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From the chronicles
Sir Winston Churchill Was More Open About Depression Than Hearing Loss
Mr. Chartwell, a book by Rebecca Hunt, was listed on the prestigious Top 100 books by the Globe and Mail for 2011. I picked it for my holiday reading list. Mr. Chartwell is actually the Black Dog, which is how Sir Winston Churchill referred to his depression. In Hunt’s novel, Churchill’s Black Dog is also […]
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Musicians Offset The Effects of Aging
It is challenging to have a conversation with noise in the background. For anyone. It is more challenging as we age—even for people with normal hearing. A research study conducted by scientists at Northwestern University asked the following question: do musicians who are older adults have an advantage? Does musical experience offset the effects of […]
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Start With Small Changes
Over a third of people over the age of 65 have hearing loss. And yet, 60% of people who need hearing aids don’t get them. Why? The short answer: it’s complicated. The long answer: read the research study. I am struck by a recurring theme of indecision, feeling overwhelmed, and procrastinating. This theme is reflected […]
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Diet and Hearing Loss: Is there a Connection?
Can your diet protect you from hearing loss? Good question. It turns out that diet is one of the few modifiable risk factors for age-related hearing loss. The Blue Mountains Hearing Study, conducted in Australia, looked at whether diet can prevent or slow the development of age-related hearing loss. Researchers found that people who had […]
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Introverts More Impacted by Hearing Loss
At the Saskatchewan Hearing Health Conference this year, a group of women were enjoying a fine dinner at Golf’s Steakhouse. All of us live with hearing loss: three of us have hearing loss, and the fourth is a mother of two young children with hearing loss. Among other things, we talked about our differences as […]
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Upside-Down Thinking
I recently spent two weeks at Yasodara ashram, a Yoga Retreat and Study Centre. While I was there, I used an FM system in classes and satsangs. Unexpectedly, I ran into some technology glitches. I had programmed my FM transmitter to hold six different FM channels. Normally, in a city, with all the accompanying sources […]
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Second Chances
On my way to the Saskatchewan Hearing Health Conference, I picked up Louise Penny’s latest book to read on the plane. The dedication took my breath away: “This book is dedicated to second chances— Those who give them And those who take them.” I put the book down and thought of second chances. How precious […]
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Ear Candles and Cotton Swabs to Manage Ear Wax: No, No, No!
As we all know, our ear canals produce wax. For some people, ear wax builds up much faster than others. If there is a large amount of wax build up, a temporary hearing loss can result. What should you do? In the vast majority of cases, the ear canal does not need to be cleaned. […]
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Why Conversation Therapy?
There is a magic number when it comes to hearing aids. It’s seven. According to the Better Hearing Institute, the average person waits seven years before pursuing hearing aids. In the meantime, communication can be difficult, especially in more challenging listening environments, or with certain people who mumble, or who speak really fast. When communication […]
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What in the World is Conversation Therapy?
For the next week in this blog, I’ll be exploring conversation therapy. What is conversation therapy, anyway? If you ask anyone in the hearing care field, they probably won’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve only seen one reference to conversation therapy, by Dr. Christopher Lind at Flinders University in Australia. When I read his […]
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Choose an area of interest to explore ways to improve your hearing