There are many reasons hypertension (high blood pressure) should be taken seriously. It is the leading cause of strokes. If left untreated, it leads to cardiovascular, or heart, disease. It also increases your risk of kidney damage, vision loss, memory loss, fluid in the lungs, and ,yes, hearing loss. We want to focus on that last correlation.

October is National Protect Your Hearing Month. As audiologists, we see the effects that noise has on our patients' hearing on a weekly, if not daily, basis. It's not just our patients: approximately 26 million Americans between the ages of 20-69 have hearing loss caused by exposure to loud noises.

A recent study at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that people with even a mild hearing loss (< 25 dB) are 3 times more likely to have a history of falling. With every additional 10dB of hearing loss (approximately the sound of someone breathing), you increase your chance of falling by 1.4 times. A further 20dB hearing loss over the ‘mild’ classification would push up the risk by threefold again.

At this point, we've all been educated on the health risks of smoking. However, one area that hasn't been covered extensively is the correlation between smoking and hearing.

In July, we hosted an event at Restoration in Crozet. Current and new patients were invited to enjoy lunch and a presentation given by Deborah Doyle Allen, Au.D. The presentation, called "Auditory Fitness: How Improved Hearing Contributes to Quality of Life," helped educate attendees about the warning signs, effects and impact of hearing loss; the intricacies of the anatomy of the ear; and, the latest hearing technologies and research.

One of the reasons we got into this field was because we understood the impact hearing has on people's lives. We wanted to give people a better quality of life by helping them hear better.

In 2013, the Better Hearing Institute reported that men who want to stay active, feel younger, and remain socially and professionally engaged should address hearing loss.

Hearing loss in infants is a hidden disability. Infants can't express themselves or alert parents that there is a problem. That's why it's important for parents to understand and look for signs of hearing loss.

We've been amazed at how far the hearing aid field has advanced since we started our practice 15 years ago. The latest Made for iPhone® technology is no exception. This technology lets you manage your hearing aids and listening experiences through an iPhone app called TruLink. Your calls, music, videos, movies and more stream directly to your hearing aids via Bluetooth technology. And, it works with iPhones, iPads and the Apple Watch. This technology is one of our top recommendations for patients with active lifestyles; those who work, travel and spend a lot of time outside of their homes and on their phones.

Does your family frequently swim in a pool or lake during the summer? Is your child on a swim team? Has your child ever had swimmer's ear? Recurrent ear infections? Tubes? If you answered yes to any of these, this post is for you!

When most people think of hearing, they think of ears. Of course, we do hear with our ears. But, it's our brain that takes the sound from our ears and translates it into meaning. Which means it's your brain that does the heavy lifting when it comes to hearing, not your ears. And, when the sound signals from your ears are compromised, your brain has to work even harder to fill in the gaps. This extra effort takes its toll over time. It's actually physically exhausting. And, studies have linked hearing loss with feelings of isolation and depression.