Here on the west coast, March comes in like a lion and brings showers along with it. After a long, dark winter, we want to get outside to enjoy more hours of daylight, so it is important to protect ourselves from the rain. If you ride a scooter, there are accessories available to keep the rain off both you and your ride. Many of these accessories attach to your scooter and include; *canopies, *umbrellas, *rain capes, and *covers. There are also accessories to keep you safe, such as flags and windshields. Please visit our showroom or website to see the full line of accessories.
Community News
Are You Moving Around Your Hip Socket?
The hip bones are amazing, living creatures. Are you aware that your hip socket knows when you get new glasses, have a tooth removed or don’t sense gravity well? When you exercise, you need to move around your hip socket and the rest of the body orientates itself around that placement. The more you resist and ‘push’ through exercises just to feel like you are doing something good for yourself, the more potential there is for irritation and wear and tear arthritis. There are a million ‘bad’ ways to move; I do all I can to coach you through optimal movement.
How Hearing Aids Are Able To Help Manage Tinnitus
Hearing aids are able to help make tinnitus more manageable in a couple of ways. To find out if it can help you, it helps to know what tinnitus is, the specific way that you experience tinnitus and the techniques used by hearing aids to provide relief from tinnitus. Read on to find out more about how hearing aids are able to help manage tinnitus.
What is tinnitus?
Tinnitus is usually described as a ringing sound experienced in the ears, though the actual sound differs for different people, ranging from buzzing or whistling to clicking sounds. The noise does not go away entirely, though it does become more noticeable after hearing loud sounds. If the symptoms continue for over three months, it is known as chronic tinnitus.
Tinnitus is not a medical condition itself. Instead, it is a symptom of another condition, though the specific causes of tinnitus are not well-known. The leading causes of tinnitus are related to age and extended exposure to loud sounds. Hearing loss from damaged hair cells in the cochlea, which is involved in hearing as part of the inner ear, is a common cause of tinnitus.
Since hearing loss reduces the amount of external sounds that can reach your brain, it changes the way that your brain processes sound frequencies. As a result, to compensate for the insufficient external sounds, the brain overcompensates and interprets sounds internally.
The sounds from tinnitus can be annoying and can make communication difficult. If you believe that you have tinnitus, it would be best to visit a hearing health professional to have an evaluation and discuss possible
treatments.
Can a hearing aid stop tinnitus?
Currently, tinnitus cannot be completely cured, but in many cases, hearing aids can make the symptoms of tinnitus less severe. Though hearing aids cannot stop tinnitus entirely, they can still help with daily functioning.
One way that hearing aids can help with tinnitus is that they can enhance external sounds so that the inner sounds from tinnitus are not as noticeable. As this would improve your ability to hear external sounds and distract you from the inner sounds, it makes communication possible.
Another way that hearing aids can provide tinnitus relief is tinnitus masking, which is the use of white noise to hide the sounds of tinnitus. As the tinnitus sound cannot be distinguished amongst the white noise, your brain is able to focus on external sounds.
An increasing number of hearing aids have tinnitus masking nowadays. Tinnitus masking is built in as a feature in some hearing aids or exists as a function that can be programmed in other hearing aids. A hearing care professional will be able to help program your hearing aid to best suit your individual needs.
How can I use hearing aids to effectively manage tinnitus?
To get the most benefit from using hearing aids for tinnitus relief, it’s best if you are able to wear the hearing aid as often as possible. If hearing aids are used often enough, it trains your brain to focus on the external sounds and treat tinnitus sounds as not important. This process is known as habituation.
By using your hearing aid often, it also helps you preserve your ability to perceive external sounds. Hearing external sounds provides stimulation to keep your auditory system active, which prevents atrophy in your auditory nerves. As a result, you will be better able to maintain your ability to process language.
Are hearing aids able to help everybody with tinnitus?
As tinnitus is a symptom resulting from a wide range of conditions, hearing aids are not able to provide relief in all cases. Hearing aids are most successful in tinnitus masking for those with hearing loss.
Even if you experience hearing loss, hearing aids are less effective for higher frequencies of tinnitus. If your tinnitus has more of a hissing or buzzing sound or has a pitch above 6 kHz, which can be determined by an audiologist, hearing aids are less likely to provide relief for your tinnitus.
Who is most likely to benefit from using a hearing aid for tinnitus?
Hearing aids are most helpful for younger individuals who experience tinnitus as a result of hearing loss. The use of hearing aids is also more effective for people who have not had tinnitus for a long time as their auditory system has not become accustomed to the reduced external stimulation.
Even if you do not fall into the groups of people who benefit the most from hearing aids for managing tinnitus, the use of hearing aids are still often worth a try. If you use the hearing aid consistently every day over a longer period of time, the relief from your tinnitus will be easier to detect.
