Listen and Learn - 9-14-24

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning and welcome to listen and learn, brought to
you by Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers. I'm Danny, and
with us is hearing instrument specialist. It's Kat Klower. As
we talk more about our health and hearing. Good morning, Cat.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning Danny. Happy Saturday. You know the Hawks are
going to be playing again today, and last week I
was at the Iowa Iowa State game. Maybe the outcome
is not what I wanted, but the stadium was electric
and we're going to get into that a little bit
later in the program. It was loud, let's just say that.

(00:37):
So I chose noise induced hearing loss as a topic
for today, and I just want to remind people that
noise induced hearing loss is permanent, and your first step
to treating hearing loss so you don't lose the ability
to understand language is to schedule your complementary hearing screening.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Today, Yes, today, and you can do it so easily
by calling Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers at eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety again eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety or their website
is so handy and also a great way to schedule
that complimentary hearing evaluation. That website is Iowa Hearing dot com. Again,

(01:24):
Iowa Hearing dot com, and today is a great promo
for you. Once you call in schedule by one o'clock today,
you'll qualify to receive two hundred fifty dollars off per
device on any level or package. And also twenty four
months no interest financing with approved credit. So two great

(01:48):
things in this promo. Again, if you call in schedule
your hearing exam by one o'clock today with concept by
Iowa Hearing Centers. Okay, kat klower our hearing instrument specialists.
Let's talk more about what I think is a very
very important topic, and that is noise induced hearing loss.
And I think for myself, the first thing I think

(02:09):
about is the fact that it is preventable. We just
need to know what to do.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yes, it is preventable, but it is so prevalent and
maybe across the US, but I when I think of
the Midwest, I tend to think of noise induced hearing
loss because of people's occupations. And we're going to focus
a little bit on hobbies and sports fans, so we

(02:36):
need to remember that attending a sporting event can expose
an enthusiast to over one hundred decibels of noise for
prolonged periods of time. That cacophony of the announcers, the advertisements,
the fans, games, you know, when the songs come on,

(02:57):
whistles blown, the marching main and most importantly, the roar
of the crowd at Kinnick Stadium can unfortunately create the
perfect storm for hearing loss. However, it is a lot
of fun. So just a little fun fact here. Bleacher

(03:19):
report dot Com ranks Kinnick Stadium as the thirteenth thirteenth
loudest in the country. So if you're headed out for
game day today, remember bring your hearing protection and of
course go Hawkeyes. But every year, at least one game

(03:39):
when I'm at Kinnick, I do like to bring up
my noise decibel meter on my phone. I know, I'm
a hearing nerd. I have an app on my phone
to measure the decibel level. But the decibel level did
hit one hundred and tent Well, my goodness, now did

(04:03):
it stay there? No, but that is incredibly loud. So
we're going to talk a little bit later in the
show about you know, what do we do in those
situations and how do we be prepared. But we just
need to understand that one in four adults age twenty

(04:24):
to sixty nine have noise induced hearing loss, So we
need to be aware, and you know most people understand
that concept. By Ioway Hearing Aid Centers offers complementary hearing evaluations.
We are dedicated to improving and maintaining the hearing health
of our patients. We have locations across Iowa. All of

(04:49):
our clinics offer hearing screenings using top of the line
technology and it's administrated by our attentive team of licensed
Hearing Health actts. So it's really easy to get signed up.
Maybe you're listening to the show today and you think,
you know, I really want my family member to come in.

(05:10):
We do have those locations ranging from central Iowa over
to eastern Iowa. We have a clinic in Aimes, Cedar, Rapids, Clinton,
Corraville right here in Davenport. We're on the corner of
East fifty third Street and Unica Ridge Road by Texas Roadhouse, Dubuque, Grenelle, Marshalltown, Oscaloosa, Pella,

(05:35):
Pleasant Hill, Waterloo, West des Moines, and of course our
website Iowa Hearing dot Com is a great resource as well.
So we're going to get into a little bit about
how a noise induced hearing loss effects are hearing. So,
when people have a noise induced hearing loss, one of

(05:57):
the first symptoms is often tonight. It just tends to
happen when those high frequencies drop. And the other thing
that happens is we start to lose clarity and our
high frequency consonants. People who have high frequency or noise

(06:20):
induced hearing loss have trouble hearing sounds in the two
thousand to eight thousand Hurtz range, And when we're talking
about speech, this includes consonants such as ss and Sam
h Is and Harry A. Fason Frank k Is in Kite.
Adults with high frequency hearing loss may have trouble understanding

