"Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?"

That's the title of Steven Tyler's rock 'n' roll memoir. When I first saw it, I was thinking, is he having tinnitus? Haha. With his 40+ year-old music career, it is highly likely that he has some level of hearing loss associated with tinnitus. But don't get me wrong, the book is definitely NOT about tinnitus! :)

MASH AGM 2011

To whom it may concern:

Malaysian Association of Speech-Language & Hearing (MASH) AGM 2011 is happening today!

Date: 18th June 2011
Time: 2.00pm - 5.00pm
Venue: Swan Convention Centre, Level 4, Sunway Medical Centre

Activities include: A talk by Pn. Tan, Allied Health Professional (AHP) Head; public forum and free food!

Join MASH today! "Why do I need to join?", you ask? Read 'Why Become a MASH Member' on MASH's e-newsletter, Within Earshot: Special Edition.

Or be an observer, if you want. MASH wouldn't mind.

See you guys!

Within Earshot: Special Edition

MASH's E-Newsletter came out with it's BHSM special edition for the public. Check it out here!

You can also check out excerpts of previous issue on the website :)

Fellow colleagues, if you are still not a member, join MASH today! Priviledges await :D

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month!

It's that time of the year again! May is Better Hearing and Speech Month, and you and you and you and yes, you, should know it by now!

It's easily the most anticipated month of the year for Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists :) Hearing and speech centres all over the country surely are organizing speech and hearing-related and fun-filled activities throughout the month. Which explains why I haven't been updating my blog as much as I want to :( I have a lot of topics to discuss on, but there never seems enough time, is there?

Nevertheless, check with your Audiologist/SLP or the nearest Hearing and Speech Centres for activities that you can join. I know SunMed has a good month going :)

MASH is also supporting its members' activities. MASH's theme for BHSM 2011: "Communication, Our Key to An Increased Quality of Life".
In fact, this month's MASH's e-newsletter, Within Earshot, will be shared to the public in conjunction with BHSM. Check it out on the website!

Naturally ASHA will come out with some cool stuff on their own. Don't forget to check out their website too!



ASHA's BHSM 2011 Logo

Come Join SunMed's Charity Jogathon!

This coming May, in conjunction with Better Hearing and Speech Month, Sunway Medical Centre is organizing SunMed Jogathon 2011! Proceeds from the event will be channeled to the Children's Wish Society of Malaysia (CWS). It is a society that grants a terminally ill child's last wish. To find out more about the society, check it out here.

Back to the event, so come one come all! It's for a good cause, and you'll get to burn that much-needed fat that you're dying to rid off (I know I do). In addition, for each registration you'll be entitled with race kits! So what are you waiting for, register now! Click here for there registration form.

Noise Induced Hearing Loss Awareness Campaign

Audiologists at Speech & Hearing Centre, Sunway Medical Centre will be having a booth over at the Sunway University Open Day this Sunday, 13th March, from 1pm to 5pm. They'll be doing a noise induced hearing loss awareness campaign, so if you're in the neighbourhood, do drop by! Information and goodies await! :D

Remarks from Hearing Aid Clients

Throughout my working experience doing trial hearing aids and fitting them, I've heard remarks that really amused (and some, still amuses) me. So now I decided, whenever I hear an interesting statement, I will put it up in this post.

Was trying on different range of hearing aids. As I revealed the price, the client was shocked to hear the figure. Although he admits the benefit, he left the clinic with a remark, "If I lived a different life, I would get the more expensive hearing aid". I always, always, always hate it when cost is the barrier to a better quality of life :(

Client came in, very motivated to wear hearing aid. When he first tried it, he can really feel the benefit that he exclaimed, "I feel like Superman! Fantastic!" Seriously, I've never had that enthusiastic of a client before, so his feedback really made me happy that I was able to help him.

An elderly man came for hearing aid fitting. He has a prosthetic leg made in Denmark. In the clinic, he chose a hearing aid from Denmark as well. Following fitting, I cleverly said to him, "So you're half Danish now" The joke brought laughter from the client and his son. :D Not exactly client's remark, but still, the theme is: amusing! (got the idea from my colleague, hehe)

More remarks to come!

A Hearing System in Your Mouth?!

Can't believe what you're seeing? Believe it.

SoundBite, the latest innovation of a hearing device. See below article to find out more. The things people come up with. I wonder how comfortable it is to wear. Because whenever you have something on your teeth, it's never comfortable~ for me that is. I hated my dentist visits with a passion!

And the device is using bone conduction method. So will the teeth vibrate when the microphone picks up the sound? I seriously could not imagine!

SoundBite In-the-Mouth Hearing System Is FDA Cleared for Single-Sided Deafness | February 3, 2011 | The Insider | The Hearing Review | Hearing Review Products

The Simpsons: the Episode that Bart went Deaf?!

Was flipping the channels on tv when I settled on the Simpsons. It has been a while since I last watched an episode, so it was "fate" that I watched this particular episode. It was "The Donkey Basketball Game" (I have no idea what that is) episode. Tried to find the episode on youtube but couldn't. If anyone finds it, let me know okay?

Anyway, in the episode, Bart was not hearing well, or "deaf" as the rest of the Simpsons said. Homer and Marge brought him to see Dr. Hibbert - at the roadside, mind you. Dr. Hibbert took out his otoscope and saw that there's a swelling inside Bart's ear. He told Homer and Marge to give it a day and it will resolve on its own. So Bart went through the rest of the day, not hearing anything except white noise (that's what they showed, really!) which of course resulted in laugh-out-loud moments for me . He managed to be not bullied because he didn't respond to the bullies (he couldn't hear what they wanted!) and the funniest part for me was when the Simpsons had dinner later that day.

Marge was saying she wanted Bart to stay home from school the next day since he hasn't recovered. Bart disagreed because he wanted to watch the Donkey Basketball Game. Homer, whom kept asking Bart to pass this dish and that but didn't get any because Bart couldn't hear it, retorted something like, "Donkey Basketball Game? Now i've heard everything! (looking at Bart) Unlike you!" He laughed out and realized Bart didn't hear that remark and said to the rest of the family "Everybody remember that when he got his hearing back". LOL!

Bart did got his hearing back but of course at the expense of the Simpsons being labeled as unpatriotic. Anyway, the episode was hilarious, as always. But of course, the facts are not right! I'm not sure what type of hearing problem Bart had but it sure wouln't have caused him to go deaf! A bit of hard of hearing, yes, but not total deafness! Especially when's the swelling was only on one side of the ear! And that it can recover on it's own without anything!

But hey, they're doing it for laughs, so like Lenka sings, "Just enjoy the show~" Don't ask for your money back though! :D

Happy Lunar New Year!

To those celebrating, have a prosperous rabbit year ahead!

Careful with the fireworks, you don't want any acoustic trauma or noise-induced hearing loss to celebrate the year with!

Happy holidays to all :)

Hearing & Hormones

I haven't gotten the chance to look up on this... so here's a quickie:

Does menopause affects hearing levels???

Please do share if you know anything about this :)