Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. It is time to learn more about your
health and you're hearing. How to keep both at their best.
This is listen and learn. I'm Danny and with us
is hearing instrument Specialists from Concept by Iweharing Center. Kat
Klow or Kat, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
You're welcome. Good morning everybody, and welcome to October.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Here we are, yeah, the month where you never know
what the weather's going to do. But we do know
there's going to be something going on out there, that's
for sure, and October is a big month. Kat. When
we start talking about our hearing, I'll let you explain
more in just a second, but I can tell you
this Concept by IWAH Hearing Centers is known for their
(00:42):
complimentary hearing evaluations. It's a way they extend, you know,
just that kind of courtesy to their clients, to their family.
So if you need to get yours, I highly recommend them.
It's a great hearing screening. You can book eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety or you can
(01:03):
go online Iowa Hearing dot com. Either way, make sure
you do that by one o'clock today, because you qualified
to receive five hundred dollars off per device on the
Best Series package and twenty four months no interest financing
with approved credit. It's a great deal and it's a
(01:24):
great hearing exam and I just love Concept by Iowa
Hearing Centers, so I highly recommend them. Well Kat Klower
our licens Hearing Instrument specialist. Let's start talking about why
October is so important.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Well, October is National Audiology Awareness Months, and this year
they're trying to promote and remind the public to protect
its hearing and also remind people that untreated hearing loss
is a risk factor for both falls and dementia. So
(01:58):
we're going to get into some fact and just kind
of some general things about hearing that will help educate
people so that they understand the importance of hearing loss
and what needs to be done. So October is National
Audiology Awareness Months, and of course it's urging the public
(02:20):
to be aware of the importance of good hearing health.
And so what do we do with this information. We
make an appointment at Concept by Iowa Hearing to get
your hearing checked in the month of October. Hearing is
one of the most important aspects of our health. It
(02:40):
connects us to people. It keeps us vital in the workplace.
It also keeps us vital as we age, and when
it's left untreated, it's associated with other health issues. The
National Institute of Health National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders states that approximately twenty nine million Americans could
(03:04):
benefit from the use of hearing aids. While age is
often cited as a factor, there are a growing number
of younger people reporting hearing difficulties. A study published by
the Lancet Commission on Dementia, Prevention, Intervention and Care sites
eleven risk factors for dementia and that includes hearing loss.
(03:29):
The report also stated that dementia typically starts many years
before it's recognized. Untreated hearing loss can impact the brain
and cognitive health. And I know this is something I've
talked about quite a bit on other shows. So we're
just going to kind of leave that where it is
(03:50):
for today, and also remember that there's a link between
untreated hearing loss and falling. To a study conducted by
John Hopkins University School of Medicine, an increase and hearing
loss in an individual, for instance, going from having normal
(04:11):
hearing to even a mild hearing loss is associated with
a threefold increase in risk of falls, and that's I
think something that a lot of people are not aware
of one of the factors, and maintaining healthy hearing is
being conscious of the degree an amount of loud exposure
(04:33):
that people have. Many of the hearing losses that people
experience are caused by damage to tiny sensory receptors or
hair cells inner ear. The damage can be caused by
too much noise, and unfortunately it's permanent. However, steps that
(04:55):
you take to prevent this damage can make sound induced
to hearing loss one hundred percent preventable. And the easiest
way and simplest way to protect your hearing if you
can't avoid loud sounds is to wear hearing protection. And
you know, this is something we've talked about before. I'm
(05:16):
a big fan of, you know, even the small little
foam inserts, because there's something you can flip in your
pocket or stash in your vehicle. So you know, if
you get to a concert you think, oh my gosh,
I should have brought hearing protection, It's readily available. You know,
(05:37):
if you're constantly exposed to sound because of your hobbies
or profession, then you might want to seek a better
form of hearing protection, I guess you would say, and
lengthy and repeated exposure to noise above eighty five decibels
(05:59):
can damage hearing. So some examples of loud sounds. A
jet taking off is about one hundred and fifty decibels.
