CHESTERMERE – There is no doubt that your hearing is one of the senses that is always on duty no matter the time of day, scanning relentlessly even when we sleep. Sound can conjure up the feeling of cleanliness of a glass, it can remind you of long gone memories of an event when you hear a certain song and make your mouth water. It is our 24 hour warning system that is continuously on alert to warn you if there is an unusual sound and warn you of impending danger.
Mark Ganden at the Oasis Medical Centre in Chestermere Station is an Audiology Trained, Hearing Instrument Specialist, and he has many stories about hearing loss and protection if you care to hear them.
Hearing is one of the first senses that develop as early as 12 weeks after conception listening to our mother’s heartbeat. Although we hear through our skins and bones, our ears are specialists. With our vision we can roughly see about 180 degrees and 120 feet high whereas with hearing we have 360 degrees, spherical. There is no deaf spot as in a blind spot with sight and hearing gets no rest. Hearing is 100 times more sensitive than the eyes.
So why do we take such poor care of our hearing?
Often our employers make us wear ear plugs when we are in a noisy environment and yet when we mow the lawn or take up a hobby that involves using power tools or a recreational sport, we disregard our common sense and do those activities without taking precautions. “Oh it’s only going to be for a few minutes,” is a common phrase used to justify the lack of taking the time to protect your hearing.
For example, a power mower gives off a level of 96 decibels (dB) live rock music (108 – 114 dB), use of outboard motor, motorcycle, farm tractor, jackhammer, garbage truck (100 dB), firearms can exceed 150 dB; damage to your hearing starts at 85 decibels. At 120 decibels, some of the sensitive hair cells in the inner ear that transmit sound can be immediately destroyed and that means permanent hearing loss.
If you were to google images of hearing loss you’ll almost always find an image of an elderly person. Age often has a bearing on hearing loss but this is not always the case and in especially in today’s age. There is more use of ear buds and headphones and it could be the younger people who are the ones that are going to suffer – sooner rather than later.
Noise is the leading cause of hearing loss however there could be other factors causing hearing loss such as from an illness, it could be hereditary, an injury, side effects from medications or complications during pregnancy.
One of the key messages Ganden wants to emphasize is that people need to establish a base line for their hearing. “If they have a baseline and something happens, at least they can see where their hearing was before that something happened”. This is important information for employers – get your employees tested so they have a baseline hearing level. Ganden is mobile and can come out and evaluate your worksite and get all the workers tested; that’s a proactive approach.
Make an appointment, a baseline test for industry takes about 15 minutes, with a full test taking 1 to 1 ½ hours. The test is $50 but only $25 with a doctor’s referral. If you need a hearing aid, he can enhance your hearing for as little as $1000, depending on your needs and hearing aid style. The cost of the hearing aids is actually “FREE” if the person is a senior on a supplemented income. And for hearing protection, he can provide you with much more protection than you’d get with the spongy type ear plugs. By the way, standard earmuffs are the least effective product for hearing protection. Children, teens, adults, and seniors can all benefit from the Alberta Hearing Center and they will custom fit your earplugs so you have maximum protection and comfort.
Ganden also has other cool products available such as Voice Link and Audio Streamers for blue tooth and wireless TV or music. The technology in all of the products has come a long way.
The Alberta Hearing Center has a wide range of hearing aids that are extremely discreet or virtually invisible with the “Completely in the canal” (CIC) hearing aid.
Ganden also works with the Alberta Aids to Daily Living (AADL), – Worker’s Compensation Board (WCB), and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (DVA).
Now Hear this – DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND GET YOUR HEARING TESTED!
The Alberta Hearing Center is located at #201, 175 Chestermere Station Way in the Oasis Medical Centre. Phone 403-668-7776 or email Aud1ahc@gmail.com for information or appointments
