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Speaker 1: Femineity, Health and Wellness.

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Speaker 2: All right, on our Health and Wellness a feature today

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Speaker 2: we are discussing hearing health in adults. Mccallic bonani was

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Speaker 2: talking about this earlier, especially some of us that are

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Speaker 2: using these headphones every single day, so we always have headphones.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot playing in the background, we're talking, speaking

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Speaker 2: to listeners and listening to them through these headphones. So

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Speaker 2: if it's constantly something you're doing, that can really at

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Speaker 2: some point for some people begin to cause some problems.

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Speaker 2: Do you have issues with your hearing as you are

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Speaker 2: getting older and older? I mean from blusting music through

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Speaker 2: headphones on the morning commute to working in noisy environments.

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Speaker 2: Many of us actually really stop to think about the

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Speaker 2: long term impact of sound on our ears. And yet

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Speaker 2: hearing specialists say that our listening habits today could shape

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Speaker 2: our cognitive health and quality of life decades from now,

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Speaker 2: and that's why we need to take this seriously. So

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Speaker 2: as the world marked World Hearing Day earlier this month,

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Speaker 2: there's a growing concern about the number of people that

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Speaker 2: are experiencing hearing challenges early in life. In fact, the

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Speaker 2: World Health Organization estimates that nearly one billion I mean

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Speaker 2: listen to that one billion young adults globally are at

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Speaker 2: risk of permanent hearing loss due to unsafe listening habits,

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Speaker 2: and closer here at home, the picture is just as

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Speaker 2: concerning because around twelve million South Africans live with some

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Speaker 2: degree of hearing loss, with many cases going undiagnosed for years.

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Speaker 2: And while hearing problems are often associated with aging, experts

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Speaker 2: are saying the reality is very different because hearing health

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Speaker 2: is actually a lifelong journey. It affects everyone from gen

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Speaker 2: Z's headphone users to retirees. So this morning we're unpecking

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Speaker 2: what adults should know about protecting their hearing, why, ali

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Speaker 2: detection also matters, and how modern technology is changing the

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Speaker 2: way hearing loss is managed. If you are struggling with

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Speaker 2: something like this, give us a call oh on one

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Speaker 2: eighty eight three oh seven o two have you had

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Speaker 2: issues with hearing loss? The WhatsApp line is also then

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Speaker 2: two seven oh two and seven oh two. Olivia Beard

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Speaker 2: is the head of Audiology and Specsavers South Africa. Who's

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Speaker 2: going to guide us through this conversation. Olivia, thank you

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Speaker 2: for making time. Good morning morning, are you well? I'm okay?

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Speaker 2: Thank you. This is such an important conversation, so thank

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Speaker 2: you for coming through. Many people associate hearing loss with

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Speaker 2: old age, but how aily.

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Speaker 1: Can hearing actually damage?

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Speaker 2: You know? How can can that hearing damage actually begin

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Speaker 2: because we think, okay, maybe it's when we are much older.

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Speaker 2: But from your research your observation, how early can it begin?

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Speaker 3: No, it can begin as soon as you start damaging

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Speaker 3: your hearings. So if you are listening to music too

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Speaker 3: loud or you've been in an environment that is too

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Speaker 3: loud for your hearing to recover your little hair cells

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Speaker 3: inside your cockleier, then it really can start at any age.

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Speaker 4: So you really need to look after your hearing health.

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Speaker 3: From the moment you are born all the way up

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Speaker 3: until when you are retired.

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Speaker 2: So, so what are the most common causes of hearing

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Speaker 2: loss among adults today?

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Speaker 3: So most common one would be aging that as as

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Speaker 3: you get older, your little hair cells inside of your

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Speaker 3: cocklea they fall flat and then you need a little

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Speaker 3: bit more volume to be a to respond to those sounds.

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Speaker 4: But on top of.

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Speaker 3: That, you also see a lot of hearing loss which

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Speaker 3: is caused by medication.

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Speaker 4: Noise induced hearing loss.

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Speaker 3: As well as diabetes can also have an impact on

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Speaker 3: your hearing, and a lot of medical conditions can also

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Speaker 3: affect your hearing.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so every time we speak about hearing health, a

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Speaker 2: lot of people ask about headphones because they are concerned

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Speaker 2: because they use them, their children are always on their headphones.

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Speaker 1: So can you talk to us about that.

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Speaker 2: Headphones and earbuds, which are part of the daily life

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Speaker 2: of many of us, What volume levels are considered safe

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Speaker 2: and how cautious do we need to be around their usage?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, of course, so hearing hearing, a hearing pod, air

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Speaker 3: pods or headphones, any of those, you should be listening

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Speaker 3: to them at a sixty percent volume for a maximum

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Speaker 3: of sixty minutes.

