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Department of Otolaryngology
Hearing Rehabilitation
Suspected hearing loss should be evaluated by both an audiologist and a physician. Medical or surgical treatment may be appropriate. Hearing aids enhance the ability to hear for most individuals who exhibit difficulty hearing. Assistive listening devices (ALD) may be helpful for individuals who exhibit a fairly severe hearing loss. For people with hearing loss that is so severe that hearing aids or ALDs are not helpful, a cochlear implant may improve the person's ability to hear. In our clinic, individuals with hearing loss receive counseling and learn rehabilitative strategies in order to maximize the ability to hear.
Hearing Aids
A hearing aid is a miniature amplifier that helps individuals with a hearing loss to hear better. The audiologist will use modern equipment to measure your hearing at different "pitches" and to measure your understanding of speech. It is important to have your hearing properly examined, because the style of hearing aid recommended for you depends upon the pattern and severity of your hearing loss. Each person's hearing loss is different.
The basic styles of hearing aids include in-the-ear (ITE) aids, completely-in-the canal (CIC) aids, behind-the-ear (BTE) aids, eyeglass aids, and body aids. ITE and CIC aids have become very popular because of their miniature size. Hearing aids vary in price according to style, electronic features, (e.g. digital vs. analog) and local market conditions. In general, the smaller (e.g., CIC) the hearing aids, the more expensive they are. So called "programmable hearing aids" are also more expensive because they include added electronic features. Again, it is highly recommended to consult your audiologist to select and purchase the hearing aid that would be best suited for your hearing loss and for your own financial and social circumstances.
Assistive Listening Devices
People with a significant hearing loss may benefit from the use of assistive listening devices (ALD). Assistive listening devices are special amplification devices that are designed to meet different and unique needs of the hearing impaired person under various situations such as telephone communication, understanding TV, church services, theaters, conferences, classrooms, etc. By using different electroacoustic techniques (e.g., hard wire, induction loop, FM), target sounds can be delivered to the ears with good quality and clarity. Since interference from environmental noise is minimized by placing a microphone at the talker's mouth, ALD are ideal for communication in relatively noisy environments.
Cochlear Implants
People with profound hearing loss that is not helped with hearing aids may benefit from a cochlear implant. Insertion of a cochlear implant is a surgical procedure where two pieces are placed beneath the skin - the body of the implant (which is positioned in a depression made in the skull), and the electrode ray (which is guided into the cochlea). There is also a transmitter that sits behind the ear and is connected to the speech processor which is usually located around a patient's waistline or may be a miniature device like a BTE hearing aid. This device converts sounds into electrical signals that stimulate the remaining nerve fibers in the cochlea.
Patients considering cochlear implants must be very dedicated in their treatment and therapy. In the case of a child, it is particularly important for proper therapy as early years are the most important for speech and language development.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) was developed in 1990 by Pawel Jastreboff, PhD, and used clinically for the first time at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD.
The birth of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy began by Dr Jastreboff developing a neurophysiological model of tinnitus. This model was then used to develop a method of treatment that is now called Tinnitus Retraining Therapy. This new approach is not a "quick fix" or a cure. It does not work for everyone but it has resulted in a significant improvement for the majority of patients evaluated and treated.
The treatment is, again, called Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, but other names such as habituation-oriented therapy, tinnitus treatment based on a neurophysiological model are used as well. It involves an extensive audiological evaluation, several counseling sessions, the use of external sound, and frequently the use of sound devices. It does not involve any surgery or drugs. We try to retrain the subconscious parts of the brain to ignore the sound of your tinnitus and to achieve the stage in which you are not aware of and/or annoyed by your tinnitus.
Interested participants will first be examined by our otolaryngologist to rule out the possibility of a medical reason for your condition along with a diagnostic hearing test. Please plan on spending approximately two hours during the initial appointment. Our clinic procedure is a team effort, so you will be seen by more than one health care professional during this appointment. When calling the clinic to make an appointment, please have the appointment scheduled with Dr Stephen Wetmore (otologist) and also for an audiogram.
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