You Might Be an Audiologist If ...

I was asked by ReSound if I would be willing to share this post of theirs with my readers. I found it amusing and said yes right away. I hope you will enjoy this lighter moment with me today. You may want to pass it along to your hearing care professional and make their day too.

You Might Be an Audiologist If ...

• Every time you tell someone your profession, they say “huh?” or “what?”
• You have a random copy of hearing aid software in the trunk of your car.
• You have alcohol swabs hidden in every pencil case and otoscope bag you own.
• Ears are the first thing you look at on a person.
• You cringe when someone mentions using Q-tips in their ears.
• When you’re drunk and feel like the world is spinning, you grab someone and ask them to look at your eyes to see if you have nystagmus*.
• You bust out your sound level meter app….. in church.
• You have ever used the term “externship”*.
• People ask you if you’ve seen the light on the other side
• You’re not grossed out by cerumen*.
• You have an urge to push an elderly person’s earmolds in properly when you’re standing behind them at the supermarket checkout.
• In public places, you try guessing what kind of BTE a person is wearing like you’re on a game show.
• You have a pair of ety plugs* on your keychain.
• You look at what type of earphones people are using at the gym as they walk by you.

*Not being an audiologist myself, I needed to look up a few of these terms. Here are explanations for
Nystagamus
Externships
Cerumen means earwax.
Ety plugs are earplugs.


Here are some more responses from ReSound's Facebook community shared with me via email:

• You find battery stickers all over everything you own, and especially on the bottom of your shoes and in your hair.
• You give your card to the guy in the car next to you with his speakers blasting and tell him to call you in a few years.
• You can't help but look at other people's ears in a crowd to see what types of hearing aids you can identify from a distance.
• You find yourself talking loudly for no reason.

Did you enjoy that? Can anyone come up with some answers for You Might Be Hard of Hearing If...

Don't Let Hearing Loss Keep You Home

The beach is my favorite destination!

It's almost summer time and many people are thinking about how to spend their vacation. In the U.S. gas prices are high and air travel is a hassle, so I can understand if some choose to stay close to home. But I don't want anyone to use hearing loss as an excuse not to see new places! With a little planning and self assertiveness, you can get where you want to go.

Can you see the palm trees
reflected in the window?

Last Saturday, I attended a seminar on travel tips for people with hearing loss by Tina Childress, an audiologist who's late deafened and wears bilateral cochlear implants. I'd like to share a few of the many things that I learned from her and offer my own thoughts and experiences.

For Travel by Airplane

• Don't pack any hearing aid or cochlear implant equipment in your checked luggage. The scanner for this luggage is much stronger than the one for carry-on bags. I've had my luggage lost before, so I never put anything of value in there.
• It's OK to walk through the metal detector with hearing aids or ear level CIs. But a body worn CI has more metal and may set off an alarm. I've wondered about the effect of metal detectors on my hearing aids and even asked security staff if it was OK... but even though they gave me the go ahead, I always felt a little leery about it. I never had any damage or problems occur, but I feel better knowing from a hearing professional that it's all right.
• When you reach your gate, let the staff at the desk know you have a hearing loss so you can be informed in case of delays, gate changes, or other announcements. It's in your best interest to sit as close as possible to the desk to make it easy for them to find you. I have not actually approached airline personnel about my hearing loss, although I do sit as close as I can to the desk. Now that I know Tina has done this, I will be more assertive myself.
• Hearing aids and CIs will not interfere with the plane's navigational instruments and do NOT need to be removed during takeoff and landing. I don't like to wear my hearing aids on a plane because of the engine noise. I was surprised to hear from Tina that occasionally cochlear implants are mistaken for Bluetooth devices and the difference has to be explained. By the way, if you ever meet Tina yourself, be sure and ask about her Redtooth story - it's hilarious!

For Travel by Automobile

• Turn on the light at night for better lipreading. I wasn't sure that was legal. Good to know!
• Purchase an extra wide rear-view mirror which eliminates blind spots and reduces headlight glare. That sounds like just what I need! That's a good tip for everyone in fact.

General Tips

• When traveling alone on a plane, train, or bus you may want to let the person sitting next to you know about your hearing loss in case an emergency announcement is made. I might do that if the person were friendly or solicitous, but for me it would definitely depend on the person! Some people make me feel uncomfortable. Use your gut instinct on this.
• Bring along the customer service number for your hearing aid/cochlear implant manufacturer. If you need a new part, you can get one shipped to your travel location. I had never thought of that. It would be very helpful to have that number looked up in advance. Just in case.

Tina is an outstanding speaker and there was much more than this to her presentation. If you ever get the chance to attend "Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Travel Tips for People with Hearing Loss" or any of her other workshops, I highly recommend it. 

I wish you all safe travels wherever you choose to go this summer. Do you have any plans made?

Oops! Not Again!!!

I took my hearing aids out Friday night and noticed an ear dome was missing. Uh oh. It had stayed behind in my ear!

An ear dome is the tiny tip that fits inside the ear canal.

Regular readers may recall that this same thing happened to me once before, almost exactly a year ago. That time an ENT doctor removed the stuck ear dome. Because it was evening this time, I had to go to extended care hours at a local clinic and see a regular doctor.

