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Summer Maintenance Tips for Your Hearing Aids

In Hearing Aid Maintenance, hearing aids, hearing health, Tips & Tricks by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

Time to hit the water or the golf course for a little summer time fun. Or maybe you’re a tennis or a barbeque person. Get out there and enjoy the season but take a little extra care to avoid damaging your hearing aids. In the winter condensation from inside and outside temperature changes can be damaging. In the summer, it’s moisture, but a different kind. Often, we can repair and do an evaluation on your …

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For Father’s Day, Improve Family Communication by Treating Hearing Loss

In Communication, Family and Relationships, hearing health, hearing loss, Hearing Loss Treatment by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

Healthy communication is the bedrock of all healthy relationships. Through deep discussions, jokes, stories, and heated arguments, we share ourselves and learn about our loved ones. For many of us, our familial relationships are among the most important. As we approach Father’s Day, which gathers many generations under one roof, we would like to highlight how hearing loss interferes with communication and the importance of seeking treatment for hearing loss. Understanding Hearing Loss For people …

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Is Your Mood Connected to Hearing Loss?

In Health, hearing health, hearing loss, hearing loss causes, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Research by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

Most people don’t realize how intricately linked your sense of hearing is to other parts of your life. When hearing loss is left untreated it takes a large toll on our total health affecting everything from coordination to quality of life to mental health. Hearing loss has long been linked to increased risk of depression, anxiety and even dementia. Now, research is underway to see if hearing loss is linked to the neurotransmitter dopamine and …

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People with Hearing Loss are at Higher Risk for Accidents

In Health, hearing health, hearing loss, Hearing Loss Impact, News by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

Our physical abilities to navigate the world around us greatly depend on the clarity of our hearing. Our awareness of our surroundings diminishes in proportion to the fullness of our hearing. When we lose our hearing, especially when this occurs gradually, we lose our ability to track those small, light, ambient noises that we hear every day, even if we don’t notice that we do. These sounds include the noises our pets make as they …

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Tips for Managing Tinnitus

In hearing health, Tinnitus, Tips & Tricks by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

The experience of tinnitus – a ringing in the ears- affects 50 million Americans each year, but that doesn’t make it any less intrusive or distracting! Tinnitus happens when you can hear a sound or tone that isn’t present – a non-auditory sound. It is usually caused by damage to the inner ear, from noise exposure, infection, medication or an impact to the head or neck. Most often, tinnitus manifests itself as a high-pitch ringing …

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Going Digital with Your Hearing Aids

In Hearing Aid Technology, hearing aids, hearing health by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

When you think of advanced digital technology, what comes to your mind? Most people picture the latest smart phones, lifelike computer graphics, even projects like virtual reality and artificial intelligence. It may surprise you that some of the most advanced developments in compact digital technology exist in the current generation of digital hearing aids. Hearing aids have made huge leaps with alongside digital advancements, making hearing technology more powerful and effective than ever before. Digital …

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Acknowledging the Reality of Hearing Loss

In hearing health, hearing loss by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

Nobody wants to get the news that they have hearing loss. Hearing loss creates challenges in many parts of everyday life. Living with hearing loss means overcoming obstacles at home and at work, with our friends and family and often with our favorite activities and pastimes. While a hearing loss diagnosis can be unwelcome, there is good news. Through acknowledging and treating your hearing loss you can lessen the negative impact it has on your …

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Train Your Brain to Stave Off Hearing Loss

In hearing health, hearing loss, hearing loss causes, Hearing Tests, News by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

As we learn more and more about the human brain, it’s intricacies and processes become even more remarkable. For a very long time, it was believed that our brains were pliant only as children and that their pathways became permanent as we aged. Certainly, we believed that older adults were incapable of changing the ways that their brains functioned. After all, we’ve all heard the saying that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” …

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A Possible Link Between Exercise & Reduced Risk for Hearing Loss

In hearing health, hearing loss, hearing loss causes, Lifestyle, News, Prevention, Signs & Symptoms by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

The benefits of regular exercise have long been trumpeted. Since history has been recorded, humans have understood that physical movement and exertion are of benefit to the mind and body. Marcus Cicero, a Roman politician said that “It is exercise alone that supports the spirits and keeps the mind in vigor” all the way back in 65 BC. And this proves even more powerful of a statement in today’s times, in which so much of …

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The Connection Between Hearing Loss & Cognitive Decline

In hearing health, hearing loss, News by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

As with all of our senses, hearing is linked to our brain function. When our ears pick up sound waves, they are transmitted through the middle ear where they are amplified, and then they are sent to the inner ear where they are processed into neural signals. These signals make their way through well-worn neural pathways to the auditory processing center in our brains, where they are registered as sounds we recognize. With untreated hearing …