Introducing Lyric!

Timpanogos Hearing and Balance is pleased to announce they have become one of the first providers in the country to offer the new, revolutionary Lyric hearing device. Lyric is the world's first and only 100% invisible extended wear hearing device and has recently been featured on CNN, Fox News, and in the New York Times.

Lyric was recently featured on Good Morning America. The story highlighted Lyric's small size, the fact that you can exercise with Lyric and wear headphones comfortably, and that once placed it is completely invisible.

Click Here or on the image to the right to View the Full Good Morning America Feature

What To Expect

Getting started on the path toward better hearing is easy. With Lyric® Hearing, you get your own customized Lyric devices in one simple office visit to your Lyric trained hearing professional's office. Lyric is a non-surgically placed device, and no anesthesia is required. Sizing and fitting you for new Lyric devices should take less than one hour.

To begin your experience, schedule an initial appointment with your local Lyric trained hearing professional.

Initial Patient Visit

Your initial visit will begin with an evaluation of your specific hearing loss condition. Based on this evaluation, your trained Lyric hearing professional will determine if Lyric is the best option for your hearing and lifestyle needs.

Evaluation Steps

•Perform hearing exam to assess your hearing loss

•Conduct ear exam to check size/shape of your canal and ear health

•Evaluate your lifestyle/hearing needs

Once you and your hearing professional have determined that Lyric is the right solution for you, you will be sized and fit with Lyric. This process has three simple steps that enable you to leave the office with your Lyric hearing devices.

Sizing and Fitting Steps

•Size and place Lyric

•Program Lyric

•Discuss how to use Lyric, Q&A, and follow-up visits

After completing the steps above, you will start to experience the benefits of Lyric Hearing.

Follow-up Visits to Receive Your New Lyric Devices

Lyric devices may be used until they cease to function or for a maximum of 120 days. Individual replacement needs may vary. Patients should expect to return to their hearing professional's office for 10-minute replacement visits.

Benefits

100% INVISIBLE

No one will know why you're hearing better except you.

Unlike traditional hearing devices, Lyric®'s small size and placement in the ear canal make it totally invisible. Lyric allows you to enjoy the benefits of better hearing without anyone ever knowing you're using a hearing device.

EFFORTLESS HEARING, 24/7

With Lyric, you can forget the hassles of traditional hearing aids.

Lyric allows you to hear 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for months at a time.* You can use Lyric during your activities ? such as sleeping, showering, exercising, using external headphones, and talking on the phone. There are no batteries to change, no maintenance is needed, and no daily insertion is required. Lyric is a hearing solution that lets you lead your life day to day without constantly being reminded of your hearing loss.

*Lyric is not waterproof.


NATURAL PLACEMENT, NATURAL SOUND

Lyric is designed to take advantage of your ear's anatomy. Lyric's unique design and placement work with your ear's anatomy to deliver exceptional sound quality. Lyric uses your outer ear to naturally direct sound into the ear canal without the need for multiple settings or complicated programs.

The exterior of Lyric is made of a soft material specifically designed to contour to your ear canal. Lyric is comfortably placed in your ear canal during a routine visit to your Lyric trained hearing professional. Your ENT physician and audiologist will work together to make sure your Lyric system is fitted and adjusted specifically for your individual hearing needs. Once you are wearing Lyric, you can still adjust the volume if needed, as well as turn the device on and off.

How Lyric Works

Lyric® is comfortably placed in the ear canal by a Lyric trained hearing professional during a routine office visit. No surgery or anesthesia is required.


Once placed, Lyric is 100% invisible, allowing you to enjoy all the benefits of better hearing without anyone knowing you're using a hearing device. You can use Lyric for months at a time*, there are no batteries to replace and no repairs to make. Just visit your hearing professional's office as needed* to receive new devices with the latest Lyric technology.

Lyric is sold on a subscription basis, meaning you will purchase a year's worth of Lyric devices at a time. You will be guaranteed to have the most advanced Lyric hearing technology currently available, since you will be receiving new devices at each follow-up office visit.

Uniquely designed and placed, Lyric works with your ear's anatomy to deliver exceptional sound quality. Lyric uses your outer ear to naturally direct sound into your ear canal without the need for multiple settings or complicated programs.

