Audiology Always providing hearing aid fittings, diagnostic hearing evaluations, earwax removal and tinnitus management guidance.

You're hearing always matters.

More information at AudiologyAlways.com but hello and well hello and welcome to HealthLine.

I'm Jennifer Blomquist.

I appreciate you watching us this evening.

If you're new to our show I just want to let you know that we are live doing the show live and we welcome your calls during the program if you have any questions for our guest, we actually have an audiologist here.

We have not done an audiology program in quite a while.

>> So I'm really excited to do this show tonight with a brand new guest.

And so let me go over some of the basics in case you are new or just need a reminder again, we're live in the studio so if you have a question you want to ask, we keep that phone number up at the bottom of the screen for you.

It's (969) 27 two zero if you're outside of Fort Wayne still a toll free call just put an 866- in front of there and then now just a couple of weeks ago we started a new system where you can text in your questions.

So that's nice.

You can do that.

The number is a little bit different.

It's (969) 27 three zero.

And I just want to assure you that you we keep your phone number of private so your phone number will not come up on the screen if you text us.

But if you don't mind just telling us your name and maybe where you're calling from that would be great.

>> But everything else stays private.

Just want to reassure you about that and then when you call in you can ask your question live which I would recommend because then our guests can ask you questions.

You guys converse with each other.

Maybe that would help her to give you a better answer.

But if you prefer to just call into question, the call screener will take it and then relay it to me and one way or the other we'll get that question answered for you.

So without further ado, I'll go ahead and introduce you to our guest.

This is Dr.

Lindsey Kobel and as I said, she is an audiologist and a brand new guest.

>> We appreciate you coming on tonight.

Thank you.

I'm so excited to talk about audiology and hearing wellness well and you know, it's something that unfortunately people kind of make fun of people who are hard of hearing it.

>> It's just you know, even growing up in me I'm a lot older to you but growing up there are always jokes about hey grandpa, you know you know, can you hear me which is really pretty cruel.

>> You know, I think people now I think just in recent years are thinking it's just not it's not healthy for somebody to be able to hear you feel isolated and just not nice to make fun of people.

>> You know, it's just it's just not really a joke.

So yeah.

Ideology I feel like has really that whole field has really opened up.

>> It really has just within I've been an audiologist for about seven years now since graduate school and just within the last even five years or so there's so much more research in attention being put on hearing health and brain health and kind of that combination of how important it is to hear well and to be connected to those around us.

So I'm really excited to have this conversation and you know, the hearing aids have changed.

>> I mean they've changed.

I remember when I was growing up I remember my best friend Holly Staiger from second grade.

>> She's in Illinois.

I'm sure she's not watching tonight.

But I remember Holly had to wear a hearing aid and her mom we went to a small Catholic school and I remember Sister Carmel made her mom come in and said, you know, you should come in because she was afraid about the kids making fun of her because this thing was huge.

It was I remember it was like a brown colored like big thing that clipped both she had them on both of her ears and it was there is no hiding it, you know.

And so and then but now people tell me that there are ones that are like clear are like the size of like an earring.

>> Yeah.

We see people all the time who say if I'm wearing a hearing aid I don't want the big beige banana.

>> That's what they describe as like the beige banana and we've had people who remember their childhood.

>> They had hearing aids and it was like a body worn when they had a cord up to their yeah.

>> And so now they're really so small and discrete.

You know, if you look at people in the grocery store out in the community a lot of times it's a tiny wire and a little hearing aid that fits over the ear much smaller or they can be little teeny tiny ones that go all the way down in the ear.

They are really so many options that we can use to make every patient happy with what they're looking for so they're not as clunky as what they used to be.

>> Yeah, I think there's still that stigma.

You know, as I'm getting closer and closer to 60 I you know, I can appreciate it especially for people still working before retirement.

>> You don't want your colleagues to think, oh OK.

You know they can't hear well anyway.

Yeah yeah.

So in exactly I mean with that like you said there's such a stigma especially in the working world people say well I don't want to be perceived as the old person but I've also seen so many patients who come in seeking help because they can't keep up in meetings the way they used to before or they're like I'm on the verge of retirement because I feel like I just can't hear I can't do my Zoome meetings.

