Listen and Learn - 9-28-24

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to listen and learn. This is
where we talk about your health and hearing and how
to keep both at their very best. It's all brought
to you by Concept by Iowa Hearing Aid Centers and
with us is hearing instrument specialists from Concept. Kat Klour,
Good morning, Kat.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good morning, Happy Saturday. Everyone listening.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
This is a good day to be thinking about your
hearing because the promo today is a great one. You
qualify to get two hundred and fifty dollars off per
device on any level package and twenty four months no
interest financing if you call and schedule your complimentary hearing

(00:41):
evaluation with Concept by Iowa Hearing Centers by one o'clock today,
all right, and that phone number you need is eight
seven seven six three two thirty six ninety. That's eight
seven seven six three two thirty six ninety. Or you
can use their website to schedule your appointment, and that
is at Iowa Hearing dot com. Again, Iowa Hearing dot com.

(01:04):
So Kat, this is one of my favorite things to
do when we talk about the facts and the myths
of hearing loss because I learned something every time.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, and today I'm going to actually start with a
few fun facts of the ears. Love it, and then
we will get into the facts and myths of hearing loss.
So let's start with these fun facts. The ears have
the smallest bones in the body, So the smallest bones

(01:35):
in our body can be found in our middle ear.
They are the stapies, incus, and malice, but most people
call them the hammer, anvil, and stirrup. That's kind of
how we learned them when we were in school, anyway.
But all together, these three bones are no wider than
a penny or you know, combined, so they are teeny tiny.

(01:59):
And I believe that the bones of the middle ear
are fully developed when we're worn, and they no longer
get bigger, so that's kind of interesting too. And the
skin in our ear canal grows at a rate of
one point three inches per ear, so essentially you get

(02:24):
a new ear canal every twelve month when the old
skin sheds, so it's not like we're quite snakes and
the whole thing builds up and then it pulls off.
But over time, the skin and your ear canal sheds
just like it does on the rest of our body.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
And that's kind of gross.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
It is. It's some kind of fun fact. Our ears
also help regulate pressure change. So you know a lot
of people talk about or know that sensation. Have you
ever wondered what makes your ears pop? You know, on
an airplane or sometimes even if you're driving, you're going
up elevation or down elevation, and our middle ear has

(03:09):
a certain amount of pressure around it, and a small tube,
the station tube that connects our ears to our throat,
helps keep the air pressure equal on both sides of
our ear drum. This makes sure that the pressure does
not build up when surrounding air pressure changes, and the
U station tubes then open up to release some of

(03:31):
the pressure when we swallow, which equalizes the pressure inside
and outside of our ear, and that's what makes them pup.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
That is so interesting.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, And here's another fact, and this kind of goes
along with the pressure changes, that our ears are connected
to our nose and throat. So the ears, nose, and
throat are all intricately connected. That's why there's a top
type of doctor who looks at these parts of the
body as one unit. A problem in one part can

(04:03):
cause a problem in the others. So if there's ever
an infection in the throat, for example, it can travel
to the ear. This is because the use station tube
is the pathway that runs between each part and connects
them all together. And another fact, the reason why so
many young babies what I would call young toddlers, have

(04:28):
issues with ear infections and often outgrow them, is because
when you're first born, the orientation of your U station
tube is more horizontal. But as we grow and we
get taller, it becomes more vertical and you tend to
have less ear infections. So just some fun facts about

(04:52):
the ears, and then some facts about Concept by Iowa
Hearing Centers. Hearing evaluations are comp momentary at any one
of our clinics, and they're complementary every day that we're open.
I don't want to say every day of the year,
because I'm not at work every day of the year

(05:12):
and neither earn my colleagues. Yes, but we're not going
to charge you for that hearing evaluation, and we're not
going to charge your insurance company. And at CONCEPT you
get a full evaluation. We're going to be checking pure
air tone testing, which really is testing all those mechanisms

(05:36):
of hearing. We're going to be doing word discrimination, We're
going to be doing speech and noise testing, and we're
also going to be doing bone conduction testing, and that
really tells us what type of hearing loss you have.
Most people have what we call essensial neural hearing loss,
meaning it is all in the inner ear and it

(05:57):
can only really be corrected with hearing devices. But some
people have what we call a conductive hearing loss, meaning
part of that hearing loss or most of the hearing
loss is coming from the middle ear. And in that situation,
we would refer you to an ear, nose, and throat
doctor for further evaluation to see if something can medically

