Lifting your mood, boosting your energy, protecting your earnings, super-charging your social life — and even keeping your mind sharp: These are just some of the many spoils that come with facing and dealing with a noise-induced hearing loss that has been slowly but persistently creeping up on you. The quality-of-life and feel-good benefits of treating even just mild hearing loss brought on by years of loud music, power tools, high-volume headphones, motor-sport engines, crowded night clubs and bars, noisy restaurants, and raucous sporting events are plenty. But in this digital age of smart phones and wearable technologies, the draw for many solution-minded consumers may be in the technology itself. Super-smart, super-sleek, super-convenient, and super-sophisticated — today’s hearing aids give you a multitude of reasons to address that hearing loss you’ve been trying so hard to ignore. Consider these inspiring facts about today’s highly functional, high-powered hearing aids. They just may get you to finally do something about your hearing loss and make your life easier.
What is BrainHearing™? If you’re like most people, you’re used to thinking of hearing as something that happens in your ears. What people often don’t think about is what happens between their ears, in the hearing part of their brain. That’s where sound becomes information that has meaning. Your brain has to work hard to make this happen. When the sound signals from your ears are compromised, your brain has to work even harder to fill in the gaps. This extra effort can take its toll. In fact, studies have shown that, over time, hearing loss can lead to isolation and depression. Hearing care is health care. That’s why it makes sense to take care of your hearing health the same way you care about the rest of your health: There’s a lot more riding on it than just your hearing. It’s your brain that hears. Not your ears. When you listen to a conversation, your ears and your brain work together as a system, with your brain doing most of the heavy lifting. Your brain is what uses the information from your two ears to orient you by figuring out which direction sound is coming from. It’s in the brain that sound waves become sounds that you recognize. And your brain is what helps you focus in on a conversation and separate out unwanted noise. Right now, all four of these tasks are happening simultaneously and continuously inside your brain. How can technology help your brain hear more naturally? With so much of your hearing happening in your brain, it’s important that when your hearing is compromised, your brain gets the support it needs. That’s the idea behind the BrainHearing™ technology built into Oticon hearing instruments. BrainHearing™technology preserves the important details in speech, so your brain doesn’t have to fill in the gaps. It enables your hearing instruments to work together as a system to help you locate sound. And it reduces the effort involved in listening to conversations. Give your brain exactly what it needs to hear. BrainHearing™ technology enables Oticon hearing instruments to be finely tuned to match your unique hearing profile and personal sound preferences. Then deliver sound with the clearest, purest signal possible in the way your brain is best able to understand it. The result is a more natural, effortless listening experience. Anywhere. Anytime. *2013 Oticon Alta international Satisfaction Study, overall satisfaction for both new and experienced hearing instrument users. Oticon hearing instruments come in a wide range of styles, fitting options, colors and price points to meet your preferences for comfort and aesthetics. Want to hear more? Consult with our doctors of audiology and experience BrainHearing™ technology today. Call us 406-586-0914.
Helton Hearing Care | Hearing Center Interview Contributed by Debbie Clason, staff writer for Healthy Hearing Dr. Will Helton was a college student when his grandfather, a WWII veteran, started having hearing problems. “I saw a normally happy, outgoing and super friendly guy change,” Dr. Helton said about his grandfather. “He withdrew. He wasn’t my grandpa anymore. He saw an audiologist, was successfully fit with hearing aids and by the next week, I had my grandpa back. I said 'Hey, there’s something to this profession.'” The experience was significant enough to prompt him to go back to school and get his doctorate degree in audiology after a 10 year teaching career in the U.S. and Thailand. Helton Hearing Care, staffed by two full-time Doctors of Audiology, a COHC certified audiology assistant and experienced support personnel, differentiates itself from other providers not only by the educational qualifications of its professionals but by practicing “evidence-based” hearing care. “We aren’t afraid to see people who have very challenging losses,” Dr. Helton said. “If it’s a difficult case, we’ll schedule several appointments to fit the patient correctly. We put in the time to solve these tough cases.” They begin the process with comprehensive testing. Then, accessing the best available research regarding the treatment of each specific hearing loss, they will spend as much time as needed to both assure the best solution for the patient’s hearing needs and to personalize their hearing experience based on individual hearing preferences. And this level of care does not end at the fitting. Patients receive four years of professional, in-office service on their hearing instruments, which includes batteries and routinely available follow up appointments. They offer walk-in hours twice a day and stock “top of the line loaners” to lend to patients if their hearing devices need to be sent away for repair. One of Dr. Helton’s favorite hearing device success stories involves a minister who had tried for 20 years to get help with her hearing loss — and spent thousands of dollars on five different pairs of instruments in the process. “I found myself sitting in front of the kindest person who had a very, very difficult hearing loss,” he said. “She had to quit playing the organ and give up some of her ministerial duties at church because of it. It took me four hours to fit her correctly. Afterward, she wrote a testimonial saying she has a 'new connected life full of sounds, friends, conversation and laughter.'” Dr. Helton said making a difference in the lives of others is his favorite part of being a hearing healthcare professional, a sentiment that is shared by his staff which includes Dr. Luke Emberlin, Au.D. FAAA and Crystal Avaro, COHC. One of the ways Helton Hearing Care gives back to the Bozeman, Mont. community is by providing FM systems for local entertainment venues. They also work routinely with the local Lion’s Clubs and Vocational Rehabilitation Services, where they fit patients at or even below cost. While Dr. Helton appreciates how far hearing technology has come, he believes there’s a lot more involved in achieving success with hearing aids than the instruments themselves. “A great hearing device will only work well if it is appropriately chosen, based on thorough and professional testing, and fit precisely to a patient’s individual wants and needs. One size does not fit all,” Dr. Helton said. “Today’s consumers are savvy but they are swimming in a sea of misinformation. It’s so easy to end up losing a lot of money. If I could tell anybody anything, I’d tell them to make decisions regarding hearing instruments the way they would make any other major health care choice. That spur-of-the-moment hearing aid purchase you make at a big-box store from a flyer you received in the mail isn’t likely to be your best solution.” Good hearing choices helped Dr. Helton’s grandfather to understand those around him, to connect with the people and the activities that he loves, and to live his life fully engaged with his community. It is Helton Hearing Care’s mission to help everyone achieve such successful outcomes. “In our practice, we take a Zig Ziglar approach to patient care. His philosophy is if you help enough people get what they want, they’ll help you get what you want. When you take time to look at the whole patient and know where they’ve been, where they are now and what they want to do in the future, then you can fit them with the right technology.” Find more information by visiting the clinic's website at http://www.heltonhearing.com. Want to connect with the clinic on social media? You can find them at: YouTube Did you know that hearing actually takes place in your brain, not your ears? Because your brain is different from everyone else’s, you hear differently than anyone else. At Helton Hearing Care, our Doctors of Audiology understand how your ears and your brain work together as a system, with your brain doing the heavy lifting. When the sound signals from your ears are compromised, your brain has to work even harder to fill in the gaps. This extra effort can take its toll. In fact, studies have shown that, over time, hearing loss can lead to isolation and depression. That’s why it makes sense to take care of your hearing health the same way you care about the rest of your health.
