Bagpipes and Hearing Aids, it's Not Rock and Roll

Several times a year I am privileged to hear bagpipes close up and personal at masonic lodge functions that I attend and participate in. I love the pipes and the traditional tunes. The pipes played indoors in small rooms create some interesting harmonics and present a challenge to my hearing aids, being loud and louders. Doing some research I found out that the British Army has looked into this. See below

Over the years there has been many discussions if playing in a pipe band can lead to hearing damage or loss. With many tests done and surveys conducted one can conclude that members of a band could indeed sustain hearing damage.

Without hearing protection, members face a serious risk of lasting hearing damage as decibel levels are over 90. Outdoors it has been recorded that pipes can reach decibel levels ranging between 108 to 111. 111 decibels is equivalent to how loud a pneumatic drill is.

Indoors, pipes can reach decibel levels up to 116, which is as loud as a chainsaw. Snare drums can hit up to 122 decibels. The noise level is louder than the sound produced by a jet engine at take off.

In 2006, the Ministry of Defence in Britain ordered Army bagpipers to limit playing indoors 15 minutes a day and 24 minutes a day when playing outdoors. If the piper wants to play longer they have to wear ear protection.

So we can stop telling the kids to moderate their IPod volume and limit our appreciation of the pipes to about 15 minutes indoors. I think next time I will turn my hearing aids off.

Can Pills Make Make Me Loose My Hearing?

Some time ago, there were articles posted that Viagra causes a hearing loss. Some consider it an an occupational hazard for men in the Porn industry. There are other medications that can effect your hearing even if you don't use Viagra. Some of the hearing loss is temporary while other effects are permanent.

Viagra Hearing Loss Study

List of some medications that effect your hearing

Study: 30% increase in teens with hearing loss

I wonder if the numbers are going up because the screening is getting better. Doesn't look like hearing aid manufacturers or audiologists have to worry about a lack of customers.

Excerpt from the study

" The type of damage found by researchers conducting the study isn't usually associated with exposure to loud noises, although doctors aren't ruling out blaring music as a possible cause. Some audiologists say the causes may be related to an increase in certain genetic disorders, for example, or the fact that premature babies, who are often more susceptible to hearing loss as they get older, have better survival rates than ever before.
Whatever the reason, 30 percent more of today's teenagers have some level of hearing loss compared with their peers in the late '80s and early '90s, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. One in 20 youths between the ages of 12 and 19 has enough damage that it may impact the ability to listen and learn.
"That's a huge jump in hearing loss," said Dr. Lawrence Lustig, director of otology and neurotology at UCSF. "You really need to start doing some much more intense testing on these kids" to determine what is causing it, he said."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F08%2F17%2FMN4B1EVC81.DTL#ixzz0wzN7Dsqs

Study: 30% increase in teens with hearing loss Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2010%2F08%2F17%2FMN4B1EVC81.DTL#ixzz0wzF9BFN8

Fun with Sensormatic Theft Detection systems

You know those theft deterrent systems that some stores use? They are the white tags that in books, clothes and other merchandise that have to be removed or deactivated or the alarm goes off when you pass by the antennas mounted near the stores exit doors. My hearing aids and or Streamer trips the buzzer, going in or out. Most of the time I keep on walking unless some asks to check my bag. Sometimes I don't have a bag and all I get is puzzled looks and "never mind".

What's so great about hearing aids?

I have had my hearing aids for six months tomorrow. Are the hearing aids worth time effort and expense? For me they certainly are.

Pros:

It is much easier to hear my wife and actually understand what she is saying to me. A lot less guessing about what she is saying to me. Fewer misunderstandings and we laugh about them now.

Meetings and social events are a lot more fun. I did not realize how I was missing out on. Noisy places like Starbucks are tolerable now. I still think the architects and designers who design restaurants should be sentenced to work in them for at least a month.Too many of them are too damned noisy.

High tech hearing aids are cool, the hearing aid's ability to learn and adapt means I rarely adjust the volume any more. The blue tooth interface is a must with the Blackberry. It took a while for me to understand what the hearing aids were doing.

Zero issues with hearing aids or blue tooth. Easy to set-up and tweak. Battery replacement and routine maintenance only takes a few minutes a day.

My Subaru has turn indicator relays that make noise when you use them or leave them on. The tires also make a lot more noise than I thought. Never heard them until six months ago.

My vintage audio systems sound a lot better. Treble boost is now set flat.

Costco has great prices on hearing aid batteries, about half the price that Walgreen's wants for the same batteries.

Cons:

As expected the hearing aids can't fix all of my hearing issues. I still have a hard time hearing soft consonants and some conversations. 

My hearing aids are very small, easy to loose if I don't put them up. I lost them in a hotel room one night.

I get feedback on certain frequencies above 2000 Hz and a some volume levels while listening to some instrumental music. But the hearing aids are learning and adapting so this happens very infrequently.

Are the hearing aids worth $8000? Do they improve the quality of my life? You bet. I left the house one morning without my HA's and realized that something was wrong. It took a minute or so to realize that I left my ears at the house. Good thing I was only a a few blocks away so the return trip and remedy was quick.

If you think you have a hearing problem, get your hearing tested and may be even fitted for hearing aids. Life is too short and too much to miss out on any of it.

Oh Where Oh Where Are My Hearing Aids?

A few weeks ago at the end of a very long day, I check into a hotel, found my room, put my bags down and sat down on the bed. I woke up several hours later, the TV was still on and I was still dressed. After a few minutes I realized that I was not wearing my hearing aids. No big deal I usually out them in their storage case. Check the case, empty. Checked the bed spread, found my glasses and Blackberry no hearing aids. Crap, where did I put them?

I could imagine the call to my wife.

me: "Honey, remember those $8000 hearing aids I bough? I lost them in a hotel room."
wife: "You what?"
wife: long pause, silence "Find 'em before you come home"
Click, dial tone

This conversation never took place because I found them in one of my shoes with my keys and wallet. No clue how they got there.

Hearing Aids in Prime Time! CSI Miami, Hearing Aids are now cool.

Back in February, there was an episode of CSI Miami where Natalia shows off her new hearing aid.  She was wearing a BTE on only one ear. In a later episode, she mentions twice that her hearing aid  was not working because of  bug worn by Eric. Didn't know that bugs cause problems with hearing aids. At least hearing aids are now cool at least on very pretty women. Don't know about 55 year old guys though.

CSI Miami blog about hearing aids