Fortunately, the staff on duty were able to find an instrument they could use to safely extract the tiny piece. It was a two person operation. The nurse held a lighted otoscope, while the doctor used one hand to stretch my earlobe and the other to gently pull the hearing aid part out of my left ear. The doctor was surprised when he saw how small it was. I assured him that he had gotten "all of it" and that I was good to go.

I was so thankful they were able to remove it. They had warned me if they couldn't I would have to go to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. If that was the case, I was going to wait until Monday and see my audiologist. I would have done that in the first place but I remembered being warned last year that not removing something stuck in your ear as soon as possible can lead to an outer ear infection.

Today I visited the audiologist and got a replacement part. I was also given spares and shown how to replace them myself. From now on, I'm to put new ones in once a month. I am also trying out a smaller sized ear dome. I hope this never happens again. Yikes. I'm starting to feel as mishap prone as Jerry Neumann.

A Deaf Writer and His Deaf Character: A Review of Deaf Sentence by David Lodge

Deaf Sentence by David Lodge isn't a new book. It was published in 2008. It was new to me, however, and I have reader Joe from Washington State to thank for bringing it to my attention. Joe wrote to tell me he enjoyed my blog and tell me about this book.

While I was reading the novel, I couldn't believe how similar the narrator's experiences with misunderstanding loved ones and coping with wearing hearing aids were to my own. I wondered how David Lodge got it so right. Well, the answer should have been obvious. David Lodge has a hearing loss himself. The British author discusses his hearing loss journey which began in his late forties and continues on into his seventies in this article from the Daily Mail.

When interviewed by The Book Depository, he was asked directly if Deaf Sentence was based on his own experiences. Here is his reply:

"The portrayal of the central character's deafness is closely based on my own experience, and it is exceedingly unlikely that I would have thought of writing a novel about this condition if I hadn't suffered from it myself. From my late forties I was afflicted with gradually worsening high-frequency deafness, the most common form of hearing impairment, which makes it difficult to distinguish consonants, especially when there is a lot of background noise. The character of Desmond's father is also closely based on my own father who died in 1999. He was also deaf, as a result of old age, but wouldn't wear a hearing aid, so communication between us was often difficult."

Deaf Sentence has lots of funny bits which will make you laugh, particularly if you or a loved one has a hearing loss. Some tender family moments are also included. To add some drama and suspense, there is a subplot about a young female graduate student who is writing a dissertation on suicide notes. For reasons of her own, she puts Desmond, the main character who is a retired linguistics professor, in compromising positions. For reasons of my own, I skipped over some of those parts to allow me to enjoy the book. Do you ever do that?

If you've read the book yourself, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. As always, keep those book recommendations coming.

My New Hearing Aids in Different Sound Environments

In my previous post on my new hearing aids, I wrote about the speech banana and the sounds that I miss. My hearing aids boost the amplification for the frequencies of sounds I don't hear. The catch is they also boost the volume for environmental noises in those same frequencies. Check out the chart below and you will see that the sound a fan makes is right in the place where I need the most help. That is my dilemma. Without hearing aids, fans are barely noticeable. With hearing aids, they are very intrusive to my listening experience.

My new audiologist assures me that my brain will learn to stop paying attention to background sounds like fans over time. The strategy that I'm using is to have only one program for my hearing aids. Before I had an additional program to use in noisy situations. I ended up using it as my default setting. I didn't give my brain a chance to adapt to these "new" sounds. Right now I'm in an adjustment period, but I'm determined to give this a chance to work.

Here's a description of various sound environments I've encountered during the last two weeks.

• Outdoor Environment

My hearing aids are a pleasure to wear outdoors. The day after I got them, I had a conversation with a neighbor I had never met before which is something I would definitely have avoided in the past. I was able to hear her just fine. When I walk my dog Rusty, I can hear his tag jingle against his collar ring. I have never heard that before. I asked my husband if it was a new sound because Rusty just got a new collar for his birthday, but he says it's always sounded like that. I am hearing bird song as melody rather than individual tweets. I had to laugh at myself the other day when I told a friend about listening to the cicadas. I exclaimed on how musical they were and not so overwhelmingly noisy. My friend pointed out there's a whole lot less of them around this time of year. Oops. I haven't encountered any weed wackers or snow blowers so far but lawn mowers aren't too bad.

• Inside the House

The microwave timer sounds different than I remembered. It's much easier to hear as is my oven's timer. The television's sound is better. I'm understanding my husband and son's speech much more easily. When I first got my new aids, my husband washing dishes in the sink was so loud, I asked him to stop. I know what you're thinking, I must be crazy! Well, rest assured, I wised up quick. Now when water is running and the dishes are clanking against each other, I turn my hearing aids down a couple settings to cope. The worst noise of all in the house for me is our bathroom fan. It's unbearable. Unfortunately, the fan comes on whenever the light is on. I'd really like to get that fixed. Until then, the bathroom fan is my biggest challenge in the house.

