Sep 06

Agoraphobia is debilitating and can go on for years. Using a form of therapy called Emotional Freedom Techniques, or EFT can help you with overcoming agoraphobia.

I will include some links which you can copy and paste into a new browser. It will also offer an insight into this alternative treatment method.This method seems to have helped many people and when you are desperate, you might want to try anything.

The Power of Emotional Freedom Techniques

EFT is possibly one of the better ones even though most people might not be aware of what it is, so this will give you some valuable information on this form of treatment.

EFT is also expected to become one of the best forms of treatment in the 21st century. It’s been endorsed even by doctors (who normally wouldn’t come out and publicly do so).

One doctor who endorses this form of treatment is quite famous. His name is Deepak Chopra and he is also an author. You may have seen him on television.

Here are three agoraphobia case studies you can read about. You may be able to identify with it, but notice how many years you could have it if you don’t do anything.

http://www.emofree.com/Fear/agoraphobiarelief.htm

http://www.emofree.com/fear/agoraphobia-poof.htm

http://www.emofree.com/agoraphobia.htm

Looking at these agoraphobia case studies, you can certainly try alternative therapies for agoraphobia. And this is drug-free, so there won’t be side effects.

Again, it may not be for everyone, but at the same time, if you’re really desperate for help and relief, and clutching at straws, it might be worth looking into.

Use EFT To Overcome Agoraphobia

It’s often said that many people turn to EFT when all else has failed. In view of how long a person can be agoraphobic, perhaps it might be a better idea to try it sooner rather than later.

This could possibly save you years of torment. It’s like looking for something high and low in your apartment and it’s the last place you look when you eventually find what you’ve misplaced!

Agoraphobia can even last a lifetime. If it’s not addressed at all, it doesn’t ‘just disappear’ miraculously. It’s not like a cough or cold.

You can ignore it and not take anything for it. You know that your body will eventually heal itself in a few days or weeks.

Agoraphobia is like a stalker. With stalking, the victim of the stalking generally has no idea. With agoraphobia, you are always aware, and that’s frightening, stressful and disturbing. You never feel completely free or happy. At this point, I should mention that I have no stalking experience whatsoever!

Find out more for yourself what EFT is and what it could do for you. Learn how this experienced EFT practitioner does worldwide consultations to help you overcome agoraphobia. I highly recommend her, but read more about what she can do for you. You can learn more from the resource provided.

Get the help you deserve and end the anguish. If you could have done this on your own, you’d be alright by now, right? Don’t wait any longer. Make the move by learning about this amazing treatment.

Sep 06

To understand how the cochlear implant or a hearing aid helps those with hearing loss, it is important to understand how we hear. When there is a sound, say the ringing of a bell, the outer ear collects and sends it to the ear drum. The ear drum directs it at the three tiny bones in the middle ear: the hammer, anvil, and stirrup, which amplify the sound. Next, the inner ear, filled with fluid, receives the sound. The waves go through cochlea, where microscopic, tiny hair cells turn the sound vibration into electrical energy. The cochlea is a snail-shaped organ. Hair cells are arranged along the length from the base (large end) of the cochlea to the apex (small end). The hair cells near the base are stimulated by high frequency sounds and the ones closer to the apex are stimulated by low-frequency sounds. Then your brain, which receives the energy, interprets this energy as the “sound” of a doorbell.

Before deciding whether to use hearing aids or cochlear implants or a hybrid device, your hearing loss needs to be evaluated by an otolaryngologist. You will be referred to an audiologist to measure the degree of hearing loss, the particular sound frequencies that are impaired, the ability to understand speech and whether the hearing loss is sensorineural, conductive, or mixed. People with conductive hearing loss, who can distinguish words that sound similar, but at a higher volume will benefit by using hearing aids, which amplify the sound. For those whose inner ear is badly damaged, the hearing aid will be of no use. Hearing aids can only help you when you have significant numbers of working hair cells for each frequency being amplified. Most people with a hearing loss have relatively good low-frequency hearing and little or no high-frequency hearing. If such a person were to wear a hearing aid, the hearing aid would amplify the lower frequency sounds very well, but would not really help much, or at all, in the higher frequencies. The result is that no matter how much your hearing aid amplifies any high-frequency sounds, you still won’t be able to hear them.

This is where cochlear implants come in. They bypass these dead hair cells and “inject” the sound signal directly into the auditory nerve—thus your brain hears these sounds in spite of the dead hair cells. The cochlear implant is surgically implanted in the inner ear. Unlike a hearing aid, it does not make sound louder or clearer. Instead, the device bypasses damaged parts of the auditory system and directly stimulates the nerve of hearing, allowing the hearing impaired to receive sound.

A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that compensate for damaged or non-working parts of the inner ear. When hearing is functioning normally, parts of the inner ear convert sound waves in the air into electrical impulses. These impulses are then sent to the brain, where a hearing person recognizes them as sound. A cochlear implant works in a similar manner. It electronically finds useful sounds and then sends them to the brain. Hearing through an implant may sound different from normal hearing, but it allows many people to communicate fully with oral communication in person and over the phone.

