Many of you may not realize how far modern hearing aids have come.A hearing aid no longer has just one purpose, to help you hear well again. New hearing aids are for adults that want to “age with grace”. What do I mean by this? Well, let me ask you a few questions. Do you walk a little bit each day? Do you push yourself to be social with others at least once a day? Do you get out of the house to change your environment?These activities become very important as we age. If you are talking to others and being social, changing environments (going to the store, to a restaurant, etc…), cognitively you are using your brain.If you are getting up and moving around you are increasing your circulation which makes your overall health better.You’re hearing loss and your overall health are directly connected! You know that old saying our gym teacher in high school used to tell us, “If you don’t use it you lose it”? He was right.I have two photos here from my hearing aid data from Memorial Day weekend:

You can see that I accomplished 10,358 steps in one day! Now I know this can be intimidating and you might say “I can’t do that”. The first day I got my new hearing aids I only got 1500 steps. I couldn’t believe it! My point in telling you this is that if you do not measure it, how do you know how much you are walking? Are you standing up once every 12 hours to help with circulation? The bottom line is, that when you hear better, you live better. When you can participate in conversations again, you will feel better. You will have more energy when you are in a positive state of mind.Our doctors of audiology are concerned about your overall health and well-being. If you haven’t tried our newest hearing aids, schedule a free consultation and learn more about them. We will even let you try a pair on and take them home for the weekend. We hope to “hear” from you (see what I did there? 😁)

– Dr. Sheryl Figliano

Happenings

1.Fairhaven School Dance: This month we have a share from our very own licensed audiologist assistant, Marcie Snyder about an experience she recently had in the community:‘On Friday, June 3rd, I had the privilege and honor to surprise one of our patients by attending his school dance at Fairhaven, a workshop for young adults with disabilities.Our Howland/ Liberty team brought glow sticks for approximately 100 students.The way they accepted us into their environment was priceless- their smiles were contagious! They taught me that in our busy lives, we need to slow down and “smell the roses”, and enjoy the simple things in life.They also taught me a few dance moves on the floor!’You can check out pictures from this event on Fairhaven’s Facebook page.

2.Hear Love Mission:TheHearing Missions Foundationrecently traveled to South Dakota for their first “Hear Love” hearing mission. Read about the life-changing moments that made this trip special here on our blog…

3.Hearing Loss and Connections with Cognitive Changes and Dementia: Dr. Susan Herr was a virtual guest speaker with Melissa Chambers Consultingregarding these signs of hearing loss, how hearing loss could make it seem like there are cognitive changes, and how an untreated loss could cause problems with cognitive decline leading to dementia.

Who We Are Celebrating…

Join us in celebrating Penny, a Licensed Audiology Aide, who has been with Centers for Hearing Care for 10 years collectively.She works alongside Dr. Kenney assisting patients with their hearing needs.

What she loves most about working at Centers for Hearing Care is helping her patients hear and helping them become more active in their daily lives. She is passionately involved in our Hearing Mission Foundation; participating in missions locally and abroad. Penny is involved with Salem Chamber of Commerce activities with Dr. Kenney as well.

Get to know Penny: Outside of the office Penny loves to garden & decorate as well as cook and try new recipes. She and her husband Kenny love to go to car shows with one of their 3 antique/classic cars that Kenny has restored.She and Kenny have 4 adult children and 5 grandchildren currently. They all live within the area and love getting together and spending time as a family.

P.S. Did you know a licensed Dr. of Audiology is trained and has all the necessary equipment to perform ear cleanings? In this video, Dr. Kenney is using suction to remove impacted wax. Other methods of removal include the use of water irrigation, and curette and forceps. Click here to learn about the many other services we offer.