't provide any local service.

That leads to the third risk, and it is a major one. Hearing aids all need periodic maintenance and readjustment in order for the patient to get the best results. Even if some initial support is provided by an online company, usually it is not for longer than the first year. You are completely on your own after that and will need to find someone who is willing to work on your hearing aids that they didn't sell to you. That means you will have to pay for each office visit from that point forward. That can cost up to $150 per visit as a single fee and as much as $1,500 to $2,000 for lifetime services. Even warranty-covered repairs require that a licensed dealer send the hearing aid to the manufacturer so it can be refitted. After the hearing aid has been repaired it is then returned, but you will then have another office visit to pay for.

Here are more reasons to avoid cheap hearing aids .

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The Unfair Stigma of Hearing Loss - Pt. II

Thu, 02 May 2019 15:48:00 GMT

The Unfair Stigma of Hearing Loss - Pt. II

When I turned 42, I noticed my eyesight getting blurry when I would read printed material or the computer. Okay, I thought, I'm probably going to need glasses. There's a certain "resistance versus resignation" to getting older that I think we all struggle with. We can't fight Father Time though, as much as we try. Perhaps admitting to a hearing loss is also admitting to getting older, and even to one's own mortality.

So why not take every opportunity to maximize the enjoyment of every day? Every minute? Why do some people resist going to a hearing doctor (an audiologist) and explore options for hearing aids, but are perfectly fine going to an eye doctor and paying for glasses? We talked about that in the last article, but I wanted to explore the idea of the hearing loss stigma a little more, and found some interesting research.

Despite how prevalent hearing loss is (around 20 percent of Americans report that they have hearing loss to some degree), the stigma still persists. Whenever people are ashamed of having a hearing loss, they might refuse to acknowledge their problem. There was another study that Southall, Gagne, and Jennings conducted where participants experience a high level of stress when attempting to conceal or deny their hearing loss. Both professionally and personally they were afraid of being labeled and put off going to see an audiologist.

Even after they visit a doctor, an individual may reject hearing aids since they are afraid of looking old, and feeling inferior or ashamed, or view hearing devices as being signs of weakness and being handicapped. Unfortunately, failing to seek treatment may cause long-term effects.

Fighting the Stigma

How can we effectively fight the hearing loss stigma? Education is the key. By educating the public (including individuals with hearing loss) about the various challenges involved with hearing loss as well as the benefits that treatment can provide, empathy can be fostered which can lead to a more positive outlook for hearing health.

Finally, if you are suffering from hearing loss, don't allow the stigma to hold you back. You might feel as if a hearing aid makes you look old, but it actually will help you in many ways in maintaining your youth. After all, young people who have excellent hearing do not continuously ask other individuals to repeat themselves constantly. They don't respond in conversations inappropriately because they are unable to hear the other part of the conversation. They don't disconnect socially because they are struggling to hear the conversation.

These days, hearing aids are very effective and can help you maintain your mental faculties, your social life, and maybe even your career. Modern hearing aids are also very inconspicuous and small, so you won't have to worry that you will stand out in a crowd. If you really want to hide the fact that you are suffering from hearing loss, then check out the discreet styles such as receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) and completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aids. Also, search for a hearing aid that comes with an inconspicuous remote, to allow you to not draw attention to yourself whenever you are wanting to press the program button or change the volume. There are some devices that connect to a smartphone, which makes them technologically savvy and very convenient. Whenever you need to use your hearing aid's control center, it will just look like you are using your cell phone.

Get a dang hearing test already!

If you have been procrastinating having a hearing test, you are not alone. Most people wait, on average, almost seven years from the time when they first notice there is a change in their hearing before they actually seek out help. Seven years worth of strained relationships at work and at home, missing out on so many of the sounds all around you, and risking health problems that are associated with hearing loss.

Keep in mind that it is critically important to treat hearing loss for your future and current health. Rather than hiding your struggles, help to reverse the hearing loss stigma by using hearing devices and helping to encourage other people that you know to go see an audiologist.

I'm so glad that I listened to my wife and scheduled a hearing test with Dr. Allen and Amy Rohe. Not only were they knowledgeable about their craft, but hey were just genuinely kind people, so the hearing test and conversation about options was very casual and friendly. I was able to try a pair of hearing aids for a week or so, and Dr. Rohe actually let me try a few other pairs until I got the set that I loved. Who does that? Having those options and such an enjoyable interaction is plenty to highly recommend Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona.

If it's any consolation, my wife is happier that she doesn't have to repeat herself all the time, and I'm happier knowing that I can hear most any conversation now. And that, to me, is priceless.

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The Importance Of World Hearing Day

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 15:56:00 GMT

The Importance Of World Hearing Day

Following in the footsteps of the international call from the WHO (World Health Organization) this World Hearing Day, the ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) encourages all Americans to have their hearing tested.

With the WHO's observance on March the 3rd every year, World Hearing Day draws attention to how important it is for early identification along with intervention to combat hearing loss as their focus for 2019.

Failing to get the necessary treatments often results in millions of individuals living a poorer “quality of life”. The WHO has projected that close to 630 million people around the world will experience hearing loss that is disabling by the year 2030 unless these people start taking action when it comes to the health of their hearing. By the year 2050, this number might elevate to over 900 million. In addition to this, hearing loss that goes unaddressed is linked with significant costs. At this stage the WHO has said, that hearing loss that has gone untreated imposes a global annual cost of around $750 billion.