>> I can't keep up in meetings.

I'm having to ask for repetition so I feel like the old guy I'm asking people to repeat where a hearing aid might be a little more discreet .

>> Yeah.

And it's my mom wears hearing aids but you know, I just thought she was going to put them on and that was it.

>> Yeah but there's a whole learning system to it.

It took her a while before she said that she said well they told me I have to like retrain my brain so that that I never got into deep conversation with her.

>> There's really some truth to that.

You know, a hearing test is only part of the story everyone's perception to sound and how our brain is going to react to that hearing aid is different.

>> That's why it's so important to have a really reliable provider to kind of walk through this journey with you because it might you might adapt real quickly.

>> But for someone who doesn't adapt quite as quickly, there's follow up care.

>> There's tweaks and adjustments in our really in-depth software that we have and so every patient is different and it may have taken your mom a little longer to adapt the older we are, the harder it is to adjust to something new and we know that as providers and we're prepared to handle that as providers.

>> So how does it start?

I mean could you just go to your can you just go get it checked somewhere or do you have to start with the primary care doctor or and do the I mean would that be a good starting point?

>> I guess if you feel like you're not hearing you know a good starting point is always primary care you can let them know that I'm having concerns with my hearing and they should send you to a hearing care provider that they trust and have a good relationship with.

We don't always need a physician referral so if it's easier for you to just pick up the phone and call an audiology ,that's equally as good.

>> I think most audiologists in hearing your professionals would recommend that anyone really over age 50 should have a baseline hearing test because there are weird things that come up with hearing that could be a sudden change covid did a lot of weird things to people's hearing and if we didn't have a baseline hearing test to go off of before, we don't know how much things changed.

So it's kind of like dental and vision you see came about once a year we recommend a hearing test you know when you're fifty and then maybe five years later and then once you start to notice difficulties and what what would you expect as a patient?

>> What would you expect to have done at that first meeting?

>> I mean yeah, I you know, I grew up where we were still doing the hearing test at school in to raise your hand.

>> Is that kind of what you did similar it could be similar.

Most providers probably start with a pretty in-depth hearing history of what do you experience?

Do you have ringing in your ears any pain or pressure, any dizziness?

So a pretty in-depth case history about you and what you're experiencing that actual hearing test some providers may still have you raise your hand.

>> Yeah, push a button to the beeps.

What's evolving is our ability to test how you process speech so part of speech is speech clarity.

>> So if you hear the word dog does it sound like Borg?

>> Does it sound like Zogu?

You know the clarity here or something but just not yeah not quite make it is and then also hearing and background noise is so important and usually one of the first things that people recognize is when I go to that Texas Roadhouse on Friday night I just can't keep up.

And so we now have a diagnostic test that can see do you break down sooner than others in a difficult listening environment.

>> So after the provider does the whole test battery, usually they sit down and try to explain it to you.

It can be very confusing but to make it make sense and put it in kind of lay terms that's really what we try to do.

>> All right.

We have so much more that we were going to talk about but I do see that somebody texted in a question so yay, we're glad people are using the new system.

This is a good question because I know that they're not cheap .

>> This person wants to know why are hearing aids so expensive that that is a very good question and it's a very common question and I think probably what you've noticed from your mom's experience in hearing aids is when you purchase hearing aids, it's not a one size fits all approach when you're purchasing hearing aids, of course you're buying this really technological device so that so much research and development has gone into so the device itself has an expense to it.

The other part of the expense of hearing aids is the provider that you're paying for and oftentimes you are investing in having that provider walk through this journey free with you for a certain set of years.

>> So it's usually more of this kind of package deal if I understand I'm buying a widget in the device that I'm expecting to really help me.

But you're also paying for the provider's expertize to get that set to you so it can it can be expensive and it's a combined approach of what you're getting at somebody this is kind of a joke but somebody told me if if if you're going to the audiologist if you're a man you need to your wife needs to go with you because yeah.

>> Because a lot of like and my husband's the same way he he does have hearing issues.

