If you can’t, it’s time to take control and act!
Then you’ll be able to hear the sounds of a Victorian Christmas such as tonight’s open house in East Melbourne from 6 pm.20 December 2011
One Australian in six suffers from hearing loss. Most of us do nothing about it but, for most people, getting your hearing back can be easy, and inexpensive.
Laughter, singing, bells, animated conversation and general merriment—how dull Christmas would be without sound or even if the sound were muted. It just wouldn’t be Christmas.
Worse—for many people, the festive season is stressful. One of the first consequences of deteriorating hearing is loss of the ability to have a conversation in a noisy, crowded environment. That can turn excited, happy Christmas parties into exhausting ordeals.
But it doesn’t need to be such a problem. Modern hearing aids can be inexpensive, almost invisible, and easily available via an audiologist or, in the case of Australia’s only home-grown hearing aid, online.
Hearing loss affects more than three million of us. “It affects your communication ability. It affects your work life. It affects your family life. It affects your relationships. It affects your mental health. It can lead to feelings of lack of safety and security,” says Dr Elaine Saunders, a pioneer of technology for the hearing impaired and managing director of Blamey & Saunders Hearing Pty Ltd.
“The good news is that if you take action early, and obtain good quality hearing aids, they work pretty well, and the results can be very effective.”
The bad news, says Elaine, is that if the hearing nerves and the brain do not receive adequate input, the system starts to forget what to do. And the longer you leave it, the harder it is to regain good use of hearing.
“Keep your hearing by using it. It’s easier that fighting to get it back.”
The first step to regaining control of your hearing is either:
- see an audiologist and have your hearing tested—especially if you are in your 50s or older, when hearing naturally starts to go downhill; or
- visit the Blamey & Saunders Hearing website at www.blameysaunders.com.au and find out whether hearing aids can assist you. You can also look at IHearYou™, Australia’s only home-grown hearing aid, invented and designed as a spin-off from the bionic ear project.
These hearing aids are the only ones on the market to allow users to customise them their own hearing—so you can really take control. They also incorporate the latest software for clarity of hearing and sound, without feedback. And all this comes at less than half the price of comparable hearing aid technology from elsewhere.
From 6 pm on Tuesday 20 December, Blamey & Saunders is celebrating the sounds of a Victorian Christmas—with music, a tree and festive fare—in the historic terrace house built for timber merchant Thomas Anthony in 1873 at 364 Albert Street.
The evening features traditional Christmas music followed by a light supper. And you don’t need a hearing aid to get in. Entry is by gold coin donation for the work of the nearby Bionics Institute.
About Elaine Saunders: ever since she volunteered at a school for the deaf more than 40 years ago, Elaine Saunders has had a passion for assisting the hearing impaired. She has worked as a hearing researcher and academic, most recently at RMIT University, and can provide as good an overview of the field as anyone in Australia. Despite her position as Managing Director of Blamey & Saunders Hearing, she is more than willing and able to talk from a general, non-commercial perspective.
For further information http://www.blameysaunders.com.au/ or contact Niall Byrne on 0417 131 977, niall@scienceinpublic.com.au
For interviews, contact Elaine Saunders on 0400 670 421, elaine.saunders@blameysaunders.com.au