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My Body: Ears and Hearing
Ears and Hearing. Sounds go into my ears. Inside my ear, sounds hit an eardrum. Nerves tell my brain about the sound. My brain tells me what I am hearing. ...www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/body_ears.htm

Kids' Health - Topics - Ears - hearing problems
14 Mar 2008 ... Some people have to work much harder at listening because their ears do not hear very well, or they may have a problem being able to ...www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=152&id=1603 - 40k

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Hearing Aids To Best Suit Your Needs

Hearing Aids To Best Suit Your Needs
By Robert Thatcher

Studies show that one-tenth of the American population is hearing-impaired. Over the years, hearing aids have helped a great deal in eliminating this deficiency.

Hearing aids are small audio devices which are attached to the ears. Most models now are hidden to a casual observer. They offer a superior sound quality which helps lessen, if not eliminate, the loss of hearing.

As technology evolves, the science behind manufacturing hearing aids have become more and more advanced.

Here are the three basic types of hearing aids:

1. Conventional hearing aids

These are the very first types and brands of hearing aids which were realeased in the market.

Although not as technologically advanced as the programmable digital hearing aids, the conventional type can be adjusted in a way that will fit the user's needs.

With this type, the volume is manually adjusted by the user. The sound can be turned up or down, depending on the softness or loudness of the source of sound.

The only minor disadvantage of this type of hearing aids is that if a person's hearing loss level improves or worsens, it must be sent back to the manufacturer so that adjustments can be made.This can be quite inconvenient for the user.

2. Programmable hearing aids

This is more advanced in terms of technology, as compared to the conventional type.

Programmable hearing aids have adjustable circuits which may be adjusted, depending on the user's level of hearing.

The volume control is automatic, making life easier for the patient.

3. Digital hearing aids

Depending on the patient's needs, a digital hearing aid may be ordered to suit a specific situation.

This is by far the best and most convenient type to use.

There are hearing health care professionals whose job is to find the hearing aid that will be beneficial for the user.

The patient's lifestyle and level of hearing loss is considered when looking for the best hearing aid to buy.

Digital hearing aids also feature an automatic volume control.

However, it may take one or two visits to a health care professional before the settings of the hearing aid can be adjusted to the user's satisfaction.

Physically, this type of hearing aid is easier to wear and is kinder to the ears.

The circuit within the hearing aid automatically increases or decreases the level of sound.

There is a microphone and an amplifier that gathers and adjusts the sound respectively.

Finally, the speaker transmits the byproduct of the altered and digitally-enhanced sound to the user's ears.

The downside is that this type of hearing aid is more expensive than the programmable and conventional hearing aids.

Still, once you have invested in a digital hearing aid, it will surely be convenient for you and will fit into any lifestyle.

4. Disposable hearing aids

This type offers the sound quality of a conventional hearing aid and is more cost-effective than its more technologically-advanced counterparts.

Disposable hearing aids have a shorter shelf-life. They can last 40 days at most, and once the battery expires, a new one should be purchased.

To choose a hearing aid that is right for you, make sure that you consult your ear doctor or otologist/audiologist.

When consulting a professional to choose the right hearing aid for you, give them an overview of your lifestyle and budget to determine the best hearing aid that will suit your needs.

Finally, try it out for a few days and if you find that the hearing aid that you bought does not fit your ear, your needs and your way of living, go back to your health care professional so that another type can be purchased.

Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides hearing aid resources on http://www.hearing-aid-center.info.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=RobertThatcher
http://EzineArticles.com/?Hearing-Aids-To-Best-Suit-Your-Needs&id=149977

Hearing Loss and the Games Children Play

Hearing Loss and the Games Children Play
By Jill Blodgett

Today in the newspaper there was an article about a Welsh company that developed a device called the mosquito. The device emitts a high pitch sound and was marketed as an ultra sonic teenager repellent. The whole idea is based on the fact that adults gradually lose their ability to hear high pitched tones as they age. The device was popular with shopkeepers in England who would use it outside their shops where teenages loitered.