Yeah but he you I think he doesn't want to accept it you know and I understand that but yeah that I was talking to an audiologist years ago and they said yeah we always recommend that the spouse comes because also they said it's or whoever you live with, you know your living environment those are the people who are going to know like you might say, oh, I think I hear fine.

>> The other person will say I was sitting right next to you.

You couldn't hear me.

You know, sometimes other people around you perceive it differently.

>> Oh yeah.

And having having that spouse or even sometimes we say bring a friend if you just have a friend.

But to have that familiar voice and kind of backup of what do you need and what's important to you especially in that initial buying decision, you know what's important to you in that process?

>> Yeah, it's really nice to have that spouse or friend along.

Yeah.

Just you know, it's probably to their you know, they want what's best for you if somebody you care about I'm sure they care about you and so that's a big decision and it's a lot of information as what we recognize.

It's a lot of information and it's a lot of new information most of the time.

So having someone else to after that appointment to say what did they say about that?

>> It's really helpful.

So once you go and you I mean again it's not something that's going to be fixed overnight.

>> So if you go and you have the initial visit and the hearing test, how what do you say to somebody like you know, maybe in another month or so we'll have you kind of back on track or what?

>> What's a reasonable expectation?

Typically we do that initial consultation visit where we figure out what you need and what makes sense for you once we fit the hearing aids, usually patients that we have to order based on what you need and what you want, we do have to place an order and then those hearing aids come in and we do a fitting you know, a week or two like to get eyeglasses.

I know like when you get glasses we do a fitting then we have you come back in another couple of weeks to see OK, now that we've done our fitting and our prescription that we think is what's best go out to your world, test these out and come back and give us a review.

>> And so really kind of the first sixty days are an adjustment period is what we call it.

>> And so it takes really kind of the first one to two months to get really dialed in after that you see your audiologist you know, maybe every four months or so just to touch base and make sure everything's going OK.

>> All right.

Yeah.

Got to be a little patient.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So it takes time.

Well we do we did have another person call in and wanted to Ah yeah they call it they call oh no it was a tech sorry I think it's Wesley oh.

Wanted to ask a question about over the counter versus prescription hearing aid which I didn't realize until like a year or two ago that that was even a thing.

Oh yeah because I thought you were saying wow I don't know if I would you know all this information you're giving me I'm thinking how would I know what to yeah.

>> Yeah.

So the main difference between an over-the-counter prescription hearing is over the counter is exactly what it says.

>> You can purchase these at Wal-Mart, you can purchase them Best Buy, you can buy them on Amazon and over the counter hearing it I describe it very much as like a DIY approach so you can buy the hearing aid in a box off the shelf oftentimes now they have a do it your own hearing to like your own.

Yeah.

Just to build into it some of them have an app that you can control but they're very limited.

>> They're very limited in how they amplify sound.

They're very limited in the technology that's inside of them.

>> I like over the counter as a starter device.

You know sometimes people think I don't need a real hearing aid or I don't need to go to an audiologist yet.

Yeah, so they try and over the counter device and they recognize the benefit that they can get from that cheaper device.

But nine times out of ten people say OK, I'm ready to do the real thing.

I'm going to come see an audiologist.

So a prescription hearing aid just has so much more technology built into it from the major hearing aid manufacturers to do more automatic adjustments in background noise to soft sounds to soft speech sounds and when we pull up a software we have so much control in that prescription hearing we have so much education to dial that in based on what you're telling me so over the counter is kind of this DIY approach prescription as I'm making an investment in my hearing and I'm investing in the provider to kind of walk through this journey with me and it is it is a journey for sure.

>> Yeah, You know and there's also like we kind of touched on this there's that emotional aspect to it.

>> You know, you know people I know especially I know this is for my children and if you watched a few years ago I shared this story about my husband has had horrible issues with his ears and sometimes if he gets really sick or he's had his eardrums ruptured before, he can't hear as sometimes for weeks at a time and it was a major turnoff to our kids.

They didn't it was such an effort for them to communicate with them that they didn't yet I would say things like you got to say goodnight to Dad .

>> Well, he can't hear me so yeah.

>> Well you still should say night your dad you know.

Yeah.

And and it's that way even with some adults but especially you know if you have grandkids.

>> Yeah.

