Follow the link below to watch Dr. Zachary Wassmuth on Fox 7 News discuss the causes of Snoring. He suggests treatment options you can try at home and also simple in-office procedures.
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/health/health_edge_extra/How-to-Deal-with-Snoring-20110222-ktbcw#
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Strategies to help make the most out of what you hear
Hearing and listening are two different things. Hearing is the physiologic process occurring in the auditory system. Listening is what your brain does with the information given to it by the ear. Hearing loss makes the process of listening very challenging. Family members and friends of people with hearing loss often accuse the person of not paying attention or not actively listening, as if it's a choice. Certain types of hearing loss make sounds soft and other types make sounds unclear. Listening to a person speaking can be similar to listening to a radio set between two stations or listening to the teacher's voice in the old Peanuts cartoons.
There are strategies that can help you make the most out of what you hear. We have listed some below:
Reduce Background Noise
This isn't always easy. Background noise can present significant difficulty for someone with hearing loss. It competes with the voices or sounds that are the focus of the situation. In home-based situations, turning off the TV, radio, closing the window or moving away from noisy appliances like the washer/dryer will help. Moving closer to the person speaking will also help. Sitting two or three feet away from someone speaking and sitting face-to-face will increase the volume of the speaker and reduce the background noise. It will also help make facial expressions and lip movements more clearly visible. We learn to speak by listening and observing, and when we experience hearing loss, we learn to rely on the visual component again. If it is not possible to do these things, try moving to a quieter room.
Face the person speaking to you
Families and friends take the most liberties during conversation. We are more cordial conversationalists to strangers. It's very common to hear a person complain that their spouse will try to hold a conversation with their back turned or from a different room. It is much easier to communicate when you can see the speaker's face. Facial expressions and lip movements add tone and meaning to the spoken word. Communicating in a well-lit environment also helps. Anything that can obscure the face should be removed during conversation. Do not cover your mouth when talking. Wait until you are between bites to talk during a meal.
Speak more slowly
Exaggeratedly fast or slow speech will affect understanding. Speaking at a normal conversational volume and rate helps people understand you. Conversely, if you do not understand what a person has said, try asking them to rephrase instead of repeat the information. 'I'm sorry, could you say that in a different way, I am having difficulty understanding you in this loud environment' gives the person speaking an opportunity to use different parts of speech to convey the same meaning. People get embarrassed when they have to ask people to repeat multiple times. Asking someone to rephrase is more likely to reduce the number of times you have to ask for clarification.
Sabrina Olivia, AuD, CCC-A
Audiologist at Capital Otolaryngology
There are strategies that can help you make the most out of what you hear. We have listed some below:
Reduce Background Noise
This isn't always easy. Background noise can present significant difficulty for someone with hearing loss. It competes with the voices or sounds that are the focus of the situation. In home-based situations, turning off the TV, radio, closing the window or moving away from noisy appliances like the washer/dryer will help. Moving closer to the person speaking will also help. Sitting two or three feet away from someone speaking and sitting face-to-face will increase the volume of the speaker and reduce the background noise. It will also help make facial expressions and lip movements more clearly visible. We learn to speak by listening and observing, and when we experience hearing loss, we learn to rely on the visual component again. If it is not possible to do these things, try moving to a quieter room.
Face the person speaking to you
Families and friends take the most liberties during conversation. We are more cordial conversationalists to strangers. It's very common to hear a person complain that their spouse will try to hold a conversation with their back turned or from a different room. It is much easier to communicate when you can see the speaker's face. Facial expressions and lip movements add tone and meaning to the spoken word. Communicating in a well-lit environment also helps. Anything that can obscure the face should be removed during conversation. Do not cover your mouth when talking. Wait until you are between bites to talk during a meal.
Speak more slowly
Exaggeratedly fast or slow speech will affect understanding. Speaking at a normal conversational volume and rate helps people understand you. Conversely, if you do not understand what a person has said, try asking them to rephrase instead of repeat the information. 'I'm sorry, could you say that in a different way, I am having difficulty understanding you in this loud environment' gives the person speaking an opportunity to use different parts of speech to convey the same meaning. People get embarrassed when they have to ask people to repeat multiple times. Asking someone to rephrase is more likely to reduce the number of times you have to ask for clarification.
Sabrina Olivia, AuD, CCC-A
Audiologist at Capital Otolaryngology
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