The device, intended to benefit adults, has been turned against them. The mosquito noise has been reinvented as a cell phone ring tone. Kids are downloading the ring tone from the internet and using it in school and other places where they aren't allowed to have their cell phones on. The phone rings or beeps for a text message and the teacher never knows!

This article made me laugh because years ago when I used to jog with my teenager there was a certain place on a street we went down where she would cover her ears and complain about a noise, a high pitched squeal, that hurt her ears. I thought she was crazy because I couldn't hear a thing. She is vindicated!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=JillBlodgett
http://EzineArticles.com/?Hearing-Loss-and-the-Games-Children-Play&id=221930

Go Beyond Hearing and Listen Listen Listen

Go Beyond Hearing and Listen, Listen, Listen
By Bette Daoust, Ph.D.

If we listened twice as much as we talked, we would be a lot further down the road to success. People sometimes think I am very quiet when they first meet me. Those that know me are aware that I am quite the opposite. When I am in a setting where I do not know anyone, I spend my time listening to conversations. I pick up good information about most people at the event. Once I feel I have enough to go on, I will put my hat in the ring and speak up. If most people did the same thing, they would learn how to participate in a conversation. Not only do you have to listen to conversations, you actually have to hear what they are saying. It is only through hearing that you will gain an understanding. I am not saying you need to understand every conversation but you do need to understand enough to make an intelligent comment to get into the circle.

Another way to get into a conversation is to reiterate what you have just heard. I use, did I hear you say . . . . .? The response is usually yes and then they continue to explain why they said it. This is your opportunity to follow up with your comments. You must continue to listen and hear throughout any conversation and only make a comment when you know exactly what you are talking about. I made a fatal error once when someone was arguing a point and I agreed with them. They then asked me how I knew about the subject. I was dumb-founded and could not answer as I was not really hearing what they said, I was just listening in. I felt very foolish and now I make sure I hear the words and understand them before agreeing. There is nothing like an embarrassing moment to straighten up your habits.

When you attend events and spend your time adding to conversations, you are really taking in information that will be valuable for you at another time. You will get to know the participants in the conversation and perhaps even exchange business cards. You may also find that you have common interests.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. is a speaker, author (over 170 books, articles, and publications), and consultant. She has provided marketing, sales, business development and training expertise for companies such as Peet's Coffee & Tea, Varian Medical Systems, Accenture, Avaya, Cisco Systems to name a few. Dr. Daoust has also done extensive work with small businesses in developing their marketing, training, and operational plans. You may contact Dr. Daoust at http://BizMechanix.com. You may also view her latest publications at http://BlueprintBooks.com. Dr. Daoust also writes for the National Networker http://theNationalNetworker.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=BetteDaoust,Ph.D.
http://EzineArticles.com/?Go-Beyond-Hearing-and-Listen,-Listen,-Listen&id=357862

Designer Hearing Aids

Designer Hearing Aids
By Steve Joseph

It seems that the latest craze to grace the catwalks is hearing devices! Yes, I said hearing devices. The interest has been astounding as high revenues created by an aging baby boomer generation have caused some hearing aid designers to abandon previous efforts to conceal hearing aids in favor of making them the latest must have fashion accessory. An incredible revolution has already taken place in the world of eyewear, and it appears that hearing aids are starting to catch up.

For years hearing aid manufacturers have all fought to gain supremacy in the hearing aid market with smaller hearing devices aimed at a level of subtlety that bordered invisibility. People with hearing loss were able to discard their comparatively bulky behind the ear (BTE) hearing aids in favor of aids that fit inconspicuously into the ear canal, although the small aids did come at a cost. Obviously smaller hearing aids drew on expensive technology which was reflected in the cost, but the other sacrifice was in the quality of sound that the aid delivered. Due to the small size, speaker volume and the ability to counter ambient sounds was somewhat sacrificed. Such compromises for micro technology had been popular in the past, but reports say that the market appears to be shifting dramatically. As a new breed of hearing impaired people begins to opt for fashionable and functional hearing aids, a whole new world of opportunity has been opened to development teams.

