NEWSLETTER

OF THE

NAPIER HEARING

ASSOCIATION hear here

this issue

Christmas Dinner P.1

President’s Report P.2

Ask the Audiologist P.3

Tinnitus: treatments & techniques P.4

Why our ears are shaped that way P.5

N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 6

I S S U E

Napier Hearing Centre

Civic Court Mall

Dickens Street, Napier

(next to Café DMP)

9am - 2pm

Monday to Friday

Phone: 835 7790

www.napierhearing.org.nz

Email: naphear@xtra.co.nz

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/

napierhearing

Post to:

PO Box 4019

Marewa, Napier 4143

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

President: Brian Cottle

Treasurer: Diana Clift

Secretary: Angela Moloney

Volunteer Co-ordinator:

Ann Bain

Committee: Janice Cram,

June Chorley, Jacqui Lee,

Maree Hallamore, Joy Kelly,

Br. Joe Lamb, Robert Vance

05

Christmas Dinner

featuring entertainment by

The Acapella Fellas & MC Mike Goodacre

Thursday 8 December Taradale RSA Dining Room

156 Gloucester Street Taradale Arrive: 5.30pm All Tickets: $22.00

Join us for an evening of superb entertainment with Napier’s own Barbershop Chorus, the Acapella Fellas. With special guest MC Mike Goodacre, spot quizzes and great prizes.

A buffet Christmas dinner with dessert, tea and coffee will be followed by entertainment. Drinks available from the bar. All welcome.

Purchase your tickets from the Hearing Centre by Tuesday 6 December. Transport is available - please contact the Hearing Centre on 835 7790.

hear here Issue 02 April 2014

Finished with your

newsletter?

Consider passing it on

to a neighbour or friend,

or perhaps leave it at

the doctor’s office or

dentist’s rooms.

hear here Issue 02 May 2016

Tickets are now on sale for our Christmas Toy Raffle, with three beautiful handcrafted toy trucks to be won. $2 each, or 3 for $5. Drawn 8 December. With much appreciation to Don Wilson for his beautiful craftsmanship and generosity in donating these prizes.

Welcome to our new members

A warm welcome to Shonah Heaton, Ben Applegate, Mark Peters, Richard Walsh, Jennifer Ramsay and Ted Body.

We hope to see you at the Centre or one of our events soon!

Christmas Toy Raffle

President’s Report Brian Cottle, President,

Napier Hearing Association

I am delighted to report that our 2016 Street Appeal in October has resulted in our best ever collection. We raised a total of $4,046.30 at sixteen sites over 3 days. This will go a long way to supporting our community activities, including programmes in schools and rest homes, and activities at the Hearing Centre. Thank you to all of you who collected for us, and to those of you who generously donated. This is a real team effort, and we couldn’t succeed without each and every one of you.

We are now looking forward to an end of year Christmas Dinner, and hope many of you are able to join us. This year we will be entertained by the Acapella Fellas, a Napier Barbershop Chorus. I would especially love to see a big crowd, as I am a member of the Chorus! We will also be joined by the resplendent Mike Goodacre as host, and I am sure he will have a couple of quiz questions and some great prizes up his sleeve! Tickets are on sale now.

For those of you unable to make it, all of us at Napier Hearing wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and healthy 2017.

Centre Happenings Thank you to our Volunteers With the Street Appeal now behind us, it’s time to thank all of you who have offered your support throughout the year. We are very fortunate to have a strong network of friends and volunteers who help with newsletter production and delivery, raffle sales and street appeal collections, sponsoring prizes, catering and a myriad of other behind-the-scenes tasks. We will host a Morning Tea on November 17 to thank you all - and for those of you who cannot make it, we hope you know your efforts are much appreciated!

Christmas Closing The Napier Hearing Centre will close on Friday 23 December, and reopen on Monday 16 January. If you experience issues with your hearing aids during this period, please contact your audiologist.

Be sure to visit us before we close to stock up on your hearing aid batteries! If you find yourself running short, our suburban battery agent will have a supply - see details on page 5.

Ask the Audiologists Our Spring Lunch featured a panel discussion with independent audiologists Lisa Thomson and Leonard Poon. They shared some excellent advice on the process of getting hearing aids, hearing aid management and lots of practical information. On page 3 we share a couple of the tips they shared - we will feature more of these in future editions.

hear here Issue 05 November / December 2016

Ask the Audiologists Independent audiologists Lisa Thomson from About Hearing and Leonard Poon from Whispers Hearing were our guests at our recent Spring Lunch. They tackled some tough questions from the audience - we will recap their answers over the next few issues.