• In the Car

I have discovered my car makes a sound when you start up the engine to remind you to put your seatbelt on. I had never heard that before. I actually get a kick out of hearing it in the morning. I'm sure that will wear off but for now it's a novelty. I have the car radio turned to a lower volume level - by as many as 10 settings at time. Unfortunately, I am not yet able to enjoy music on the radio or easily understand what the broadcaster's are saying, no matter what volume setting I try. I have to admit, that's been a bit of a disappointment to me. More times than not, I am leaving the radio off. Road noise on highways is loud but not as loud as it was with my previous aids. I feel like I am coping with it. Before I used to take my hearing aids out when I was driving on highways. Surprisingly, a squeaking noise that I heard my brakes making before is actually less audible now. I have no explanation but it does help me understand why when I had a friend listen to the brake noise, he said everything was fine and didn't seem at all concerned about the noise I was hearing.

• In my Cubicle at Work

I have two challenges there. One is a space heater. Almost every day my work area is so cold, I turn a space heater on to keep warm. It took me a while to adjust to this sound with my previous aids (remember my comment about program 2) and I'm having to start over again with this pair. Sometimes I recite my audiologist's words - my brain will learn to ignore this noise - repeatedly to myself like a mantra. Sometimes I turn my left hearing aid down a setting or two. The other problematic sound is the HVAC system. Currently it sounds as though a vacuum is going constantly. I'm working on ignoring that too. On the plus side, I can more easily detect when someone is nearing my desk.

• Best Buy electronics store

This place was a nightmarish cacophony of sounds for me. I actually felt as though I were in physical pain and had to leave the store before my husband was finished browsing. This is not the place to go when you are adjusting to new hearing aids. Just take my word for it.

• Church

I was pleasantly surprised to hear the choir singing. I really missed that part of the service previously. The only solution for me was to sit right next to them. But naturally my regular pew was on the other side of the church and creature of habit that I am, I was much more comfortable there. I should also add that regular pew was a better spot for hearing the sermon. With my new aids in, the sounds of church - papers rustling and the congregation reading aloud in unison - did not bother me as they had before.

I hope that helps convey a bit of what my listening experiences have been like in the first two weeks of adjusting to my hearing aids. Drop me a question in the comments section if I overlooked a setting that you're curious as to how it sounds. As always, I welcome your comments and advice.

Advantages of My New Oticon Hearing Aids

Oticon Agil Pro

I've been hearing better with Oticon since last Thursday. Because I want to do justice to my description of how I am hearing now, I am going to take my time writing about this so I get it right. In this first post, I'd simply like to list a few of the advantages I've noticed with my new Oticon Agil Pro aids over the pair I wore before made by Unitron. This may be a bit of an apples to oranges comparison because my previous aids were 5 years old so please keep that in mind. This list is in order of what I like best, starting at the top.

• Sound is richer in quality and easier to hear. 
• When I put the Agil Pros in my ears, I hear melodious musical tones so I know they are "on". Before I would tap my finger on the microphone behind my ear "testing, 1, 2, 3" style.  
• The hearing aid tube inside my ear isn't a tube, it's a wire so it doesn't get clogged by ear wax. Brilliant!
• The receiver is at the end of this wire which sits inside my ear. Sound is more natural. My previous hearing aids had the receiver located behind the ear.
• I have a volume control button. I can increase the volume a couple settings and turn it down even more. The best part of this is that no matter if I move up or down in the settings, when I return to the volume level programmed by my audiologist, I hear beeps so I know I'm back where I need to be for everyday. Smart!
• This hasn't happened yet but my audiologist gave me a demo in her office. When the battery is dying, there is a single warning beep. When it is powering down, there is a "dying beep" that sounds to me like someone falling off a cliff in an arcade game. In fact, the sound tickled me so much, I announced I would wait to change my batteries just to hear it. With my previous aids, the warning beeps were numerous and sometimes hours passed in between them so I didn't pay much attention to them. As a result I frequently found myself with muted hearing aids wondering how long they had been off. Now I know to start reaching for my batteries once I hear that warning beep because the final beep is only minutes away.

I think all of these advantages reflect Oticon's People First slogan. They make my hearing aid experience as the user much nicer.

In addition to my hearing aids, Oticon generously provided me with their ConnectLine package of products which I will write about in a separate post. Suffice it to say for now, the sound quality with their bluetooth streamer provides clarity I've never experienced before, even with my FM system.

My Hearing Loss, My Self Image: A New Start

Today I had my fitting for the pair of hearing aids I will receive as part of the Oticon Focus on People Award. My previous audiologist doesn't work with Oticon aids, so I went somewhere new. It was nice to have a fresh start. While reviewing my medical history with my new audiologist, I surprised myself by just how much I've learned in the five years since my hearing loss was diagnosed. I could accurately describe my past audiogram results using the palm of my hand as a "chart" and could pepper our conversation with lingo like the speech banana, T4/M4, T-coil, and sensorineural. Impressed much?

When we discussed when my hearing loss might have begun, I shared that I didn't know for sure. I can remember feeling extremely fatigued in college. Could it have been from all the listening required? I distinctly remember one English writing seminar where a professor used a video for one of our classes and a light bulb went off in my head. I immediately grasped the concept. I've often wondered if I'm a visual learner due to my hearing loss.