(06:44):
female voices more than male voices, and difficulty hearing the
birds sing or high pitched beeping coming from their microwave,
and of course the turn signals. That's something that you know,
most people are aware of or may not be aware of.
As we joke, speech can seem muffled. Often people with

(07:06):
a high frequency or noise induced hearing loss, they say
they can hear, but they're not getting that clarity of speech,
and they get the feeling like people are mumbling and
not talking clearly. But of course we know the best
way to find out, and you know it's recommended to

(07:26):
get that baseline hearing evaluation at age forty and every
five years afterwards. All you need to do is pick
up the phone or go on the website and schedule
that complimentary hearing evaluation today by one o'clock.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah, by one o'clock. It's a I like the fact
that you give people a deadline, because we all know
we get busy, too many things start happening and we're
going to forget all about this, and this promo is
too great to lose out on today. So again, in
order to schedule that complimentary hearing of evaluation, the phone
number four concept by Iowa Hearing Centers is eight seven

(08:04):
seven six three two thirty six ninety. That's eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety. The website we've
been sharing with you Iowa Hearing dot com. Again, Iowa
Hearing dot com is a great resource and a great
way to schedule that hearing exam. And here's the promo.

(08:24):
You're not gonna want to wait for two hundred and
fifty dollars off per device on any level or package
for concept hearing devices and twenty four months no interest
financing with approved credit. You just have to get this
schedule to qualify by one o'clock today, have it on
your calendar as soon as possible. So, Yes, Kat Klower

(08:47):
is our hearing instrument specialist, the lady who carries around
her decibel meter on her phone. And as we continue
to talk about noise induced hearing loss, I think a
lot of us would love to have one of those.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yes, it is kind of nice to you know, know
the actual loudness. But even if you don't have a
decimal meter app on your phone, listen to your body.
If you are uncomfortable, more than likely you need to
take action. And we'll get into that here in a second.
But noise. According to the National Institute on Deafness and

(09:25):
Other Communication Disorders, more than ten million Americans have suffered
irreversible damage due to noise induced hearing loss, with about
thirty to fifty million more exposed to dangerous noise levels
on a daily basis. The damage can occur as a
result of a one time loud noise exposure or you know,

(09:51):
like a gunshot or explosion, or most often it can
occur over time with continuous or constant exposure to noise
louder than eighty five decibels. So high frequency or noise
induced hearing loss is not reversible, but in some cases

(10:11):
it is preventable. So what do you do besides walk
around with a decibel meter on your phone carry hearing protection?
I know that, you know sometimes when I go to
a concert or when I go to a sporting event,
that it might be loud. So you know, I like

(10:32):
to carry the little foam inserts. They fit easily in
my pocket. You can just put them in and be protected.
So what are we protecting ourselves from? So we're really
looking for those sounds that are eighty decibels or for children,

(10:53):
seventy five decibels, and that can lead to hearing loss
if you listen to them for an extended perioderiod of time.
So what are we talking about when we say eighty decibels?
You're like, what does that mean? I'm just going to
give some examples of different loud sounds and the noise

(11:14):
level they typically make. So ninety four decibels, which is
such an odd number. Why don't they just say ninety five?
Is is a hair dryer, you know you blow dryer,
you're you know, you're drying your hair in the morning,
or more importantly, if you're a hairdresser and you're listening
to that all day long, a kitchen blender, a food processor.

(11:40):
One hundred decibels, is a tractor, or sometimes listening with
your earbuds if you have the volume too hide that's
so scary. One hundred and six decibels, a gas powered
leaf blower or snow blower one hundred and twelve or
actually going to back up and I'm going to do

(12:00):
one hundred and ten decibels last week at Kennick Stadium,
So really loud. One hundred and twelve decibels can be
the maximum output of some devices that people listen to music,
So you really don't want to do that. Rock concerts, chainsaws,
and then we get into what we call dangerous. This

(12:23):
is painful, steady noise and it's really not safe for
any period of time. One hundred and twenty decibels, which
is a jet plane taking off, sirens, pneumatic drills one
hundred and thirty decibels is a jackhammer, one hundred and
forty decibels is firearms, and one hundred and fifty decibels

(12:46):
is fireworks within three feet or a shotgun. So we're
hearing protection where the ear plugs, wear the ear muffs
during loud events or activities. You could be like my
up and download a sound meter app to monitor noise
level in public places. Keep a distance from that sound source,