To get the most impact from the use of hearing aids for tinnitus, visiting a hearing professional would help. Not only would they be able to determine the pitch or intensity of your tinnitus, but they could also help you select and program a hearing aid that best meets your needs.
For the expert services of an audiologist or hearing professional to determine if they can help you manage your tinnitus, the team at NexGen Hearing is here to support you.
Sources
https://www.healthline.com/health/hearing-aid-for-tinnitus
https://www.ata.org/managing-your-tinnitus/treatment-options/hearing-aids
https://canadianaudiologist.ca/tackling-tinnitus-the-time-is-now/
Problem Gambling Awareness Month #PGAM
Let’s talk about offside sports betting (March Madness), compulsive lottery ticket purchases, sneaking into the casino for a quick spin and accidentally overspending, late nights playing online poker, blackjack or slots. Or racking up a parent’s credit card purchasing loot boxes in video games, being at bingo six nights a week. How about Fantasy Pools? Skins betting on the golf course as well as online? Raffles? 50/50 draws, and home lottery raffles? How about the slough of commercials featuring online gambling sites, even more so during sports events? Triggered? Let’s talk about gambling. #PGAM.
Silence is Golden
As we are all involved in our daily lives, we fill our days with phone calls, watching TV, attending zoom meetings, and looking after loved ones. How often are you taking a break? Taking a moment, or even better, taking 10 minutes every day where you sit in silence, clearing your mind from the “chatter” can improve your overall feeling and boost your energy. It’s ok, all those things you feel the need to do will still be there when you “get back”. You may even decide that it all doesn’t need to happen right now. Permit yourself to find quiescence.
Foods for Brain Health
The best foods for supporting memory and brain function are those that encourage good blood flow to the brain. Research suggests the following foods may help keep your brain sharp and improve your cognitive function, memory and alertness. 1) Broccoli, cabbage, and dark leafy greens. Enjoy in salads, wraps and stir-fries. 2) Walnuts. Can be added to salads or oatmeal, or just eaten on their own. 3) Berries and cherries. Can be eaten fresh as a snack or added to oatmeal or baked goods. 4) Omega-3 fatty acids. Can be found in seafood, algae, and fatty fish.
Local Health & Wellness Information
March already? How is your New Year’s Resolution to take better care of yourself in 2022 faring? We welcome you to check out the Wellness Hub, your local, online Health and Wellness resource for great information that can help you get back on track or to continue on the right track. It features hundreds of health tips and articles on a variety of health and wellness topics along services, products and events. It is easy to search, access and share information. This month, we recognize National Nutrition Month which invites everyone to focus on making informed food choices, developing sound eating and physical activity habits.
Aronia Berries are Powerful Antioxidants
Today more than ever, a healthy immune system is important. According to Healthline, Aronia berries may strengthen the immune system and even counteract some infections. Aronia –grown in BC – contains powerful antioxidants that remove harmful free oxygen radicals from cells. In the spectrum of nutrition, berries rank near the top, and among berries, none are more nutritious than the Aronia berry. Research shows that in diabetics, Aronia berry juice, when taken regularly, reduced blood glucose. Aronia extracts have also reduced inflammation and improved immunity. And in hard-to-treat cancers, combining Aronia with chemotherapy improved the effectiveness of conventional drugs.
Simple Changes for Better Health
At the beginning of the year, many of us set lofty goals only to get overwhelmed and feeling defeated by March. It is best to set small, easy goals. Several small, simple things can add up to healthy results. Suggestions include; a 10 minute walk a day, reduce coffee consumption by a cup a day or stretch for 10 minutes before bed. Another simple goal is regular chiropractic care to ensure proper structural alignment. This will reduce muscle imbalances which can lead to overworked muscles and joint injury. Call for a free consult to see how a chiropractor can help you.
Overcome Physical Employment Barriers
“We’ve learned that we can help people get close to one hundred percent of their physical capability through the use of assistive technology, whether it’s high tech, low tech, software, hardware, or ergonomics,” says Nate Toevs, Marketing Manager for the WorkBC Assistive Technology Services program.
WorkBC Assistive Technology Services is for people who have a barrier to their employment or self-employment activities. The focus is on people with disabilities, but it’s also for people who have an old injury or chronic pain. The program provides funding for assistive technology, ergonomics, restorative supports including canes and crutches, hearing aids, vehicle modifications, and more.
Book Club: The Science of Nutrition
Debunk the Diet Myths and Learn How to Eat Responsibly for Health and Happiness. By Rhiannon Lambert. Is a vegan diet healthier? Should I try going low-carb? Is it always a bad idea to skip a meal? Are superfoods all they’re cracked up to be? Is fat still bad for you? Can I eat to improve my chances of conceiving? Science of Nutrition cuts through the noise of conflicting diet advice with clear answers backed up by the very latest research. Pick up at your local bookstore.