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Speaker 4: Before you take a short break.

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Speaker 3: Your hair cells need to be able to recover from

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Speaker 3: the sound you have just heard. So a nice way

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Speaker 3: to test it is to have someone sit in front

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Speaker 3: of you and have them talk to you. If you

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Speaker 3: can hear them with your headphones on, then you know

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Speaker 3: your headphones are at a good level. But if it's louder,

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Speaker 3: if it's louder than what you can hear, then you

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Speaker 3: need to turn them down definitely.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, that's that's something quite sobering. Something I'm as

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Speaker 2: the advice I'm as heat as well, because whenever I

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Speaker 2: go running and I'm like, if I'm doing fifteen k's

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Speaker 2: or twenty k's, I'm listening to a podcast that is

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Speaker 2: about two hours long, and you're not taking even any

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Speaker 2: break from there. So that's something maybe to to take

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Speaker 2: as advice. What about noise consolation earphones because sometimes you

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Speaker 2: know when you're flying and I have noise constellation also

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Speaker 2: on some of the earphones I use when I'm flying

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Speaker 2: long a distance. Are those bad because then you're not

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Speaker 2: going to hear the next person who's having a chat

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Speaker 2: near you. When you've got those earphones and you've chosen

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Speaker 2: selected noise cancelation feature, No.

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Speaker 4: So they're definitely not bad.

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Speaker 3: It's actually quite good because you won't put your volume

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Speaker 3: up as loud, or you shouldn't put your volume up

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Speaker 3: as loud as you would with normal headphones, because you're

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Speaker 3: reducing the background noise around you. So it's allowing you

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Speaker 3: to hear more clearly without completing the noise with the

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Speaker 3: environmental noises. So it is actually a very nice feature

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Speaker 3: to have. You must just be cautious of having it

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Speaker 3: on for too long.

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Speaker 4: Obviously.

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Speaker 2: Oh okay, I see, so let's talk about the warning signs. Now,

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Speaker 2: are there any warning signs that someone's hearing might already

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Speaker 2: be declining?

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Speaker 1: What should our listeners look out for?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely.

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Speaker 3: So when you have a start of a hearing loss,

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Speaker 3: that first person to actually notice that hearing loss is

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Speaker 3: actually going to be your spouse or your children, or

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Speaker 3: people you work with. They're going to be the ones

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Speaker 3: you notice to say you're not actually listening as well

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Speaker 3: as you should be, or are you actually hearing me?

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Speaker 3: Or massoapat myself again. So they are the ones who

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Speaker 3: are normally noticed at first. But other little signs are

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Speaker 3: going to be increasing the volume of your TV or

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Speaker 3: your zoom calls and then also a ringing or buzzing

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Speaker 3: in your ears if you start noticing that. That's also

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Speaker 3: a very early sign, but it's a sign that there's

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Speaker 3: something going on.

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Speaker 2: Hmm, okay, all one one eighty three oh seven O two.

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Speaker 2: That's the number to dial. You can send the what's

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Speaker 2: up as well on O sivintwo seven O two one

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Speaker 2: seven oh two if you want to join this conversation.

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Speaker 1: We're speaking to.

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Speaker 2: Olivia Black a Beard who's the head of Audeology at

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Speaker 2: Specsavers South Africa because hearing health, especially in adults, is

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Speaker 2: quite an important thing to be aware of. How cautious

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Speaker 2: are you even around headphones? Do you have any questions?

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Speaker 2: Are you struggling with hearing? Give us a call if

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Speaker 2: you've got questions or some inputs, or you can send

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Speaker 2: us what's up voice notes as well. On oh seven

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Speaker 2: two seven oh two one seven oh two. We'll start

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Speaker 2: with those calls and what's up after the break fifteen

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Speaker 2: minutes before.

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Speaker 1: Seven Health and Wellness.

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Speaker 2: Thirteen minutes before twelve o'clock. We're discussing hearing health in

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Speaker 2: adults on our Health and Wellness feature this morning. Let's

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Speaker 2: start with your calls on oh one eight eight three

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Speaker 2: oh seven oh two. William, you are calling us from Midrand.

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Speaker 5: Good morning, Good morning, mister LeMond.

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Speaker 1: Sure sure, brother, go ahead, Yes, sir.

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Speaker 5: I've lost my hearing, you know, when I was eleven

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Speaker 5: turning twelve somewhere. But it's only my left hand side

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Speaker 5: that lost hearing, so I'm using my right and side.

