Category: Hearing

Hearing is essential for maintaining relationships and connections, fully participating in community activities, and experiencing life events to the fullest. Your quality of life is directly impacted by the ability to engage, listen, laugh, and enjoy those moments. Celebrate your ears and all they can do for you with these facts:

1. Ears never sleep! When we are asleep, our ears still hear 100% of the sounds around us, even if we’re not aware of them. Our brain is responsible for processing all sounds, and it learns to ignore the sounds so you can sleep soundly.
2. Your ears have very tiny hairs – and they’re very important! These tiny nerve fibers help us maintain balance, but they’re also there to help us hear. They are delicate and sensitive, and can be easily damaged or broken. Once they break, they don’t grow back. Some of the main reasons for this type of hair cell loss include sound exposure, natural aging, and ototoxic medications.
3. The average hearing range for a human is between 20 and 20,000 Hz. Bats, dolphins, elephants, pigeons, and moths have so-called “superpower hearing”—an extraordinary ability to hear sounds inaudible to humans. There are also some animals that have almost no sense of hearing, including the armadillo, squid, octopus, cuttlefish, naked mole rats, and spiders.
4. Without your ears, you would lose your balance. Inside your inner ear is a maze-like structure known as the semi-circular canals, which are part of the vestibular system. Information coming from that system is processed in the brain and then sent to other organs that need this information, such as the eyes and muscles. This allows us to maintain balance and know what position our body is in.

Hearing has a huge impact on everyday life. When your hearing starts to fade, everything becomes slightly more difficult, less enjoyable, and more confusing. If you detect the signs of hearing loss, arrange a consultation with Peoria ENT. Our highly-trained Doctors of Audiology have completed several years of specialized education in order to appropriately treat patients for a variety of auditory conditions. They will take the time to diagnose your symptoms and discover the best treatment option for you.

For more information, please visit our website at peoriaent.com or call (309) 589-5900.

Last week, our first US commercially available Osia System featuring the OSI300 implant was implanted by Dr. James Klemens and his surgical team! Pictured here is Dr. Klemens and his surgical RN, Jessica Wilson.

Dr. Klemens tells us why he chose the Osia System: “Cochlear Americas has a well known track record for reliability. Couple that with the wide frequency range that the Osia [System] can amplify in a fully implantable device and it is easy to see why it has become my go to recommendation for patients with hearing loss that don’t do well with traditional hearing aids. The new MRI compatible magnet makes it even easier to recommend.”

https://www.linkedin.com/company/cochlear/

October is National Audiology Month, spreading awareness about the services audiologists provide and how they may be able to help you. Audiologists use technology, creative problem solving, and social skills to help those with hearing disorders better communicate and connect with the world around them.

Approximately 15% of American adults over the age of 18 report some trouble hearing, and nearly 25% of those between the ages of 65 and 74 have hearing loss severe enough to affect their daily life. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders also reports the following statistics:

• Among adults aged 20 – 69, men are almost twice as likely as women to have hearing loss
• About 2% of adults aged 45 – 54 have disabling hearing loss. This rate increases to 8.5% for those aged 55 – 64.
• Roughly 10% of the U.S. adult population has experienced tinnitus lasting at least 5 minutes within the last year.
• People with hearing loss wait an average of 7 years before receiving help, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America.

Audiologists treat people of all ages – not just those who are older! By providing professional and personalized services, they can improve patients’ quality of life. Audiologists can also provide personalized treatment and services to people suffering from a variety of conditions such as issues with dizziness/balance, hearing aids and assistive technology, and tinnitus. They can offer hearing screenings, and if you haven’t begun experiencing hearing loss, they can provide protection to help prevent future loss.

The earlier an audiologist can identify any issues through hearing tests, the easier the hearing loss is to treat and/or prevent. Our highly-trained Doctors of Audiology have completed several years of specialized education in order to appropriately treat patients for a variety of auditory conditions. They will take the time to diagnose your symptoms and discover the best treatment option for you.

For more information, please visit our website at peoriaent.com or call (309) 589-5900.