Do-It-Yourself Hearing Aids

Here is an Excellent article from the Better Hearing Institute

 The Better Hearing Institute (BHI) is warning consumers of the inherent risks associated with purchasing over-the-counter, one-size-fits-all hearing aids instead of consulting a hearing healthcare professional. Hearing loss is sometimes the symptom of a serious underlying medical problem. All 50 states require that consumers use a credentialed hearing care professional to purchase hearing aids.

BHI also points out that hearing devices that are purchased over-the-counter or Internet without the consultation of a hearing healthcare professional may result in the devices not being accurately customized to the specific hearing needs of the individual.

                                                                   
"Today's state-of-the-art hearing aids should be programmed to the individual's specific hearing loss requirements in order to provide good levels of benefit and customer satisfaction," says Sergei Kochkin, BHI's Executive Director. "The process requires a complete in-person hearing assessment in a sound booth, the training and skills of a credentialed hearing healthcare professional in order to prescriptively fit the hearing aids using sophisticated computer programs, and appropriate in-person follow-up and counseling. This is not possible when consumers purchase one-size-fits-all hearing aids over the Internet or elsewhere."
Extensive research shows that individualized hearing health assessments and fittings programmed specific to the needs of the hearing aid user provide the best chance for optimal hearing enhancement and customer satisfaction.

"The best advice BHI can give anyone purchasing a hearing aid is to find a state credentialed hearing healthcare professional and to communicate openly during the evaluation, fitting and trial period to increase the likelihood that you are receiving the best possible benefit from your hearing aids," says Kochkin. "It will make a tremendous difference in your ability to hear and in your quality of life."

BHI has published a comprehensive consumer guide entitled, "Your Guide to Buying Hearing Aids." (See http://www.betterhearing.org/ under hearing loss treatment.) The guidelines give confidence to first-time hearing aid buyers by providing a detailed, step-by-step explanation of what to expect, ask, and look for when selecting and visiting a hearing healthcare professional and purchasing a hearing aid.

To read the full story follow this link http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/better-hearing-institute-warns-on-do-it-yourself-hearing-care-131831238.html


 Advice on Hearing Care Call Oxford Hearing Centre 01865-861861

Wax Removal

Excessive wax is a common problem that we regularly see at Oxford Hearing Centre.

This is one of our audiologists effortlessly removing  a large mass of wax from a patient's ear canal without pain or discomfort.

                    

 If you are worried about wax call us for a free examination on 01865-861861

Otomycosis

 Oxford Hearing Centre presents further posts of conditions and disease of the ear.

Symptoms

Itching, an intolerable urge to clean the ear often causes further trauma to the ear canal. Pain, discomfort, feeling the ear blocked and mild discharge can also be noted. Tinnitus (ringing in the ear) and vertigo can also  occur.

Signs

Absence of healthy wax is noticed in most ears. The external auditory canal shows edema and black discharge, at time like wet tissue paper in the ear.

Why fungus in the ear?

The ear canal can be easily infected by bacteria or fungus as it is dark, warm and humid. This occurs more in those who wear head cover in some part of the world.

Otomycosis most often occurs when too much water gets in the ear canal such as after swimming or showering in chlorinated water. It is also called Swimmers ear or Singapore ear. It is easier for germs and fungus to grow when water removes the protective ear wax. Too much cleaning of your ears can have the same effect.

Treatment

Send a swab for microbiological tests to identify the fungal and bacterial pathogens
1. Clean the ear canal by vacuum suction under an operating microscope using normal saline at body temperature. If the ear is painful instill little local anesthetic drops before cleaning. Remove all the fungal debris and discharge.
2. Insert a medicated wick with antifungal and antibiotic cream/ointment.
3. Analgesics if there is pain
4. A broad spectrum antibiotic for 5 days
5. Avoid swimming, or water getting into the ear until the fungal infection is fully eradicated.
6. Systemic antifungal therapy like ketaconazole, Iconazole rarely. Make sure the patients are not diabetic, liver and kidney functions are normal.
7. Visit the doctor and make sure the fungus is eradicated from the ear.

Antifungal agents commonly used

Clotrimazole, Gentian violet,Tolnaftate,Nystatin,Acetic acid, and Econazole

How to prevent Fungus in the ear

To prevent Otomycosis, it’s important to keep the ear canal’s natural defenses against infection working well. Leave some amount of ear wax in the canal, this has an antifungal property.

After swimming or showering, use a towel to dry your ears well. Turn your head to each side and pull the earlobe in different directions to help water run out. A hair dryer set on the lowest speed and heat can also help dry ears, but be sure to hold it several inches from your ear. After swimming in common pool, put few drops of acetic acid ear drops or any other antifungal ear drops. Use ear plugs, when swimming.