The cochlear implant is comprised of an array of electrodes, implanted into the cochlea of the inner ear, which transmit sounds to the auditory nerve and then to the brain, with the help of a signal-processing unit. More specifically, an implant has four basic parts:

1. An external microphone that picks up sound from the environment;
2. An external speech processor that selects and arranges sounds picked up by the microphone;
3. An external transmitter that receives signals from the speech processor and convert them into electric impulses;
4. Internal electrodes implanted into the cochlea of the inner ear, which sends the impulses to the brain.

An implant can give severely hard of hearing person a useful auditory understanding of the environment and facilitate lip reading ability. It can help deaf children with language acquisition, especially phonological development. The implant avoids problems with acoustic feedback and ear-mold issues associated with hearing aids. On the flip side, cochlear implants are very expensive, any surgery is potentially dangerous and cochlear implantation takes place very near to the facial nerves.

They are particularly suitable for those deafened children and adults who already have a memory for the spoken word. For them, the stimulus transmitted by the implant relates well to their previous knowledge of language and can be a useful aid. For others, the auditory information given via the implant may be insufficient and therefore the task of learning the spoken language may be enormous. Before deciding to go in for cochlear transplants, one has to consider that in case the implant is rejected by the body or doesn’t help as much as anticipated, the cochlea is possibly damaged and any natural residual hearing is completely destroyed.

Sep 06

Hearing loss is a common problem in those over 65 years old. But now, more youngsters and baby boomers are being diagnosed with hearing loss. Exposure to excessive noise levels is the main culprit.

On the top of the list of noise induced hearing loss causes is listening to loud music. It is estimated that 10 million baby boomers suffer from hearing loss, much of which is attributed to attending rock concerts in the beginning of 1960s and 70s. Hearing damage that results from this type of noise often happens gradually and the effects are not known until many years later.

The increased use of technology has been associated with hearing loss in baby boomers. Portable listening technology expanded from the walkman to the MP3 player to the iPod. Many users of these portable devices listen at high volume for long period of time, unaware that their bad listening habits could eventually lead to hearing loss. A recent study found that listening to an iPod on the highest volume level is capable of causing hearing damage after several minutes.

At home, appliances and tools such as vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, food mixers and hedge trimmers emit dangerous levels of noise. Listening to the television or stereo at high volume can also contribute to hearing loss.

At the workplace or on the job, workers are exposed to dangerous levels of sound from heavy machinery and power tools. Construction workers are susceptible to hearing loss due to their working environment.

While many baby boomers might not have heeded any advice to keep the volume down, they are now more aware of their hearing loss. With the advancement of technology, hearing aids come in new funky shapes, designs and features. Hearing aids are no longer associated with old people only. Instead, new hearing aids are designed to cater for people of all age groups.

Nowadays, digital technology has replaced analog technology. Digital hearing aids produce better sound quality with feedback cancellation to get rid of unwanted noises. They have programmable settings that can be customized to your hearing needs.

Hearing loss can adversely affect work productivity and relationships if left untreated. People with hearing difficulty should see an audiologist for a hearing test. Hearing aids do not restore your hearing back to normal. However, they can improve your hearing, thereby increasing quality of life.

Prevention is better than cure. Hearing loss can be prevented by taking the necessary precautions. Turn down the volume of music or use ear protection. Avoid long exposure to loud noises at concerts or clubs.

Sep 06

Siemens Hearing Aids

The scope of Siemens Hearing Aids and their technology for children is truly amazing. Children have all sorts of different issues when it comes to health problems. They are just little people growing and changing at an astounding rate. The parts of their little bodies are changing shapes on a weekly basis.

When it comes to their tiny small ears it is really important that we monitor the changes. Children usually are diagnosed with what is called “sensorineural” hearing loss, which means that the cause of the hearing loss originates in the inner ear. This means that the softer sounds of a mother’s voice need amplification while the banging of toys of city noises are heard just fine. Siemens has been able to come up with a range of hearing instruments that are able to differentiate between loud and soft sounds.

Types of Hearing Aids

Centra
The best in hearing aid technology.
Acuris
Aids for both ears. These aids work together to give the child the aid to their hearing by continually monitoring their environment and adjusting themselves for the best hearing experience.
Artis
When mid range control is the area of concern the Artis models of Siemens hearing aids fit the bill.
Cielo
A moderately price instrument that even comes in fun colors.

I use the word instrument, as in a musical instrument because that is just what these amazing marvels of science are, sound instruments. These hearing aids or sound instruments are delicate in that they must take over the work of our inner ear, yet are rugged since they must keep up with the rough and tumble world of children.

Hearing loss problems are not just about the hardware. As important if not more so is our daily interaction with our children. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when going about your day.

* Talk with your child about everything you are doing. Put into words what you’re doing.

* Explain all the different sounds and what they mean

* Talk in short sentence, no baby talk.

* Speak slowly

* Look at your child when you speak. They can watch your facial expressions and the forming of words with your lips and start the helpful habit of lip reading.

* Let your child talk and don’t interrupt them as they struggle with words.

* Reading is one of the best ways to help them learn and associate sounds with the pictures they describe.