Factors linked to hearing loss that goes unaddressed varies. The majority of people that suffer from severe hearing loss come from the low and the middle-income countries, where they typically lack the access to the required interventions and services.

However, in the US, hearing loss is still a very common type of chronic health condition.

The thing that stands out the most in the United States, is a dire need for treatment and identification of hearing loss that occurs in adults, states Shari Robertson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, 2019 ASHA President. She goes on to say that many of the adults in the US fail to seek the necessary treatments for loss of hearing, which is often caused from a perception that loss of hearing is just an annoyance opposed to an actual medical condition that is serious. Many are not aware that this condition usually affects the overall health of the person, their career success, job, mental health, social life, personal relationships, and their overall quality-of-life.

Adults in the US that are aged 70 or older that suffer from some degree of hearing loss that may benefit from a hearing aid, less than 1 in 3 (30%) have ever used these aids, states the NIDOCD (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders). And the adults between the ages of 20 to 69, only 16% of these people that can benefit from using hearing aids have used them.

The ASHA states that the public should be asking questions about the current state of their hearing, and individuals should Self-Test for Hearing Loss with these questions:

Do I Need To Have My Hearing Tested?

You should definitely see an audiologist when you answer “yes” to 2 or more of these questions:

Any person who answered yes, and/or is concerned should go for a test with an audiologist that is certified. Thankfully, we here at The Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona are licensed Audiologists who specialize in all hearing conditions for all ages. We're a Phoenix audiologist clinic that sees patients for hearing loss, hearing issues like tinnitus, misophonia, hyperacusis.

And we also consult, fit, and fine tune several major brands of affordable hearing aids, so if hearing loss is a concern, know that we're in your corner. Give us a call at (480) 831-6159 or use our online scheduler .

The Unfair Stigma of Hearing Loss - Pt. 1

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 15:50:00 GMT

The Unfair Stigma of Hearing Loss - Pt. 1

Guest post by Scott Novak - patient of Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona

Now there's someone who obviously has hearing loss.

I started wondering if he knew that he was "hard of hearing," and if he did, why didn't he do anything about it?

Is it because he didn't want to seem "old" by getting hearing aids? If anything, his befuddled reaction made him seem like an old person way more than a little hearing aid on his ears.

Maybe they're costly? I get that - not everyone has a few thousand dollars to spend. And some people - my Mom, for instance - just simply won't pay any medical expense "unless insurance pays for it." Hey, I understand being frugal, but we're talking about suffering through every day not being able to hear well. You want to talk about "quality of life?" A few dollars a day toward hearing everything is worth it. To me, at least.

Then I started thinking about how it's perfectly fine for people to wear glasses on their face, but somehow it's "weird" to have a tiny, near-invisible device tucked behind your ear. So it's fine if your eyes start failing due to aging, but unacceptable if your ears start failing? How is that fair? They're sensory organs on your head - they should get equal respect, right?

And think about it - can you imagine the world we'd live in if people resisted getting their vision corrected? Lots of bumping into things, I'd reckon...

Is it stubborn pride? Resisting that your body is aging? Maybe not admitting that you could use a little help? Maybe distrust of technology?

So why the stigma? Why the resistance to hearing aids, hearing loss, and hearing testing? I decided to look into it further.

Full disclosure: I am a 50-year old male that is a patient of Dr. Rohe's at Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona. I have tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and it became so noticeable that I decided to check for hearing loss. I'm grateful that I found Dr. Rohe; he has guided me through a journey of hearing improvement and self-awareness that I thought would be helpful to others in my similar predicament. This 2-part article is some of the information I uncovered.

Unfortunately, there is a stigma that comes with hearing loss, or a sign of disgrace that is associated with a specific person, quality, or circumstance. Sadly, this is perpetuated by the general public, by advertisers, and even some individuals who have hearing loss. This hearing loss stigma results in individuals struggling with the condition sometimes failing to seek out treatment, thinking that wearing hearing aids will make them appear feebler, weaker, or older. However, when hearing loss is not addressed, it will continue to persist, and it might result in various serious health issues, social disengagement, or cognitive decline. By waiting to seek out treatment, or maybe completely refusing to acknowledge that you have a hearing loss, you are putting both your mental and physical health at risk.

Have you been held back by the stigma that comes with hearing loss?

Although there are numerous factors involved in the hearing loss stigma, most of them revolve around three major ideas:

- Vanity
- Ageism
- Changes in self-perception

These ideas were explored by Dr. Margaret I. Wallhagen in a study that was published in 2009.

The study reported that individuals who suffer from hearing loss will sometimes view themselves in a way that is somewhat different. They may focus on the difference between their current self and former self - being disabled versus being whole, being disabled versus able, and being cognitively impaired versus smart. For example, some people didn't want to be called "handicapped" so they procrastinated going to see an audiologist. They may present they don't have the issue and attempt to hide the fact they are having a hard time hearing.

Many people also associate hearing with ageism and aging, which is discrimination or prejudice based on an individual's age. They may find it hard to relate to younger relatives or friends or feel ostracized. Also, maybe because hearing loss has a strong association with aging, many individuals will discover that hearing aids remind them they are getting old, and that is uncomfortable for all of us.

