New hearing aid tech turns up the volume, pizazz

Twenty years ago, Bill Wheatley hated going to the movies. In fact, he avoided them.

Wheatley avoided most conversations, too.

If his home phone would ring, he’d never pick up. At family functions, he’d grab a plate of food and go sit by himself.

Wheatley wasn’t trying to be antisocial. He just couldn’t hear and it frustrated him to not be able to catch what was being said.

Fast-forward to today. Wheatley, 65, can’t stop talking. He’s totally deaf in his left ear and estimates he has about 10 percent of hearing left in his right. He credits new hearing aid technology with giving him a lifeline back to family and community.

“You don’t feel important,” he said about struggling with hearing loss.

Now he has a sleek hearing aid and a hands-free cell phone that acts as an assistive listening device, media streamer and hearing aid remote all in one.

“What quality of life do you want,” he asks. “It boosted my quality of life. Back then it was 40 percent, now it’s 120.”

Gone are the days of clunky, boxy hearing aids. Technology has evolved to streamline the devices and hook them to smartphone applications and wireless accessories.

“Nobody comes in saying ‘Boy, I really want hearing aids,’ ” said Gary Marencin, audiology clinical supervisor for Christiana Care Audiology.

Even for adults with a very noticeable hearing loss, no one wants to be perceived as “old,” he said.

That’s where new tech comes into play.

Hearing aids can sync up to iPads or iPhones so grandparents can FaceTime with their grandkids, Marencin explained. Movie theaters are updating their sound systems so hearing devices can hook into speakers wirelessly.

“It’s trying to blend that technology with where people are at,” Marencin said.

Unfortunately, insurance coverage is sporadic and hearing aids are not reimbursable through Medicare. Hearing aids can run up to $2,400 plus additional money for any accessories.

Many people Marencin evaluates have progressive hearing loss, but some have hearing loss induced by diabetes or poor kidney function. Sometimes even chemotherapy drugs can place hearing at risk.

Once hearing is completely lost, it’s virtually impossible to get back, he said. Cochlear implants are recommended for those with severe hearing loss.

The majority of patients his clinic sees are over the age of 60, but they are starting to see more patients in their 40s and 50s, “the back end of the baby boomer generation who are old enough that they didn’t use ear protection in the early days of rock music,” Marencin said.

“What they did in their teens and 20s is starting to catch up a little bit with them.”

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders estimates that about 26 million Americans between 20 and 69 years of age have hearing losses attributed to exposure to noise at work or during leisure activities.

At the same time, Marencin pointed out, there’s also more outreach and discussion about hearing protection. The American Academy of Audiology has a campaign entitled “Turn it to the Left,” to inspire kids to turn down the volume on their cell phones and iPods.

It’s hard to find a teenager who doesn’t have his phone in his hand, Marencin said.

If hearing aids are needed, patients will find them more aesthetically pleasing.

Typically the hearing aid speaker wire sits close to the head so it blends into the ear. Instead of hooking a speaker behind the ear, speakers are now placed in the ear canal.

“The hearing technology has radically changed,” said Linda Heller, an audiologist and founder of the Hearing Loss Association of Delaware.

Born with a hearing loss, Heller said her grad school in Indiana almost kicked her out, because officials there didn’t think she would be able to digest lessons.

“I had to fight my way through,” she said.

Mini bluetooth microphones can be the saving grace for those in a college or grade school classroom. A professor can clip it on or it can just be placed on a table in a large lecture hall, Marencin explained. It is relatively inexpensive, too. Microphones generally cost around $200 and have a rechargeable battery so you won’t have to replace it.

They also could be beneficial to take to restaurants or church, Heller added.

Cell phones like Wheatley’s are helpful because they act as sound streamers in places that are highly crowded, like restaurants. He said he tried seven different hearing aids before finding that this system worked best.

Tom Potter, general manager of Penn Cinema Riverfront in Wilmington, said the theater has offered assisted hearing devices for people since opening in 2012. Most of the time people aren’t aware it’s available.

Small, personal Fidelio speakers can be programmed to the theater you are visiting. Stick on some headphones and the sound is clearer. Potter said the theater also offers closed captioning devices that fit in the cup holder of your seat. These devices provide visual captions, so you get your own personal subtitles along with the sound.

And you won’t have to skip buying popcorn to get the equipment. It’s free. You just need to ask a manager about it to obtain it. The only catch: the technology only picks up the actual movie, not the previews.

“Any new technology, we usually jump on it,” Potter said.

Sound is transmitted via radio waves, FM systems, light waves or electromagnetic field induction loops, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America.

But depending on the type of signal, not all hearing aids can pick up FM, radio or light waves. Heller said to remedy that the Delaware branch of the Hearing Loss Association is canvassing the state to educate schools, movie theaters, libraries and others on the merit of induction loops. Known as hearing loops, they carry sound from a sound system wirelessly to the telephone coil in a hearing aid. Many of those coils are never activated.

Heller would like the different groups to think about installing them to make it easier for people to hear.

As soon as you get any place where there is noise, Heller said, the background noise can hurt even the most tech-savvy devices.

“The loop overcomes that whole thing,” she said. “It shortens the distance and brings the person speaking right to your ear. This is emerging technology.”

Contact Christiana Care Audiology at (302) 623-4050.

Jen Rini can be reached at (302) 324-2386 or jrini@delawareonline.com. Follow @JenRini on Twitter.