Looking even farther back, I wonder if I had normal hearing as a child or not. I don't know for certain because I never had a childhood hearing test. Of course, none of my teachers ever indicated there was a problem. But since I'm nearsighted and have worn glasses since I was 9 years old, I was usually seated in the front row of the classroom. Maybe I was the shy, quiet girl because of my hearing or maybe that was, and is, just me. Hard to say.

My husband used to puzzle over how quiet I become in group situations. I could chatter on comfortably one on one, but if there were three people or more present, I was rendered speechless.  Now we've realized that my difficulty in following group conversation puts me at a disadvantage. When I'm lagging a few beats behind everyone else, it's hard to contribute the appropriate response that moves a conversation forward. To this day, I prefer spending social time with my friends one-on-one as much as possible.

At the audiologist's today, I took the usual battery of diagnostic tests. I hate to admit it, but there was a part of me that secretly hoped she would say that my hearing is normal. That my previous diagnosis had all been a mistake. But no, that didn't happen. Instead she said that the conduction test proved that nothing medically could be done for my hearing and that hearing aids were my only option. She said that technology had improved in the last five years and I might be much more satisfied with the way my new aids would sound. But I would continue to struggle with hearing in noise because my hearing is impaired. My audiogram came out just like all the others.

Even after five years time, I still struggle to accept my situation. At work recently I have been reassigned from my shifts at the information desk. When I told the audiologist that, she said that was a good idea in my situation. So now I have to re-imagine myself as a virtual librarian offering help electronically rather than face-to-face. I have to accept that when I'm interacting with hearing people, conversation is harder for me. I'm going to be the quiet one.

I hope with my new aids, I will come to an acceptance of who I am now and who I always may have been. In the spirit of I. King Jordan's famous words,  I can do anything except hear perfectly and it's time I get over that and move forward. I'm looking forward to living better with Oticon. I get my new aids next week.

My LA Story - Part 1

Winning the Focus on People Awards included an all expense paid trip to Los Angeles for 2 days courtesy of Oticon. Although I didn't know it beforehand, the awards luncheon I was invited to was part of a West Coast product launch event for Oticon. As I got packed, I thought that going to Hollywood was exciting enough, but even better was the chance to interact with hearing care professionals. I couldn't wait to talk to them about ALDA, the Association for Late Deafened Adults and Discovering Deaf Worlds. Both organizations mailed me items I could distribute while I was there.

My husband came to California with me. We arrived Thursday afternoon, in time to attend a pool side reception at the hotel. Seeing this girl with purple hair performing inside a giant transparent beach ball was our introduction to artsy LA. While I was chatting with Donna, an audiologist from Oregon, my husband was wondering how long the air would last inside that ball. Sure enough, before too long, another ball was launched with a different girl inside, and the first girl was released.

I had the chance to talk with a few others before Jennifer Alberstadt, another winner, found me and introduced me to her husband, Joe. Then it was time to go in for dinner. We sat at the same table with the Alberstadts and compared notes on our experiences with hearing loss and with the Oticon contest.

Jennifer has had a bilateral hearing loss since childhood and was just recently fitted with her first pair of hearing aids. She's a kindergarten teacher who lobbies to have children with hearing loss placed in her classroom. I hope to tell more of her story in a future post.

After dinner, we watched as artist Stephen Fishwick splashed paint on a blank canvas as he moved back and forth in frenetic motion using his hands as paintbrushes. We were unable to figure out what he was creating until the very end when he spun his canvas around and a light bulb appeared. While I admired his picture, I didn't understand its meaning until the next day when I visited the Oticon exhibit and saw this promotional display for the new Intiga hearing aid.

By the Now Effect, Oticon means that the Intiga provides "immediate and obvious benefits from the start that motivate rapid acceptance and long term use.” Studies in Maryland and Germany showed that new Intiga users reported experiencing benefits in a variety of key performance areas including comfort in ear, comfort with loud sounds, one-on-one conversation in quiet and speech in noise.

In the next photo, you can see my hearing aid in comparison to the much smaller sized Intiga. It's about the same size as a lady's ring. Can you believe it? I had an audiologist rave to me about how comfortable it is to wear. This hearing aid is designed for mild to moderate hearing loss. As my hearing loss is greater than that, I won't be fitted with the Intiga.

My current audiologist doesn't work with Oticon aids, so I am in the process of finding a new hearing care professional, who will make the decision as to which Oticon aid will work best for me.

In my next post, I will share more about our trip including our visit to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

How Long Do Hearing Aids Last?

How long do hearing aids last?

Photo of my hearing aids, taken in 2008.

I got my first (and only pair of hearing aids so far) in September 2006. As I'm approaching their 5 year anniversary, I'm wondering if I will be needing to purchase a new pair in the near future.

I vaguely remember asking my audiologist this question once and receiving an answer of 7 years. A few months ago when I attended a presentation on "How to Talk to Your Audiologist", I asked presenter Tina Childress the same question and she thought 5 years was more likely.