Fireworks is about one hundred and fifty five decibels. Shooting
a gun, depending on the gun, is right around one
hundred and forty decibels. A music concert, depending on where
(06:22):
you're sitting, and you know, the sound system can be
as high as one hundred and twenty decibels. I reported
earlier a couple of weeks ago at the Iowa Iowa
State Game, the decibel level at one point reached I
think it was one hundred and nine decibels. Wormers kind
of yeah, So you know, these are all things you
know that maybe we enjoy doing or we're exposed to.
(06:46):
Lawnmowers are at eighty five decibels. Chainsaws one hundred and
fifteen decibels. So I often talk about the sixty sixty rule,
and we're going to go over that. And I have
a new acronym for protecting or hearing that I'm excited
about so we'll not roll that out today too. So
(07:07):
we'll start first with a sixty sixty rule. This is
for people who are listening to their devices, and this
is something we see daily. I mean I see it
at the gym, I see it. You know, people at
the grocery store. They got their headsets in, whether it's
the air pods or earbuds or whatever system and they're
(07:30):
streaming from their phone. And we need to remember to
not listen to the volume at more than sixty percent
of maximum volume for no more than sixty minutes at
a time. You need to give your ears a rest
before you start up again. And this will really help
(07:53):
avoid damage. And you know, this is important for everybody,
but I do think in general to our younger people
who do more of this. So if you have young
people in your life and you think they're not listening
to WC Listen and Learn on Saturday mornings at seven
thirty am, you need to share this information with them.
(08:15):
The other thing that we need to remember is ears.
We can use the acronym ears on how to remember,
how to protect your hearing E for using ear plugs,
A for avoiding loud sounds, R for reducing the level
of sounds and s for shortening the time expend in
(08:38):
loud environments, so ears is another good one to use.
And of course if you're not sure where you're at
with your hearing, you need to pick up the phone
and get that complimentary hearing evaluation scheduled for the month
of October.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
And it is so so easy. Why is it easy
Because concept I were hearing Centers may makes it very
easy for you. You can call in at eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety again eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety or you can
go online to their website and book your hearing exam
that way. Iyowa Hearing dot com is their website. That's
(09:18):
Iyowa Hearing dot com. Either way, Again, it's simple, and
you will qualify for the promo which is five hundred
dollars off per device on the best series package and
twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit. But
you must do that by one o'clock today. Yeah, schedule
(09:40):
by one o'clock today before you forget about it. Make
sure you do it right away so you qualify for
that promo. Kat Klower is hearing instrument specialists with Concept
by Iowa Hearing Centers. I just I just love concept
by Iowa Hearing Centers Kat. The hearing exams are great,
and of course you always keep us informed how to
to keep our hearing the best. And I love that
(10:01):
ears acronym. That's that's very very good.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Well, thank you. And uh, there's no doubt that people
are concerned about their health. I mean it's a topic
every day. We see it in the news, we see
it on talk shows, we hear it. You know, we
want to I think in general the mindset now is
we want to age helpfully. You know, we want to
(10:26):
live longer, but we also want to have that quality
of life. And often though people don't think about the
importance of hearing. Help and concept by Iowa Hearing through
radio through this show Listen and Learn. We also, you know,
do shows on WMT and who We and in our
(10:50):
clinics as well. We educate patients and the public about
safe versus unsafe levels for listening. We perform hearing evaluations,
and we facilitate and the rehabilitation efforts for hearing loss.
And anyone suspecting that their hearing has diminished or they're
(11:10):
just unsure, they really should get tested as soon as possible.