How can I get my husband to wear his hearing aids? Leonard Poon: There are all sorts of reasons why he might not be wearing them:

Do they hurt his ears when he puts them in? – this can be sorted by the audiologist having a look at the ear mould or aid. If there are bits that don’t fit they can usually be shaped away.

It may be that he’s just not used to them yet. They may be too loud. He may just need to go back to his audiologist and get them adjusted.

Did he actually want them in the first place? The person’s hearing test result is only half the picture. What’s equally or more important is how that person is coping with their hearing loss. Everyone’s different. A hearing loss which is disabling to one person might be merely inconvenient to another, depending on their life-style.

A lot of people say to me: “my hearing loss isn’t really bothering me but my significant other/children etc have been on at me about getting my hearing tested, and I’ve come along to keep them quiet”. If the person doesn’t think they need hearing aids, regardless of what other people think, they’re not going to wear them – it’s as simple as that. If he feels he’s coping well with his hearing loss, nothing you can say or do will change his mind.

What will help me adjust to new hearing aids? Lisa Thomson: Having a good support system - if you have someone who can come to the appointment with you, and help you along the way this really helps.

Having a positive attitude – some people come in and really want to hear better, and those people seem to adjust more quickly

Knowing that you can go back to your audiologist and get help is also really important. We get people back a week after having their aids fitted. Sometimes they need an adjustment, sometimes just a bit of guidance, eg how to put the aids in, battery changing. We then book them in regularly until they’ve “got it”.

Special offer for

Napier Hearing

Members:

This website includes

information on how to

get to sleep, create

good work habits, de-

stress, sound therapy,

sounds for relaxing, and

training for the brain.

Tinnitus Tunes is

available on a

subscription basis, but

you can look at parts of

the site without paying.

As a special offer to

Napier Hearing

Members, Tinnitus

Tunes are offering a

15% discount on the

joining fee. Visit the

website and use the

promotion code

naphear27, to claim

your discount.

www.tinnitustunes.com

“Volunteers aren’t

paid, not because

they are worthless,

but because they

are priceless”

hear here Issue 05 November / December 2016

Tinnitus: Treatments & Techniques

Tinnitus expert Dr Grant Searchfield was back in Hawkes Bay on 26 October to give a talk at Hastings Hearing. He gave a summary of some of the current treatments and therapies sufferers may find helpful.

Cognitive behaviour therapy: This helps you train the brain to find the sound not so annoying or bothersome. People would prefer to find a complete cure, but this is one of the most common successful ways of dealing with your tinnitus.

Drugs: Lots of work is being done on developing drugs to work on improving tinnitus in different ways. Currently they are either not specific enough to improve tinnitus, or they have severe side effects (such as death) which make them impractical.

Hearing Aids and Sound Therapies: These can modify the connections between neurons in the brain to change brain activity and “train your brain” to not be bothered by the tinnitus.

Hearing Aids: If you have a hearing loss, deal with this first. Hearing aids help you hear background sounds more clearly so that you notice the tinnitus less. This is Grant’s most common weapon against tinnitus. Most people get better with hearing aids. Some (not all) people stop being aware of the tinnitus altogether after they have got hearing aids.

Masking – introducing another sound: If this is a “nice” sound, it can disguise your tinnitus. A low-level sound works best. Different people like different sounds, depending on their tinnitus and own preferences.

Activity: Being active can help, as you are not sitting around listening to your tinnitus. Listening to your tinnitus strengthens the connections between the neurons in your brain in your hearing area and emotional area and makes the tinnitus worse.

Good sleep habits: Again, lying in bed listening to your tinnitus is not a good idea. If you can break the habit of listening to it you can break the connections between the neurons. Don’t use devices in bed. The bright light stimulates the brain rather than getting it ready for sleep. If reading before bed, use a book, not a bright device. It is a good idea to do this elsewhere, then go to bed to sleep. Avoid stimulants, eg coffee, tea, or exercise before bed.

Relaxation – tinnitus gets worse when you are stressed. Some people find that their tinnitus goes away when they are relaxing on holiday.

Train the brain: Try to shift the focus from tinnitus to normal, external sounds. For example, really listen to that bird singing. What sort is it? Is it one bird or several?

Tinnitus is trying to train you to listen to it. This gradually rewires the brain to make the tinnitus louder and more noticeable. Will-power alone is not enough, but practicing turning your focus to other sounds will help over time. You can also introduce other external sounds to listen to.

Over time, our brain wiring will change and we become less aware of tinnitus. This is not a short-term therapy, but the end result is adapting to tinnitus so that it fades into the background.

Why are our ears shaped that way? Human bodies have a way of evolving to optimise their effectiveness. Todd Ricketts, from Vanderbilt University, tells us how the shape of our ears muffles noises from behind and why large flaps may actually make you a better listener!

