My Head Aches and I'm Stressed out!

Two Ways to Potentially Rid Headaches & Stress

Of course having your vision checked to reduce headaches is something most people already know. But what about your ears? Can hearing loss and/or ringing in your ears cause fatigue and headaches? The short answer is yes, according professional medical experts.

One patient of a local hearing health clinic owned and operated a recording studio for over thirty years; mixing loud music on a day-to-day basis took it’s toll and caused a mild hearing loss and significant tinnitus.

Loud sounds can cause hearing loss and tinnitus: So can certain medications, accidents (especially head trauma) and of course aging can cause hearing problems. If you’re curious as to which medications that can cause hearing loss, you can Google “medications that can cause hearing loss”.

So if you get a little blurry vision, you make an appointment for an optometrist; If your not hearing well, you should also have your ears checked since your hearing health is just as important to wellness as your eyes. And according to a John Hopkins study, hearing loss can actually cause more significant health issues than vision loss.

Most doctors do not address three important aspects of you daily health: Eyes, teeth and hearing. That’s because most medical offices do not have adequate eye, dental and hearing test equipment nor the licensed staff to conduct those tests. This is why you should regularly see an optometrist, a dentist and a hearing health professional. Each of these offices specialize in improving your overall health in those respective areas.

Most persons don’t know that hearing loss (even a mild ones) can cause significant “straining” to hear people talk. They are also likely to exert some effort just to hear the T.V. and speech in noisy environments like restaurants, churches and social gatherings. Any strain on the body can cause unnecessary fatigue and in some persons that fatigue and strain can cause headaches and stress: most medical experts agree how these factors usually cause more illnesses.

There’s a deeper issue with Hearing Loss that affects your brain too. Since your brain does the actual hearing and understanding, when you have hearing loss, you’re starving your memory because your hearing and your memory are directly tied together.

To prove this point, most people with hearing loss are struggling to fully understand their favorite movies and T.V. shows. They get half way into the show and don’t understand why a certain character is acting up or why a certain event just took place - it’s because in the beginning of every show there are clues and things that set up the plot and if you’re not hearing well, you are not going to understand that plot. Thus, the hearing loss person is asking their loved ones to explain things in the movie they are watching.

Any constant strain on the body or especially missed information is not good for one’s health.

Treating hearing loss will also alleviate frustration in communicating with others; Especially loved ones. One way to detect hearing loss is when people are constantly having to repeat themselves or when a person has to turn the T.V. up to loud levels. Another common miscommunication is a loved one may state “I’m going shopping at the store” and the hearing loss person will reply: “Why are you mopping the floor?”
Hearing loss causing social and physical problems have been a major subject of study by doctors and researchers for decades. As mentioned in a previous article, some forms of Dementia have been clinically proven to be linked to hearing loss, according to a John Hopkins University study; readers can Google the search words “Hearing loss and dementia” to learn more about the extensive study; the study claims that untreated hearing loss can bring a five times greater chance of developing dementia compared to those with no hearing loss.

According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA)

“One out of every four older Americans has undetected or untreated hearing loss. Older adults with hearing loss don’t realize how much the quality of their lives has been affected,” said Jim Firman, president and CEO of NCOA. “As someone with significant hearing loss, I can personally attest to how the right hearing aids have dramatically improved my ability to work and play, my relationships with family and friends, and my self-esteem.  We encourage all adults and their families to take a hearing test and find out what they’ve been missing.”

A 1999 NCOA survey on hearing loss and older adults found that when people began to treat their hearing loss, many saw improvements in their lives, including their family relationships (66%), mental health (36%), sense of independence (34%), social life (34%), and even sex life (8%).

Read more at: http://www.ncoa.org/improve-health/community-education/hearing-loss-its-a-family.html

Preventing Painful Accidents—I Didn’t hear it coming!

“I was walking in a parking lot, didn’t hear a car backing up and it missed me by inches.”

Many people would argue the fact that hearing aids are not that important for mild to moderate hearing loss until they realize hearing loss can put a person at high risk of nearly being hit by a car, not heeding the warning from a person behind them, not hearing their window at home being opened by a burglar and many other life-threats that good hearing warns us about.

I have also had several patient’s who had balance issues and have taken terrible falls until they began wearing hearing aids. After all, our balance which is located in the ‘semicircular canals’ is connected right next to our cochlea, which is our main organ that distinguishes sounds and distributes them to the brain. (We really hear with our brain…the ears just “transmit” sound to the brain).


I have mentioned to many people the fact that if correcting their hearing deficiencies could prevent even one fall and prevent a hospital visit, the price of a hearing aid would seem much smaller; especially if it would save a broken bone or hip replacement in the future.


