Over the years I have worked with many families. You might think that I work with patients, but this isn’t necessarily true. Helping one person in a family hear better, improves the whole family dynamic. I often hear about disagreements that are due to “mishearing” another family member. “You said ________.” “No, I didn’t.” “Yes, you did!” It can be very frustrating for everyone concerned. Then there are the disagreements about the television. The volume is too high. The volume is … [Read more...]
Archives for July 2018
Don’t Panic!
I occasionally see hearing device users for emergency appointments, whether they are my patients or here on vacation, who have had sudden problems. No need to panic, often these are very simple problems and easy for the hearing aid user to fix themselves. First, if your hearing device goes dead, don’t panic. It is often a simple problem that can be fixed easily. Could it be a dead battery? I frequently hear that “it’s a brand-new battery”. Where did you buy your batteries? The … [Read more...]
A Word of Caution
Recently there was a terrible accident in Tampa. A woman was backed over by a garbage truck. You might think “How could that happen?” There is a loud beeping sound when commercial trucks back up. It turned out that she was wearing hearing aids. Your next thought might be “Why didn’t she hear the beeps?” Even with the best hearing aids, no one hears everything. If her hearing was bad enough, she probably still didn’t hear the beeping. Another thing to consider, is how noisy was the … [Read more...]
Why Can’t I Hear My Television?
This is another common complaint that I hear. Even with the best hearing devices, television listening can still be a problem. One reason is technology. The quality of television pictures has been improving consistently. Unfortunately, the same care and product development has not gone into the sound systems in televisions. So, you may have a 60-inch television screen with fabulous resolution and 30-year-old speaker technology. My patients with surround sound systems also report … [Read more...]
Hurricane Season is Here
I am hoping that we won’t have a repeat of last year’s hurricane season. However, I do think that we all learned a few things last year and can be better prepared. When you prepare your hurricane kit for the year, don’t forget about your hearing aids. Be sure to add extra batteries, domes and filters to your kit. If you have rechargeable hearing aids, be sure to have either regular batteries or extra power sources for your recharger. Many of us didn’t have power for several days after … [Read more...]
Where should I keep my hearing aids?
Of course, you want to store your aids in a safe place. But where is that? 1. Do not keep your hearing aids in the bathroom. It is too damp and in a cluttered area, it is easily knocked onto the floor, or worse. 2. Do not ever wrap anything of value in Kleenex. It will get thrown away. 3. Do not leave the aids where pets and children have access to them. (Yes, even your wonderful, well-behaved pet will eat them). 4. Don’t randomly set them down. They will get lost. 5. Have a … [Read more...]