Finally, there are some people who are afraid that if they wear a hearing aid it will make them look unattractive. They are concerned that the technology will emphasize their hearing loss and draw attention to their ears.

Not all of the participants in the study by Wallhagen were influenced by the hearing loss stigma. Even those who brushed it off, still acknowledged that the stigma exists.

Stigma Causes

Many people put a lot of value on what other people think of them, and that social concern is what produces the hearing loss stigma. Stigma is a concept that isn't unique; it is just relevant within the context of relationships and how society treats and reacts to individuals who are stigmatized, since it is only within that context that we are able to experience discrimination, judgment, isolation, or rejection.

Hearing Aid Marketing Is Part Of The Problem

Hearing aids advertisements are partly to blame. They have a tendency to highlight the discreet positioning and small size of hearing aids and focus on the device's appearance. Although these acknowledgments and advertisements address perceived realities and might enhance the chance that people will decide to seek out treatment, they also have a tendency reinforce the concept that hearing loss and using hearing aids are a stigma and need to be hidden. Advertisers showcase how valuable communication is and depict individuals of various age groups in their ads. That emphasizes the benefits that are offered by hearing aids and that people of every age are affected by hearing loss.

If you are suffering from hearing loss, then the opinions of other people who are close to you (like your coworkers, friends, children, parents, partner, or spouse) can influence your decisions and thoughts concerning your hearing health. There are so many people who just don't understand the challenges that are faced by individuals who have hearing loss and how beneficial effective treatment can be, and they continue to perpetuate the stigma of hearing loss. For example, if your spouse has a negative attitude about your hearing aids, you might not want to visit an audiologist and having your hearing loss issue addressed. On the other hand, a supportive environment can help an individual with hearing loss, help them to move forward, and explore various options as well as wear their hearing aids without them feeling they are being stigmatized or judged.

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Hearing Loss & Increased Dementia Risk

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 15:58:00 GMT

Hearing Loss and Dementia: Understanding the Connection

Whether this link is a correlational or causational relationship is still under investigation, yet there is definitely a relationship that is present. Across all these studies, individuals that experienced hearing loss all showed an increase in the signs associated with cognitive decline.

How Hearing Loss May Contribute to Dementia

There are three primary reasons as to why hearing loss might be associated with dementia. These include social isolation, a change that occurs in the natural function of the brain, and a strain that is uneven on the cognitive resources in the brain.

It is well-known that maintaining relationships with friends and family, combined with communication that is face-to-face is a significant weapon when it comes to warding off cognitive decline.

Bryan James from the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center based in Chicago, states that the human brain is able to evolve in order to manage up to 150 social relationships, yet when we no longer manage a fair amount of these relationships, this portion of our brains can start to atrophy. In addition, social relationships that are healthy can lower stress that is chronic which is also linked to dementia, Alzheimer’s, and cognitive decline.

The Role of Social Isolation in Hearing Loss and Dementia

Yet you may be wondering, how is hearing loss linked to all of this? The fact is that hearing loss happens to be naturally isolating. Even when surrounded by many people in one room, an individual that has hearing loss that has gone untreated can become disconnected quickly. When a person is unable to hear what people are saying in conversations, then the conversation will quickly fade.

As time goes by, the strain linked to trying to recognize and hear every word will eventually take over the previous desire to socialize and participate in any social interactions. Hearing loss that is left untreated not only disengages a listener but will also place uneven pressure on the cognitive resources inside their brain.

The strain might not appear to be of importance, yet it lowers the capability of the brain to perform related or simultaneous tasks. Spending such a large amount of mental energy to try and hear what people are saying, regardless of whether it is unconsciously or consciously, also prevents this individual from storing these events in their short-term memory. Hearing loss interferes with not only their listening abilities but also their capabilities of processing information.

The Cognitive Effects of Untreated Hearing Loss

Even hearing loss that is mild has been proven to interfere with the method of storing and processing speech that is quickly communicated.

Since hearing happens to be a brain response to the auditory signals, hearing actually occurs inside the brain as opposed to the actual ears. When these signals start to weaken and become disrupted, other parts of the person’s brain try to compensate. In response, the brain starts rerouting other parts of the brain where it tries to compensate for information that is lost due to hearing loss.

Even in the instances when what has been said is comprehended successfully, as the person's hearing continues to decline further, and inabilities to hear starts to become a new normal, the brain modifies how it used to organize activities, which results in changes in the natural functions of the brain. In many of the Johns Hopkins studies, losses in hearing are linked with accelerated rates of tissue loss in the brain which could also be linked to a change in brain function as time goes by. Age is known for shrinking the brain naturally, yet hearing loss might accelerate these processes.

Why Treating Hearing Loss Can Help Protect the Brain

It is very important to understand that a loss of hearing does not automatically translate into dementia. Yet dementia is just one of the reasons why hearing loss should be treated. The correct treatment will improve the individual’s quality-of-life. When loss of hearing has been treated, the cognitive improvement of the person can be highly significant, even if the cognitive decline is not associated directly with dementia.

