With dizziness treated, her hearing improves ‘100%’ after replacing store-bought devices.

Alice Wade loves to decorate. Her friends in Blue Ridge, Georgia, called her the Spray Paint Queen because she constantly bought old furniture and restored it. Once her children were grown, she turned her passion for decorating into a career.

“I worked as a decorator for Porter Paints in Conyers, Georgia, for about eight years,” shares Alice, 85. “When customers came into the store, I helped them make decisions about decorating their homes. I worked with builders as well. I decorated their houses before they sold them. After that, I owned an antique shop for 10 or 12 years. It was my life.”

As Alice aged, her children grew concerned about her living alone in the North Georgia mountains. To allay their fears, Alice began spending half the year in Destin, in the Florida Panhandle. Last December, she relocated to Hudson near her daughter and became a permanent resident of the Sunshine State.

Before making that move, Alice began suffering severe episodes of vertigo.

“I had been having dizzy spells since January 2019,” Alice shares. “They were sporadic. Sometimes, I’d have spells two or three days in a row, then they wouldn’t bother me. Then, I’d have them again.

“During a spell, the room felt like it was spinning. You would have thought I was drunk or something because I couldn’t walk very well. I’d go out the door and think, There’s no way I can drive feeling this way.

“There were many times where I had planned to go out but wound up being homebound because I was so dizzy. I tried all the exercises people told me about, including standing on my head, but nothing worked.”

Several years ago, Alice read about a special treatment for vertigo offered by Trinity Hearing & Balance Center.

“I noticed that the center was in New Port Richey, which is near my daughter in Hudson,” Alice remembers. “I said, When I visit my daughter, I’m going to go see them. But I never did that until after I moved to Hudson.”

Trinity Hearing & Balance Center is the practice of Kelly Hansen, AuD.

Dr. Hansen and fellow doctors of audiology Nikki Goldowski-Richa, AuD, and Kayla Dub, AuD, CCCA, specialize in all types of balance disorders and hearing care, including the fitting of hearing aids.

Precise Positions

Alice was treated by Dr. Dub, who used a software-driven machine called the Epley Omniax System to determine the cause of Alice’s dizziness and treat it.

“Our testing confirmed that Alice was experiencing benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV, the most common cause of episodic vertigo,” Dr. Dub discloses. “BPPV is caused by small crystals of calcium carbonate called otoconia that get into the inner ear’s balance mechanisms. When those particles become loose in the semicircular canals, a sensation of movement and dizziness is triggered.”

The Epley Omniax System includes a rotating patient chair that plays a prominent role in repositioning the otoconia. The chair is computer controlled, so it can put patients in the precise positions necessary to move the loose crystals back where they belong.

“We treated Alice with the Omniax system on March 15 and got the crystals back into place,” Dr. Dub reports. “Her dizziness resolved completely after one treatment.”

With her BPPV successfully resolved, Alice trusted Dr. Dub to correct another problem she was experiencing: hearing loss.

“My hearing is really bad,” Alice shares. “And it went bad very quickly.”

“Alice came to us wearing over-the-counter hearing aids, which she didn’t like,” Dr. Dub reveals. “Furthermore, the devices weren’t providing any benefit in correcting her hearing loss, which was significant.

“We fit Alice with behind-the-ear, receiver-in-the-canal hearing aids. We also provided her with a device for her TV and the option to receive phone calls directly through her hearing aids. The devices we chose for Alice give her the best hearing with her severe hearing loss.”

“100 Percent Better”

Alice is thrilled with the results of her dual treatment at Trinity Hearing & Balance Center.

“I haven’t had any episodes of dizziness since I was placed in the Epley chair,” she enthuses. “And the hearing aids have helped a lot. My hearing is 100 percent better than it was when I first went to Trinity Hearing & Balance Center.”

The hearing aids have enhanced Alice’s lifestyle as well, making it easier for her to communicate with friends, both human and canine.

“I live in an active 55-plus community,” Alice reports. “I’ve got wonderful neighbors that I do things with. And I have a wonderful dog named Lincoln. He’s part chocolate Lab and part Weimaraner.

He’s my lifeline; he stays right with me and is my buddy.”

“I haven’t had any episodes of dizziness since I was in the chair.” – Allie

Not only is Alice happy with her treatment results, she’s also impressed by Dr. Dub and her staff.
“I just love Dr. Dub. She’s the sweetest person, so caring and attentive. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met,” Alice raves. “The staff is a great bunch of people. They’re concerned about my health and the problems I’m having with my hearing. They do whatever they can for me with all the heart they have. I recommend them to anybody.”

© FHCN article by Patti DiPanfilo. Photo by Jordan Pysz. mkb