This week, 3rd – 9th May, is deaf awareness week. it is estimated that 1 in 5 people worldwide live with hearing loss. Within the UK, 12 million people live with hearing difficulties – these range from tinnitus and being hard of hearing to profound deafness.
While there are many different causes of hearing loss, exposure to load noises, ageing, genetics and ear conditions are the most common causes. In a lot of cases, hearing deterioration happens gradually. Some common signs of hearing loss include:
- Turning the TV up louder
- Struggling to hear on the phone
- Feeling that people mumble
- Asking people to repeat themselves
- Finding it hard to follow conversations in busy/noisy environments
Today is Bone Conducting Hearing Day. This is an important day for me as the hearing aids I wear use this technology.
Most sound waves are received by tiny vibrations that travel through the air to the ear drums. The drums decode these vibrations into a different sound wave which pass through the middle ear bones to the cochlear. The cochlear, with help of hair cells, turns these vibrations into electrical signals which are transmitted to the brain.
The other sound vibrations reach the cochlear via the skull. For people with hearing loss like mine – where I have no ear drums or middle ear bones – this bone conducting method is better than with standard hearing aids.
Standard hearing aids amplify the sound vibrations that travel to the ear drums, whereas bone anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) use the body’s ability to transport the sound vibrations via bone to the cochlear. Over 250,000 people worldwide use this system.
BAHAs require an operation to surgically insert an abutment into the skull which enables users to wear the aid discreetly. The technology transfers the sound waves picked up by the aid to vibrate through the skull which are then converted to electrical signals through the cochlear.
I am forever grateful for this bone anchored system and to be part of its development. The technology is constantly improving and being made more available to people who can benefit. When I had my first one fitted, I had never heard of this system and had never seen anyone using these aids; now they are becoming more widely used and available. I use the Oticon system and you can find out more about it here.
Last week I had the pleasure of sharing my story & raising deaf awareness for an online magazine. you can read it here.
Keep sending those good vibrations
All the love
Jenny
That Deaf Chef 