Lyric will be programmed for your specific hearing needs. You will be able to adjust the settings and volume on your device as needed, as well as turn the device on and off.

Developed by ENT physicians and audiologists, Lyric was built around three key concepts that hearing professionals have known for years:

•Sound quality improves with proximity to the ear drum.

•Many people with hearing loss are dissatisfied with their hearing aid options.

•Consumers desire a hassle-free, invisible solution.

Lyric Technology features:

•Biocompatible soft foam seals engineered to contour to the ear canal; safe to wear 24/7, months at a time*

•Proprietary mechanical and coating technology developed to protect the device from moisture and ear wax

•A proprietary battery designed to last up to 120 days

•A programmable sound processing system designed to work millimeters from the ear drum and allow for both microphone and receiver placement in the ear canal and out-of-sight

What some of our patients are saying:

"It is a little bit of a miracle."

- Alfred, Lyric User

"I was fishing on the lake and I heard a conversation from someone who I could not even see. I golf, hunt and fish and I hear better than I have in years."

- JD, Lyric User

"My dog was ill and I needed to hear her in the night. I can sleep with these on and hear just fine. I feel so much safer at night."

- Pat, Lyric User

Call our office at 801-770-0801 to set up your free evaluation!

How We Hear Part II

The cochlea is by far the most complex part of the ear. Its job is to take the physical vibrations caused by the sound wave and translate them into electrical information the brain can recognize as distinct sound.


The cochlea structure consists of three adjacent tubes separated from each other by sensitive membranes. In reality, these tubes are coiled in the shape of a snail shell, but it's easier to understand what's going on if you imagine them stretched out. It's also clearer if we treat two of the tubes, the scala vestibuli and the scala media, as one chamber. The membrane between these tubes is so thin that sound waves travel as if the tubes weren't separated at all.

The piston action of the stapes moves the fluid in the cochlea. This causes a vibration wave to travel down the basilar membrane.

The stapes moves back and forth, creating pressure waves in the entire cochlea. The round window membrane separating the cochlea from the middle ear gives the fluid somewhere to go. It moves out when the stapes pushes in and moves in when the stapes pulls out.

The middle membrane, the basilar membrane, is a rigid surface that extends across the length of the cochlea. When the stapes moves in and out, it pushes and pulls on the part of the basilar membrane just below the oval window. This force starts a wave moving along the surface of the membrane. The wave travels something like ripples along the surface of a pond, moving from the oval window down to the other end of the cochlea.

The basilar membrane has a peculiar structure. It's made of 20,000 to 30,000 reed-like fibers that extend across the width of the cochlea. Near the oval window, the fibers are short and stiff. As you move toward the other end of the tubes, the fibers get longer and more limber.

This gives the fibers different resonant frequencies. A specific wave frequency will resonate perfectly with the fibers at a certain point, causing them to vibrate rapidly. This is the same principle that makes tuning forks and kazoos work -- a specific pitch will start a tuning fork ringing, and humming in a certain way will cause a kazoo reed to vibrate.

As the wave moves along most of the membrane, it can't release much energy -- the membrane is too tense. But when the wave reaches the fibers with the same resonant frequency, the wave's energy is suddenly released. Because of the increasing length and decreasing rigidity of the fibers, higher-frequency waves vibrate the fibers closer to the oval window, and lower frequency waves vibrate the fibers at the other end of the membrane.

Higher pitches vibrate the basilar membrane most intensely near the oval window, and lower pitches vibrate the basilar membrane most intensely at a point farther down the cochlea. But how does the brain know where these vibrations occur?


This is the organ of corti's job. The organ of corti is a structure containing thousands of tiny hair cells. It lies on the surface of the basilar membrane and extends across the length of the cochlea.

Until a wave reaches the fibers with a resonant frequency, it doesn't move the basilar membrane a whole lot. But when the wave finally does reach the resonant point, the membrane suddenly releases a burst of energy in that area. This energy is strong enough to move the organ of corti hair cells at that point.

When these hair cells are moved, they send an electrical impulse through the cochlear nerve. The cochlear nerve sends these impulses on to the cerebral cortex, where the brain interprets them. The brain determines the pitch of the sound based on the position of the cells sending electrical impulses. Louder sounds release more energy at the resonant point along the membrane and so move a greater number of hair cells in that area. The brain knows a sound is louder because more hair cells are activated in an area.