Custom made ear plugs are available from Oxford Hearing Centre.  Call 01865 861861

RECOGNITION OF EXCELLENCE FOR

OXFORD HEARING CENTRE

Oxford Hearing Centre is proud to announce that they are the First Hearing Care Clinic in England to be made a Centre of Excellence!

Leading Danish hearing aid specialists, GN ReSound, who are responsible for the initiative, only award the title of ‘Centre of Excellence’ to select, highly skilled professionals who demonstrate exemplary patient care and technical expertise.

To be recognised as a ReSound Centre of Excellence, Oxford Hearing Centre were able to clearly demonstrate a commitment to expertise, training and professional development in a clinical and caring environment, with a comprehensive service and aftercare programme.

Richard Moss, Director of Audiology Services at Oxford Hearing Centre said; “We are delighted that the care and service we offer has been recognised by ReSound. Our ethos has always been to put our patients first and we are prepared to spend as much time as is necessary to make sure they get the very best out of their hearing assistive systems. We guarantee that this level of care makes a real, and significant audible difference to their lives”.

Making sure a patient receives the greatest benefit from a hearing instrument is a huge responsibility and requires experience, knowledge and expertise. Unlike a pair of spectacles where the skill lies in the initial diagnosis and the resulting prescription, hearing instruments must be carefully tailored to each individual’s hearing ability. They require skilled, precise electronic programming and continued adjustment, as the patient becomes accustomed to their new world of sound. This fine-tuning can take several appointments over a number of months to get the best possible result.

Ceri Whittaker, Marketing Manager at GN ReSound said; “We appointed Oxford Hearing Centre as our First Centre of Excellence, as it is clear their commitment and dedication to a careful and professional procedure ensures each individual they treat, is getting the utmost benefit from their hearing devices.

“It is this commitment and the evidence of the impact this can have on a hearing impaired person’s life, that led us to award Richard and the team at Oxford Hearing Centre.                                                   

“Any person who goes to them receives personalised, on-going fine tuning based on their hearing loss, preferences, lifestyle and physiology. The continuous service and support programme they offer for hearing loss adaption is second to none, that is why Oxford Hearing Centre are our First Centre of Excellence”.

For further information about Oxford Hearing Centre call: 01865 861861 or visit: http://www.oxfordhearingcentre.co.uk/

Or, simply call into the Centre at:

157 Eynsham Road, Oxford OX2 9NE

.

 About Oxford Hearing Centre

The Oxford Hearing Centre was formed in 1982 as a hearing aid and audiological centre of excellence. The practice is a founding member of AIHHP – The Association of Independent Hearing Healthcare Professionals. AIHHP is a professional body representing the leading independent hearing aid audiologists in the United Kingdom. Full members of the association have to meet rigorous clinical standards and are subject to peer evaluation before admission.

As well as helping people to hear, the Oxford Hearing Centre provides individual and organisational guidance on hearing conservation.

The centre has been acknowledged in both 2009 and 2010 for the Audiologist of the Year Awards. The Awards are issued as a result of members of the public nominating those individuals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help them overcome their hearing difficulty.

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New Wax Removal Clinic Opens at Oxford Hearing Centre

Commencing July 1^st 2011  we will be able to carry out wax clearing and ear cleaning in our new aural care clinic here at Oxford Hearing Centre.

We know that ear wax (or cerumen to give it the correct name) is not the most pleasant of substances, but if there’s one thing that regularly affects our patients, their hearing aids and our ability to carry out our job, it’s ear wax!

Blocked ears render hearing tests inaccurate, cause hearing aids to malfunction or whistle and ear impressions to be useless.

                                                              

In the past you’ve had the inconvenience of wasted visits and we’ve had to rely on

the support of your GP or practice nurse to clear this for you. In some clinics there seems to be a reluctance to carry out ear wax removal at all.

So we’ve further invested in training and more state of the art equipment to be able to offer this new service to you. All of the audiologists on staff are able to clear ears by using water irrigation or dry clearing with specialist tools. This is carried out with the use of a special microscope to provide you the safest, most comfortable and highly effective procedure possible. We also offer a quick free ear examination.

Call  01865-861861 or 
Email info@oxfordhearingcentre.o.uk

Cotton Buds

Local Hearing Specialist Waxes Lyrical about…

    Cotton Buds!

You may have read about the plight of an 11 year old boy who had suffered partial hearing loss in one ear for nine years, and was instantly cured – when a cotton wool bud popped out of his ear!