Changes to hearing tend to happen gradually. We talk about
this almost each week. By the time hearing loss is noticed,
it may have been progressing for a while, and improving
hearing improves quality of life. Our ears are too important
(11:35):
to put off taking care of them. We always recommend,
and we say on the show each week, it is
recommended that people begin at age forty. Now, I'm going
to say this with the stipulation if you're younger than
the age of forty and you think you might be
having issues, don't wait til you're forty. But a general
(11:58):
guideline for overall healthcare and screening is to start at
age forty and get a baseline hearing test, and then
every five years afterwards. We need to remember that it
is hard to self diagnose hearing loss, and that maybe
even if your hearing levels are normal or ranging to
(12:20):
that mild level that they will you know they're not
going to stay that way moving forward. People with a
mild hearing loss can develop a significant hearing loss within
five years. When I test somebody in my clinic who
has normal hearing or ranging to that mild area, I
(12:40):
will recommend what I think is appropriate time before the
next retest. I mean, if someone's truly normal, I'm going
to say, hey, everything's great, We're going to call you
in five years and remind you that it's time to
get retested. If somebody you know is a little more
towards that mild side and maybe the further side of mild,
(13:04):
I might recommend they come back in two years. And
I always close with the statement, if you think that
your hearing is changing before we call you, call us sooner,
because there are always factors that we can't control. You know,
maybe you start taking a medication and that has changed
(13:26):
your hearing. Maybe you know you're undergoing chemotherapy. Maybe you've
been exposed to a virus. Maybe you've had shingles or
COVID and you're noticing a change in your hearing. These
are all things that you know you want to call
and sooner. But we will always make it easy for you,
and we put in what's called a callback, and we
(13:48):
will call you after X amount of years. And I know, Danny,
you've gone through this process. I've kind of kept you
it every four years, but I think it's because I
like to see you in the class.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Hey, I'd come back every year if you really wanted
me to. I really would.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
But it is an easy process, and I'll let you
kind of talk about that a little bit. But you know,
when the time comes, we call you. You know, we
don't expect you to remember in two years, three years,
four years, five years and sing, dang, it's time to
come in. So we really make it easy for you
with those callbacks. We make it easy because the evaluation
(14:23):
is complimentary, and we make it easy because I don't
think it's a difficult thing to do. No, I'll put
your feelings on that.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yeah, I mean it's super easy. And literally I have
not had any bad interactions with anyone from Concept. It's
always so friendly. They're always so welcoming. They want you
to have an easy experience. They want to know where
they can improve your life through better hearing. So that's
why the exams are complementary, and they want you to
(14:54):
have the most knowledge that you can about where your
hearing loss is. So I appreciate what they do. Hey,
they'll even give you a little something to drink if
you want coffee or water. Sometimes you even get cider.
As it gets closer to the fall, I mean it's
just it's really a great a great atmosphere to come
in and have your hearing tested. And again they're completely free.
(15:14):
All you have to do is pick up the phone
or go to the website contact them and they will
set it all up for you. So eight seven seven
six three two thirty six ninety eight seven seven six
three two thirty six ninety is the number four Concept
by Iowa Hearing Centers and their website is Iowa Hearing
(15:36):
dot com. Again Iowa Hearing dot com. Make sure you
book by one o'clock today so you qualify for this
great promo. You'll receive five hundred dollars off per device
on the Best Series package and twenty four months no
interest financing with approved credit. It's a great deal. It's
(15:59):
a great place, it's a great exam. It really is
very thorough and it is not difficult to take. I
swear to you if it were, I wouldn't be going back.
So it's very very easy. Kat Klower, hearing instrument specialist
and the one who gave me my hearing exam from
Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers, talking about Audiology Awareness months
(16:20):
being here in October and how we can keep our
hearing at its best.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
I found it interesting on the October you know Audiology
Awareness website that they had a list of audiology terms
and definitions, and I decided to include this today because
these are words that I often use on the show
(16:45):
and I really don't, I guess, think much about them
because it's something that I'm dealing with every day. But
for people listening, they might be like, what does she
mean by that? We're going to throw those out there
today and give a little education. So, uh, when we
talk about loudness levels and protecting your hearing, I often state,
(17:08):
you know, we don't want to be exposed to something
that's eighty five decibels are more? Well, what is adacibel?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Adacibel? Adacibel is a unit for expressing the relative loudness
of sound. And another thing that we talk about is
the audiogram. You know, I'll tell patient, I will fax
your audiogram over to your family position you're The audiogram
(17:37):
is a chart and I just basically think of it
as the hearing test results, and it is the graft
results of the hearing test, and it the chart has
intensity level which would be decibel level listed on one
access and frequencies or pitches listed on the other access
(18:02):
access so you know you've got how loud do we
have to make it before you hear it, your threshold
of hearing at each pitch or frequency, and then our
audiograms also include the results of your word discrimination testing,
(18:22):
and your speech and noise testing, and your bone conduction results.
