PRESORT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 249
CONCORD, CA
S
P R I N G
2014
V A L L E Y
2415 High School Ave. #300 * Concord, CA 94520
1220 Rossmoor Pkwy * Walnut Creek, CA 94595
A U D I O L O G Y
NEWS
Leigh Kjeldsen, Au.D. * Robert Green, Au.D. * Debbie Lockary, Office Manager * Linda Myers, Receptionist
C ARBON T RANSMITTER H EARING AID
Calendar of Events for 2014
We hope to see you there!
We are making preparations for
our 30th celebration and we hope
you can make it. On May 1st from
3:00 to 5:00 in our Concord office
we have an open house planned.
Chat with Julie Fulford who retired several years ago, check out
the amplified telephones from
the California Telephone Access
Program, find out about new
technology in hearing aids from
Oticon’s local Doctor of Audiology and enjoy some refreshments.
As we plan ahead for 2014 we
want you to be able to easily
save the date for upcoming
events. The following are things
we have planned for the year.
Fall Event - New technology in
hearing instruments. Date and
time to be determined.
April 26th - Leigh Kjeldsen, Au.D.
will be speaking at the Faith Lutheran Church Senior Options
Seminar
On the third Thursday in September, October, and November we will continue our
Hearing Success! classes.
Topics will be listed in our next
newsletter.
May 1st - 30th Anniversary Party
at our Concord office. See the
article to the left for details.
First week of December - Battery Sale. The favorite event of
the year!
May 15th - Hearing Success
Class on Prolonging the Life of
your Hearing Aids.
Fitting hearing aids today is a joy.
The �lexibility of the programming,
the feedback control and all the
automatic processing make them
better than they have ever been.
Just how did we get here?
The �irst electronic hearing aids
were produced in the 1800’s using
technology invented by Thomas
Edison and Alexander Graham
Bell. Carbon transmitters
changed acoustic sound into electrical sound. The units were often
so large that they had to stay in
one spot. One model, the Akouphone, in 1898 sold for $400
(adjusted for in�lation that is over
$11,000!).
Vacuum tube hearing aids were
created in the 1920’s but they still
had very large batteries and could
weigh as much as 7 pounds. By
the 1930’s and 1940’s the aids
were small enough to be worn.
In the 1950’s transistor hearing
aids became available. They
�irst had terrible moisture problems and would die after just a
few weeks. When that issue was
�ixed, the units were small
enough that they were incorporated into the stems of eyeglasses and later they were
available behind the ear.
and changing the way they operate based on the input.
Finally, the wireless revolution is
upon us. Not only can hearing
aids talk to external devices via
Bluetooth technology but they
can talk to each other using technology such as Near Field Magnetic Induction. Talking to each
other the aids share information
to keep wearers hearing in dif�icult environments.
The next big revolution in hear- What will hearing aids do next?
How will they look?
ing aids didn’t come until the
1990’s when digital hearing aids
were introduced. Now, with just
a few notable exceptions like
Lyric, just about all hearing aids
on the market are digital. The
computer chips in devices today
make millions of calculations
monitoring the environment
2415 High School Ave. #300 * Concord, CA 94520
1220 Rossmoor Parkway * Walnut Creek, CA 94595
Fax: 925-676-8420
Telephone:
www.valleyaudiology.com
MAY
IS BETTER
H E A R I N G MO N T H :
IMPROVE YOUR QUALITY
OF LIFE
Hearing loss is a serious condition and it should not be ignored. There are a host of
conditions that occur with hearing loss and most of them are
very serious.
hearing loss are up to 5 times
more likely to develop dementia.
Studies are ongoing to determine
how hearing aid use affects the
likelihood of developing dementia.
We have long known that depression is high amongst people
with hearing loss and especially
with those who do not successfully use hearing aids. Hearing
loss is isolating and we are social beings. If we are cut off
from our family and friends due
to a sensory loss we are deprived of our social nature.
Hearing aids are very helpful in
keeping the hearing impaired
engaged and active.
Cardiovascular disease and hearing loss are linked. Likely the impaired cardiovascular system
affects the blood flow to the delicate inner ear causing damage.
Staying active and eating well will
help your heart and your hearing.