Hearing devices with BrainHearing™ technology are the most innovative hearing solution on the market today. The devices are so advanced that they become part of you. And they just work anywhere, anytime. So you hear better with less effort. You can stay more active and involved with family, work, friends and the world around you. Over the long term, your hearing health is key to better emotional and mental health. Call us today at (406) 586-0914 to schedule your appointment. Listen up, boomers: Do you want to stay active? Vibrant? Socially engaged? Professionally successful? Most of us do. So maybe it’s time to do something about your hearing.
Chances are, if you’re like many baby boomers, you’ve rocked your way through your fair share of concerts, night clubs, and ear-blasting parties. And you’ve enjoyed years of other noisy recreational activities to boot. Simply: You’ve been enjoying life. You’ve spent decades doing it. And it’s been loud. So now, it’s not always so easy to hear the conversation around the table at the restaurant or dinner party – maybe not even in the conference room at work or on those teleconference calls. Face it. All that enthusiastic living has been hard on your ears. And now they’re screaming for your attention. You should give it to them. In fact, addressing hearing loss is one of the best things you can do to improve your quality of life and keep up a youthful pace. Fortunately, for most people with hearing loss, today’s state-of-the art hearing devices can help. In fact, eight out of 10 hearing instrument users say they’re satisfied with the changes that have occurred in their lives due to their hearing aids. Many boomers are surprised to learn that dramatic new technological advances have revolutionized hearing device in recent years. Many hearing aids are virtually invisible, sitting discreetly and comfortably inside the ear canal. And they adjust to all kinds of noise environments, picking up sound from all directions. Some are even waterproof. Perhaps best of all, seamless connectivity is now the norm. Today’s hearing instruments are wireless and stream sound from your smartphone, home entertainment system, and other electronics directly into your hearing aid(s) at volumes just right for you. Here’s what getting a hearing test and using professionally fitted hearing devices, recommended by an audiologist, may do for you: 1. Unlock your earning potential. Hearing your best at work helps you do your best. One study found that using hearing aids reduced the risk of income loss by 90 to 100 percent for those with milder hearing loss, and from 65 to 77 percent for those with severe to moderate hearing loss. And people with hearing loss who use hearing aids are more likely to be employed than their peers who don’t. 2. Open the door to greater intimacy. Don’t let those sweet nothings go unheard. Feeling emotionally close to your partner is one of the most satisfying aspects of any intimate relationship. But it rests on good communication. When hearing loss goes unaddressed, it can make even the most loving partner seem remote or unresponsive. Luckily, research shows that using hearing aids can help improve interpersonal relationships – including greater intimacy. 3. Pull the plug on stress and boost your mood. People with untreated hearing loss often feel angry, frustrated, anxious, isolated, and depressed. But research shows that when they use hearing aids, their mental health often rallies. Many regain emotional stability, become more socially engaged, feel a greater sense of safety and independence, and see a general improvement in their overall quality of life. 4. Bolster your self-confidence. An important perk of using hearing instruments can be enhanced emotional well-being. Research shows that when people with hearing loss use hearing aids, many feel more in control of their lives and less self-critical. One Better Hearing Institute (BHI) study found that the majority of people with mild and severe hearing loss felt better about themselves and life overall as a result of using hearing aids. 5. Improve cognitive functioning. Studies out of Johns Hopkins linked hearing loss with accelerated cognitive decline in older adults and found that seniors with hearing loss are significantly more likely to develop dementia over time. BHI studies found that many people with hearing loss report improvements in their cognitive skills with the use of hearing aids. So go ahead. Revitalize your life. Do something about your hearing. It just may help you feel forever young. To get your hearing checked, please call us at (406) 586-0914 to schedule an appointment with our doctors of audiology. Our Doctors of Audiology at Helton Hearing Care can help you with your hearing needs. We have experience treating a wide range of hearing difficulties, from conductive hearing loss to tinnitus. We are confident we can help you find a solution to your hearing problems, so you can reconnect with your friends and family and return to the person you know you are. You can enjoy your favorite activities and live life the fullest. There is a beautiful world out there waiting for you. One where you can hear more naturally, with less effort. A world where you can participate more fully in social events and once again join in conversations with your loved ones.
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