Amptify trains you to hear

By Mary Malik

Imagine this: You’re attending a family event you’ve anticipated with excitement, but also some anxiety. You’re thrilled to see family, but you know it will be difficult due to your hearing loss.

Sound familiar? Even if you wear hearing aids you love and work with an audiologist, this is a challenging situation. In large houses with lots of windows, high ceilings and wood floors, sounds can bounce. Peripheral noise from television and multiple conversations add to the confusion. It’s frustrating to pretend you understand the joke and lean in closer, but you always seem to miss the punchline.

“Hearing aids are successful when programmed well with the assistance of a knowledgeable and compassionate audiologist,” Sarah Curtis, Au.D., founder of Sounds of Life Hearing, says. “But they don’t repair the damage to your ears or speed the processing in your brain. There are actions you can take and strategies you and others can use to improve how well you understand what you hear.”

Dr. Curtis says, “You can rehabilitate the hearing parts of your brain. Sounds of Life offers an auditory training program called Amptify. Through listening exercises, your brain can learn how to understand and discern speech better.”

“It’s important for those around you to be good communicators,” Dr. Curtis says. “Hearing aid microphones can’t pick up sounds from across the room or from another room. To help someone wearing hearing aids, slow down, don’t shout, and use carpets and curtains to dampen the reverberation. Move closer to the person and turn down the volume of music and television.”

Do you stress before family gatherings, even if you wear hearing aids? Schedule an appointment and have your hearing measured.

Sounds of Life Hearing Center is located at 8007 Auburn Road, Suite 1, in Concord Twp. For more information call 440-579-4085 or visit SoundsOfLifeHC.com.