According to Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy from Duke University, and as was quoted by the AARP, benefits associated with treating a condition such as hearing loss is double when compared to any of the cognitive-enhancing medications currently available. It should also become an important priority when treating any of the cognitive problems linked to age. Treating loss of hearing also helps to strengthen social bonds, can restore relationships, and even make the person feel many years younger than they actually are.

Since hearing takes place in the brain, it's important that these connections stay active. If you think that someone you love is drifting into isolation due to hearing loss, please make a point to encourage them to contact us for a hearing test and possible hearing loss solutions such as hearing aids.

Schedule a Hearing Test in Tempe, AZ

Hearing Aid Basics 101 - Pt. III

Thu, 18 Apr 2019 02:00:00 GMT

Hearing Aid Basics 101 - Pt. III

At Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, we represent some of the finest hearing aids on the market at affordable costs. We're a full service audiologist, and also provide therapies for hearing conditions such as tinnitus, misophonia, hyperacusis, as well as provide hearing loss protection such as musician ear plugs and in ear monitors.

Taking Proper Care Of Your New Hearing Aid

You can extend the life of your new hearing aid with proper care and maintenance. Follow these care tips:

-Moisture and heat can damage the device, keep it away from them.

-Ear drainage and earwax can damage the device. Keep the aid clean by following the directions provided to the letter.

-When wearing hearing aids, don't use hair care products, such as hairspray among others.

-When not in use, turn the hearing aid off.

-Dead batteries should be swapped out with new ones as soon as possible.

-Tiny aids and replacement batteries should be kept away from pets and kids.

Can I Find Hearing Aid Implants?

Even though hearing aid implants help enhance sound wave transmission in the inner ear by design, their operation differs from those discussed above. For instance there’s a tiny device that is designed to be implanted on one of the bones in the middle ear referred to as a MEI (Middle Ear Implant). The device vibrates the bones directly instead of amplifying the sound waves moving towards the eardrum. To help persons suffering from sensorineural hearing loss to detect sound, both approaches basically strengthen the sound waves making their way into the inner ear.

Another option comes in the form of a tiny device implanted onto the bone behind the inner ear, referred to as a BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Aid). The device by passes the middle ear altogether, using the skull to transmit sound waves to the inner ear directly. People who suffer from deafness in one ear or middle ear issues are usually advised to use BAHA devices. However, a huge number of specialists feel that the risks outweigh the benefits of using these devices as both require surgical implantation.

Meeting the cost of hearing aids through financial assistance

Although some insurers cover the cost of getting hearing aids, most don’t. Under the EPSDT (Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment) service, young adults (age 21 and below) and eligible children qualify for financing for treatment, including the cost of hearing aids, and diagnosis of hearing issues through Medicaid. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program or individual state’s intervention program may meet these costs for kids.

Diagnostic evaluations prescribed by a doctor to help them come up with a plan for treating an adult may be covered by Medicare even though hearing aids are not covered. Where other coverage requirements have been satisfied, Medicare will meet the cost of a BAHA device, since it is categorized as a prosthetic, instead of a hearing aid, under Medicare.

Refurbished or used hearing aids are offered by some non-profit organizations, while others offer financial assistance towards the acquisition of the aids. To learn more about any non-profit organizations providing financial help towards the acquisition of hearing aids reach out to the NIDCD (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) information clearinghouse.

Ongoing Hearing Aid Studies

Studies on how to integrate emerging signal processing techniques in the design of hearing aids are ongoing. To match the diminished hearing capacity of individuals using hearing aids, signal processing facilitates the amplification of sound through the modification of normal sound waves. To help improve understanding, researches funded by the NIDCD are looking into ways of enhancing speech signals using hearing aids.

Furthermore, to create and produce improved hearing aids, researchers are also looking into the use of computer-aided technology. Methods of improving the transmission of sound and reducing the occlusion effect, feedback and interference form the basis of other ongoing studies. For groups where testing for hearing ability poses a challenge, like kids among others, some studies are looking into ways of better choosing and fitting hearing aids.

Designing improved hearing aid microphones using observations drawn from animal models is another promising research path. Since the construction of its ear allows it to identify the direction from which sound is coming with ease, the Ormia ochracea fly, which has exceptionally acute directional hearing, is the main focus of a group of researchers also funded by the NIDCD.

Scientists are looking to develop tiny directional hearing aid microphones modeled against the ear structure of the fly. Instead of picking up sounds from all directions, the microphones prioritize sound waves coming from the direction the person is facing. Even when surrounded by noise from all corners, directional microphones hold a lot of potential when it comes to helping individuals focus on a single conversation.

This translates into the research and technology behind the hearing aids of today. They’re smaller, more discrete, and able to utilize customizable features through interfaces and/or smartphone apps. Major companies that we represent, like Oticon, are coming out with new hearing aids like their Opn S that claim, “Opn S hearing aids take the open sound experience to the next level to deliver speech understanding on par with normal hearing.” And the apps that are available to pair with today's hearing aids are amazingly customized to volume levels, speech directionality, tinnitus masking options, and much more.

We at Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona are familiar with this research, and bring on the finest technology hearing aids at affordable costs. We’re confident that you’ll like the performance and our selection, and we encourage you to contact us to schedule a hearing aid demonstration to see what they could do to improve your hearing.

