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1 Comment [ View ]Listening to a Lyric
By JAMIE LAMPROSKurt Coroles really wasn't ignoring his wife. He honestly could not hear her talking.
"She kept saying to me, 'Is this selective hearing?' But it was really true. I was having hearing loss with higher tones," he said. "Because women speak in higher tones, I wasn't hearing my wife and I noticed I was saying 'Huh?' an awful lot, not only to her but to other people."
Coroles, 58, and a resident of Hooper, said he isn't sure why his hearing started to go. He suspects it might be the fact he worked for years in the computer field with motors running constantly around him.
"I knew I needed to do something, but because of vanity issues, I just didn't want those great big things attached to my ears," he said.
Steve Talbot of Kaysville understands. The 61-year-old Roy High School band teacher has been wearing hearing aids since the age of 14, when scarlet fever affected his hearing.
"I've had all types of hearing aids over the years. Some of them were OK, but they didn't really produce the quality of sound I needed," Talbot said. "I know when I would put them in, my students were shocked. They had no idea, but I'll tell you, all of a sudden, I became an old man. It has an effect on your teaching."
Talbot and Coroles both decided to participate in a pilot program at the Ogden Clinic using a new type of hearing device called Lyric, which is placed four millimeters from the eardrum and is invisible to the eye.
"I really like it. I can hear the hummingbirds, the ticking of a clock, little things like that," Talbot said. "It has five levels of sound, so I can turn if up or down, and because I'm a cherry farmer, too, I usually turn it down around the noisy machinery."
Types of aids
Laurel Brewer, an audiologist at Ogden Clinic, said there are several types of hearing aids on the market. Depending on the patient's hearing needs, no one hearing device fits all.
"As technology gets better every year, so do hearing aids," she said. "Traditional hearing aids do a good job for most people, depending on the type of hearing loss and style of hearing aid used. Hearing aids are not perfect and do not restore natural hearing."
Because there are various prices, brands and styles of hearing aids, Brewer said, it's important that people consult an audiologist to find the best option.
According to the National Institute of Deafness and other Communication Disorders, some of the devices include behind-the-ear hearing aids, which connect to a plastic ear-mold that fits inside the outer ear. The electronic parts of the device are held in a case behind the ear.
There are also open-fit hearing aids, which fit behind the ear completely. A narrow tube inserted into the ear canal enables the canal to remain open. This device is good for people who experience earwax buildup, which can damage some types of hearing aids.
In-the-ear hearing aids fit inside the outer ear and are used for mild to severe hearing loss. The case is made of hard plastic. A small magnetic coil makes it easier to hear conversations over the telephone.
The newest style
Lyric, the newest device, must be inserted by a physician during a nonsurgical procedure. The device is hidden inside the ear canal and can be worn 24 hours a day. The volume can be adjusted by the patient using a magnetic device.
"The device is water-resistant, so you can get them wet. Showering and surface swimming are allowed," Brewer said. "The deep placement of the device reduces the amount of amplification needed. This accentuates high-frequency sounds and reduces feedback."
Brewer said the device needs to be replaced every four months. Batteries typically last about 90 days. Patients do not pay for a new device every time. Instead, they pay an annual subscription fee for both ears. The cost is approximately $3,000; most insurance companies do not cover the cost.
The best candidates
Dr. Nadim Bikhazi, a physician in the otolaryngology department at the Ogden Clinic, said he sees a broad spectrum of hearing loss in the community.
"Certainly, the most common patient experiences are age-related hearing loss. I also see hearing loss in young children that is congenital and acquired," he said. "The typical causes include age, noise, traumatic perforation and fluid buildup."
Bikhazi said the typical age of hearing-loss onset is 50, but often it is imperceptible at first. Only when it interferes with conversation, telephone usage and watching TV do people pick up on the loss, he said.
Bikhazi said he has inserted several of the new Lyric devices lately. He calls it revolutionary because it does things other hearing aids do not.
"Feedback, which is the high-pitched whistling heard from most devices is mitigated in the Lyric," he said. "It also allows someone to be active without having to remove the device. It is only being sold in 20 centers, and we are the first office here to have it.
"It is novel in design and transforms the social stigma of hearing loss. Patients do not have to accept unreliable, difficult-to-wear hearing aids anymore."
Patients do need to be screened, however, he said. To be a good candidate, hearing loss cannot be profound and the ear canal has to be deep enough to have the device fit comfortably.
"I'm very happy with the device," Coroles said. "I like the fact that I don't have excess baggage on my head."
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