Size Matters! The shape of the ear has a big effect on how we hear, and since we’re only born with one pair, we get used to the sounds they deliver to the eardrum and eventually to the brain, says Dr Ricketts. While some animals have rotating ears, humans don’t need ear functions with up-down precision hearing, “since we’re not likely to be attacked from above or carried off by a bird.”

The ear’s outer flap, called the pinna, acts as a sound-gatherer, “a bit like a horn,” Dr Ricketts says. It is pointed slightly to the front, allowing the ear to gather more sound from what it is facing rather than from what is behind. “Sounds from behind don’t travel so well to the ear flaps,” Dr Ricketts says.

Large-size ear flaps should help drown out ambient noise behind a person, thus allowing them to hear the person they are facing better. People with flatter ears, on the other hand, can conceivably pick up sound from behind better, “which you could argue is a good monitoring ability,” the professor says. No matter your ear shape, to hear more clearly when speaking with someone face to face, simply cup the pinna with your hands to concentrate the oncoming sound.

Extra Benefits: The distance between our two ears helps people locate where a sound is coming from. The little ridges and folds that most people have on their pinnas alter the frequencies of sounds and also help us locate where the sound is coming from. Whether the top of your ear is fully curled or has bumps or dents, “everyone has a unique sound signature,” says the professor.

Down the Canal: The swirly shape of the ear leads sound down into the auditory canal, which acts as an amplifier. “Humans have a natural amplification in the 2000 to 4000Hz range, which is where the difference between consonant and vowel sounds comes into play,” says Dr Ricketts. At the end of the canal, the eardrum is both protected and hypersensitive to sound. If it should tear, it has the unusual ability to heal on its own.

continued on back page ...

The Hearing Centre will close on Friday 23 December, and will reopen again on Monday 16 January.

Our suburban battery agent is available if you find yourself short of batteries. Please phone before visiting to make sure he is home:

Don Wilson, 15A Eaton St, Taradale Ph: 844 0055

Ear Planes

Relief from air pressure discomfort when flying

EarPlanes are for people with sensitive ears or people who must fly even though suffering with a cold, allergy or sinus condition.

EarPlanes silicone ear plugs act as an airtight seal when inserted into the ear. As cabin pressure changes the flow of air into and out of the ear canal is impeded.

Available from the Hearing Centre $16.00 (members price)

Christmas Closing

hear here Issue 05 November / December 2016

Services available at the Hearing Centre:

FREE to Members

Independent information and advice

Funding information

Communication strategies

Wax checks

Hearing Aid cleaning and drying

Hearing Tests

Free trials of equipment

Discounted Prices for Members

Hearing Aid batteries

Amplified phones, TV headphones

personal listeners and other devices

napier hearing

hear here Issue 05 November / December 2016

My Get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went!

Old age is golden, or so I’ve heard said, But sometimes I wonder, as I crawl into bed, With my ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup, My eyes on the table until I wake up.

As sleep dims my vision, I say to myself: Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf?

But, though nations are warring, and Congress is vexed, We’ll still stick around to see what happens next!

How do I know my youth is all spent? My get-up-and-go has got up and went! But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin And think of the places my getup has been!

When I was young, my slippers were red, I could kick up my heels right over my head. When I was older my slippers were blue, But still I could dance the whole night through.

Now I am older, my slippers are black. I huff to the store and puff my way back.

But never you laugh; I don’t mind at all: I’d rather be huffing than not puff at all!

How do I know my youth is all spent? My get-up-and-go has got up and went! But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin And think of the places my getup has been!

I get up each morning and dust off my wits, Open the paper, and read the Obits. If I’m not there, I know I’m not dead, So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed!

How do I know my youth is all spent? My get-up-and-go has got up and went! But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin And think of the places my getup has been! Anon.

continued: Why are our ears shaped that way?

Under Pressure: In a healthy ear, sound travels through the canal where pressure changes vibrate the eardrum and register these vibrations as music, voices or noise. Past the eardrum is the middle ear, where small bones sit in an air pocket along with the Eustachian tubes, which help equalize pressure. Next is the inner ear, filled with fluid that transmits sound waves to the sensory ear organ and ultimately the brain.

Intelligent Design: The ear is a self-cleaning, self-oiling machine, “which is why doctors will tell you not to shove a cotton bud in there,” says Dr Ricketts. Placing objects inside the ear can impact ear wax, which is meant to capture and expel dirt. “Cleaning your ear can actually dampen your hearing,” he says. Despite their rather odd shape, ears do a pretty good job for what they are meant to do!

By Heidi Mitchell. First published in The Wall Street Journal

Thanks to member Trevor Smithers for sharing this with us!