Call us at (480) 831-6159 , or use our Online Scheduler to book your appointment online for hearing aids in Tempe AZ .

Newsletter - April 2019

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 16:01:00 GMT

Newsletter - April 2019

We've published our newsletter for the 2nd Quarter of 2019, and it's got updates on Tinnitus & Hearing Center of Arizona, new product updates, and a picture of Dorothy's new baby Wade!

Check it out here .

Hearing Aids Basics 101 - Pt. II

Mon, 15 Apr 2019 16:03:00 GMT

Hearing Aids Basics 101 - Pt. II

Depending on the electronics used, hearing aids operate differently. Digital and analog are the two electronic variations.

Sound waves are converted into amplified electrical signals in analog hearing aids. To fit the exact requirements of the user, analog/adjustable aids are tailor made. The recommendations made by your audiologist are used by manufacturers to program the aid and meet your specific needs. These aids are designed with variable settings or programming. Users can change the settings to fit their listening environments, from wide, open spaces like stadiums or theaters, and crowded, noisy restaurants to small quiet spaces, after their audiologist uses a computer to program the hearing aid. All types of hearing aids can be designed using these programmable/analog electronics.

When compared to digital hearing aids, analog variants are more affordable.

Before amplifying sound waves, digital aids normally convert them into numerical codes, just like a computer’s binary code. These hearing aids can be programmed to increase the intensity of some sound frequencies over others because the numerical code also captures details of the pitch of the sound. When it comes to customizing a hearing aid to the specific listening environment and requirements of the user digital electronics provide audiologists with more options. The direction from which the sounds the user wants the aid to focus on can be specified when using digital aids. All types of hearing aids can be designed using digital electronics.

Which Hearing Aid Should I Choose?

The extent and type of your hearing loss determines which hearing aid you should use. To send a more natural signal to the brain, you should choose two hearing aids if you have lost hearing in both ears. Furthermore, you will be able to easily identify where the direction of the sound and better understand speech by hearing in both ears.

Pay attention to your lifestyle and requirements when you are looking for the right hearing aid with your audiologist. Since the cost of hearing aids ranges between hundreds and thousands of dollars, be sure to consider price as well. Styling details and functionality also affect pricing just as is the case with other electronic devices. When looking for the best hearing aid however, don’t solely rely on pricing. A hearing aid won’t automatically meet all your needs simply because it is expensive than others.

Your normal hearing cannot be restored by a hearing aid. Your awareness of sounds and their origin/sources can however be improved with the help of a hearing aid with time. Choose a well-suited and easy-to-use hearing aid as you will need to wear it regularly to get the most out of it. The manufacturer’s reputation with regard to customer support and quality, potential upgrades, options, repair and maintenance schedule and costs and the warranty cover for services and/or parts are some of the other factors to keep in mind.

Before buying a hearing aid, ask your audiologist the following questions:

Getting Used To Your New Hearing Aid

To use your hearing aid successfully, you will need to be patient. You will be able to get used to using your hearing aid if you wear it more frequently.

Master the features on your hearing aid. Practice wearing and removing the aids, changing out the batteries, distinguish between left and right aids and also how to clean it with your audiologist there. Seek clarification on how test it in listening environments where hearing becomes a challenge to you. When sounds are too low or too loud, find out how you can program it or adjust the volume to make comfortable hearing possible. When all your concerns have been answered, you can leave the audiologist in confidence.

Challenges to expect during the hearing aid adjustment period:

At Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, we want you to be 100% satisfied, and so we offer additional options for fine tunings and adjustments – far more than the strip mall or megamart stores will provide. It’s a far better move to go with a trusted specialist for your hearing needs. If your looking for hearing aids in Phoenix metro, we encourage you to contact us today for a free hearing aid demonstration and start hearing better today!

Call (480) 831-6159 or use our online scheduler .

Top Tips for Traveling with Hearing Aids

Tue, 09 Apr 2019 16:04:00 GMT

Top Tips for Traveling with Hearing Aids

Traveling is fun to do, but those with hearing loss may be facing different struggles then the rest of folks. Just like little kids being sensitive to air travel, those with hearing loss go through somewhat of a similar thing. A Scottsdale audiologist understands that the changes being implemented on these flights and through other air travel are difficult, but with hearing loss, they can seem much more difficult than for those that might have full hearing capabilities. Due to this, it is important that the correct steps are taken to help those with hearing loss also have pleasant flights.

Preparing for the Trip
Before heading out for the trip there are some things you want to keep in mind. You want to visit your hearing healthcare professional first and foremost to have everything looked into. You also want to make sure your hearing aids are charged up and ready to go, well fitted and clean, and spare batteries packed. And don’t forget to bring the cleaning kit with you!

Getting Through Security Check
Make sure to let TSA know that you’re wearing hearing aids before walking through the metal detector, as you might get flagged for them. You don’t want additional screening done because they didn’t know. If you’re not wearing them on you, then making sure not to put them through the conveyor belt is a good idea, as this can ruin them of course!

Be in the Loop
Flight areas and boarding decks can be loud and chaotic; however, airports have something known as the induction loop system. Hearing aids equipped with telecoils can be connected to this system so that they can hear the announcements much clearer - even over the hustle and bustle of the airport. You just have to have telecoils in your hearing aids and have them switched to that setting to be connected. Does your hearing aid have telecoils? The larger it is, the more likely it does. Smaller, discrete hearing aids tend not to have them.