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Speaker 5: So yeah, it's been it's been a very difficult thing

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Speaker 5: because some other people they weren't understand when you can

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Speaker 5: hear them, and some you need to look directly to

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Speaker 5: their face so that you can read, you can read

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Speaker 5: the lips. So I went to school with this problem,

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Speaker 5: so I'm still now it's my I'm forty five now

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Speaker 5: I'm still having the same problem, but I'm used to it.

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Speaker 5: I've never thought of having a hearing aid because at

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Speaker 5: that time I was expensive. But now since I'm working now,

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Speaker 5: I've thought of it that maybe I can get one

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Speaker 5: that could help my left ears. So I wanted to ask,

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Speaker 5: is it possible for now to get a hearing aid,

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Speaker 5: because it's it's difficult, man, it's just very difficult.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Sure, And you said you you lost your hearing on

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Speaker 2: the left side when you were twelve, and how old

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Speaker 2: are you know, forty five.

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Speaker 5: I'm forty five now and I've been living with this issue,

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Speaker 5: with this condition for I could say, my whole life.

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Speaker 5: So the easiest for me it's when you talk, I

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Speaker 5: need to look straight to you, to your face so

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Speaker 5: that they can bring the lip. But if someone made

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Speaker 5: it speak and they see in the other directions, it's

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Speaker 5: it's very difficult because I can't read the late. But yeah,

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Speaker 5: it's it's it's been very, very, very difficult. So but

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Speaker 5: now I've considered you maybe if I can get a

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Speaker 5: help and get the right a hearing age, that I

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Speaker 5: could hear for my left side. Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh left?

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Speaker 2: Yeah all right, William, thank you so much for for

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Speaker 2: for calling us, Olivia. William lost you know hearing on

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Speaker 2: his right side written on his left side actually when

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Speaker 2: he was tough. He's now forty five and is considering

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Speaker 2: getting a hearing aid. Is that something that could help

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Speaker 2: at this age, even when he has dealt with this

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Speaker 2: for so many years.

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Speaker 3: Yes, definitely, having your show your right ear will be

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Speaker 3: completely overcompensating for your left ear now as well, so

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Speaker 3: we must be very careful to see that the right

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Speaker 3: ear doesn't start deteriorating. So what would be ideal would

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Speaker 3: be to go and get your hearing tested and to

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Speaker 3: see exactly what's going on and why the hearing has

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Speaker 3: gone in the left side first. But there is definite

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Speaker 3: options out there available, different types of hearing aid systems

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Speaker 3: that would definitely assist him.

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Speaker 2: And by the way, Olivia, how accessible is hearing in

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Speaker 2: South Africa?

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Speaker 1: Is it still a challenge?

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Speaker 4: No, not at all.

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Speaker 3: We as SPECSABS, we've got seven twenty one branches throughout

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Speaker 3: South Africa. So any one of those optometrists will be

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Speaker 3: able to assist you to find an audiologist within one

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Speaker 3: of their specified stores, because there are over four hundred

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Speaker 3: spec say as optoms, so we are all everywhere at

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Speaker 3: the moment, and all of them will offer you a

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Speaker 3: free hearing screening to see where you're hearing lies and

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Speaker 3: what we can.

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Speaker 4: Do from there.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I see I've got some voice notes coming on.

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Speaker 2: Oh seven two seven, oh two one seven or two?

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Speaker 6: Hi Clement, please ask the guests how you would know

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Speaker 6: the difference between not being able to concentrate on two

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Speaker 6: things and ones and hearing loss Because I can't talk

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Speaker 6: on the follo example, if the radio is on all

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Speaker 6: if the TV is on, A need to turn it down.

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Speaker 6: But I can't distinguish if that is because I can't

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Speaker 6: hear or because I cannot concentrate on the one without

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Speaker 6: being distracted by that.

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Speaker 7: God, Hi clementon your guest, I just wanted to know

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Speaker 7: what your opinion is about what noise for babies. It's

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Speaker 7: the pros or cons.

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Speaker 1: Oh, thank you so much for your questions, Olivia.

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Speaker 4: Sorry I didn't hear that at all.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So the first question was about how do I

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Speaker 2: know the difference between having a hearing issue and just

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Speaker 2: not being able to concentrate. And the example the listener

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Speaker 2: gave was when I'm on the phone with someone and

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Speaker 2: the radio is on, I would need to switch off

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Speaker 2: the radio and she wants to know if could that

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Speaker 2: be an issue of concentration or should I pay more

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Speaker 2: attention to my hearing health, because maybe that's where the

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Speaker 2: challenge is coming from.

