Ask Ms. Heard It All Before: Frank Answers to your Questions About Hearing Loss and Assistive Devices

Dear Down the well,

Seems to me, you are experiencing the "Occlusion Effect". So crawl out of that well, pull your fingers out of your ears and hopefully the below can ease your mind regarding your situation.

An occlusion effect occurs when some object (like an unvented earmold) completely fills the outer portion of the ear canal. There are basically only two ways to reduce or remove the occlusion effect. The most effective way is to not completely block the ear canal with an earmold. Another way of reducing the occlusion effect is to use a very long and tight earmold or to locate a completely-in-the canal (CIC) hearing aid far down in the ear canal close to the eardrum. Before you break the bank, you should seek further information from an Audiologist regarding this issue, because it is a real one. Click here for further information on the Occlusion Effect.

Thanks for writing.

Ms. Heard It All Before

Dear Pass You The What?:

Kids can be loud, that's true. But in noisy situations we can usually help ourselves with very little trouble at all.

You didn't mention if you wear hearing aids or not, but I will tell you about a product that is good for loud places that you can use with or without hearing aids. If you think that's fancy, well, you would be right!

A Personal Listening Device is a great, handy little gadget. They are about the size of a cassette tape, are battery powered and are very easy to use. They have a small microphone and amplifier and can be used with a variety of headsets if you don't wear hearing aids.If you do wear a hearing aid, and it has a t-switch (or telephone setting), you can use a neckloop to transmit amplified sound directly into your hearing aid. They are especially good for one on one conversations or small groups.

Some other ideas are to have your friend Gladys sit in the best-lit seat at the most out-of-the-way table, and watch for any visual clues she might give you. You should also be up front with Gladys! Ask her to be sure to face you when she speaks, and let her know if you don't understand something she says.

Dear I Hear You Almost Loud and Clear,

Your problem, although troublesome, is not unusual. I have, in fact, heard this one before! So, shall I play it again, Sam? Many newer phones on the market have volume control, which can be helpful in understanding people with soft voices. However, for some of us we need a little more "umph". May I suggest an amplified phone or a phone amplifier?

There are many amplified telephones on the market, from corded phones to cordless phones, speakerphones and phones with answering machines. Most amplified telephones have features such as volume and tone control, flashing light and loud ring and different ring patterns. Many of them have features such as memory and emergency one-touch buttons.

An In-line Amplifier is a telephone amplifier that connects the phone's handset to the phone's base. These can only be used with phones that have a cord that can be removed between the handset and phone base.

I suggest that if you have a chance to test out a phone or amplifier, you should do so. If not, well, some good old fashioned homework on your end should do the trick! Also, keep in mind that your hearing can change over time, so keep your audiologist's number close by.

Ms. Heard It All