You may not be able to hear the videos or read captioning on anything that is on the plane, so this is a downfall, but you’re able to bring your own. You also do not have to turn off your hearing aids while on the plane, even when the attendants tell you turn all of your devices off, as they are safe to use now.

Know Your Rights
Always know your rights while traveling. Being hard of hearing is something that many people suffer from and being able to correctly be served is great. Find the right help that is needed and use all of the available options offered through the flight and airport and you should be fine with your travels. Just make sure to know how to reduce that ear pain while on the flight and you’ll be set to fly.

It is always good to speak with your audiologist regarding the trip before you take it. They can give you further information on what can be done to help you ease into the flight and get the most from it. Professional audiologists understand the struggles of air travel for those that have limited hearing. Speak with The Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona today regarding the many things you can do to make this one of the best flights you have ever been on. Connect with a leading audiologist in Scottsdale today.

Hearing Aids Basics 101 - Pt. I

Fri, 05 Apr 2019 16:06:00 GMT

Hearing Aids Basics 101 - Pt. I

Since hearing aids are sometimes a fantastic solution for hearing loss, we thought we'd put together some of the basic information about hearing aids. If you don't see your question here, know that we'll post again next week, and you can also call us at 480-831-6159 .

Here at Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, a good portion of our clients come to us with hearing loss concerns. Sometimes, there's more going on in the co mplex machine called the ear than just aging. We're fully equipped to handle any hearing issue, which is why those who want more than the cheap supermarket hearing aids come to us for a professional, long lasting relationship.

What is a hearing aid?

Hearing aids are small electronic devices that are worn behind or in your ear. They make sounds louder so an individual who has hearing loss is able to communicate, listen, and participate in daily activities more fully. Hearing aids are able to help individuals hear more in both noisy and quiet situations. However, only around one out of five individuals who can benefit from using hearing aids actually wear them, meaning more people should be wearing them.

Hearing aids are made up of three basic parts: the speaker, amplifier, and microphone. Sound is received by the hearing aid via a microphone, which then converts the sound waves into electrical signals and then sends them over to an amplifier. The signal's power is increased by the amplifier and they are then sent via the tiny speaker to the ear.

How do hearing aids help?

Mainly hearing aids are useful in improving speech and hearing comprehension in individuals who have had hearing loss that is the result of damage to the small sensory cells (called stereocilia , which are tiny hair cells) that are inside of the inner ear. This kind of hearing loss is referred to as sensorineural hearing loss. Damage may have occured due to certain medicines, injuries from noise, aging, or disease.

Hearing aids magnify the sound vibrations that enter into the ear. The larger vibrations are detected by the surviving hair cells and converted into neural signals that get passed along into the brain. The more damage to the individual's hair cells, the more serious the hearing loss is, and greater hearing aid amplification is necessary in order to make the difference up. There are some practical limits to how much amplification can be provided by a hearing aid. Also, if the inner ear has become too damaged, then even larger vibration are not converted into neural signals. A hearing aid will be ineffective in this type of situation.

How can I determine whether I need to have a hearing aid or not?

If you suspect that you may have hearing loss and may benefit from having a hearing aid, consult with an audiologist (like us). An audiologist is a hearing health professional who can identify and measure hearing loss, and can conduct a hearing test in order to determine the degree and type of hearing loss. At Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, we offer thorough hearing tests and screenings to check for ear diseases as well as chart your hearing performance frequency range.

Hearing aid styles:

- Behind-the-ear (BTE): This type of hearing aid comes with a case made of hard plastic that is worn behind your ear and connects with the plastic earmold which fits inside of the outer ear. The case that is behind the ear holds the electronic parts. Sound travels via the earmold from the hearing aid and into the ear. Individuals of all ages use BTE aids for mild to profound levels of hearing loss.

A new type of BTE aid is in the style of an open-fit hearing aid. An open-fit small aid fits completely behind the ear, with a narrow tube that inserts inside of the ear canal, which allows the canal to stay open. For that reason, an open-fit hearing aid can be a good option for individuals who experience earwax buildup, since it is less likely that this kind of aid will be damaged by the substance. Also, some people might prefer an open-fit hearing aid due to the fact that their perception of their own voice doesn't sound like it is plugged up or congested.

- In-the-ear (ITE): This type of hearing aids fit inside of the outer ear completely and are used for hearing loss ranging from mild to severe. A hard plastic case holds the electronic components. There are some ITE aids that might have certain extra features that are installed, like a telecoil, which is a magnetic small coil that enables the user to receive sound via the hearing aid's circuitry, instead of through the microphone. That makes hearing telephone conversations easier. Also, a telecoil helps individuals hear in public places where a special sound system is installed that is called an induction loop system. These can be found in numerous auditoriums, airports, schools, and churches. Usually, ITE aids are not used by young children since the casings have to replaced frequently as the ear continues to grow.

Canal aids fit inside of the ear canal and come in two different styles. An in-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids designed to fit the shape and size of an individual's ear canal. The other type is the completely-in-canal (CIC) hearing aid which is almost completely hidden inside of the ear canal. Both of these types are used for moderately severe and mild hearing loss.