Diabetes doesn’t just cause vision loss but it also causes hearing loss. Those with diabetes
are up to 2 times more likely to
experience hearing loss and to
have more rapidly declining
hearing. If you have diabetes
and hearing loss, you should
have regular follow up hearing
tests.
Research is buzzing in the arena
of hearing loss and Alzheimer’s
disease and dementia. There is
a strong correlation between
the two and some studies have
shown that older people with
May is better hearing month. In
May make a resolution to do
something to improve either
your or a loved one’s hearing.
Have you have been putting off
getting another hearing test and
having your hearing aids recalibrated? Or did you never get
hearing aids but you notice that
you’re having more trouble than
ever hearing the television and
taking part in group conversation?
Maybe you’re doing OK, but your
spouse is now asking for the TV
volume to be higher than you‘d
like. Or a friend is asking you to
repeat what you said many times
during your golf game. Use Better Hearing Month as a call to action.
NE W S
V A L L E Y
A U D I O L O G Y
MA D E F O R I P H O N E
H E A R I N G AI D S
Apple products have been taking
over the market since the turn of this
century. It is no surprise that we are
now hearing about Made for iPhone
hearing aids.
Oticon has released their iPhone
app that works with their new
Streamer Pro 1.2. The app is free to
download from the app store.
Search for Oticon and look for the
Connectline app.
The app allows the wearer to
manipulate the streamer from their
iPhone. Changing volume,
changing programs and accepting
phone calls can now be done
through the phone.
Not only does the app offer more
features and flexibility than the
previous streamers, it allows for
incredible ease of use through the
iPhone screen.
Any wireless Oticon hearing aid can
use the new streamer and iPhone
app. There will be upgrade options
if you’ve purchased a previous
version of the streamer.
Call our office for information.
Expanding Hours in
Walnut Creek
Our Concord location has always
been our “main” office while the
Walnut Creek office has been our
“satellite.” As the years have gone
by, we’ve gotten more and more
customers interested in being seen
in Walnut Creek. Now, in addition
to Leigh being there on Tuesdays
and Thursdays, Debbie will be there
on Wednesdays.
As you have read in previous newsletters, Debbie is now a licensed
Hearing Aid Dispenser. She can help
with hearing aid cleaning, in-office
repair and programming adjustments. She is also an experienced
teacher of hearing aid use and maintenance.
We are experimenting with having
some drop-in time for those who
want to come in to buy batteries,
wax guards and other supplies. For
now, we’ll schedule appointments in
the AM and leave the PM open to
drop in. The hours will remain the
same at 9:00-4:00 and closed from
12:00 – 1:00 for lunch.
Moisture Causes Many Hearing
Aid Failures
If you have ever experienced fuzzy
or distorted sound, weakness,
static, intermittency, short battery
life, or even all-out failure of your
hearing aids, and you've confirmed that the batteries are
good, there's a good chance that
the culprit is either moisture
or earwax. In fact, manufacturers
report that as many as one-half
of the aids they receive for repair
are malfunctioning due to moisture or earwax.
night. The Zephyr Dry and Store
is an electronic device that uses a
replaceable moisture absorbing
brick. The Dri-Jars are a little less
high tech and use desiccant
beads that absorb moisture overnight. The beads can be recharged several times in either a
conventional oven or microwave
oven. (But be sure to remove the
hearing aids first!)
Some people tend to perspire
more than others. Living in a
humid environment can also take
a toll on the internal hearing aid
components. Corrosion can take
years off the life of your hearing
aid.
The final solution for people who
have a really hard time keeping
their devices dry are products
such as Ear Gear. These are
small sleeves that fit over the top
of hearing aids and act as moisture barriers while be acoustically
transparent so the wearer can
still hear well.
There are several moisture control
products available that you can
save you time, expense, and aggravation due to preventable
moisture-related hearing aid
problems.
We have the Dri jars and electronic dry and store devices for
sale in our office. The Ear Gear
can be ordered online directly
from the company at
www.gearforears.com.
With hearing aid dehumidifiers
such as the Zephyr Dry and Store,
or Super Dri-Jars, best results are
achieved with in-home use every
Call us if you need more information.