(06:21):
be corrected or if in fact hearing aids are appropriate.
So just know at Concept we're looking at all your
needs and pointing you in the right direction. Daniel, I'll
let you tell them how they can get in contact
with us on how to schedule that evaluation.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, and that's really what I love about CONCEPT Hearing Centers.
When I came in for my hearing exam, I didn't
feel like, well, I really felt like it was a
search for knowledge about my hearing, not this kind of
cookie cutter or one size fits all thing. It's truly
tailored to fit what's going on with your hearing Concept

(07:00):
by Iowa Hearing Center's phone number so you can schedule
your hearing exam eight seven seven six three two thirty
six ninety. That's eight seven seven six three two thirty
six ninety. Iowa Hearing dot Com is their website. You
can find out more about them or you can use
it to schedule your complimentary hearing exam Again Iowa Hearing

(07:23):
dot Com. Make sure you get scheduled by one o'clock
today because you qualify to receive two hundred and fifty
dollars off per device on any level or package, plus
twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit. Again,
though you have to schedule by one o'clock today to
receive that promo. Kat Klower is with US Hearing Instrument

(07:47):
Specialist with Concept by Iowa Hearing Aid Centers and Kat
I love talking about these little facts and myths about
hearing loss because I again I already learned something and
I know I'm going to learn more from you today.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
So here is we're going to get into those facts
in this So this is something that these are basically
things that people think but really in reality are not true.
So we have to break these myths. Hearing loss is
just part of getting older, so it can't be that important.

(08:22):
There really is a tendency to dump hearing loss in
that same category as getting older, getting gray hair, getting wrinkles.
It's an inevitable and innocuous process that comes with aging,
and that's not true. And you know, in contrast, we

(08:43):
make high blood pressure, another condition that often comes with aging,
a priority because we understand the impact that it can
have on strokes and heart attacks. And over the last
ten years, this article says ten years, but I'm going
to argue that honestly, it's been more than ten years,

(09:04):
because I know this has been on my radar for
about fifteen years. Because of the research that's been done,
researchers have come to the understanding that hearing loss has
objective and significant effects on our health and wellbeing, including
our social relationships, our risk of falls, depression, and risk

(09:27):
of cognitive decline and dementia. Hearing and communication have an
impact on everything we do. Most importantly, we believe that
addressing hearing loss through the communication strategies and technologies that
we discuss at Concept Hearing can make a difference in

(09:48):
helping us keep engaged and healthy. So we need to
realize that addressing our hearing is an important thing to do.
This is not an inevitable thing that comes along with age.
Another myth we need to kind of bust is the
thought that my hearing is fine, it's just everyone is mumbling.

(10:16):
I can't tell you how many times I've heard this
over the last month, the last year. Speech that comes
across as mumbling is exactly what hearing loss sounds like.
We need to understand that hearing loss. We don't go
from hearing normal to being deaf. Okay, there are these

(10:40):
stages in between, and we do not want to wait
till the point where we don't have hearing, and we're
going to get into that a little bit later. But
hearing loss develops as the inner ear ages and can
no longer send clear signal to the brain. And this
can also happen not only with aging, but with noise

(11:02):
exposure and other factors as well. But to our brains,
this sounds as if people are mumbling all the time.
And of course there are some situations that are better
than others, like talking in a quiet room with someone
sitting close and face to face to you you'll notice
the fewer issues than in settings with background noise or

(11:24):
a speaker who is far away. And if you're listening
and you're nodding, because yes, we all know this. If
we're in a quiet room and someone's looking right at us,
we hear better. But you also have to realize this
is not how we live our lives. You know, not
everybody is in a quiet room with us across the table.
And you also have to remember that maybe ten fifteen

(11:48):
years you didn't have to tell people to come to
you in a quiet room instead across room you and
look at you while they talk to you. Things are changing,
and that's because as our hearing changes, we lose that
clarity and our high frequency consonants, and that gives that
sensation that people are mumbling. So you know, if you're

(12:11):
listening and you think, hmm, people are a little mumbling
or things sound muffled, these are indications that you need
to maybe have your hearing checked. In particular, you need
to have your hearing checked. If you're over the age
of forty you haven't had that baseline, and or if

(12:31):
you have not had your hearing tested in the last
five years. It's just so easy to do. Just pick
up the phone and give us a call by one
o'clock today.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
Absolutely simple process, and it's a fabulous way to take
your exam because everyone at Concept is so kind and
so nice and they explain everything. It's just I mean,
kind of like sitting in your living room and chatting
with friends, but you're having your hearing test. That's how
I'm going to put it. That's how my experience went

(13:04):
at Concept. Very professional, but very friendly, and they're going
to help you out. So eight seven seven six three
two thirty six ninety is the phone number for Concept
by Iowa Hearing Centers to schedule that complimentary exam again
eight seven seven six three two thirty six ninety. Their