Since canal aids are small they might be hard for an individual to remove and adjust. Canal aids also have less space available for additional devices like a telecoil or batteries. Usually, they are not recommended for individuals with severe or profound hearing loss or young children since their smaller size reduces their volume and power.

At Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona in Tempe hearing aids are one of our specialties, and we encourage you to schedule a free hearing aid demonstration, with a hearing test to check your hearing loss, as well as try on a few hearing aids to see how they can improve your individual hearing. We offer a 30-day risk free trial so you can take them home and see how they perform in daily use.

Call us today at 480-831-6159 , or schedule your appointment with our online scheduler and schedule your free hearing aid demonstration today.

If you didn't see your question here, know that we'll post Parts 2 and 3 again next week, and you can also call us at 480-831-6159 .

What's New with Hearing Aid Technology for Speech Understanding

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 16:08:00 GMT

Newest Hearing Aid Technology Breaks the Rules to Deliver Speech Understanding on Par with Normal Hearing

Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona is among the first US hearing care professionals to offer Oticon Opn S™, a groundbreaking new hearing aid that allows people with hearing loss to experience speech understanding in difficult listening situations, such as restaurants or social gatherings, at the level of people with normal hearing.*

“Opn S hearing aids push the boundaries of what you can expect from a hearing aid to make a tremendous difference in how you hear and participate in life,” explains Dr. Rohe. “Ultra-fast sound processing opens up a rich, 360-degree world of sound so you can follow conversations in a group of people and focus on what’s important to you, even in noisy environments. And when you need extra help in especially noisy situations, Opn S lets you ‘boost’ the support you receive – whenever you feel you need it.”

This small, discreet hearing aid features Oticon’s exclusive BrainHearing™ technology to provide unprecedented access to the details of speech that helps the brain make sense of sound. People won’t have to work as hard to hear, so they’ll feel less stress and will be more likely to join in conversations.

“Staying connected is increasingly important today,” says Amy Rohe. “Opn S connects wirelessly to iPhone ^® so you can stream audio or music right to your hearing aids. A TV Adapter lets you turn your hearing aids into wireless headphones so you can enjoy TV with family and friends at a volume that’s comfortable for everyone.”

Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona points out that people who want the convenience of rechargeable batteries can choose Opn S, which offers a state-of-the-art rechargeable lithium-ion solution. An easy overnight charge provides a full-day of listening power.**

Hearing Loss in Musicians: Hearing Protection Tips

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 16:11:00 GMT

Hearing Loss in Musicians

New research has found that professional musicians face almost a four times higher risk for developing hearing loss when compared to the general public. Also, musicians have a 57 percent greater chance to develop tinnitus - ringing in the ears - due to them being exposed to loud noise, according to a study published by Occupational & Environmental Medicine in April 2014. Read more to learn how to mitigate hearing loss in musicians and noise induced tinnitus.

These conclusions were reached by the authors of this new report after they reviewed the medical records of a total of 3 million German subjects 19 to 66 years old. These records were collected from 2004 through 2008, which included information on 2,227 professional musicians. Among the almost 284,000 overall hearing loss cases, there were 238 professional musicians who experienced some level of hearing loss.

This link between developing hearing loss and being a practicing professional musician held up after the statistics were adjusted by researchers so they were not skewed by gender or age.

It was noted by researchers that earlier studies had suggested that individuals exposed to music long-term had developed increased hearing sensitivity, like being able to hear an entire range of sound.

In a news release, the authors wrote that their data suggested that the risks of hearing loss induced by music in professional musicians outweighed their potential hearing ability benefits. They added that given the high number of practicing professional musicians and the outcome's severity, that can lead to occupational disability and a serious loss in quality of life, this group's hearing loss is of high importance to public health.

So what steps can be taken to help to prevent hearing loss in musicians? The research of the study suggested that hearing protection should be more widely used and concert hall designs should be developed to shield musicians away from the sounds they are producing.

Chris Martin of Coldplay Speaks Out

Were you aware that listening to music on personal players for extended amounts of time, at an excessive volume, may damage your hearing? Over time that damage can add up, and it is permanent damage. Protect your hearing today in order to continue to enjoy the music that you love.

Decibels are used for measuring sound. Your hearing may be damaged by any sounds at 85 decibels or higher. On mobile devices, the volume can sometimes go up to 105 decibels!

Use the following smart listening tips and protect your hearing:

Here at the Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, located in Tempe, we offer custom fit musician earplugs. These are specially deigned earplugs to seal out the maximum level of sound, yet still have a flat frequency perception. It's like turning down the volume on everything! It's especially great for concerts, sports events, movie theaters, restaurants, band rehearsal, and more.

We also are considered the "Musician's Clinic" since we cater to so many musicians and their unique hearing needs. We are distributors for JH Audio and Sensaphonic in-ear monitors for stage use.

Read more about both at our website here: https://www.tinnitusaz.com/musicians-clinic.html

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 16:15:00 GMT

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)

Who Is Affected?

Hearing loss attributed to noise can happen to anyone. According to a national survey, 24% of American adults between the ages of 20 and 29 that have had their hearing tested will show signs of noise-induced hearing problems, including hearing loss.

How Do We Hear?

