Snowbird Finds Clearer Hearing in Florida: A Personalized Audiology Journey

There are an estimated 1 million seasonal residents in Florida. These are individuals who spend at least one month – usually during the winter – living in the Sunshine State. Michael Krieger is one of those snowbirds. He travels south each winter from his primary residence in St. Joseph, on the western Michigan coast. To jumpstart a career in the electronics field, Michael earned an associate degree in radio and television electronics from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, about two hours north of St. Joseph. He was able to use his education to make a decent living as an electronics specialist. “For about 20 years, I worked for the Heath Co. in St. Joseph,” Michael shares. “We built Heathkit electronic kits for radios, televisions, stereos, amateur radio equipment, a little bit of everything. I then worked as a buyer for Zenith Data Systems, which built computers. “After Heath, I worked at several different places. My last employer was Nelson Specialties Co. in St. Joseph. I retired about five years ago. I had a long career in electronics in one form or another.” There’s one electronic device that Michael is especially familiar with: the hearing aid. The 81-year-old has worn them for nearly half of his life due to early onset hearing loss. “I’ve worn hearing devices for probably 40 years and was never really happy with how I was fitted for them. I’ve done a lot of research on hearing aids and their fitting and learned that a process called real ear measurements is important. If you don’t have that done, you’re not going to have a good fitting, and you’re not going to be very happy with your hearing aids.” Recently, after deciding the time had come to get new hearing aids, Michael did an internet search for audiologists who perform real ear measurements. Trinity Hearing & Balance Center, the New Port Richey practice of Kelly Hansen, AuD, showed up near the top of the results.

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Michael was fit with BiCROS hearing devices, which help patients with more severe hearing loss in one ear than the other. He says his hearing has never been better.

Real Ear Measurements

Dr. Hansen and fellow audiologist Kayla Dub, AuD, CCCA, specialize in hearing care, including the fitting of hearing aids. They also treat balance disorders. Michael initially met with Dr. Dub, who used a method known as best practices in her quest to fit Michael with hearing aids that would suit him best. Best practices are methods, interventions, procedures or techniques that are based on high-quality evidence and are generally considered superior to the alternatives. Following best practices typically leads to improved outcomes. Real ear measurements are considered a best practice in audiology. “Real ear measurements are a way of measuring sound pressure and verifying that the person’s hearing aids are providing the correct level of amplification,” Dr. Dub explains. “These measurements are taken by sticking a probe into the ear canal and running various tests on the computer. “Every provider who fits hearing aids should be doing these measurements, but not everyone does. That’s a shame, because when they’re done, people typically do better with their hearing aids.” To fit Michael with the best instruments for his hearing loss, Dr. Dub performed a comprehensive hearing evaluation. The audiologist then sat down with Michael to discuss his lifestyle and leisure environments to determine what type of device would work best. “Everybody has different needs based on their hearing loss,” Dr. Dub asserts. “There was a huge difference in hearing between Michaels’s two ears, so using two hearing aids wouldn’t work for him. He needed a system for single-sided deafness, which is called a BiCROS.” BiCROS stands for bilateral contralateral routing of signals. With BiCROS, a microphone with a transmitter goes in the ear with little to no hearing, and a hearing aid with a receiver is fit in the ear that has better hearing. “Michael’s right ear is fit with a hearing aid,” Dr Dub explains. “His left ear, which has the profound hearing loss, has a transmitter that sends sounds picked up from his left side to his right. As a result, he can hear sound clearly from both sides.” The audiologists at Trinity Hearing & Balance Center understand that correcting hearing loss is not a one-size-fits-all affair. “That’s what people get with over-the-counter and nonprescription hearing aids,” Dr. Dub stresses. “If a person simply walks into a big-box store, grabs hearing devices off a shelf and puts them in their ears, they miss out on the exceptional hearing care and best practices our audiologists provide. At Trinity Hearing & Balance Center, we offer personalized hearing solutions tailored to every individual’s needs, which results in greater patient satisfaction.”

Finally Happy

Michael received his BiCROS devices in May and is quite pleased with the results.“I’m quite happy,” Michael enthuses. “I’m hearing better now than I’ve heard since I started wearing hearing aids.” Michael is also happy with his experience at Trinity Hearing & Balance Center, especially the audiologist and her staff. “Dr. Dub is very professional,” he raves. “She performed the type of exam I was expecting, with real ear measurements, so I received a good fitting. The staff was very responsive and helpful. They answered all my questions. Trinity Hearing & Balance Center is just a good company to work with.”