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Wednesday, January 27, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Don’t ignore hearing problems — get tested now
Do you notice you have to turn up
the volume on your TV in order to
hear the dialog in your favorite show?
When your son calls on the phone, do
you find yourself asking him to repeat
what he just said because you didn9t
catch it all? These can be indications
of early hearing loss and mean it9s
time to schedule a hearing test.
Hearing loss is one of the most
common disabilities in elderly peo-
ple, affecting about one-third of peo-
ple over the age of 65, according to
the American Academy of Neurology.
Peripheral age-related hearing loss is
caused by problems in how the inner
annoying and can also indicate hear-
ing issues.
Do you find yourself more fre-
quently asking people to repeat what
they just said? Is it becoming more
difficult to hear when you are talk-
ing on the phone? You may need to
adjust the volume on the television or
when you are on your computer in a
Zoom meeting. Any one or more of
these situations could be indicating a
loss of hearing.
<If hearing loss is not addressed
early on, one runs the risk of perma-
nent damage to the auditory system,=
according to Tandy. <The longer one
goes with an untreated hearing loss,
they lose the ability to process
the speech that comes in.
Wash fresh produce
as soon as you get home
under warm, running water,
scrubbing gently at
the surface.
Safe shopping for better health
By Ashlee Francis
Correspondent
This past year of living through
a worldwide pandemic has restruc-
tured our way of living. Some people
used the time in lockdown to improve
health through cleaning their homes,
making time to meditate, and creat-
ing fitness routines to help them lose
weight or tone their bodies. On the
other hand, many people took advan-
tage of the time to create comfort
foods, with popular new hobbies con-
sisting of making banana bread and
sourdough. Depending on how one
views this pandemic, the high risk of
leaving your house could either be a
huge deterrent to getting healthy or the
driving motivator.
It9s difficult walking into the pro-
duce aisle at the grocery store and
seeing people pulling their masks off
to smell the produce or licking their
fingers to open the plastic bag before
choosing their fruit with that same
saliva-covered hand. The idea of the
virus, the flu, and other germs being
spread easily in the produce aisle may
have people running toward the mid-
dle aisles of processed foods: cereals,
crackers, rice and more.
It makes sense that grabbing a
wrapped candy or protein bar as a
snack would seem safer than pick-
ing up an apple that has been touched
by multiple shoppers and employees.
Eating this way is not the best thing
for your health though. Processed
foods contain sugars and stabilizers,
such as gums, to help them last longer
on the shelves. When we put these into
our bodies, we are consuming toxins
that can irritate our guts and lead to
inflammation, higher stress levels, and
illness. The purpose of not getting the
produce was to stay safe, but instead
we have put ourselves more at risk.
In that case, we could put the very
best hearing devices on that patient9s
ears and they will still have limita-
tions based on their decreased speech
understanding scores (processing
abilities). We can treat the hearing
loss most effectively the sooner the
patient comes in for help.=
According to Tandy, there is no
cost for an exam. However, Medicare
does not cover the cost of hearing
aids.
<That9s why we find it really
important to offer a large variety of
styles and technology levels to meet
different budgets,= said Tandy.
To
eat
whole, nutri-
tious foods
while staying
clear of germs,
try washing your
produce as soon as
you get home. Rinse
your fruits and vege-
tables under warm, run-
ning water, scrubbing gently
at the surface. There is no need
to use soap or bleach; running water
will be enough as long as you rub the
extra grime off. For firm produce,
such as potatoes, apples and carrots,
use a produce brush to get them clean.
Dry your produce after washing, then
store as usual. For produce with a peel,
such as bananas and oranges, washing
is still a good idea. You may not plan
to eat the peel, but reducing the risk
of anything on the peel rubbing off
onto your hands or the other produce
TU
DI
O
Correspondent
ear and hearing nerves function and
leads to people not being able to hear.
Lanie Tandy, a hearing instrument
specialist with All American Hearing
in Redmond, advises that anyone over
the age of 60, or sooner if they are
experiencing particular symptoms,
should schedule an appointment for
an assessment of their hearing.
Symptoms of hearing loss include
trouble understanding speech. You
may be hearing what someone is
saying but you are having difficulty
understanding them clearly. You may
find when you are in a noisy room,
or there is a lot of background noise,
you have trouble understanding what
the person you are listening to is say-
ing. Ringing in the ears (tinnitus) is
IN
TS
By Sue Stafford
CO
TO.
PHO
I ST O C K
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OR
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will help
keep food clean.
Even if you do choose to buy
cereal or packaged items, there is a
thought that the virus can live on card-
board boxes for up to 24 hours and on
plastic for two to three days. Clean
the surfaces of these items when you
arrive home, keeping them separate
from clean items in your home until
finished. Afterward, wash your hands
well, especially before touching your
face.
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