Tonight I did an Internet search to find information on how long hearing aids generally last. I learned that it depends upon the type of hearing aids, how much they are worn, and other personal variables such as the amount of earwax and perspiration a person produces, how well they are maintained, and even the climate where they are worn. Storing your aids in a dry aid kit at night and having maintenance and cleaning done by your audiologist regularly are two ways to help your aids last longer.

Estimates for how long a hearing aid will last varied from as little as 3 years to as much as 10 years. The most common figure I saw was 5 years. But, it's important to keep in mind how well you are doing with your current aids. As someone wisely pointed out on a Hearing Aid Forum discussion on this topic, "If you are doing perfectly well then it doesn't matter how old they are. They are solving your hearing problem. On the other hand if they are not adequately helping then it makes since to replace them even if they are fairly new."

Advancements in hearing aid technology is another reason to consider replacement. According to the website Audiology Online, "New hearing aids are coming out about once a year and so after 5 years, your hearing aid is 5 generations behind the latest technology." This website suggests that we may want to think about our hearing aids the way we think about our computers. Sure, a five year old computer can still work, but a new model will perform better and have more to offer. I have to admit that's definitely a factor in my thinking and something I will want to discuss with my audiologist.

Some people replace their hearing aids while the old ones are still working, ensuring that they have a backup pair "just in case". That idea appeals to me more than waiting until mine break down completely and I'm forced to deal with the issue. Ideally, I'd like to have time to consider my options, put aside the money, and not deal with the stress of being without working hearing aids.

To conclude, I found this online article to be an excellent summary on this subject.

Now I'd like to hear from you. If you've owned more than one pair of hearing aids, how long did yours last? What made you decide to replace them? Were there any warning signs that your hearing aids needed replacement? Would you like to replace your current hearing aids?

I look forward to hearing your responses. For newcomers, the easiest way to comment is by using the Anonymous option. You can include your name in your comment if you wish. Comments are moderated and there may be a delay before you see it posted here. When writing your comment, you can check mark a box to receive notification of comments by email. I find that's the most convenient way to keep track of discussions on my friends' blogs where I've left comments.

A Reader Asks Other Readers to Respond

I received an email from a new hearing aid wearer who wanted to ask a few questions of me and the readers of my blog. My answers appear in italics. Please post your responses in the comments section. Thanks!

1. I find myself frequently adjusting the volume on my aids, having come to see that as an advantage. In fact, I can turn them up loud enough so that I can hear things going on in the next room! I'm wondering if you and other subscribers use your aids in this manner, or if you just keep your volume controls at the same setting all day? The problem I have is that now I can't tell how loud something "really" is, and I'm afraid that I might adjust the volume on things like radios, etc. too high or low for others. I try to watch peoples' reaction, but I can never be sure. I'd appreciate knowing how you and other subscribers deal with this matter. Also, is the practice I've fallen into of turning my aids off in very noisy places and when I really want to concentrate common?

Speak Up Librarian: My hearing aids don't have volume controls. My options are to switch between different programs, add an assistive listening device, or take them out. When I'm concerned the volume is too loud for others, I ask and try to come to a compromise. I do the same thing as you when it comes to noisy places, I take my hearing aids out.

2. I've learned of a way to have my current BTEs attachable to eyeglass frames, so my visual and hearing helpers can be combined and put on and off at the same time. Have you or anyone else had experience with this option?

Speak Up Librarian: I haven't tried that. It's an interesting idea, but there are many times where I wear my glasses but not my hearing aids and I wonder how tricky it would be to separate them.

3. I'm frequently aware that people are making a special effort to speak loudly and directly to me, I guess because they see my hearing aids. Do you frequently have this experience?

Speak Up Librarian: No. Generally I get that response only after I've told someone I'm not hearing them and it's something they really want me to know.

4. Several times a week I'm asked about my aids. I guess as a female yours are more hidden by your hair? Do you make any effort to hide you aids/hearing problem, or do you want people to know? From what I've read on your blog, you were never embarrassed about getting hearing aids. How do you feel your husband, children and coworkers have adjusted and accepted your need for hearing aids?

Speak Up Librarian: No, I don't hide my hearing problem. In fact my friends and family frequently wish I would just shut up about it already. (That's me "reading their minds" - not that they've said that.) I haven't been embarrassed about getting hearing aids. But I have been embarrassed when I think people perceive me as stupid or slow when I don't understand them right away. Even after 5 years, I still find it difficult explaining my situation to library patrons. I read in a book last night that librarians tend to be very private about themselves in their interactions with library patrons so that could be a factor. When people are coming to me for help, I guess I want to appear "all knowing" - an occupational hazard perhaps. Since it's been 5 years now, I think my friends and family have accepted the situation. As we tell teenagers, it does get better.

Thanks for your email. I'm looking forward to reading the responses of other readers of my blog.

Do I Have to Wear My Hearing Aids When I Drive?

My last post on Switched at Birth raised the topic of deaf drivers. It got me to thinking more about the Hearing Aids restriction F on my own drivers license. I wrote about how I came to get that restriction on this post last year about renewing my drivers license. At that time I assumed it meant that I need to wear my hearing aids when driving just as the restriction B on my drivers license requires me to wear glasses or corrective lenses.