(13:24):
website is Iowa Hearing dot com. You can also schedule
your exam there Iowa Hearing dot com. Make sure you
do it by one o'clock today. The promo you qualify
for is two hundred and fifty dollars off per device
on any level package and twenty four months no interest
financing with approved credit. Again, only if you scheduled today

(13:47):
by one a clock have it on your calendar by then.
All right. Concept by Iowa Hearing Aid Centers. Kat Klower
is a hearing instrument specialist there and my go to
for all this information and busting the myths today and
giving us awesome facts about hearing loss. It's really not
that scary cat. We've made huge strides in helping with

(14:10):
hearing loss.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
Oh my gosh, it's so easy and it's not scary
at all. I mean getting the hearing evaluation itself. You know,
we often call it a hearing test. We jokingly say,
you know, you don't have to study for the exam.
It's of all the healthcare things that we need to do,
especially when we're talking about those preventative things we start

(14:33):
doing after age forty, this is really simple. You know,
no one's going to draw your blood. I mean it's
even sometimes I think getting my blood pressure checked, yeah,
kind of that cop keeps going and squeezing and squeezing.
I'm like, you're not going to feel any discomfort from

(14:54):
a hearing evaluation. So it's an easy thing to do.
And along with that, because it's so easy and because
it's recommended, and we'll kind of get into why it's recommended,
we need to break this myth that I'll wait to
get my hearing tested until I notice a problem. You

(15:16):
may not realize that you're having a hearing loss until
you get your hearing tested. The very nature of how
we hear makes noticing hearing loss very difficult. First, the
hearing loss occurs slowly over time, so slowly, in fact,
that our brains constantly adjust to our surroundings and barely

(15:40):
notice a change. Second, our brains are bombarded with sounds
all day long, and they do a great job of
learning what to ignore and what to pay attention to.
This means we're actually programmed to ignore sounds that aren't
interesting to us. Is invisible and can't be felt to

(16:02):
the touch, so we have no idea to know what
it is we're really that we're missing. People are notoriously
bad at judging their own hearing. This is true, and
we need to also listen to the people around us,
because often it's somebody around us who knows us, who

(16:25):
notices that we're having issues with our hearing before we
ourselves notice it. Instead of taking a wait and see approach,
be proactive. Get your hearing tested professionally or using a
self testing app on a smartphone to learn your hearing number.

(16:46):
You know, whatever these things you need to do. You
need to get it checked. Even if you don't have
hearing loss. Now you need to get that baseline. And
we're going to tell you if you're hearing spine, and
we're going to say, hey, come back in five years.
We make it easy for you. We're not going to

(17:08):
make you remember. We'll actually call you in five years
and say, hey, it's time to get your hearing rechecked.
And when we talk about this slowly and gradually losing
the hearing loss, for some reason, it makes me think
of the television. Okay, so I have some people before

(17:29):
they come into my office, you know, family is saying
their TV is so loud. But we have to remember
they didn't just start turning it really loud. Just imagine
over the span of ten years. Okay, so maybe the
first year you turn it up one or two notches,

(17:53):
the next year you turn it up one notch, the
next year one or two notches. But then after that
ten year span, you're now maybe watching it at it
let's say an arbitrary volume of seventy and then somebody
comes over to your house and they're like, oh my goodness, no,

(18:15):
this is loud, but it sneaks up on you. It's
not a typically an instantaneous thing, and the best way
to know is just to get your hearing checked. And
this kind of goes into the next myth. If you
don't have severe hearing loss, then treating your hearing loss

(18:38):
can wait. This is so not true, and this is
probably one of the most important things. We really don't
want to wait till you have a severe hearing loss.
Hearing loss is something that happens gradually, and there's a
few things to consider. You know, if you're wondering, do

(19:01):
I need to get my hearing checked? How much does
hearing loss affect my day to day life. If you're
finding that you have trouble hearing in social situations where
there's background noise, hearing aids can make a big difference.
If you're only having difficulty hearing when it's pushed, or

(19:21):
having trouble hearing certain high pitch sounds, you still need
to come in and get that baseline and see where
you're at. Another thing to consider is the hearing loss
you have. If you have hearing loss caused by damage
to the inner ear or auditory nerve, you need to
be treated with hearing aids to correct it. And once

(19:47):
you have a severe loss, you can suffer things like
declined word recognition due to that auditory deprivation. And unfortunately,
once you get to that point, but if you truly
have had decline in your word recognition, we can't give
that back to you. We need to take action sooner.

(20:08):
And that's why we need to break these myths. Need
to come in and get your hearing checked. You need
to start at age forty and every five years afterwards.
We make it easy at Concept. Just come in and
get that complimentary evaluation. Pick up the phone and give
us a call.

