At a recent ReSound training in New Orleans, Steve Brown, an audiologist at Ears 4 Hearing in Southeast Missouri, asked our Chief Audiology Officer, Laurel Christensen, some advice on a patient he was treating.
Patient profile:
- 61-year old male
- Long-term severe hearing loss
- Surgical equipment specialist
- Wearing RIC hearing aids from another manufacturer
The patient was struggling to keep his job because of the extent of his hearing loss. He had recently been assigned a particularly difficult neurosurgeon to support. and while the neurosurgeon was pleased with the new specialist’s work, he was irritated that he had to keep repeating himself.
Dr. Brown discussed the patient’s working environment with Dr. Christensen.
- He was required to stand at a monitor approximately 15 feet behind the surgeon
- Not only was the surgeon’s back to the patient, but he was also wearing a surgical mask and typically looking down
- There was a lot of noise in the room from surgical equipment, suction machines and conversation
- The patient was expected to hear and respond to every comment made by the surgeon – who was easily irritated by having to repeat himself
- The surgeon told him that his job was in jeopardy if he could not improve his hearing
Dr. Brown tried several adjustments on the patient’s existing hearing aids. He also suggested the use of a remote microphone which was unsuccessful due to poor sound quality and poor placement options. He finally convinced the patient to try ReSound LiNXTM and discussed the case with Dr. Christensen while in New Orleans prior to the fitting.
Dr. Brown fit the patient with LiNX 961’s and gave him a ReSound UniteTM Mini Microphone. At Dr. Christensen’s recommendation, the Mini-Mic was to be worn by a surgical nurse standing across from the surgeon during procedures since asking the surgeon to wear a mic was out of the question.
After a week of wearing the LiNX, the patient was seen for follow-up and returned the Mini-Mic. His report: “[I’m] hearing so well in surgery with these ReSound hearing aids I don’t need the extra mic.”
With ReSound LiNX there is no reason why hearing loss should get in the way of any aspect of your life!
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