So that's what I've been doing until last week when I drove by myself to the beach. There was no way I was going to risk ruining my hearing aids by exposing them to the sand and water. But I couldn't very well leave them in the car because heat would wreck them too. The best option was to leave them at home.

It felt very freeing to drive without them. The road noise on the highway didn't bother me the way it does when I wear my hearing aids. I didn't have any passengers so there wasn't any strain to participate in conversation. But still I wondered if I were doing the right thing.

Yesterday I did a little research online and found out that in Illinois restriction F on a driver's license simply requires me to have two outside mirrors according to this state government website. There is no mention of having to wear hearing aids while driving. That was a huge relief to me. Now I feel comfortable about using my own judgment about whether or not to wear my hearing aids.

Million Dollar Marlee Matlin

I have really enjoyed watching Marlee Matlin on this season's Celebrity Apprentice. On tonight's episode, she raised a million dollars for Starkey Hearing Foundation!!! This is the American hearing aid company that donates hearing aids to needy children around the world. To learn more, visit the Starkey Hearing Foundation website.

Last year, I wrote about this organization but didn't mention that it's been a personal dream of mine to someday accompany this organization on one of their missions to Central America. Marlee, more than ever, you are my hero for what you've done tonight. Congratulations!

No matter what happened this week on Celebrity Apprentice, I was planning to write about Marlee. Why? This week I discovered this inspirational video of her on the Deaf Women in Film website. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.



By the way, the men's team on Celebrity Apprentice raised money for another wonderful cause, the St. Jude Children's Hospital. Donald Trump made a deal with Marlee and men's team leader, John Rich, that the "losing" team (in terms of dollars raised) could keep their money for their charity. So, both charities won big tonight. You can learn more about St. Jude Children's Hospital at their website.

Well done, celebrities. So many children will be helped by your efforts.

Hearing Aid Mishap

See that tiny tip at the end of the tubing?
That part got stuck in my ear!

On my way home from work and en route to picking up my son from school, I casually reached up to switch programs on my hearing aids. Something I do without thinking every day. This time was different. One of my hearing aids didn't switch programs. I've had that happen before so I tried again. This time it switched but then the sound went crazy with feedback. "What on earth?" I wondered as I reached up to pull it out of my ear careful to keep my eyes on the road. A second later when I glanced down at it on my lap, I noticed the tip was missing. Uh oh. At the next stoplight I felt around my ear and thought I might have touched it. I was almost to my son's school by then so I continued on to get him. When he got in the car, I pulled over into an empty parking space, got out of the car, and checked around the driver's seat and on my clothes. No hearing aid tip. I asked him to take a look inside my ear. He couldn't see it. I decided to call my ENT's office.

Fortunately, the staff had not left for the day and they told me they would wait until I got to their office even though I was about 20 minutes away at the time. I was so relieved to have a plan of action although I did worry a bit in case the tip turned out not to be in my ear. Would the doctor be angry with me for wasting his time? I fretted until the thought occurred to me that as much money as an ENT doctor makes, it would hardly be a waste as I was sure I would be charged either way.

When we got to the office, one of the audiologists took a look in my ear with an otoscope. "I see it," she announced to my relief. Then the doctor came in took a quick peek of his own in both ears and took out something that looked like a thin wire. One of the staff told me to hold very still. In a jiff, he had extracted it. Phew, I was glad that was over. The audiologist left the room to get me a new tip and tube. Meanwhile the doctor was looking at my chart. "It's been more than a year since your aids have been reprogrammed, why not have it done now", he suggested. "After all you've come all this way", he said persuasively. "Do you have time now?" I asked the audiologist when she returned. "Yes, our office holiday party is this evening and I live too far away to go home first. I was just going to hang around here anyways."

With that settled, I decided to go ahead. Despite having an impatient, hungry teenager on my hands, I wanted to get my hearing rechecked. I was pretty certain I wasn't hearing as well as before and having it looked at now beat the hassle of scheduling an appointment around my job for another time. In my next post, I'll reveal the results of that test.

When I wrote about this mishap on facebook, I think I gave the wrong impression that a part of my hearing aid broke off or that a piece of the hearing aid tube snapped off in my ear. That wasn't what happened. I want to clarify that the round tip is a separate piece that fits very tightly onto the tubing. It's slipped off while I've cleaned it perhaps once or twice but never while wearing it. I don't know how this happened but the audiologist says it does happen occasionally. The important thing is to get it out as soon as possible. My audiologist said if I had left it in for a couple days, I risked getting an outer ear infection. Not to mention that my ear felt pretty sore anyways. I left my hearing aid out of that ear all day yesterday just to help it recover. Today it's feeling fine.

I hope this never happens to you, but if it does, get help as soon as possible. I'm glad I did.

To Wear Hearing Aids or Not?

To paraphrase Shakespeare, "to wear hearing aids or not to wear them" is one reader's dilemma. She wrote me recently to ask the following question: Do people with mild or moderate hearing loss benefit by wearing hearing aids?

This has been her experience. One audiologist told her she didn't need hearing aids. A second audiologist said she did and she purchased a pair. She wore them for awhile, stopped wearing them, and has recently started wearing them again. In noisy situations and when people whisper, she finds that the aids are helpful. But she's self conscious about wearing them and has a spouse who is non supportive. She wonders if it's worth it when she can function without them.