You know it's like I don't know it doesn't really scare them it's just kind of like well you know I go talk to grandma but she doesn't hear me.

>> Yeah yeah.

And usually usually that's the trigger point for some of our patients is they say you know I am here.

I've had hearing loss for years but now that my grandkids are getting old enough they want to tell me about school.

They want to tell me a story and I want to hear it because it's frustrating for them a six year old when I say what all the time and they just say Grandma can't hear and they say I'm sick of grandma can't hear I want help.

Yeah.

And it really it really is an emotional thing and that's the rewarding part of our job is that we get to be a part of that really emotional journey to change someone's life for the better.

>> So it's a tough conversation in the beginning no one wants a hearing aid.

>> Yeah, but it's really an empowered conversation on the back end of it.

Well, I saw a picture of a man who was totally bald and he was wearing hearing aids and I was reading it when I was doing some research on this.

>> I kid you not the guy had not a single hair on and there was a picture of that it was kind of up close and you couldn't tell he was wearing them from the back maybe.

>> But yeah it's true.

No it's true.

>> The rumors are true.

So what what is I guess the situation with insurance because I'm yeah that's such a loaded question and most of the people probably getting hearing aids are probably you know, retired West Point.

>> So you know, there is so much confusion out there with insurance.

But what I would tell you is look at your insurance plan.

If you have an insurance agent, ask them do I have a hearing aid benefit?

The advantage plans right now and some of the supplement plans are now offering like a hearing aid discount plan and I would say really look into what that discount plan is.

>> Some some are great.

Some aren't as great as others.

And really what I mean by that is some of those discount plans do offer you a choice of brand some of those discount plans really offer great pricing but you might be really limited to what you can choose from.

>> That's true.

Yeah.

You know, and so you kind of have to decide is is discount in price most important to me or is choice of I want the best that's out there and that's really a patient by patient decision.

If price is your driver and your insurance has an option go that route as long as you have a good provider by your side we can really make anything work but unfortunately some insurances, some employer plans don't have any hearing aid benefits.

>> I wish they all did but call your insurance card and check and then see who's a network and I would probably start with an in network provider to see what they can offer you and then go from there.

>> I was to give it like you know to me it seems a lot like vision care.

>> You know it's so similar to the card sometimes they'll cover part of the exam and then give you 50 bucks for the frame.

>> You know, it's just you have it's it seems like it's kind of a similar I mean in our office the insurance plans cover a very kind of strip model portion of that hearing test that we were talking about.

We offered to do a more comprehensive approach that I wish we could do every time insurance just doesn't pay for it.

So you can choose to pay out of pocket.

>> I think that's how most offices are and it's just you have to be educated on what your insurance offers and then decide what's important to you cost or the best care.

>> Well, are there times when I may we've talked about you've talked about over 50 or 50 and over starting to address it but are there times even maybe when you're younger that it would be normal to have hearing loss whether permanent or temporary?

>> Yeah, I mean there we see people who have wax in their ear so so yeah.

>> So they come in thinking I just can't hear very good out of this year and we find that well you just have a wax plug in your ear and we need to use our reporter and flesh that out of their you know, ear infections this winter.

>> So many people have been sick and so you could just have plugged ears so we can look in there, do a hearing test and we say this is a temporary type loss.

You need to go to your primary care doctor or an EMT physician and they're the ones who could help clear up what's going on in there.

But then we have people who are hunters, construction workers, people who have had hearing loss their whole childhood and now that they're working in their 20s they recognize that something's off here.

Yeah.

So there's so many things that can cause hearing loss and really no age is too young to check.

>> And I was I mean is is pretty much everybody guarantee to have some hearing loss as they age.

>> Is that just typical?

We experience it with our eyes yes sure.

As we age our hearing will gradually decline slowly.

>> That is just bound to happen to all of us.

OK, yeah and some people it progresses faster than others.

That depends on your work history, your family history of hearing loss.

All of those things can have an effect on how you're affected versus how I'm affected but gradually kind of like any other muscle in our body it starts to gradually decline.

>> I can tell you from experience the eyes go still OK.

The vision not so much vision is going so we just have somebody else who texted I'm so excited people using the text message I feel like we're getting a lot more audience interaction.

