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Features
To the Brain and Back: “Second-Person Neuroscience” For Hearing Loss, Aging, and Social Connection
A sense of connection is the foundation of social engagement and the development of personal relationships. People living with hearing loss, however, feel less socially connected because speech and language are more difficult for them to perceive in conversation or group settings. Audiologists play an important role in addressing these social needs and people are more satisfied with their hearing aids when they feel higher levels of social support.
Beyond Amplification: A Comprehensive, Evidence-Based Approach to Tinnitus Management
Tinnitus is the perception of sound without an external source, often described as ringing, buzzing, or hissing. Effective management requires addressing not only the disruptive symptom but also the broader context of each patient’s experience, including hearing and medical history, coping strategies, and overall well-being.
What Do Hearing Aids Sound Like?
When was the last time you listened to a hearing aid that you dispensed? When was the last time you were able to listen to what a top-of-the-line hearing aid sounds like compared to an entry-level hearing aid? How about comparing the top 2 hearing aid brands that you regularly dispense? Whether your answer was last week or last year, the reality is that ‘listening’ to hearing aids typically takes a back seat to technical breakdowns of new algorithms, processing power, and of course, AI.
How Chronic Illnesses Impact Hearing, Balance, and Cognition: A Guide for Hearing Care Professionals
In 2024, the CDC listed each of the following 10 medical conditions as chronic illnesses: asthma, cancer (excluding skin cancer), chronic kidney disease (CKD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary heart disease, depression, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, and obesity/fall risk. Hearing loss, tinnitus, and fall risk can be associated with each of these illnesses likely due to ototoxicity, microangiopathy, genetics, and other etiologies. This article examines the risk, type, and degree of auditory-vestibular and cognitive symptoms which may occur in parallel with these chronic illnesses.
Striking the Right Balance: Horizontal Canal Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo: Diagnostic Challenges and the Kurtzer-Hybrid Maneuver
In this edition of “Striking the Right Balance,” Nichole Sorensen, Au.D., RAUD, and Bailey Sinclair, M.Sc., RAUD, write about horizontal canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (hc-BPPV) diagnostic challenges and use of the Kurtzer-Hybrid maneuver.
Beyond Decibels: Redefining Noise Hazards Using Kurtosis
Thank you to the National Hearing Conservation Association’s e-publication, Spectrum, for giving us permission to reprint this article. It touches on a measure of peakedness in a noise spectrum that may be caused by impulse noise such as weapon fire.
In this issue we will start with the original article and follow with two Q and As with the authors.
In this issue we will start with the original article and follow with two Q and As with the authors.
Columns
Volunteer Subjects Wanted for Online Research
Participants are needed for a PhD research project examining how audiologists across Canada support music listening for adults who use hearing aids — an area that can differ from speech-focused fittings. It asks about how often music comes up in clinical practice, what strategies or adjustments clinicians use specifically for music, and how effective those approaches seem based on their professional experience.
From the Labs to the Clinics
One of the fundamental pillars of any scientific or healthcare field is that it be based on facts and real evidence. Methods of disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment should be based on what is known to work or at least to have a high probability of effectiveness. I think that we would all agree on that. Or would we?
Sound Business Sense
No matter where it is, independent audiology practice is a rapidly expanding sector of the profession. The audiologists choosing this path are truly fostering the successful transition of audiology into an entrepreneurial business-oriented clinical profession. While quite different from other allied professions, audiology has become a stand-alone professional business enterprise poised to treat the growing hearing-impaired population. Both successful and unsuccessful organizations share a fundamental element: Strategy.
The Way I Hear It
I haven’t yet watched Code of Silence, in which a deaf worker with exceptional speechreading abilities uses her skills to aid criminal investigations. I want to avoid the usual cringing at the myths of hearing loss and deafness perpetuated in popular media. But I have been assured that Code of Silence avoids these myths, some of them anyway, so I’ll give it a go.
Clinic Corner
Imagine sitting in a quiet office and suddenly finding yourself overwhelmed with rage because the person next to you is chewing gum. Or picture walking into a coffee shop only to feel a wave of panic when the milk steamer hisses. For most people, these sounds are minor annoyances. But for individuals with misophonia or hyperacusis, everyday noises can feel unbearable—sometimes even life-altering.
Quick Answers
While this Quick Answers is a bit longer than others, the answer may be quick, but getting there may require some background. The Quick Answer regarding whether we should measure patient-specific LDLs is “Yes”, but I think that reading Gus Mueller’s Quick Answer column will be much more fulfilling.
What’s New About Getting Older?
Health care providers and patients alike can be lured by the false claims of fake authorities about health issues and cures that are too good to be true. Hope springs eternal but too often we may succumb to empty or false hopes. Meanwhile, authentic scientific sources and evidence-based analyses of the benefits (or lack thereof) of treatments have become more difficult to identify. As reality and truth become elusive, trust is eroded. As trusted healthcare professionals, audiologists must preserve and promote truth to safeguard against misinformation.