(13:08):
you know, don't be right on top of the noise.
Give yourself a little distance and use quieter products. Check
product reviews and ratings. You know, maybe when you're going
to go buy that leaf lower or even to buy
toys for children, check the reviews and check the details

(13:30):
and make sure you're not picking something that's, you know,
maybe too loud. And of course I always advocate on
the sixty sixty rule. If you're listening to your devices
with headphones or earbuds, keep the volume at sixty percent

(13:51):
of max volume or less, and don't listen for more
than sixty minutes at a time. After sixty minutes, give
your ears at rass before you start up again. And
this is just to protect your hearing and maintain a
healthy hearing level as time passes, as you continue to age,

(14:13):
we're looking for that quality of life. And if you're
not sure where you're at with your hearing, just pick
up the phone and give us a call by one
o'clock today and find out.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
The number four. Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers is eight
seven seven six three two thirty six ninety. That's eight
seven seven six three two thirty six ninety. Their website
which is also a great place to schedule that complimentary
hearing evaluation. You can go to Iowa Hearing dot com.
That's Iowa Hearing dot com. Either way, make sure you

(14:51):
schedule that exam by one o'clock today because the promo
is two hundred and fifty dollars off per device on
any level or package, plus twenty four months no interest
financing with approved credit. Now. That is, you only qualify
if you get on the phone and have that scheduled
by one o'clock today. Doesn't mean run down and have

(15:11):
the exam. Just get it on your calendar by one
o'clock today as soon as you can. All right, So,
Kat Klower, our hearing instrument specialists with Concept by Iowa
Hearing Centers. As we talk about noise induced hearing loss.
I do have a question for you when you talk
about the sixty sixty rule and then you say to
rest your ears, Like what are we talking like five minutes,

(15:35):
ten minutes? Just like as your body talks to you
about like how long is a rest?

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Yeah, I would say, give your ears fifteen minutes? Okay,
you know, give them a good rest. And what I
mean by rest, I mean not just listening to that,
but maintain a quiet environment, Okay for fifteen minutes. I
don't just take off the earbuds and then blast the
music and listen to it in a regular way.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
Yeah. Well that and you know there are people who
would be like, oh, well I've rested my ears. Well yeah,
we really want you to so good. That's a good clarification.
I will do that.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Now, we need to understand that having a noise induced
hearing loss in most cases can be corrected with hearing devices.
And that's primarily because technology has improved dramatically. It used
to be years ago when people I mean we're talking
years and years ago when people had a noise induced

(16:34):
or high frequency hearing loss that they were told that
they could not treat their loss, but that is completely
different in modern day. So if you have that thought,
it's no longer true. Not only our hearing devices more
comfortable than ever, They have great sound quality even in

(16:56):
high noise environments. They easily connect to your personal devices,
and they don't just make all sounds louder. Now we're
not talking about over the counterhearing aids here, we're talking
about concepts hearing devices. They are completely customizable to provide

(17:19):
applications for only the sounds that need to be amplified.
And today we're offering that discount on any one of
our levels, and we're going to get into our devices.
I just want to remind everybody you can pair up

(17:39):
to eight Bluetooth devices and have two devices simultaneously paired.
I have many, many people who have their hearing aids
paired to their phone, but a lot of people also
choose to pair it to their tablet because I have
people who like to sit with their tea tablet while

(18:00):
the other spouse is sitting watching television, and then they're
not competing with their sound. Our devices are also waterproof
and dustproof. When I say waterproof, they can be submerged
underwater for up to an hour, and I have two

(18:21):
patient testimonials from the last two weeks, and they both
said it was okay to talk about it on radio.
I'm not going to mention their name, but I had
a lady who's been doing a lot of camping this
summer and she likes to go on her floaty. They
must be camping by a lake, and she's like, my
floaty flipped over and I realized I had my concept

(18:45):
hearing aids on and they were fine. They got wet,
she got up, they were all good. And then I
had another patient jump in a swimming pool and he
said he forgot he had him on, and then he
got out and he was drying off and he felt

(19:08):
his one concept hearing eight but the other one was missing,
and they found it at the bottom of the pool
and it was fine. Wow, that's a really really good
testimonial right there. And another couple things I want to
talk about. With our new devices. We have a new

(19:31):
chip in the device that has seventy four percent more
RAM for faster processing, and it also is now offering
something that I like to call impulse noise reduction, and
it is available in all levels of our new devices.