The revolution in fashionable hearing aids is allowing designers to incorporate a much wider array of feature that simply werent possible with the mini aids. Since designers have more room to work with, options like Goldfish, (which allows the user to replay the last 10 seconds of audio just incase something like a name was missed) can now be offered. These advances are set to redefine the negative stigma that has traditionally been attached to hearing aids.

In fact the designers of these new stylish aids claim that hearing aids may even attract customers without hearing loss. That would appear somewhat optimistic to believe for now, but these more attractive and useful hearing aids look certain to deliver a clearer level of sound deaf people that so far has proven elusive.

The author is a regular contributor to http://www.discountaids.com and permission to reproduce this article is given only on the basis that all links remain active and intact.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=SteveJoseph
http://EzineArticles.com/?Designer-Hearing-Aids&id=138047

Hearing Voices and Talking to Voices: Invite Them In

Hearing Voices and Talking to Voices: Invite Them In
By Louis Tinnin

Hearing voices does not mean you are crazy. This is so even when a voice tells you to commit suicide or to kill someone else. People do sometimes obey those commands and this fact makes it urgent to do something about command hallucinations. Many common attempts to do something are simply futile. One cannot close ones ears to the voices. Medications dull consciousness long before affecting the voice. Auditory hallucinations often persist even after electroshock treatment. Such treatment efforts are protracted and demoralizing to the person and the end point is usually an uncertain claim that the voices are gone.

An entirely different approach to dealing with voices is recommended by some clinicians that work with trauma, which is the most common origin of voices. They say, talk to the voices. They explain the voices as vocal parts of yourself that have their own ideas and opinions. If you are willing to negotiate with them you may be able to help them become less extreme in their efforts to participate in your life. First, it will help to learn more about their nature and their role as parts of you.

The Nature of Voices

Usually the individual voices have been constant companions and are recognizable to the person as male or female and young or old. Sometimes there is a single voice, but more commonly there are groups of voices; some with prominent roles and some just bit players. There may be the crying of infants or young children and there may be cries of other traumatized selves. When there are young, helpless children there may be older protectors. There is no limit to that internal world. Voices keep arising as consequences of traumatic experiences.

A person may hear only one or two voices. This layer often contains a commanding voice urging total subjugation and humiliation. It may impel the person to drink or to starve or self-cut, or it may demand suicide. The person typically reacts with automatic, trance-like obedience and may be saved only by appeals from another voice saying No, or the intervention of another actual person. One may come to realize that these voices represent past selves that are still locked in the trauma that froze their action. Other voices are protectors of young traumatized selves and some are keepers of the secret as commanded by a perpetrator.

The Externalized Dialogue With Voices

Talking with a voice requires externalizing the voice, which is best done by writing a message to the voice, addressing it as you. This will be the first of a series of taking turns, each addressing the other as you or by name. Now it is the turn for Voice to speak. You may have to write for the voice at first but before long Voice will speak for itself, your hand moving by its will.

The rules for the externalized dialogue are three: 1. Take turns. 2. Dont interrupt. 3. Write complete sentences. The dialogue with commanding voices can begin with an exploration of their roles and their feelings. Usually their roles began as attempts to help the person. Unfortunately, even suicide might be regarded as a helpful solution for the need to escape. A successful negotiation with the suicidal part can substitute less extreme solutions.

Voices Have Quirks

There are certain quirks that characterize the majority of voices. Knowing about these quirks helps to understand the power of the externalized dialogue.

Voices are gullible: Voices arise outside of consciousness in the brain tissue that normally relies on the conscious language processing of the brain to provide syntax and leadership. The dissociated states of self with their voices may be desperate for leadership and for the missing elements of syntax. The practical consequence for voices that represent self-states frozen in past traumas is that their identity and roles are ripe for reframing by the individuals present verbal mind. The externalized dialogue is a practical vehicle for communicating with those voices, influencing them, and reframing their identity and roles.

