The convenience of setting an appointment on your time and in your own home is now here!  Get on the internet and find our newest service to the area.  Go to www.tryonhearingcenter.com and click on the appointment scheduler sponsored by GenBooks.

Tryon Hearing Center has added this online feature for patients and medical offices as a convenience for setting hearing appointments.  Effective September 13, 2010 appointments can be made at www.tryonhearingcenter.com  by clicking on the appointment box.  This new service will allow immediate coordination of appointments between the audiologist and the patient.  Medical offices can give the patient an appointment card during check out, with the date and time of the appointment.

The services offered online will be:

Hearing Screening: a free pass/fail assessment of hearing.  The audiologist will check for wax in the ears which can be causing a hearing problem.

Hearing Evaluation: a comprehensive assessment of hearing that will result in the type and degree of hearing problem, as well as recommendations for medical or aural rehabilitation.

Tinnitus Assessment: usually follows the hearing evaluation when tinnitus is a concern for medical treatment.  Results will indicate the frequencies of the tinnitus and loudness levels.  Recommendations for masking and counseling needs will be addressed

Hearing Aid Evaluation: an appointment to demonstrate hearing aid technology and to match the patient’s hearing needs with their lifestyle needs. 

Hearing Aid Service: schedule when the hearing aid doesn’t work, is making unusual noises, or the batteries are not lasting.  Or just when the hearing aid needs to be cleaned and checked.

GO AHEAD AND TRY IT OUT! 

If you have problems, call Heather at the office 859-3007.

Last week I saw a patient with a complaint of losing his hearing suddenly due to an explosion of a tractor battery. Since he was not driving the tractor, only working on the motor, he did not wear ear protection. The battery suddenly exploded with a loud bang and he experienced a decrease in his hearing. This incident happened over 3 weeks ago, so there was plenty of time for the ‘temporary hearing threshold shift’ to resolve back to a stable threshold.
The test results show a 5-20 db decrease in hearing in both ears across the speech frequency range. And the results are sensorineural, which is a more permanent shift in hearing. Thankfully with today’s technology I was able to adjust his digital hearing aids to accommodate the shift in hearing.

Takeaways:

1. Even when you don’t expect to be blasted by sudden noise, wear ear protection. Working around a tractor engine is cause enough to protect your ears.
2. If you take medications, then #1 is even more important. Some medications (even aspirin) increase the risk of damage to your hearing when you are around noise.
3. Use earplugs for mowing the lawn, operating a weedeater, and using a chain saw. If not, little by little you will lose your hearing and the ability to understand normal conversational speech.