Speaker 1 (20:27):
The number is eight seven seven six three two thirty
six ninety. If you did not write that down, I'll
wait for a second for you to get a pin
Tata Tata telle Okay eight seven seven six three two
thirty six ninety. Concept by We're Hearing aid Centers also
has a great website. It's Iowa Hearing dot com. That's

(20:49):
Iowa Hearing dot com where you can find out more,
find out more about the topics that we talk about,
also about Concept, and schedule your complimentary hearing a value suation.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Now.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
Once you do that, by one o'clock today, So do
not wait, because you'll qualify to get two hundred and
fifty dollars off per device on any level package and
twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit. I
love that, but that's only if you get scheduled by
one o'clock today, So waste no time and make sure

(21:21):
you get that done. Kat Klower is a hearing instrument
specialist with concept by IWA Hearing Centers. I love that
she's here on Saturdays, keeping us up to date on
our hearing and all the things we need to know
to make sure we're at our very best, and today
of course talking about facts and breaking the myths of
hearing loss.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
Okay, So in September I attended a national meeting to
get you know, additional training and to stay on top
of the new technology. And part of the training that
I got was really how to pinpoint or recognize when
I have a patient who may be ready for a

(22:04):
cochlear implant consultation. So here is another myth that we
need to break. A cochlear implant is only for people
who are completely deaf. There are other factors besides being
completely deaf on why we would refer for a cochlear

(22:25):
implant and just understand that at concept by IOWA hearing,
we have that training and we can recognize that and
have that discussion with the patient. And when I have
that discussion and propose to make that referral, it's just
to say, hey, you may be at the point where

(22:48):
you may want to get a consultation, so they can
really that's their expertise and they can decide are you
truly a candidate, and then you can side if that's
something that you know you want to take action on.
But the idea that only people who are totally deaf

(23:08):
can benefit from a cochlear implant is a myth. People
who have progressively lost hearing over time and find that
they're still struggling to communicate even with hearing aids. When
in a quiet room with a single speaker, these patients

(23:28):
can still often communicate okay, but beyond that, they may
be having issues. And there are signs that I look
for when I'm testing a new patient, but also when
I'm retesting my current patients. Because our process a concept,

(23:49):
it's not that we have you come in, you get
a hearing test, you have hearing loss, we fit you
with hearing devices, and we say goodbye and good luck.
We're with you you throughout your hearing journey. We're going
to see you regularly, and every two years we're going
to retest your hearing readjust your age, and if we

(24:12):
see any issues, we're going to make the appropriate recommendation
for you, whatever it may be. So were I always
say we're with you throughout your hearing journey, and you're
hearing journey starts by coming in and getting that baseline test.
You know everything that we've talked about, these myths how

(24:35):
important hearing is to our overall health or quality of life.
That's why it's now recommended that we get these baseline tests.
It's nothing to be afraid of. You may think to yourself,
I hear fine. I hear this all the time. I
hear people say, you know I can hear the uh oh.

(24:57):
I'm just trying to think of an example. I here
the garbage truck from two blocks away, and you know, hey,
that's wonderful. You can hear that garbage truck from two
blocks away. But that is only one area of our hearing.
We don't hear all sounds at the same frequency or pitch.

(25:18):
So maybe your low frequency hearing is excellent, but what
about your mid frequency hearing or your high frequency hearing?
And the best way to know is to truly know
to come in and get the hearing check.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
And it is so easy. I just don't know why
everyone doesn't just take care of that, just like their
annual exams or you know, a physical, you know, getting
their eyes checked. I mean, these are regular things to
keep us healthy. Your hearing exam should be at the
top of the list. The way that you schedule that

(25:56):
complimentary hearing exam with Concept by eyew Hearing aids and
is easy pick up the phone eight seven seven six
three two thirty six ninety eight seven seven six three
two thirty six ninety You can go to their website
Iowa Hearing dot com and do the same. That's Iowa
Hearing dot com. And the promo that you qualify for

(26:18):
once you get scheduled by one o'clock today, two hundred
and fifty dollars off per device on any level package
and twenty four months no interest financing with approved credit. Again,
you have to schedule by one o'clock today to make
that happen. Kat Klower Hearing Instrument Specialist with Concept by

(26:39):
Iowa Hearing Aid Centers. Thank you for being here, Thanks
for making you know, getting your hearing tested less scary
and uh more truthful and just you know, being there
for everybody to make sure they're at their best.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
You're welcome. Everyone. Enjoy your nice Saturday. Can't believe September
is over? Just enjoy?

Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yeah, absolutely and remember. Concept by Iowa Hearing Aids Centers
is your sponsor of Listen and Learn on WOC