Hi everyone! My name is Allie Williams, and I am the summer Business and Marketing intern at Evergreen. I’ll be writing a few blog posts this summer about day-to-day life here at Evergreen as well as about many of the great events and projects we have going on here. I look forward to hearing from you and to hopefully having the chance to meet some of you in the Redmond Office!
On my second day here at Evergreen Speech and Hearing, I was able to shadow one of our Audiologists, Dr. Cheryl Lokanis. I was immediately struck by Dr. Lokanis’ familiarity and closeness with all of her patients. She manages to listen to her patients’ feedback on their hearing aids, clean their devices, check their hearing and ears, and touch base with each patient about their lives. After a busy day of seeing patients, I was able to ask Dr. Lokanis my long list of questions.
In a world of new technologies being released every minute, I was curious as to why hearing aids require as much maintenance as they do. Because of the nature of our ears and bodies, wax buildup is the number one cause for hearing aid failure. Some people tend to be waxier than others, which causes even more of a need to have your hearing aids cleaned every six months.
Another fact of life is the increase of hearing loss over time. Every year, our Audiologists readjust the settings of your hearing aids to make sure that your hearing aids are working for you as best as they possibly can. If you notice a change in your hearing, you should plan a visit to see us to make sure that everything is working properly. It is better to see us sooner rather than later!
At the three-year mark, it is time to start thinking about new technology. Just as you upgrade your iPhone every 2 years, you should be staying up to date on the latest hearing aids. At our recent Oticon Opn event, I was able to experience a before and after virtual reality using the newest Opn hearing aids from Oticon. With older hearing aids, sound has been purely directional; meaning that you can only heard sound from the direction your head was tilted towards. With Oticon’s Opn Hearing Aids, it is possible to hear sound from 360o, as you would before hearing loss. It was incredible to experience the difference!
If you are behind on your Audiology appointments, I encourage you to call us to schedule your next cleaning appointment or to schedule an appointment to discuss new technology! We would love to hear from you.