Rhiwbina Living Autumn 2023

You &
Your
Health
We don’t really consider our hearing health until something
feels wrong but is this the right way to think about it?
Your hearing is a very important
sense. It allows you to
communicate with loved
ones, appreciate your favourite
sounds and process the world
around you.
Your ears and your brain work
together to provide a soundscape
of every environment you’re in,
even when you’re asleep. Your ears
collect the sound but it’s your brain’s
job to interpret it. If our hearing
changes then our ears aren’t
collecting all the sound that our
brain needs to work properly.
Hearing loss is a major public
health issue; it is the third most
common physical condition after
arthritis and heart disease and
currently, there are more than 10
million people in the UK with some
form of hearing loss. However,
because hearing deterioration can
be gradual, it takes the average Brit
10 years to recognise that they have
a problem and finally do something
about it. This time lapse can have
some severe health and social
consequences.
Gradual hearing loss can affect
people of all ages and depending
on the cause, it can be mild or
severe, temporary or permanent.
There are many causes of hearing
loss such as our genetics, aging,
noise exposure, medications,
illness, viruses (including COVID)
and many more. The most common
form of hearing loss is Presbiacusis
and it relates to aging.
When hearing deteriorates,
understanding speech becomes
difficult. We lose clarity, voices
become muffled, and we can begin
to muddle the beginning and ends
This is a sponsored feature
of words. We might then start to
make mistakes, get the wrong
end of the stick or ask people to
repeat themselves. It can become
difficult to hear in restaurants, work,
meetings, social situations, and
watching television. This can cause
frustration, upset and reluctance
to socialise in those ‘difficult’
environments.
If hearing loss is caught in its early
stages, there is a lot we can do to
help; the longer we ignore it, the
more difficult this becomes. Treating
hearing loss will not only help us
to hear better but it also helps
with our balance, our ability to tell
which direction sounds are coming
from, our short term memory
processing, and the real icing on the
cake - it helps to slow our hearing
deterioration which prevents
cognitive changes. We get our eyes
and teeth checked on a regular
basis to flag up any underlying
issues; we need to add hearing to
this maintenance list.
Most types of hearing loss can be
We Need You!
Technology trial of breakthrough
hearing with Oticon Real
We are looking for 20 volunteers
to trial a new innovative invisible
hearing device proven to mimic
the way our brain naturally hears
making listening easier for the
brain. This will be a month’s
monitored trial to assess the
improvements in hearing and
wellbeing of patients using Real.
Oticon Real is the world’s first
corrected with the use of hearing
aids. But how do hearing aids work?
Hearing aids should, put simply,
help you to hear all you need, and
comfortably. We understand that
it is essential to give your brain
as much sound information as
possible in order to hear properly.
Research has demonstrated that
the brain needs access to a full
sound scene in order to focus and
hear clearly. By helping the brain to
process sound in the most natural
way, we will better help reduce the
health and life problems associated
with untreated hearing loss.
We need to do a better job of
looking after our hearing, and in
turn keep our brains and balance
healthy. It takes less than an hour to
assess your hearing health, and the
sooner a hearing loss is detected,
the better.
If you would like to arrange a free
hearing assessment, please call
our Whitchurch branch on 02920
250121.
hearing aid to give the brain the
full perspective. This is thanks
to a breakthrough in hearing aid
technology like nothing before –
a highly intelligent Deep Neural
Network, part of a fundamentally
new approach to sound
processing.
For all enquires, call
Cardiff 02920 250121