And this is something I go over with each person
after their test so that they can understand their results
where they're at and make better sense of what's being
recommended for the best course of action for that individual.
(18:42):
The other term is seruman, something I deal with daily,
but that's okay, I mean, this is my profession. I
don't think much of it. And serumen is earwax.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Glands in our ear canals produce ear wax to protect
the skin inside our ears, and it provides protection against germs.
And I am a nerd, and I find it interesting
that they have found that there's even like a pesticide
component to serumine or earwax, So I guess you can
(19:18):
say it's our body's natural protection against bugs as well,
which I guess if you think about it, really makes sense.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, that does kind of make sense. That's crazy. I
didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yes. Another term that we use often is an outoscope
or an otoscopic exam, So we do an otoscopic exam
on every patient that comes into the clinic and of
course every patient before they're tested. So the otoscope is
our light, our ear light, our magnifying and lighting tool
(19:53):
used to look in the ear canal because we want
to make sure that that ear drum is visible. We
want to make sure that the ear drum looks healthy
and normal, and we of course want to make sure
that you're not impacted with the roumin or ear wax,
or that you have a foreign object in your ear.
(20:14):
You know, whether it's I've found various things throughout the years,
but you know I've removed like the tip of a
queue tip. You know, there can be things in your ears,
and because you cannot see in your ear, it is
a good time for me to take a look and
make sure that everything's okay. Another term that we use
(20:36):
a lot is cochleia. Cochlia is our inner ear. It
is that small snail shaped portion of the inner ear
that contains the hair cells and nerve endings that convert
a sound from the mechanical movements in the middle ear
to an electrical charge and it sends it to the
brain for processing. So this is a a good time
(21:01):
to kind of say when I talk about hearing, I
always say hearing is our pathway of sound, but it's
up to our brains or our cognition to interpret that sound.
So hearing is hearing, but really it's a combination of
our ears and our cognitive functions that become part of
(21:24):
the whole auditory process. And that makes it a little
bit more logical for people to understand why untreated hearing loss,
you know, can lead to cognitive issues down the line.
And tonightas I mean, you know, people really don't exactly
understand what tonitas is. But tonightas is that perception of
(21:47):
the presence of sound in one or both ears that
is not associated with an external sound source. So nobody's
creating that sound. It's a sound that you are specifically hearing.
It can be constant or intermittent, and of various volume levels, pitches,
(22:08):
and complexities. So what does this really mean? It sounds
differently to different people. To some people may be a
true ringing sound. To others that might sound more like
cicadas and locusts. But that's the definition of tonight's and
it can also be pronounced tentatives. That's the question I
get quite often. You can say it either way. Just
(22:32):
remember October is Audiology Awareness Month. It's a great month
to come in and get your hearing tested if you
think you're having changes, if you have not been tested
in the last five years, pick up the phone and
give us a call by one o'clock today.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Eight seven seven six three two thirty six ninety. That's
eight seven seven six three two thirty six ninety to
get a hold of Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers and
schedule your complimentary hearing exam. You know, you can even
do that on their website, Iowa Hearing dot com. I
recommend you bookmark that again, Iowa Hearing dot Com. A
(23:11):
lot of great information there, not only about Concept and
the people that work there, but also about your health
and hearing. Just a lot of good information. Of course,
if you get booked by one o'clock today, there's a
great promo. This is five hundred dollars off per device
on the Best Series package and twenty four months no
(23:33):
interest financing with approved credit. Again, you do have to
schedule by one o'clock today. All right, so get on that,
and thank you so much, Kat Klower. She's hearing instrument
specialists with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers and our gracious
host giving us all the information here on Listen and
Learn and we appreciate you, Cat. I hope you have
(23:54):
a great weekend. This is going to be lovely.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Oh well, thank you everyone. Enjoy your weekend and have
a great October.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Listen and Learn is brought to you by Concept by
Iowa Hearing Centers on WOC
Good morning. It is time to learn more about your
health and you're hearing. How to keep both at their best.
