How We Hear
This part of the ear acts as a funnel. It collects sounds and directs them into the ear canal.
What is the pinna (or external ear)?
This is the third most common physical condition in the United States, after arthritis and heart disease, in older adults.
What is hearing loss?
This type of hearing aid is larger then hearing aids worn in the ear or in the canal. It has room for directional microphones and a more powerful battery than smaller styles of hearing aids.
What is a behind - the - ear style hearing aid?
The "W" in WATCH stands for this strategy.
What is "Watch lips, not eyes."
This thin structure separates the outer ear from the middle ear. It vibrates in response to sound waves.
What is the ear drum (or tympanic membrane)?
These are the two of the most common causes of hearing loss in adults.
What are age and noise exposure?
This style of hearing aids fits completely inside the outer ear. The ampliefied sound does not have to travel through a tube from behind the ear.
What is an in-the-ear style of hearing aid?
The "A" in "WATCH" stands for this strategy.
What is "Ask specific questions?"
50 point bonus for an example of a specific question.
These three tiny bones in the middle ear connect the vibrations of the ear drum to the fluid filled inner ear. When these bones vibrate they create a wave in the fluid in the inner ear.
What are the hammer, stirup and the anvil (malleus, incus, stapes)?
Approximately 15% of American adults over 18 years old report some trouble hearing. About how many people does this equal?
a. 3 thousand
b. 3 million
c. 10.5 million
d. 37.5 million
What is d, 37.5 million?
This style of hearing aid is very small and is one of the least visible styles an individual can purchase. It requires good manual dexterity to use. It does not have room for direction microphones but produces amplified sound closer to the eardrum and can take advantage of the outer ears natural ability to funnel sound into the ear canal.
What is a completely-in-the-canal, style of hearing aid?
The "T" in "WATCH" stands for this strategy.
What is "Tell about your hearing loss?"
Waves in the fluid in the inner ear cause these tiny structures to move and bend. This in turn creates an electric signal.
What are hair cells?
In adults aged 20 - 69 are men or women more likely to have hearing loss?
Men are twice as more likely to have hearing loss than women, in adults aged 20 - 69.
This type of hearing aid is a newer version of the behind-the-ear style of hearing aid. The microphone is still worn behind the ear and a wire connects it to a receiver which outputs the sound to the ear canal.
What is a reciever-in-the canal style of hearing aid?
The "C" in "WATCH" stands for this strategy.
What is "change the situation?"
100 point bonus for an example of how you could "change the situation?"
This structure carries the electric signal from the inner ear to the brain.
Most people with age-related hearing loss, lose the ability to detect these types of sounds first.
What are high-frequency sounds?
This technology bypasses the outer and middle ear completely and stimulates the inner ear and auditory cranial nerve. It requires surgery to implant.
What is a cochlear implant?
The "H" in WATCH stands for this strategy.
What is "acquire Health care knowledge?"
100 point bonus for an example of a question you might ask your doctor or audiologist regarding hearing loss or technology.