The cochlea only sends raw data -- complex patterns of electrical impulses. The brain is like a central computer, taking this input and making some sense of it all. This is an extraordinarily complex operation, and scientists are still a long way from understanding everything about it.

In fact, hearing in general is still very mysterious to us. The basic concepts at work in human and animal ears are fairly simple, but the specific structures are extremely complex. Scientists are making rapid advancements, however, and they discover new hearing elements every year. It's astonishing how much is involved in the hearing process, and it's even more amazing that all these processes take place in such a small area of the body.

How We Hear... Part 1

Have you ever stopped to think about how incredible your ears are?  The fact that we can hear at all and with such amazing clarity is really a miracle of design and function.  Let's talk a little about how our marvelous ears work.

To hear sound, your ear has to do three basic things:

•Direct the sound waves into the hearing part of the ear

•Sense the fluctuations in air pressure

•Translate these fluctuations into an electrical signal that your brain can understand

The pinna, the outer part of the ear, serves to "catch" the sound waves. Your outer ear is pointed forward and it has a number of curves. This structure helps you determine the direction of a sound. If a sound is coming from behind you or above you, it will bounce off the pinna in a different way than if it is coming from in front of you or below you. This sound reflection alters the pattern of the sound wave. Your brain recognizes distinctive patterns and determines whether the sound is in front of you, behind you, above you or below you.

Your brain determines the horizontal position of a sound by comparing the information coming from your two ears. If the sound is to your left, it will arrive at your left ear a little bit sooner than it arrives at your right ear. It will also be a little bit louder in your left ear than your right ear.

Once the sound waves travel into the ear canal, they vibrate the tympanic membrane, commonly called the eardrum. The eardrum is a thin, cone-shaped piece of skin, about 10 millimeters (0.4 inches) wide. It is positioned between the ear canal and the middle ear. The middle ear is connected to the throat via the eustachian tube. Since air from the atmosphere flows in from your outer ear as well as your mouth, the air pressure on both sides of the eardrum remains equal. This pressure balance lets your eardrum move freely back and forth


The eardrum is rigid, and very sensitive. Even the slightest air-pressure fluctuations will move it back and forth. It is attached to the tensor tympani muscle, which constantly pulls it inward. This keeps the entire membrane taut so it will vibrate no matter which part of it is hit by a sound wave.

The compressions and rarefactions in sound waves move your eardrum back and forth. For the most part, these changes in air pressure are extremely small. They don't apply much force on the eardrum, but the eardrum is so sensitive that this minimal force moves it a good distance.


The cochlea in the inner ear conducts sound through a fluid, instead of through air. This fluid has a much higher inertia than air -- that is, it is harder to move (think of pushing air versus pushing water). The small force felt at the eardrum is not strong enough to move this fluid. Before the sound passes on to the inner ear, the total pressure (force per unit of area) must be amplified.

This is the job of the ossicles, a group of tiny bones in the middle ear. The ossicles are actually the smallest bones in your body. They include:
•The malleus, commonly called the hammer
•The incus, commonly called the anvil

•The stapes, commonly called the stirrup

When air-pressure compression pushes in on the eardrum, the ossicles move so that the faceplate of the stapes pushes in on the cochlear fluid. When air-pressure rarefaction pulls out on the eardrum, the ossicles move so that the faceplate of the stapes pulls in on the fluid. Essentially, the stapes acts as a piston, creating waves in the inner-ear fluid to represent the air-pressure fluctuations of the sound wave.


This amplification system is extremely effective. The pressure applied to the cochlear fluid is about 22 times the pressure felt at the eardrum. This pressure amplification is enough to pass the sound information on to the inner ear, where it is translated into nerve impulses the brain can understand.

The cochlea is by far the most complex part of the ear. Its job is to take the physical vibrations caused by the sound wave and translate them into electrical information the brain can recognize as distinct sound.

Next time, we'll learn about how the cochlea translates that physical energy into electrical information...

This Year I Will...

During the last three days back at work, I think that I have written 2010 instead of 2011 nine out of ten times.  I can't believe that we are in a new year already!

January is the month of resolutions.  Things we all do for a week or two, and then find ourselve back in our old ways.  (I wonder just how many people are on diets right now that weren't on them a month ago?)  Why is it that we all make goals that we realistically won't keep?