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Speaker 3: So either way, it would be a great thing to

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Speaker 3: do to go and have your hearing tested, even if

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Speaker 3: it's just a screenings in the meantime, just to see

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Speaker 3: if there is a mild loss, because that is one

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Speaker 3: of the signs of a very mild hearing loss or

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Speaker 3: hearing loss starting in the very high frequencies, is that

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Speaker 3: lack of concentration or it feels like a lack of

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Speaker 3: concentration because it is very it's very tiring for your

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Speaker 3: brain to try and focus on all of your environmental

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Speaker 3: sounds around you as well as focusing on what someone

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Speaker 3: else is saying, especially when you have a hearing loss

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Speaker 3: and it gets the worse the hearing loss gets.

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Speaker 4: So rather go get your.

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Speaker 3: Hearing tested and then you can go from there to

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Speaker 3: make a deciding factor.

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Speaker 2: Another question was around white noise for kids. Is that

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Speaker 2: something that is fine to go with or could that

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Speaker 2: be problematic for the kids at some point.

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Speaker 3: No, it's absolutely fine as long as you are keeping

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Speaker 3: it at a very soft level. Remember their hearing is

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Speaker 3: very sensitive as babies and children, so it could definitely

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Speaker 3: help you sleep.

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Speaker 4: White noise is not a problem. Just keep it at

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Speaker 4: a moderate level.

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Speaker 2: Is there an impact on the brain as well, because

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Speaker 2: I've seen some growing research linking hearing health to cognitive health.

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Speaker 2: How does hearing loss then affect the brain and do

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Speaker 2: we have sufficient research around that.

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Speaker 3: Yes, No, there's lots of research coming out nowadays about

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Speaker 3: the decline in hearing health and the cognitive health as well. So,

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Speaker 3: as I was saying just now, the fatigue that can

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Speaker 3: happen with hearing health is a mental fatigue. You get

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Speaker 3: really tired after a long day of listening and trying

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Speaker 3: to focus in on what people are saying. But on

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Speaker 3: top of that, if you're hearing health deteriorates and your

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Speaker 3: ability to hear is deteriorated, then what happens is that

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Speaker 3: you tend to isolate from society because you find it

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Speaker 3: very frustrating to interact with other people and be in

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Speaker 3: larger communities and groups of people. So with that isolation

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Speaker 3: can then come the deterioration of the nerve and the

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Speaker 3: start of early onset Alzheimer's and dementia. So we really

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Speaker 3: really do have to look after our hearing.

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Speaker 2: Another question from Vanessa says Clement, please ask Olivia there

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Speaker 2: about possible causes of a ringing in the ears and

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Speaker 2: the solutions to overcome it.

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Speaker 3: So tinatus or ringing in the ears is very, very common.

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Speaker 3: It's one of the first signs that can happen of

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Speaker 3: hearing yours. But there are a multiple factors which could

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Speaker 3: cause ringing in the ears. It could be a wax plug,

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Speaker 3: it could be neurological signs, it could be change of medication.

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Speaker 3: There really are so many things, so the audiologists would

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Speaker 3: have to be doing a very detailed case history to

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Speaker 3: get exact signs of exact information as to what would

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Speaker 3: have caused this, when did it start. So going to

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Speaker 3: see your audiologist is essential. If you get any ringing

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Speaker 3: or buzzing in your ears, straight to your audiologist.

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Speaker 2: And I mean some people worry about hearing aids and

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Speaker 2: how they still carry some stigma, how has modern technology

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Speaker 2: changed what these devices can do?

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Speaker 3: Oh, the technology we've got now for hearing aids is

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Speaker 3: absolutely amazing. They are so small and discreet most people

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Speaker 3: won't even know you're wearing them, especially compared to those big,

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Speaker 3: bulky beige things that we used to have. They're now

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Speaker 3: very very slim in design and they're very modern. Sometimes

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Speaker 3: they look better than the headphones that we've got nowadays.

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Speaker 3: But the technology inside also allows for streaming. It allows

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Speaker 3: for you to take your phone calls from your hearing

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Speaker 3: aids and have that conversation amplified according to your hearing loss.

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Speaker 3: There and you can also connect your hearing aids to

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Speaker 3: your phone so that you can then control your hearing

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Speaker 3: aids directly from your phone, so there's no more fiddling

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Speaker 3: with buttons on your hearing aids or anything like that.

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Speaker 4: There's so many features.

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Speaker 3: You can even find your hearing aids like you would

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Speaker 3: find your iPhone.

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Speaker 4: It's exactly the same.

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Speaker 3: There's a find my Hearing aid app as well, So

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Speaker 3: really the technology is amazing nowadays.

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Speaker 4: It's worth going to have a listen to what is

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Speaker 4: for an offer?

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Speaker 1: All right?

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Speaker 2: Olivia Blackbeard, head of Audiology at Specsavers.

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Speaker 1: So Affrica. Thank you so much for joining us for

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Speaker 1: this chat.