It’s not that treating hearing loss with hearing aids will guarantee normal balance and always prevent falls, but they have been added to the long list of health benefits like better balance; and  the very common onset of dementia…persons who don’t treat their hearing loss have a five times greater chance of developing dementia and cognitive decline along with other health issues; like the annoying ringing in the ears (Tinnitus) that has proven to diminish healthy and enjoyable living.

Personally, wearing hearing aids have reduced my overall tension and fatigue by more than seventy percent. Since wearing hearing aids allows us to hear details and sentences without straining, there’s much less stress from people being upset with us for having to repeat themselves…and your brain will be under a lot less strain throughout the day since you won't have to lean in and squint your eyes to read people's lips.

Now that I enjoy stress-free hearing, I have been able to get up earlier in the morning and stay up later at night; and I rarely get tension-headaches anymore. I can also engage in conversations at family gatherings and restaurants without nodding my head in agreement, when I really didn’t hear what they were saying.

We don’t think of the dangers that can rise from hearing loss until we or someone we know has a bad experience related to it.  From Dementia to almost being hit by a car, to frustrated loved ones that are tired of us blasting the T.V., hearing loss can cause havoc in our lives; especially with loved ones who have to constantly share the burden.

And the old stigma of bulky/ugly hearing aids are over! So are the batteries! The new hearing aids are not only smaller, smarter, deliver more natural sound like a human ear, but they are now rechargeable. Just plug them in like a cell phone at bedtime and the charge lasts all day and into the night.

Today’s modern hearing aids are so beyond the old negative reputation they had, they now live up to the expectations that modern digital devices feature. So much so that we’re certain you’ve seen dozens of people in public and on T.V. shows who wear hearing aids without noticing them, and without realizing they have significant hearing losses. No one knows I’m wearing them until I point them out.

BLUETOOTH has also entered into the modern hearing aid, so you can stream just about anything to them: Your T.V., Smartphone, Music and more! No more cranking up the television that was annoying your loved ones. Your family and friends can listen to the T.V. at their preferred volume and you have your own separate volume streaming right into your hearing aids. Phone calls are streamed into your hearing aids for hands-free conversations and music has never sounded so good!

Hearing Loss myths...

There are a lot of myths about hearing loss - here's a few things to keep in mind:

Myth #1: Hearing aids will make me look “older” or “handicapped...”

Looking older is clearly more affected by almost all other factors besides hearing aids. If you have to make people repeat their sentences, you're are already bringing attention to your inability to hear well. It is not the hearing aids that make one look older; If hearing aids help you function like a normal hearing person, your life will change dramatically and people will treat you more favorably!

Hearing aid manufacturers are well aware that cosmetics are an issue and that’s why some NEW hearing aids fit totally in the ear canal and other models are nearly undetectable.

But more importantly untreated hearing loss is more obvious than wearing a hearing aid. Smiling and nodding your head when you don’t understand what’s being said makes your condition more apparent than the largest hearing aid available!

Myth #2: Your hearing loss cannot be helped.

In the past, many people with hearing loss in one ear, with a high frequency loss, or with nerve damage have all been told they cannot be helped.

This might have been true many years ago, but with modern advances in technology, nearly 95% of people with a common hearing loss can be helped with hearing aids. The consequences of hiding hearing loss can be dangerous.

Untreated hearing loss is far more noticeable than wearing hearing aids. If you don’t hear a car backing up toward you, miss a punch line to a joke, or respond inappropriately in conversation, people may have concerns about your mental acuity, your attention span or your ability to communicate effectively. 

The personal consequences of denying hearing aids can be life altering. At a simplistic level, untreated hearing loss means giving up some of the pleasant sounds you used to enjoy. At a deeper level, you could be at risk of Dementia, accidents and people shying away from you.

Myth #3: I’ll just have some minor surgery like my friend did, and then my hearing will be okay. Many people know someone whose hearing improved after medical or surgical treatment. But only some types of hearing loss can be successfully treated. With adults only 5-10% of surgeries help Hearing Loss.

Myth #4: Hearing aids will make everything sound too loud.

This was actually true in older hearing aid technology. It used to be necessary to turn up the power in order to hear soft speech (or other soft sounds). Then, normal conversation indeed would have been too loud. With today’s modern digital hearing aids the circuit works automatically, only providing the amount of amplification needed based on the input level. In fact, many hearing aids today don’t have a volume control because they’re unnecessary on certain models.

Rest assured the Better Hearing Institute researched thousands of people like you and found that hearing healthcare professionals receive customer satisfaction ratings of 92%. And 9 out of 10 people indicate that the quality of their life has improved with hearing aids. 

Now that Hearing aid manufacturers have learned more about personal preferences, they've made hearing aids easier to wear, less noticeable and they've added automatic features with state-of-the-art digital sound…

For more information visit: 
www.CrystalClearHearingAids.com

You'll LOVE the way you HEAR!

Some of this text was taken from articles of the Better Hearing Institute.