One simple resolution that can make a huge difference for many people-- not only personally, but to their families as well is the goal to hear better.  Studies have shown that it takes an average of 7 years from the time a person first notices a hearing loss until the time where they actually do something about it.  During those 7 years, gradual changes take place where the person finds themselves less in touch with their family and friends, not as engaged in their work or social lives, and generally socially isolated.

Don't let 7 years worth of damage done by hearing loss affect your life.  We always tell our patients this-- we promise that your hearing loss is much more noticeable then the nearly invisible hearing technology that we have available now. 

"Resolve" to hear better today!!

New Study Indicates New Reason For Age-Related Hearing Loss

Millions of tiny sensory heir cells in the inner ear enable you to hear. Age-related hearing loss involves the death of some of these sensory hair, nerve and membrane cells. Since the hair and nerve cells do not regenerate in humans, their death leads to permanent hearing loss.

Researchers in the USA have now, with the help of research on mice, found out that these sensory hair cells can be destroyed if the so-called mitochondrial membrane, which protects the cells, is destroyed. This can occur if there is too much Bak protein present. Should this happen, proteins can find their way into the cells and break them down, causing the cells to die. Bak is typically induced by oxidative stress and its levels increase as people age.

So if oxidative stress triggers damage and death of hearing-related cells, enhancing the antioxidant defences of the mitochondria should reduce such damage, says postdoctoral researcher Jinze Xu, one of the researchers behind the study.

The studies with the mice show, that older mice without Bak protein have the same good hearing as young mice.

It is estimated that in the USA alone more than 28 million Americans will be affected by the condition by 2030.

Source: www.eurekalert.org, www.pnas.org

Hearing Loss More Likely In Individuals With Chronic Kidney Disease

Individuals with moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD) are more likely to suffer from hearing difficulties compared to healthy people of the same age, researchers have revealed in an article that appears in the American Journal of Kidney Disease.

Researchers from the Universities of Sydney, Melbourne and Macquarie in Australia examined the medical records of 2,564 people aged 50 or more, of whom 513 had moderate CKD.

More that 55 % of all the patients with CKD had some degree of hearing loss. Among people who had no kidney problems less than 30 % had hearing loss. Furthermore, severe hearing loss affected almost 30% of the CKD patients, compared to just 10% of the others.

The figures were adjusted for other risk factors that may affect hearing, such as age, sex, noise exposure, diabetes and more.

Possible explanations

University of Sydney, said:

The link between hearing loss and CKD can be explained by structural and functional similarities between tissues in the inner ear and in the kidney. Additionally, toxins that accumulate in kidney failure can damage nerves, including those in the inner ear. Another reason for this connection is that kidney disease and hearing loss share common risk factors, including diabetes, high blood pressure and advanced age.

What is chronic kidney disease?

Chronic kidney disease is a slow and progressive loss of kidney function. Over a period of several years the condition worsens until eventually there is permanent kidney failure. Many people don't know they have CKD until their kidney function is down to 25% of normal. The main causes of CKD are diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure).

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com

Free Hearing Aids For Christmas

Christmas is a time for family. It is a time for music and laughter and enjoying memories with friends and loved ones.


None of these things is possible with a hearing loss.

Timpanogos Hearing and Balance in American Fork is happy to announce that they will be giving away a set of digital hearing devices to one recipient for Christmas—no strings attached.

“We’ve been able to help thousands of people to hear better over the last 7 years, but we realize that there are many more out there who need to hear better, but can’t afford it. I became an Audiologist to help people to hear better—as many people as I can. We are grateful to be in a position where we can give back to the community and help someone who has no other way to help themselves,” says Dr. Layne Garrett, owner of Timpanogos Hearing and Balance.

The hearing devices will be given away based on need and on their ability to truly make a difference in the recipient’s life. You may nominate yourself or someone else. To apply, write a 500 word description of how hearing better could make a difference for the applicant. Attach the person’s name, age, city of residence, and phone number. You can email this information to Christmas@utahhearingaids.com, fax it to 801-763-8282, or mail it to Timpanogos Hearing and Balance 321 E 300 N American Fork, UT 84003.  You can also click here to fill out an online form.

Applications must be received by December 12th.