Jodi Conter is a certified audiologist with Gardner Audiology in Zephyrhills. She’s worked there with Dan Gardner, the founder, for 29 years. Dan opened the doors to his practice 31 years ago and now has offices in Zephyrhills, Tampa, Pasadena, Inverness, Crystal River and Carillon.
“Our goal is to help people hear better,” says Jodi. They’ve set up a field study with Starkey Hearing Technologies, the largest manufacturer of hearing aids in the U.S., to enable people to try out a hearing aid for 30 days, risk free.
“This field study is open to anyone, whether they’ve worn a hearing aid before or not,” says Jodi. “Noisy environments are frustrating for the hearing impaired.”
Gardner Audiology has partnered with Starkey Hearing to bring to market the latest technology for noise management in hearing aids. “People used to turn down or turn off their hearing aid in noisy environments,” says Jodi. “Current research is finding new techniques for handling noise. These new hearing aids can automatically adjust to the particular environment.”
How about a hearing aid made for an iPhone? An app on the iPhone allows the wearer to control, modify and adjust the hearing aid to fit specific situations and environments. It also geo-tags the location and automatically changes the setting for that environment as soon as you arrive.
“Hearing loss is a challenge,” says Jodi. “People don’t accept hearing loss as easily as they accept vision loss. The technology has greatly improved. Hearing aids are much more comfortable and noticeably smaller to the point where they’re almost invisible.”
Most people don’t see one day and not see the next. It’s the same with hearing. It’s often gradual. People can lose hearing for particular sounds, such as consonants. They may lose the ability to distinguish particular pitches or frequencies.
“People often complain about others mumbling, thinking that’s the reason they’re not hearing well,” says Jodi. “That’s usually a sign that they’ve lost hearing for a particular pitch range. Today’s hearing aids can be programmed to fit the exact type of hearing loss the person is experiencing.”
“Our biggest challenge is getting people in the door,” says Jodi. “My greatest joy is seeing the expression on their face when I turn on the hearing aid and they begin to hear sounds they haven’t heard in years.”
“Research has shown a direct connection between hearing loss and memory loss such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease,” says Jodi. “Lack of stimulation causes the brain to shut down. Getting a hearing aid is critical in the early stages of memory loss.” “Some of the same issues that cause hearing problems may affect balance and dizziness,” says Jodi. “Everyone should have a baseline hearing test done. Then when they come back, we can tell if they’re experiencing hearing problems.”
The human brain is an amazing organ. It adjusts and compensates for hearing loss quite well, up to a point. The only way to be sure that we’re hearing as well as we could be is to get a hearing test from a certified audiologist.
Contact Jodi Conter at Gardner Audiology to set up an appointment or participate in their field study. You can learn more by visiting their website at GardnerAudiology.com.
They are located at 38196 Medical Center Ave., in Zephyrhills, and can be reached at (813) 782-5395.
– Mike Matthew
This story is a feature of the advertising department.