So they wanted to know how can I prevent hearing loss as I get older?

I mean is there anything you can do to at least prolong your good hearing such it's such a good question.

>> I've been thinking about this recently.

>> I watched the IU football game just recently, you know the national championship game and it was so it was so loud from watching on the TV at home that I'm like all of those people in that stadium erk experiencing this SHAWAYS yeah that is it causes permanent hearing loss.

>> You know, even if you're only in there for a temporary amount of time.

So if you you go to a concert, you go to a band concert, you use a loud tooele.

>> I would always recommend hearing protection, hearing protection doesn't have to be fancy or just a little like Styrofoam plugs.

>> I recommend the little foam plugs is really roll them down as tight as you can and most of that plugs should be down in your canal.

It shouldn't just be kind of hanging out and so any sort of hearing protection is really the ultimate way to prevent age related hearing loss, especially for people who work construction hunters, farmers.

>> But anywhere that you go, we've all had that experience where we go to a concert and then we leave in our hearing seems kind of muffled in our ears are ringing.

That is a temporary threshold shift which is damage to our hair cells and usually we recover from that but over time that's what causes that permanent loss.

>> Yeah.

All right.

Good things to keep in mind so I've got another question for you.

Get another text texta.

Let's see how can audiologists help with I see this pronounced two different ways tinnitus or tinnitus.

Yeah, but like you said, it's the it means the yeah.

>> The ringing in the ears.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I like to always put this out there there is no cure for tinnitus so everyone is everyone wants a cure because really what tinnitus is is it's an unwanted ringing buzzing hissing crickets and oftentimes it's perceived as in our ears and it's really a response from our brain and so really when they do studies and MRI scans, tinnitus is showing up in our brain.

But what we know is that it's a response of decreased input coming from our ears.

So when we have that damaged hearing our brain isn't getting quite as much sound as what it typically is when we have normal hearing.

>> So our brain produces this extra sound that's perceived as the ringing, buzzing, whatever it is.

>> And so when you see a hearing health care provider there, they're looking at your whole hearing system and their goal is to give you tools one to understand what it is.

There's a lot of misinformation out there about tinnitus and the threats and what causes it and all of those things we like to get to the bottom of what it is and it could be a lifestyle change blood pressure, caffeine intake, medications, all of those things can also cause ringing in the ears and so a good audiologist will get to the bottom of what's causing it .

>> And then there's modes like sound therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, hearing aids are a tool to help with tinnitus and there's a lot of research going on right now about tinnitus management and tinnitus care.

>> It's such a loaded topic.

We spend ninety minutes with those patients because it is it's really in depth and really intense and those patients carry a lot of stress and anxiety around it.

>> So yeah, because if you're happy with that, even that could happen any time of the day.

So I can't imagine trying to sleep.

>> Yes.

Yes.

Or concentrate.

That's typically where it affects people is it affects them sleeping or I work a computer and I am in a quiet office and all I can think about is this ringing or it's affecting at night I sit down to relax and I can't even talk to my wife because I feel like all I hear is this ringing and so us trying to offer tools and understanding is the best approach to handle tinnitus care.

Well we only have about 30 seconds left but in most cases can a hearing aid restore your hearing or just just helps you to cope ?

>> Yeah, unfortunately no.

Hearing aids will not make your hearing like it was when you were 20.

Hearing aids are really good these days and they can make it better but we're still working through that damaged auditory system.

>> OK, wonderful.

Thank you for the concise so I hate that the show is almost over.

>> We could talk for 90 minutes about this.

We could well you have to come back.

Yes, I would love to.

Well, wonderful to have you again.

Dr.

Lindsey Coble, audiologists, thank you so much for your time.

>> Really appreciate it.

Thank you to all of you who had to contacted us tonight with your questions.

Great questions.

I'm Jennifer Blomquist.

Take care.

Have a wonderful week and we'll see you back here one week from tonight.

Bye bye.

Audiology Always providing hearing aid fittings, diagnostic hearing evaluations, earwax removal and tinnitus management guidance.

You're hearing always matters.

More information at AudiologyAlways.com