Jack Bramlett was not always as careful as he should have been when it came to protecting his hearing.

“Being an avid sportsman, you do damage to your ears unless you get really smart and use the right protection,” says Jack. “In my early years, I never did.”

The toll on his hearing did not reveal itself until he was older, and certain situations proved difficult.

“When you find yourself turning the volume up on the TV to the point where other people leave the room, something is wrong,” says Jack with a chuckle. “Sometimes, my wife actually had to yell to me. I remember her saying, You can’t hear me. You need to do something about it.”

Fortunately, Jack and his wife knew exactly where to go for such a problem, as they already had an existing relationship with their local ear, nose, and throat practice. For Jack’s hearing problem, they consulted audiologist Kristen Decelles, AuD, of Tampa Bay ENT.

“I’d had a snoring problem, and my wife had ENT issues,” Jack explains. “We went in to see them and while we were there, we said, Let’s make a hearing appointment.”

After getting his first pair of hearing aids, Jack was pleased with the results. As the years went by, however, he learned that new improvements in technology could provide an even better hearing solution for him.

“It’s been several years that we’ve been going there, and this year I got an upgrade,” he explains. “Everybody should have these hearing aids I’ve got now. They are just phenomenal.”

Comprehensive care

Tampa Bay ENT has a team of highly experienced otolaryngologists and audiologists, notes Rene Boothby, MD. “Our practice has been in the Tampa Bay area for a long time,” he assures. “Some of our doctors have been in practice for more than thirty years. I myself have been here twenty-six years, dealing with patients with hearing aids and hearing loss.”

Because Tampa Bay ENT is a comprehensive ear, nose, and throat practice, they not only deal with hearing, but also with dizziness and balance issues.

“We do evaluations and diagnosis of hearing loss and dizziness or balance problems,” explains Scott Powell, MD. “This is important to understand because there are many people out there selling hearing aids who have no training or knowledge on dizziness or balance.”

“Oftentimes, patients come to us with hearing loss, and the problem is not always the same thing; it may be from cerumen impaction, from an ear infection, or a hole in the ear drum. There are many causes of hearing loss, and proper diagnosis is crucial,” adds Dennis Agliano, MD.

“We check the ears to make sure they look good, make sure there is no pathology in there or condition that needs to be treated,” emphasizes Dr. Boothby. “We talk to the patient, take a complete history, and then they get a hearing test.”

Once the doctor has ruled out medical problems, the patient will then see one of the audiologists. There are two offices, one in Tampa and one in Brandon, with Dr. Decelles and Sophia Escobar, AuD.

“After the hearing test, the audiologist will discuss the hearing test and findings,” says Jeremy Rogers, MD. “Depending on the issues, the audiologist may or may not make a recommendation about hearing aids.”

“We take a team approach to diagnosing hearing loss,” assures Dr. Decelles. “As audiologists, we have the knowledge required not only for dealing with hearing loss but also for addressing dizziness, vertigo…anything related to the ear.”

Hearing aid technology has advanced tremendously in the 21st century, particularly in the last two years, notes Miguel Rivera, MD.

“Hearing aids nowadays are much more cosmetically appealing than they used to be,” he explains. “They also utilize technology such as Bluetooth, so that hearing aid users can easily connect to their cell phones, landlines, or even the TV.”

“It’s just fantastic”

Now that Jack has had time to get acclimated to his new hearing aids, he delivers a glowing report.

“I’ve been extremely pleased over the years,” he acknowledges, “but I’m just absolutely thrilled with my newest hearing aids.”

He notes that the new technology is still user-friendly, and that there’s no need to worry about trying to use it, even for hearing aid wearers who are not necessarily “tech savvy.”

“I got the Bluetooth package with these, which works with my cell phone and television,” explains Jack. “It’s a device you wear around your neck like a pendant. You can control it by pressing on it, which is fantastic in the car, where you’re hands-free.

“On the television, I have a dock and the dock talks to the device, the device talks to my hearing aids, and I can control the volume. So I can turn the TV down to low but can hear it as loud as I want, in stereo. It’s fantastic.”

From a practical standpoint, he adds that the benefits of his new instruments are evident in a variety of listening situations, and are cosmetically pleasing as well.

“You can hardly see them,” he assures. “I’m very excited about them: I hear my wife a lot better, and they’re great in restaurants and in church. I’m hearing sounds I haven’t heard in years, and even hearing sounds I’ve never heard before.”

After all these years as a patient, Jack is grateful to the staff of Tampa Bay ENT, especially to his audiologist.

“Dr. Decelles is terrific,” he says. “She’s very thorough, she tells me everything I need to know, and she’s always taken very good care of me. Dr. Decelles is five-star in my book.”

FHCN – Michael J. Sahno