Voices hear voices: When someone negotiates with a voice that urges suicide and finally gains agreement to pursue a different option, this may not be the end of the matter. There may be another suicidal voice ready to fill the role vacated by the first suicidal voice. Separate negotiations with different voices may be necessary.

The best defense is a strong offence: The fiercer the voices sound at the beginning, the meeker they are in the long run. People may be terrified of their voices and also fearful for the safety of others if that fierce voice gets out. However, once engaged in the dialogue the voice becomes simply another aspect of the person and, more often than not, a younger aspect.

Voices can be wise. Some voices become helpers by providing a clear-headed response to the negative voices. Some voices exemplify a wise archetype or a role of inner-self-helper described in the psychiatric literature. That helpful voice can be called on during the course of therapy using the externalized dialogue process.

A Safe Self-Help Technique?

Many people have used this as self-help after going through a one or two-week intensive trauma therapy program and they reported no difficulties or complications.

Louis W. Tinnin, MD

http://traumatherapy.us

http://traumarecoveryinstitute.org

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Hearing-Voices-and-Talking-to-Voices:-Invite-Them-In&id=172482

Hearing Loss In The Elderly

Hearing Loss In The Elderly
By Alice Endy

Last Sunday my mother was visiting. We were playing cardswhen I began to realize how long we have accommodated herhearing loss.

My mother lost the hearing in her right ear as a teenager.As children we learned to always talk to her left ear,have the radio off when she was driving, wait forthe TV commercial and lower the volume before speaking.

We had many a laugh when after calling my mother she wouldwalk to another room or the other end of the housethinking the voice came from that direction. Mom laughedwith us MOST of the time.

When my nursing career led me to the field ofGeriatrics I automatically knew how to communicatewith people with hearing loss.

Twenty eight million people suffer from hearing loss.

Ages 65-74-- 23% have hearing loss.
Ages 75 84-- -33% have hearing loss.
ages 85+ ---- 48% have hearing loss.

Most older people with hearing loss never see an audiologistnor do they get fitted for hearing aids. It amazes me that so feware willing to get help.Hearing loss has a very gradual onset, frequently not noticed bythe person himself. Usually it is the spouse that raises thepossibility of hearing loss.

Most doctors do not test for hearing loss as part of aroutine physical and for some unknown reason, most olderpeople will not complain of their hearing loss.Denial is very strong when the topic is hearing loss.

As people age the hearing sense does decline in many folks.

This presents many problems:

Unable to hear emergency sirens, fire alarms, honking horns

Often develop depression over time due to an inability tohear conversations.

Often withdraw from social gatherings and isolate themselves.

Often develop paranoia, thinking people are talkingabout them since they are only able to pick up occasional words.

Often become irritable as they isolate.

These symptoms are very common among the frail elderly, especiallywhen in group activities such as sitting at a table playing cards, or eating.

Communicating With Elders with Hearing Loss

Face the person- within three feet.

Sit at eye level.

Get eye contact.

Be sure you have their attention.

Turn off any background noises-TV, Radio.

Announce the topic of the conversation.

Enunciate clearly.

Do not eat or chew when communicating.

If not understood, rephrase your statement using different words.

Use hand gestures as needed.

Talk to the good ear if appropriate.

Make sure your elder sees a doctor for hearingdifficulty. Ask for a referral to an audiologist.

Dedicated to Eldercare,

Nurse Alice

About the Author: Alice Endy is a Registered Nurse with national certification in the field of Geriatrics.Ms Endy is a sought after speaker and consultant in the field of Eldercare. Ms Endy is also a caregiver for her mother who is in her twelfth year of Alzheimer's Disease. Ms Endy knows well the problems of long term caregiving and the joys and sorrows of end of life issues.

http://www.AskNurseAlice.com/blog

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Hearing-Loss-In-The-Elderly&id=249631