This is listen and learn. I'm Danny and with us
is hearing instrument Specialists from Concept by Iweharing Center. Kat
Klow or Kat, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
You're welcome. Good morning everybody, and welcome to October.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Here we are, yeah, the month where you never know
what the weather's going to do. But we do know
there's going to be something going on out there, that's
for sure, and October is a big month. Kat. When
we start talking about our hearing, I'll let you explain
more in just a second, but I can tell you
this Concept by IWAH Hearing Centers is known for their
(00:42):
complimentary hearing evaluations. It's a way they extend, you know,
just that kind of courtesy to their clients, to their family.
So if you need to get yours, I highly recommend them.
It's a great hearing screening. You can book eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety or you can
(01:03):
go online Iowa Hearing dot com. Either way, make sure
you do that by one o'clock today, because you qualified
to receive five hundred dollars off per device on the
Best Series package and twenty four months no interest financing
with approved credit. It's a great deal and it's a
(01:24):
great hearing exam and I just love Concept by Iowa
Hearing Centers, so I highly recommend them. Well Kat Klower
our licens Hearing Instrument specialist. Let's start talking about why
October is so important.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Well, October is National Audiology Awareness Months, and this year
they're trying to promote and remind the public to protect
its hearing and also remind people that untreated hearing loss
is a risk factor for both falls and dementia. So
(01:58):
we're going to get into some fact and just kind
of some general things about hearing that will help educate
people so that they understand the importance of hearing loss
and what needs to be done. So October is National
Audiology Awareness Months, and of course it's urging the public
(02:20):
to be aware of the importance of good hearing health.
And so what do we do with this information. We
make an appointment at Concept by Iowa Hearing to get
your hearing checked in the month of October. Hearing is
one of the most important aspects of our health. It
(02:40):
connects us to people. It keeps us vital in the workplace.
It also keeps us vital as we age, and when
it's left untreated, it's associated with other health issues. The
National Institute of Health National Institute on Deafness and Other
Communication Disorders states that approximately twenty nine million Americans could
(03:04):
benefit from the use of hearing aids. While age is
often cited as a factor, there are a growing number
of younger people reporting hearing difficulties. A study published by
the Lancet Commission on Dementia, Prevention, Intervention and Care sites
eleven risk factors for dementia and that includes hearing loss.
(03:29):
The report also stated that dementia typically starts many years
before it's recognized. Untreated hearing loss can impact the brain
and cognitive health. And I know this is something I've
talked about quite a bit on other shows. So we're
just going to kind of leave that where it is
(03:50):
for today, and also remember that there's a link between
untreated hearing loss and falling. To a study conducted by
John Hopkins University School of Medicine, an increase and hearing
loss in an individual, for instance, going from having normal
(04:11):
hearing to even a mild hearing loss is associated with
a threefold increase in risk of falls, and that's I
think something that a lot of people are not aware
of one of the factors, and maintaining healthy hearing is
being conscious of the degree an amount of loud exposure
(04:33):
that people have. Many of the hearing losses that people
experience are caused by damage to tiny sensory receptors or
hair cells inner ear. The damage can be caused by
too much noise, and unfortunately it's permanent. However, steps that
(04:55):
you take to prevent this damage can make sound induced
to hearing loss one hundred percent preventable. And the easiest
way and simplest way to protect your hearing if you
can't avoid loud sounds is to wear hearing protection. And
you know, this is something we've talked about before. I'm
(05:16):
a big fan of, you know, even the small little
foam inserts, because there's something you can flip in your
pocket or stash in your vehicle. So you know, if
you get to a concert you think, oh my gosh,
I should have brought hearing protection, It's readily available. You know,
(05:37):
if you're constantly exposed to sound because of your hobbies
or profession, then you might want to seek a better
form of hearing protection, I guess you would say, and
lengthy and repeated exposure to noise above eighty five decibels
(05:59):
can damage hearing. So some examples of loud sounds. A
jet taking off is about one hundred and fifty decibels.