He was diagnosed with single sided deafness when he was just 2 years old. Somehow a cotton bud end had become stuck in his ear, and had been routinely missed on examination. But whilst playing with friends one day, his ear popped and out came the end of a cotton bud, restoring his hearing to normal!

It is situations such as this, that Richard Moss, senior partner at the Oxford Hearing Centre hopes to bring attention to, by raising awareness of the risks associated with the humble Q-Tip or cotton bud, as it is more commonly known.

Originally launched in the USA in 1923 and marketed under the name of ‘Baby Gays’, cotton buds (Q-tips are the registered brand name), are now one of the world’s most widely used cosmetic products.  

Demand for the product has grown as people have found more uses for it. Families used tips moistened with warm water to clean a baby's outer ear, the folds of the neck or between the toes. They're even used to apply makeup, as well as clean parts of CD players.

Unilever, the company that now owns Q-tips, produce in the region of 25.5 billion Q-tips each year.

“In our local area”, says Richard Moss. “Thames Water estimates that every single week 100,000 cotton buds are flushed down the drains!

As the plastic is not biodegradable, they cause pumps and filters in the sewer network to fail, risking pollution and putting even more pressure on our local drainage system.

Cotton Buds are found in the bathroom cabinet of just about every home in Britain, and are often incorrectly used to clean inside the ear. Despite warnings on boxes, nearly everyone does it, mostly to try to clean wax out of the ear.

Ear drum damaged by Cotton Bud

This is why as hearing care specialists, Oxford Hearing Centre has good reason to dislike cotton buds.

Because, in fact, using cotton buds often pushes earwax deeper it can cause the ear canal to become blocked, bruised and potentially even infected, as if the bud is pushed too far in, it can penetrate the eardrum and cause permanent hearing problems.

“Fresh Earwax is a good thing and is a sign of a healthy ear!” says Richard Moss. “It helps moisturise the skin in the ear and prevents the growth of bacteria.

“If you suspect that wax has built up and it begins to affect your hearing, you should have your ears examined by an experienced doctor or audiologist, if confirmed they can carefully remove the wax.”

“We know that ear wax is not the most exciting thing to talk about”, said Richard, “but if there’s one thing that regularly affects our clients, their hearing aids and our ability to carry out our job, it’s ear wax! Blocked ears can render hearing tests inaccurate, cause hearing aids to malfunction or whistle, and ear impressions to be useless”.

Oxford Hearing Centre now offer a specialist ear wax removal service, “All of our audiologists”, explained Richard, “are able to clean and clear ears by using water irrigation or dry clearing with specialist tools. This is carried out with a specialist microscope to provide the safest, most comfortable and highly effective procedure possible. We also offer a quick free check to see if the ears are actually blocked”.

So... a couple of ‘Tips’ from the team at Oxford Hearing Centre are as follows; “Don’t suffer an unnecessary hearing loss by using a cotton bud to clean inside your ears, if you must, you can use them on the outside folds of the ear, but never push a cotton bud into the ear canal.

“And ... Please don’t flush cotton buds down Oxfordshire’s drains, we may want ears to be clean, but we also want to be green! The future of ear cleaning should most definitely be environmentally friendly!” concluded Richard!

For further information about Oxford Hearing Centre’s ear wax removal service and hearing tests call: 01865 861861 or visit: www.oxfordhearingcentre.co.uk

Or, simply call into the Centre at: 157 Eynsham Road, Oxford OX2 9NE.

 About Oxford Hearing Centre

The Oxford Hearing Centre was formed in 1982 as a hearing aid and audiological centre of excellence. The practice is a founding member of AIHHP – The Association of Independent Hearing Healthcare Professionals. AIHHP is a professional body representing the leading independent hearing aid audiologists in the United Kingdom. Full members of the association have to meet rigorous clinical standards and are subject to peer evaluation before admission.

As well as helping people to hear, the Oxford Hearing Centre provides individual and organisational guidance on hearing conservation.

The centre has been acknowledged in both 2009 and 2010 for the Audiologist of the Year Awards. The Awards are issued as a result of members of the public nominating those individuals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help them overcome their hearing difficulty.

Richard Moss also acts as consultant to the music industry, advising many famous professional and amateur musicians on issues of hearing protection and healthcare.

The Oxford Hearing Centre’s diverse client list covers all walks of life, from royalty to rock stars.

For more information contact:

Oxford Hearing Centre

157 Eynsham Road

Oxford OX2 9NE

Tel. 01865 861 861

info@oxfordhearingcentre.co.uk

www.oxfordhearingcentre.co.uk