April 2021

livio edge technology

What’s New in Hearing Aid Technology

What's new in Hearing Aid Tech: 2020-2021   Like most technology-based products every few years we get an updated, higher-tech version. Hearing aids are no different... we've come a long way from the 'ear trumpets' of old. So here's what's new in hearing aid technology, 2020-2021 edition!   2020 Tech In 2020 we saw some pretty cool updates to hearing aids. With newer technology and smaller microchips, hearing aids are able to do more and at faster speeds; turning them into even more complex 'supercomputers.' For instance, earlier this year Starkey and Phonak released hearing aids with "body tracking." In the Phonak Virto Marvel Black, this means biometrics that are able to monitor your blood pressure. Their first step into health monitoring. Starkey Livio AI and Livio Edge AI also include body tracking as well as brain tracking, and their new artificial intelligence (or AI) features. AI includes things like find my phone, reminders, and transcribing text as you hear it. They've also talked about the AI feature eventually being able to translate languages as you hear them. Pretty cool right!   Signia also did some updates in 2020. The Signia Silk was again updated in 2020 with a new microchip and continues to be one of the smallest, non-custom hearing aids available.   The latest update from Starkey included the first-ever rechargeable custom hearing aid, the Livio Edge rechargeable Custom aid. Up until now, custom hearing aids, or what we call In-The-Ear or In-The-Canal hearing aids were only available with...

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supporting your partner

Partner Series: Self-Regulation and Partner Stress

Partner Stress Series Part 2 In part 1 of our stress series, we discussed what stress is and how it relates to hearing loss and tinnitus. Off the top of your head, I'm sure you could come up with several strategies to reduce some of the stress caused by those. However, the most important thing about these strategies is their ability to regulate stress in a consistent way. This is where self-regulation and partner stress (or your own) comes in. Self-Regulation Dr. Stuart Shanker has created a framework for life and stress called Self-Regulation (or Self-Reg). Dr. Shanker is not the first to use this term, but his particular perspective on how it can affect our lives is unique. Self-reg is not self-control or stress management; it’s a way of looking at stress and working out the root cause rather than just trying to control or manage the behaviour. So what is Self-Reg? Mindful self-reg involves learning to recognize and respond to stress in our environments to bring ourselves back to homeostasis (balance or calm). It's about... exploring and testing out the ways in which relationships, environments, routines, and activities can enhance self-regulation recognizing stress behaviour (behaviour that is reactive or caused by excessive stress) noticing subtle signs of stress behaviour that we never saw or understood before finding our own self-reg so we can help those around us learn how to regulate themselves in the same way We do this by understanding there is positive and negative stress. Stress is...

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self-reg

Client Series: Self-Regulation and Stress

Client Stress Series Part 2 In part 1 of our stress series, we discussed what stress is and how it relates to hearing loss and tinnitus. Off the top of your head, I'm sure you could come up with several strategies to reduce some of the stress caused by those. However, the most important thing about these strategies is their ability to regulate stress in a consistent way. This is where self-regulation and stress come in.  Self-Regulation Dr. Stuart Shanker has created a framework for life and stress called Self-Regulation (or Self-Reg). Dr. Shanker is not the first to use this term, but his particular perspective on how it can affect our lives is unique. Self-reg is not self-control or stress management; it’s a way of looking at stress and working out the root cause rather than just trying to control or manage the behaviour. So what is Self-Reg? Mindful self-reg involves learning to recognize and respond to stress in our environments to bring ourselves back to homeostasis (balance or calm). It's about... exploring and testing out the ways in which relationships, environments, routines and activities can enhance self-regulation recognizing stress behaviour (behaviour that is reactive or caused by excessive stress) noticing subtle signs of stress behaviour that we never saw or understood before finding our own self-reg so we can help those around us learn how to regulate themselves in the same way We do this by understanding there is positive and negative stress. Stress is on a curve... We...

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