Fireworks is about one hundred and fifty five decibels. Shooting
a gun, depending on the gun, is right around one
hundred and forty decibels. A music concert, depending on where
(06:22):
you're sitting, and you know, the sound system can be
as high as one hundred and twenty decibels. I reported
earlier a couple of weeks ago at the Iowa Iowa
State Game, the decibel level at one point reached I
think it was one hundred and nine decibels. Wormers kind
of yeah, So you know, these are all things you
know that maybe we enjoy doing or we're exposed to.
(06:46):
Lawnmowers are at eighty five decibels. Chainsaws one hundred and
fifteen decibels. So I often talk about the sixty sixty rule,
and we're going to go over that. And I have
a new acronym for protecting or hearing that I'm excited
about so we'll not roll that out today too. So
(07:07):
we'll start first with a sixty sixty rule. This is
for people who are listening to their devices, and this
is something we see daily. I mean I see it
at the gym, I see it. You know, people at
the grocery store. They got their headsets in, whether it's
the air pods or earbuds or whatever system and they're
(07:30):
streaming from their phone. And we need to remember to
not listen to the volume at more than sixty percent
of maximum volume for no more than sixty minutes at
a time. You need to give your ears a rest
before you start up again. And this will really help
(07:53):
avoid damage. And you know, this is important for everybody,
but I do think in general to our younger people
who do more of this. So if you have young
people in your life and you think they're not listening
to WC Listen and Learn on Saturday mornings at seven
thirty am, you need to share this information with them.
(08:15):
The other thing that we need to remember is ears.
We can use the acronym ears on how to remember,
how to protect your hearing E for using ear plugs,
A for avoiding loud sounds, R for reducing the level
of sounds and s for shortening the time expend in
(08:38):
loud environments, so ears is another good one to use.
And of course if you're not sure where you're at
with your hearing, you need to pick up the phone
and get that complimentary hearing evaluation scheduled for the month
of October.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
And it is so so easy. Why is it easy
Because concept I were hearing Centers may makes it very
easy for you. You can call in at eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety again eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety or you can
go online to their website and book your hearing exam
that way. Iyowa Hearing dot com is their website. That's
(09:18):
Iyowa Hearing dot com. Either way, Again, it's simple, and
you will qualify for the promo which is five hundred
dollars off per device on the best series package and
twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit. But
you must do that by one o'clock today. Yeah, schedule
(09:40):
by one o'clock today before you forget about it. Make
sure you do it right away so you qualify for
that promo. Kat Klower is hearing instrument specialists with Concept
by Iowa Hearing Centers. I just I just love concept
by Iowa Hearing Centers Kat. The hearing exams are great,
and of course you always keep us informed how to
to keep our hearing the best. And I love that
(10:01):
ears acronym. That's that's very very good.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Well, thank you. And uh, there's no doubt that people
are concerned about their health. I mean it's a topic
every day. We see it in the news, we see
it on talk shows, we hear it. You know, we
want to I think in general the mindset now is
we want to age helpfully. You know, we want to
(10:26):
live longer, but we also want to have that quality
of life. And often though people don't think about the
importance of hearing. Help and concept by Iowa Hearing through
radio through this show Listen and Learn. We also, you know,
do shows on WMT and who We and in our
(10:50):
clinics as well. We educate patients and the public about
safe versus unsafe levels for listening. We perform hearing evaluations,
and we facilitate and the rehabilitation efforts for hearing loss.
And anyone suspecting that their hearing has diminished or they're
(11:10):
just unsure, they really should get tested as soon as possible.