(19:52):
So what am I talking about Let's say you have
a sharp, sudden sound, think of like a one pine
glass dropping on a tile floor, or someone comes in
the house and drops their keys on a granite counter countertop,
or dishes clanking. If you know, we can ensure that

(20:15):
those sounds are comfortable. It's just a really nice feature
to have at all levels. All levels of our devices
also have a program for speech in the car. We
often talk about speech and noise restaurants, but people also

(20:36):
struggle in the in the car because you're in the car,
you got the road noise, but you want to hear
the driver, you want to hear the passenger, or maybe
you've got grandkids in the backseat. And that's available in
all levels of our devices. And that new chip also
has a new antenna design or bluetooth, and if results

(21:00):
in greater streaming across two times the distance that we
previously had, and that ensures uninterrupted hands free calls or
hands hands free streaming. You know, you site your phone
down and you're walking around your yard weeding or you know,

(21:22):
whatever it is you're doing, you can go a greater
distance from your phone and not have on an uninterrupted bluetooth.
So many great features I love the rechargeability, I love
the durability. And if you have not had your hearing
checked in the last five years, pick up that phone
and give us a call by one o'clock today.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
I love that five year kind of like, oh if
it's been five and five is easy to figure. You
make sure you get in and have your hearing tested.
We want you to be at your absolute best. You
can schedule that complimentary hearing exam with Concept by Iowa
Hearing Centers again, just pick up the phone eight seven
seven six three two thirty six ninety. Their number again

(22:07):
eight seven seven six three two thirty six ninety. You
could even go to their website Iowa Hearing dot com.
That website is Iowa Hearing dot com. Good place to
schedule your hearing exam and also find out more about
these topics we talk about in Listen and Learn and
find out more about Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers. It's
a great company. The promo that you qualify for today

(22:31):
once you schedule by one o'clock is two hundred and
fifty dollars off per device on any level or package
and twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit.
You just have to call and schedule with Concept by
one o'clock today. Oh gosh, Kat Klower our hearing instrument

(22:51):
specialist with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers. It's so exciting
to talk about the new technology that Concept is coming
out with all the time.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Yeah, it's exciting stuff. We offer such great quality products
and of course, such great service. I've got a little
bit of a patient testimonial about how our clinics tend
to work together. About two weeks ago, one of our
Davenport patients was headed north to Minnesota to take a

(23:22):
little vacation and he was I don't know how far
out of town he was, but he was starting to
have some issues with his hearing aid as he was driving,
so he gave our clinic a call. Melissa answered the
phone and she's like, Okay, what highway are you headed
north on? He said he was headed north on sixty

(23:46):
one and she's like, no worries, can you stop in
Dubuke on your way. I'll quick give him a call
let him know you're coming. We got him in. He
stopped in Dubuque and they took care of his issues
and he was back off on the road and enjoyed
his vacation and came back and you know, gave us

(24:08):
a big thank you. He was just so appreciative that,
you know, we took care of him because you know,
in our minds, we wanted him to enjoy his vacation
and here on his vacation, so of course we were
going to make sure he was taken care of.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah, that's so awesome, and that just to me says
something about the family atmosphere. That concept by Iowa Hearing
Centers promotes.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
Yes, and just remember we have those clinics all over
the state, central Iowa to eastern Iowa here along the Mississippi.
As we just mentioned, there's one in Dubuque at Kennedy Mall.
In Clinton, we have a location on Lincoln Way right
across the road from Farman Fleet, easy to find. And

(24:56):
in Davenport right off Highway Interstate eighty fifty third Street
even seventy four, it's very accessible. We're right next to
the movie theater Texas Roadhouse that southwest corner of East
fifty third and Uticarridge Road. And reminder, if you have

(25:18):
been exposed to noise, either through your hobbies, your occupation,
or you're just wondering where you're at with your hearing
pick up that phone or go to our website and
give us a call by one o'clock and enjoy your weekend.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
Eight seven seven six three two thirty six ninety Iyowa
Hearing dot Com the website. Either way, schedule that exam.
It's completely free with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers and
qualified to get two hundred and fifty dollars off per
device on any level or package and twenty four months
no interest financing with approved credit. You just have to

(25:54):
call or schedule that exam by one o'clock today, kat Klower,
thank you so much for being here. Hearing instrument specialists
with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers. Listen and Learn is
brought to you by Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers on
WOC