It is by understanding how we hear that we can comprehend how loud sounds can be damaging to our ears. The way our hearing is set up is through a complex system that changes the noises in the air into electrical signals that are transported by the auditory nerve to the brain so that we then understand what we hear.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) occurs when the stereocilia are damaged by loud sounds that happen over a sudden or last for too long. The stereocilia are tiny hair-like structures located on the top of hair cells in the inner ear. The damage causes these hair cells not to send signals to the brain about the sounds you hear - resulting in the hearing loss, which is permanent.

How Sound Is Measured

Sound is measured in decibels, and the units of measure start from zero which is at near total silence. It is the softest level of noise that the average young person can accommodate. A whisper is 30 decibels while the sound of a normal conversation is double that (around 60 decibels). If that level increases by 10 decibels then it is considered to be ten times more powerful. Comparatively, an ambulance siren noise is about 120 decibels which is a level that is a trillion times more intense than the softest sound that the ears can handle. That is why the ambulance sirens are painful to the ear when at close range, as is the case with any other types of noises that are of 120 decibels and above.

In short, the louder the noise, the shorter the time it would take for hearing loss to happen. The sound of a powered lawn mower is 90 decibels, while that of a firecracker can reach 150 decibels; thus the latter can damage your hearing more suddenly than the former.

Causes And Effects

Constant exposure to loud noises is likely to lead to hearing loss. For instance, a person subjected to loud sounds in a workshop or factory over a long period is at risk of developing hearing issues, including hearing loss.

Most of the activities we do every day put us at the risk of noise-inducing hearing loss. Such activities include:

Some of the cases of noise-induced hearing loss are short-lived. The hearing returns to normalcy for some people; often within 16-48 hours after the problem occurred. However, studies show that there may be some degree of long-term damage that took place even if it may not be detectable at the moment only to manifest later.

The hearing loss attributed to loud sounds does not always occur suddenly when exposure to such noises. It can build over time, and the signs go unnoticed. As the problem progress, the affected person may:

It is advisable to seek medical attention and have your hearing checked if you experience any of these signs.

Is The Condition Genetic?

While everyone is at risk of experiencing noise-induced hearing loss, some people are at a higher risk than others due to genetics. Every person has genes that they inherit from their parents. The genes are the elements that form the building blocks for who you are, and there are individuals inherently born with the risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss. Research is still ongoing to understand why this is and which genes are at the heart of it all.

Preventing Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

NIHL is preventable. You only need to invest in practical ways of protecting your hearing as you strive to enjoy listening to the sounds you love. You can do this by:

What Can I Do Next?

If you suspect that you might have hearing loss due to long term exposure to noise, or even a short term blast, such as gunshots, fireworks, sirens, etc., there are two things that we recommend:

If you are looking for hearing testing in Scottsdale or the Phoenix metro, we encourage you to contact us for a hearing test appointment.

Click here to Call Us for an appointment, or schedule online here.

How Hearing Loss Affects Mental Well Being

Mon, 04 Mar 2019 16:17:00 GMT

How Hearing Loss Affects Mental Well Being

Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona Explains How Hearing Loss Has An Impact On Your Overall Health

If you have hearing loss, and you’ve left it untreated, then it might be doing something to your overall mental health and may even increase your need for medical care. The Scottsdale hearing aids center wants to make sure that everyone gets the hearing loss help they need.

Understanding Hearing LossIn a study that was published in the Journal of Public Health, using a survey that was conducted in the UK, it was shown that the relationship between hearing loss and health services, or overall well-being is important. The study showed the evidence that is recently becoming available on the relationship between hearing impairment in individuals and a range of health-related outcomes dealing with depression, cognition and other aspects of mental health. Another thing the study looked into was whether or not those that have hearing loss sought out help more than those that did not suffer from any sort of hearing loss abilities.

Hearing Loss and Overall Health

While the study wasn’t able to determine that hearing loss increased the overall need for medical care, it did find other interesting facts linked to hearing loss that many of us may not have known.

Hearing loss was found to be linked to numerous health conditions and problems such as mobility, cognition, independence and memory. All of these issues can increase the need for further medical attention. Those that had hearing aids to correct the hearing loss issue were less known to have any health issues or problems relating to these areas.

Hearing loss currently affects around 16 percent of people throughout the United States, 19 percent in Canada and 17 percent in Britain. These are all percentages of adults that are suffering from hearing loss in these areas and not those born with hearing loss or are children living in the countries with the condition.

Hearing Aids Help with Cognitive Issues

It was found that over two-weeks, those that had hearing loss but were not having it treated, over 1,400 of them out of 8,000 were calling into the doctors for issues. Many of the cognitive issues that they called for or mental illness help they needed is most likely due to the fatigue and isolation issues they are having by not being able to properly communicate with others around them. It was found that if these individuals wore hearing aids, it would help address the issues that they are having.

While the study is not conclusive, it does help lead the way to understanding more about hearing loss and overall health. It is shown that those that do suffer from hearing loss should consider a hearing aid.

Finding a quality hearing aid company can help boost your overall health and well-being. Not only that, but it can ensure that you seek out less help when you have the properly fitting and working hearing aid that reduces the need for this sort of help. Your overall health should always come first when considering whether or not your hearing loss is affecting any part of your overall health.