Observed every November since President Clinton signed a proclamation in 1997, National Family Caregivers Month is a time to recognize and celebrate the millions of people in the U.S. who compassionately and humbly care for parents, siblings, neighbors, and community members.   Grandparents, and older friends and relatives—particularly—need and benefit from the help caregivers provide, whether it’s assistance with meals, medicine, transportation or simply providing companionship.   The caregiver’s role is challenging ...

Read more..

You know that when a cause has an entire month dedicated to it, it must be important. For years, October has been National Protect Your Hearing Month. Why? Because hearing isn’t just important — hearing is essential! Hearing plays a huge role in our physical health, emotional well-being, and overall quality of life. The sound of laughter, music, the great outdoors, or simply conversations with friends and family fill each day and become vital parts ...

Read more..

Because we’re a hearing technology company and our business is singularly focused on helping people hear the best they can, the statistic above — that hearing loss is the United States’ third most common chronic physical condition and is more prevalent than diabetes or cancer — isn’t surprising to those of us. We’re plenty aware that hearing loss is common because we deal with it every day. We know, too, that it becomes even ...

Read more..

In 2018, a team from the University of Michigan studied a group of older adults who reported they had severe hearing loss to see if hearing aid use impacted how they use our health care system. Some in the group treated their hearing loss with hearing aids, while others did not. Knowing that hearing aids can be a significant investment, the team was curious to find out if the cost of hearing aids was offset ...

Read more..

Don't we all want to stay healthy and happy as we age? And we all know many of the obvious ways to do it — like exercising, eating right, not smoking and getting enough sleep. But did you know our hearing also plays a role in healthy aging? Since September is Healthy Aging Month (bet you didn’t know that?), we thought we’d share four ways hearing better can help you age better. 1 ...

Read more..

Summer is upon us and now, more than ever, we’re looking forward to enjoying outdoor activities — particularly water sports! Unfortunately, with water sports, we also see an increase in swimmer’s ear.   What is swimmer’s ear?  Swimmer’s ear is an infection found in the outer ear canal, the area that extends from the outer ear (pinna) to the eardrum (tympanic membrane). The medical term for swimmer’s ear is otitis externa. Swimmer ...

Read more..

Falls are some of the scariest and most frequent injuries suffered by older adults. According to the CDC: • One quarter of people over 65 fall each year • Three million older people go to the ER each year for falls • One in five falls causes a serious injury • Falls account for over $50 billion in medical costs each year   There are many reasons why older adults are more prone to falls — from weakness or medication side ...

Read more..

A few years back, a New York Times article pleaded that the treatment of hearing loss needs “to be taken much more seriously.” Much of the article’s basis for that plea were the numerous mental and physical health consequences of letting hearing loss go untreated, including increased odds of depression, falling, emergency room visits, and, of course, dementia. All are correlations that have been studied broadly and that we dig into regularly in this ...

Read more..

We don’t need clinical evidence to understand that hearing loss can lead to depression. It's the transitive property of addition brought to life: if a=b and b=c, then a=c.      a. If you’re experiencing hearing loss, there’s a good chance you’ll purposefully minimize or avoid social situations (because hearing is a challenge which makes socializing less fun).       b. Avoiding social situations and interactions can lead to social isolation ...

Read more..

As humans age, numerous things become inevitable. Our hair will gray. Our bones will weaken. Dinners will be eaten earlier. And our hearing abilities won’t be what they once were. In case seeing-it-with-your-own-eyes isn’t enough to convince you that this future holds true, statistics like today’s hearing fact should. Research shows that more than two-thirds of adults 70 and older have clinically meaningful hearing loss — meaning your odds of having hearing loss ...

Read more..