HearCare RI - Oticon's OPN Can Help Your Fitness Goals in the New Year

Oticon’s OPN Can Help Your Fitness Goals in the New Year

In hearing aids, hearing health, Lifestyle by Laurie Duffy, M.S.

Have you made any new year’s resolutions for 2018? Did you include resolutions about your health, like going the gym more, getting active, or eating healthier? If you want to get in shape this year, and make improvements to your health, why not take a look at your hearing health as well!

Hearing loss affects far more than your ability to hear in conversations. If you can’t hear, your relationships suffer, you risk developing depression or dementia, you’ll have difficulty focusing, and you may even be risking your safety! If you want to be healthy in 2018, then Oticon’s Opn hearing aid can help you meet your health and fitness goals, and work with you to get the most out of this next year.

The HearingFitness App

If you want an app to help you meet your fitness goals, then look no further than Oticon’s exciting new HearingFitness app that’s designed to improve not only your hearing, but your overall health as well. Like any other fitness tracker, the HearingFitness app monitors health markers such as heartrate, activity, and sleep patterns. But the HearingFitness app is really all about your hearing health, so it tracks hearing aid usage, listening effort, and the listening environment. With this data, the app makes recommendations on how to hear better, protect your hearing, live healthier, and get the most out of your Opn hearing aids. Getting in shape will be a breeze with this new app.

Hearing Affects Overall Health

Living with hearing loss affects your overall health in profound ways. Not being able to hear is an isolating, frustrating experience, and can put a real strain on your relationships. You’ll have a harder time concentrating on tasks, and won’t have the energy to participate in social activities. “Hearing plays a huge role in people’s overall health and well-being, and HearingFitness, paired with Opn, encourages routine use of hearing aids to improve hearing and the ability to engage in social settings,” says Don Schum, PhD, Vice President of Audiology at Oticon.

The HearingFit app tracks ‘hearing fitness’ to make sure you’re using your hearing device to it’s full extent, reducing listening effort, and staying healthy. More than that, the app shows you how your hearing health impacts your overall health, and the rest of your life. “The HearingFitness app helps people with hearing loss understand how their behavior and hearing health habits can influence how effective their treatment is,” said Schum. Using your hearing aid properly has a big impact on how healthy you’ll be this year.

HearingFitness App Honored with an Award

The HearingFitness app has already been making waves in the hearing world. It has already won a 2018 CES Innovation Award, recognizing Oticon’s amazing new technology that will help Opn wearers get healthy. Right now, the app only works with Oticon’s Opn Made For iPhone hearing aids that feature full streaming capabilities, and the best in connectivity. Being connected to your smartphone allows your hearing aids to gather and collect all the data it needs to make suggestions to improve your hearing health and meet your fitness goals. The app provides feedback on ways to optimize your hearing aid usage, and other tips on how to have healthy listening habits and a healthy lifestyle. Data is also exported to Oticon for further analysis, so improvements and upgrades can continue to roll in. Oticon is all set to exhibit at the CES showcase in Las Vegas this January.

Brain Hearing Technology

One of the things that has always made Oticon so special is their brain hearing technology, focused on helping your brain hear rather than just amplifying sounds or treating hearing loss as a problem with the ears. This technology works with your brain to reduce listening effort, fill in gaps in your hearing, and allow you to enjoy what’s happening around you rather than wasting all your energy just trying to hear. Oticon has made this ‘brain first’ approach a major part of the HearingFitness app, helping your brain and working on meeting your hearing fitness goals.

Visit Us at HearCare Rhode Island

If you want to get your hearing in shape this year, then visit us at HearCare for a hearing assessment, and to learn more about Oticon’s Opn hearing aid and fitness app. Having healthy hearing affects your overall health, and you’ll be amazed at the difference it can make.