I've emailed her my two cents on the topic. It's an issue I've debated myself as regular readers of my blog know. I often take hearing "breaks" without my hearing aids because listening tires me. But I do wear them most of the time. Somewhere I got the idea that wearing hearing aids with a milder loss helps your brain adjust to hearing through them and is better than waiting until the loss is greater. Her audiologist told her that by wearing them now she would not have as great a loss in the future as she would if she didn't wear them.

Readers, what are your thoughts on this?

• Do people with mild or moderate hearing loss benefit by wearing hearing aids?
• Does wearing hearing aids help prevent hearing loss?

Hearing Aid Care in Summer

A reader wrote to me yesterday and asked for tips on taking care of his hearing aids in the summer. With sunny days and rising temperatures in the forecast, this is a timely topic to discuss.


Two basic things to avoid with hearing aids are heat and moisture. Where I live in the midwestern United States, the summer months bring increased exposure to both of them. Fortunately we can be proactive in protecting our hearing aids.


I found two resources online today that I found useful. As always, readers, if you have any advice or personal experiences to share, you can brighten my day by adding a comment to this post.


About.com notes there are additional risks to hearing aids in summer from the increased humidity in the air, moisture from body sweat, and potential for accidental falls into swimming pools. This site recommends using a paper towel or napkin to wrap around your hearing aid. If you plan to visit an amusement park, take along a zippered plastic bag to keep your hearing aids safe on water rides. To read the complete article which includes links to available products that may help, click here.



Lifeisworthhearing.com points out that excessive moisture can cause distortion, static, and other problems. Helpfully the site offers some common sense tips for combating moisture including these:

• Open the battery compartment at night to allow air to circulate.


• Wipe your hearing aids with a tissue as needed during the day.


• Do not leave your hearing aid in direct sunlight.


• Do not attempt to dry an aid with a microwave or hair dryer.

To read the complete article, click here.

My reader was particularly interested in keeping his ear molds dry. My hearing aids don't come with ear molds so I don't know what might work for this. I found this site that explains how to clean hearing aid ear molds. Does anyone else have any tips for him?

The Clean Slate Approach to Hearing Aid Programming

Erasing the Blackboard.
Uploaded to flickr by Goodbye Tomorrow.

Recently I have been hearing some voices on radio and television as "tinny". There seemed to be a ringing sound behind the words they said. Concerned about this, I made an appointment with my audiologist to find out if perhaps my hearing aids needed repair or reprogramming.

I was assured right away that there was nothing broken with my aids. So I asked my audiologist if my hearing aids could be reprogrammed back to the settings they had in the beginning. I explained that when I first got them, I had trouble coping with fan noise and another audiologist had done some "creative programming" to solve the problem. It worked but ever since then, I have never heard speech as clearly which is my number one reason for wearing hearing aids. I've had various tweaks and volume adjustments done in the three years since and I was certain my current programming was pretty far off of what the original settings had been.

The audiologist thought that was a good idea. She erased my current programming and used the manufacturer's software to reset it to the profile recommended for my hearing loss. When I put the hearing aids in my ears, though, I couldn't even tell they were on until I tapped on the mics. The audiologist fixed that by increasing the gain twice. Much better.

Driving back to work, I was able to keep my hearing aids in the first program (for quiet environments) even with the window down. This is something I haven't been able to do for a long time. Previously the sound of the road, other cars, and my own car's engine always made me uncomfortable so I would turn the aids to the second program (for noisy environments). I also noticed that the jangling of my keys hanging from the ignition bothered me a lot less.

Back in my cubicle at the library, I was happy to discover that I could continue to wear my aids in the first program. Usually I had to have them set to the second program due to an unpleasant sound they picked up from a nearby mechanical closet. With this new programming, I didn't hear that noise at all!

When I saw my son that evening, I was very pleased at the sound clarity of his voice. Lately he had been very frustrated by my frequent misunderstanding of his speech and constant requests for constant. Later on I surprised myself when I had a conversation in my driveway with a neighbor past twilight when it was too dark even to see her face clearly. In times past, I would have avoided a situation like that at all costs.

Today while walking in to work, I looked up and saw a seagull flying overhead. Then I heard its wings. I was so amazed. I had been really certain that my previous experience hearing a bird's wings had been a once in a lifetime experience.

Tomorrow I will have a shift at the reference desk. That will be the litmus test. I'm trying to stay hopeful that I will hear better there, although I have to admit some of the distracting noises in that area continue to sound loud to me.

If you're interested, here's a printout from my audiologist visit that shows my new settings. You can click on the photo to view it larger.

What to Expect When Getting Hearing Aids for the First Time

I have been contacted by someone who is getting her first pair of hearing aids soon. I want to give her some friendly supportive advice without overwhelming her with information on hearing loss.

So far I've suggested

• Get adjusted to your aids slowly.
• Begin wearing them in quiet places.
• Use your own comfort level as a guide to how long to wear them rather than a set schedule.
• Return to the audiologist for adjustments as needed.
• This link for understanding her audiogram.
• This link for understanding if her loss is mild, moderate, or severe.