Changes to hearing tend to happen gradually. We talk about
this almost each week. By the time hearing loss is noticed,
it may have been progressing for a while, and improving
hearing improves quality of life. Our ears are too important
(11:35):
to put off taking care of them. We always recommend,
and we say on the show each week, it is
recommended that people begin at age forty. Now, I'm going
to say this with the stipulation if you're younger than
the age of forty and you think you might be
having issues, don't wait til you're forty. But a general
(11:58):
guideline for overall healthcare and screening is to start at
age forty and get a baseline hearing test, and then
every five years afterwards. We need to remember that it
is hard to self diagnose hearing loss, and that maybe
even if your hearing levels are normal or ranging to
(12:20):
that mild level that they will you know they're not
going to stay that way moving forward. People with a
mild hearing loss can develop a significant hearing loss within
five years. When I test somebody in my clinic who
has normal hearing or ranging to that mild area, I
(12:40):
will recommend what I think is appropriate time before the
next retest. I mean, if someone's truly normal, I'm going
to say, hey, everything's great, We're going to call you
in five years and remind you that it's time to
get retested. If somebody you know is a little more
towards that mild side and maybe the further side of mild,
(13:04):
I might recommend they come back in two years. And
I always close with the statement, if you think that
your hearing is changing before we call you, call us sooner,
because there are always factors that we can't control. You know,
maybe you start taking a medication and that has changed
(13:26):
your hearing. Maybe you know you're undergoing chemotherapy. Maybe you've
been exposed to a virus. Maybe you've had shingles or
COVID and you're noticing a change in your hearing. These
are all things that you know you want to call
and sooner. But we will always make it easy for you,
and we put in what's called a callback, and we
(13:48):
will call you after X amount of years. And I know, Danny,
you've gone through this process. I've kind of kept you
it every four years, but I think it's because I
like to see you in the class.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Hey, I'd come back every year if you really wanted
me to. I really would.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
But it is an easy process, and I'll let you
kind of talk about that a little bit. But you know,
when the time comes, we call you. You know, we
don't expect you to remember in two years, three years,
four years, five years and sing, dang, it's time to
come in. So we really make it easy for you
with those callbacks. We make it easy because the evaluation
(14:23):
is complimentary, and we make it easy because I don't
think it's a difficult thing to do. No, I'll put
your feelings on that.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yeah, I mean it's super easy. And literally I have
not had any bad interactions with anyone from Concept. It's
always so friendly. They're always so welcoming. They want you
to have an easy experience. They want to know where
they can improve your life through better hearing. So that's
why the exams are complementary, and they want you to
(14:54):
have the most knowledge that you can about where your
hearing loss is. So I appreciate what they do. Hey,
they'll even give you a little something to drink if
you want coffee or water. Sometimes you even get cider.
As it gets closer to the fall, I mean it's
just it's really a great a great atmosphere to come
in and have your hearing tested. And again they're completely free.
(15:14):
All you have to do is pick up the phone
or go to the website contact them and they will
set it all up for you. So eight seven seven
six three two thirty six ninety eight seven seven six
three two thirty six ninety is the number four Concept
by Iowa Hearing Centers and their website is Iowa Hearing
(15:36):
dot com. Again Iowa Hearing dot com. Make sure you
book by one o'clock today so you qualify for this
great promo. You'll receive five hundred dollars off per device
on the Best Series package and twenty four months no
interest financing with approved credit. It's a great deal. It's
(15:59):
a great place, it's a great exam. It really is
very thorough and it is not difficult to take. I
swear to you if it were, I wouldn't be going back.
So it's very very easy. Kat Klower, hearing instrument specialist
and the one who gave me my hearing exam from
Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers, talking about Audiology Awareness months
(16:20):
being here in October and how we can keep our
hearing at its best.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
I found it interesting on the October you know Audiology
Awareness website that they had a list of audiology terms
and definitions, and I decided to include this today because
these are words that I often use on the show
(16:45):
and I really don't, I guess, think much about them
because it's something that I'm dealing with every day. But
for people listening, they might be like, what does she
mean by that? We're going to throw those out there
today and give a little education. So, uh, when we
talk about loudness levels and protecting your hearing, I often state,
(17:08):
you know, we don't want to be exposed to something
that's eighty five decibels are more? Well, what is adacibel?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Adacibel? Adacibel is a unit for expressing the relative loudness
of sound. And another thing that we talk about is
the audiogram. You know, I'll tell patient, I will fax
your audiogram over to your family position you're The audiogram
(17:37):
is a chart and I just basically think of it
as the hearing test results, and it is the graft
results of the hearing test, and it the chart has
intensity level which would be decibel level listed on one
access and frequencies or pitches listed on the other access
(18:02):
access so you know you've got how loud do we
have to make it before you hear it, your threshold
of hearing at each pitch or frequency, and then our
audiograms also include the results of your word discrimination testing,
(18:22):
and your speech and noise testing, and your bone conduction results.
