Hear2day

My life changed completely on the 29th of September 2006.  That was the day I woke up to find I had suffered a sudden hearing loss to my remaining functioning (left) ear. The diagnosis of Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL) revealed that the hearing loss was probably caused by a viral infection that affected the auditory nerve.  The right ear had been affected by a similar attack eight years previously, resulting in profound hearing loss.

Knowing that sudden hearing loss is regarded as a medical emergency, I immediately contacted my ear specialist and what followed was a whirlwind series of events.  These started with initial high doses of cortisone (tapering), MRI scan to eliminate a brain tumour or an acoustic neuroma, several days in a decompression chamber undergoing hypobaric oxygen treatment and a six-week course of histamine tablets.  The rationale behind all these treatments is to increase blood flow to the inner ear.  It appears from audiograms taken before and after treatment that some recovery occurred in the lower ranges of the spectrum, but the frequencies required for good speech recognition have unfortunately been permanently damaged.

The prospect of life with severely compromised hearing was a severe shock, and how it would affect my thriving engineering consulting practice, my passion for long distance running and my social life, was a daunting challenge indeed.  Fortunately, I have a loving and supportive wife – Audrey and I spent endless hours combing the internet for medical journals and articles on sudden hearing loss, and possible treatments.

Once it became apparent that I should consider taking advantage of a hearing aid, our internet research revealed leading edge technological advances in hearing aid development, and particularly which companies were ahead of the game internationally.

Denmark soon came up on the radar as a country where hearing aid development has been pioneered and still remains a leader in the field.  Widex was clearly a market leader, and it attracted my immediate attention when I read about the Widex Marathon team that took part in the Berlin Marathon in 2005 wearing the Senso Diva élan.

I am constantly subjected to a wide variety of working environments involving high pressure meetings, workshops and much time on the telephone.  For these demands I require a hearing aid instrument of great sophistication – acquiring the Inteo élan has allowed me to meet these stringent demands.  After many adjustments made by my patient audiologist, the instrument is now fine tuned. The intelligence of the instrument has proven to be remarkable, tuning into voices and enabling me to hear quite acceptably in most office and meeting room environments.

My training programme for the 56 km Two Oceans Marathon in April 2007 in my home city of Cape Town requires considerable time on the road.  Good hearing is essential to safely hear approaching cars and to communicate with fellow runners.  Therefore, wearing the Inteo élan while running is non-negotiable.  The behind-the-ear design and the comfortable open fit of the élan keeps the device steady and in position.  It is of course vital that the Inteo remains dry in these circumstances.  My personal solution has been to cover the Inteo with a snugly fitting super seal which keeps it totally waterproof.

As a newcomer to the world of hearing aids, I have quickly adjusted to life with the Inteo, as it produces quality sound, and albeit not the real thing, it’s pretty close to it.  As with most engineers I have a fascination for the incredible technological advances of our time, and am grateful that I can benefit from the software and microprocessor hardware used in these instruments.  Based on my knowledge of the high standards achieved by Widex, I look forward to their next steps of progress in the research and development of hearing aid technology.