My hearing aids are BTE open fit and are mostly comfortable and out of sight under my long hair. What would you respond if asked if your aids are comfortable to you? What do you say to people when they comment on your hearing aids?

What advice would you give to someone getting hearing aids for the first time?

Hearing a New Sound

Canada Goose 2
Originally uploaded by SewerDoc

As I was walking in to work the other day, a Canadian goose flew overhead. It was flying very low and wheeling around in the air above me. I heard a rhythmic whirring sound and realized it was the sound of the bird's wings flapping strenuously. I had heard the sound of geese calling but had no idea that it was possible to hear their wings moving. I looked all around me to see if there was anything else that could possibly account for this sound. There wasn't. I was really hearing the bird. I was amazed.

Later I talked about my experience with my son and he explained to me that birds' wings do make a noise but only if they are flying low can you hear it. That was all the confirmation I needed.

So often my blog posts have been about missing out due to my hearing loss that I am very pleased that thanks to wearing hearing aids I could hear a sound that was new to me. I'm dedicating this post to Joey Resciniti, the mother of a daughter with hearing loss who left the following lovely comment on my post "A Whole New World".
It's neat for me to think of her having those same "wow" moments when she heard the world for the first time.

Renewing My Driver's License

My driver's license was just about to expire, so I thought I'd better head over today to the DMV to get my renewal. Since there's a branch in my neighborhood, I didn't give it much thought. I assumed they'd be open on a Saturday. Wrong! I was so mad when I found that out at 10:05. I had taken my time getting ready and had dragged my son with me so he could get an idea of what to expect when it's his turn to get a driver's license. I thought it would be a good life lesson. Listening to mom swearing wasn't the life lesson I had in mind, though. We both had a chuckle over that later.

Meanwhile I had to rush back home and look online to find the next closest branch open on a Saturday. By this time it was 10:10. I found one about a half hour drive away that was open until noon and we headed off. When we didn't find it where we thought it should be my son urged me to pull over at a gas station and ask for directions. It felt like we were in the Amazing Race for a moment. Fortunately someone inside the gas station knew right where it was at and we weren't far away.

Pulling into the nearly full parking lot should have clued me in that this place was busy. The line to the door stretched past several other storefronts in the strip mall. We got into line noting the time was now 10:45. A few minutes later, a man came out asking that all the people who needed to take a written test come with him. Did I have to take a written test? I wasn't sure. It had been 8 years since my last renewal. I hadn't studied up on the rules of the road or anything. Uh oh. The man reiterated if you need to take a written test or even think you might, then come now. When he put it like that, I decided to go.

This moved us up near the front of the line. When it was my turn, the clerk said I needed a vision test only and handed me a number. I was so glad she didn't send me to the back of the line. Then we took our seats in a huge waiting room. There were probably a hundred people already seated. The time was 11:00.

This facility knew how to process people quickly. I was very impressed how deaf friendly the setup was. There was a large screen (almost as big as the kind in airport terminals) that showed which numbers were currently being served. Each counter had its own smaller screen that would post the number being served there as well. When the next person's turn came an announcement was made over the loudspeaker in a low pitched female voice which I could hear thankfully. Even so I continued to keep my eye on the screen so I wouldn't miss my turn. I had brought a book to read but hearing the numbers called off in a steady stream and looking up at the screen distracted me too much to concentrate on my book.

After 40 minutes my number was posted. I practically ran up to the window, greeting the clerk with a sunny smile and enthusiastic "Good morning!" I handed over my old license and then had to answer the tricky questions of height and weight. At that point my son was very willing to be helpful and provide the information I generally fudge on a bit. Drat!

Just when the clerk was finishing up my paperwork, I said, "Wait a minute." The words hearing aid had caught my eye on the piece of paper. I asked the clerk about it and told her I wear two hearing aids. She checked the box and said it added a restriction to my license. I told her I hoped that marking it would help a police officer to know I would need him to speak loud and clearly to me. She nodded and then added an apology for not realizing to ask me about hearing aids. I waved that off saying, "I doubt you see that many people my age wearing them."

Then it was time to pay and pose for my photo. Smile! The camera flashed and a minute later I had my new driver's license. We had finished the process at 11:55. Phew.

My question for you is does your driver's license state that you wear hearing aids? I'm asking because sometimes I actually don't wear mine in the car. Usually for one of two reasons: my hair is still damp from my shower or on highways the road noise that my hearing aids pick up is very loud. Now I suppose I have got to wear my hearing aids every time I drive. What do you think?

Win a Year's Supply of Hearing Aid Batteries

Wouldn't it be great not to have to purchase hearing aid batteries for a whole year!That could be you if you're the lucky winner of Steve's giveaway.

The rules of his blog contest are simple. In a blog comment, answer two questions and leave a suggestion on how you think his website could be improved. The two questions are 1)How long have you been wearing your hearing aids? 2)What type do you wear? Relax. There are no wrong answers. The winner will be picked randomly.

This contest is open until February 21st. Don't delay, enter today. I did!

Click here to enter.