And this is something I go over with each person
after their test so that they can understand their results
where they're at and make better sense of what's being
recommended for the best course of action for that individual.
(18:42):
The other term is seruman, something I deal with daily,
but that's okay, I mean, this is my profession. I
don't think much of it. And serumen is earwax.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Glands in our ear canals produce ear wax to protect
the skin inside our ears, and it provides protection against germs.
And I am a nerd, and I find it interesting
that they have found that there's even like a pesticide
component to serumine or earwax, So I guess you can
(19:18):
say it's our body's natural protection against bugs as well,
which I guess if you think about it, really makes sense.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Yeah, that does kind of make sense. That's crazy. I
didn't know that.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Yes. Another term that we use often is an outoscope
or an otoscopic exam, So we do an otoscopic exam
on every patient that comes into the clinic and of
course every patient before they're tested. So the otoscope is
our light, our ear light, our magnifying and lighting tool
(19:53):
used to look in the ear canal because we want
to make sure that that ear drum is visible. We
want to make sure that the ear drum looks healthy
and normal, and we of course want to make sure
that you're not impacted with the roumin or ear wax,
or that you have a foreign object in your ear.
(20:14):
You know, whether it's I've found various things throughout the years,
but you know I've removed like the tip of a
queue tip. You know, there can be things in your ears,
and because you cannot see in your ear, it is
a good time for me to take a look and
make sure that everything's okay. Another term that we use
(20:36):
a lot is cochleia. Cochlia is our inner ear. It
is that small snail shaped portion of the inner ear
that contains the hair cells and nerve endings that convert
a sound from the mechanical movements in the middle ear
to an electrical charge and it sends it to the
brain for processing. So this is a a good time
(21:01):
to kind of say when I talk about hearing, I
always say hearing is our pathway of sound, but it's
up to our brains or our cognition to interpret that sound.
So hearing is hearing, but really it's a combination of
our ears and our cognitive functions that become part of
(21:24):
the whole auditory process. And that makes it a little
bit more logical for people to understand why untreated hearing loss,
you know, can lead to cognitive issues down the line.
And tonightas I mean, you know, people really don't exactly
understand what tonitas is. But tonightas is that perception of
(21:47):
the presence of sound in one or both ears that
is not associated with an external sound source. So nobody's
creating that sound. It's a sound that you are specifically hearing.
It can be constant or intermittent, and of various volume levels, pitches,
(22:08):
and complexities. So what does this really mean? It sounds
differently to different people. To some people may be a
true ringing sound. To others that might sound more like
cicadas and locusts. But that's the definition of tonight's and
it can also be pronounced tentatives. That's the question I
get quite often. You can say it either way. Just
(22:32):
remember October is Audiology Awareness Month. It's a great month
to come in and get your hearing tested if you
think you're having changes, if you have not been tested
in the last five years, pick up the phone and
give us a call by one o'clock today.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Eight seven seven six three two thirty six ninety. That's
eight seven seven six three two thirty six ninety to
get a hold of Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers and
schedule your complimentary hearing exam. You know, you can even
do that on their website, Iowa Hearing dot com. I
recommend you bookmark that again, Iowa Hearing dot Com. A
(23:11):
lot of great information there, not only about Concept and
the people that work there, but also about your health
and hearing. Just a lot of good information. Of course,
if you get booked by one o'clock today, there's a
great promo. This is five hundred dollars off per device
on the Best Series package and twenty four months no
(23:33):
interest financing with approved credit. Again, you do have to
schedule by one o'clock today. All right, so get on that,
and thank you so much, Kat Klower. She's hearing instrument
specialists with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers and our gracious
host giving us all the information here on Listen and
Learn and we appreciate you, Cat. I hope you have
(23:54):
a great weekend. This is going to be lovely.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Oh well, thank you everyone. Enjoy your weekend and have
a great October.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Listen and Learn is brought to you by Concept by
Iowa Hearing Centers on WOC
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