2627 N. Third Street, Ste. 100, Phoenix, AZ 85004 | 14418 W. Meeker Blvd., Bldg B, Ste. 102, Sun City West, AZ 85375
JULY 2019
602-277-4327 | www.azhear.com
The Ways We Compensate for Hearing Loss
Why an Audiological Evaluation Is Essential for Early Detection
Did you know 30–35% of adults ages 65 and older suffer from hearing loss? For folks 75 and older, that number jumps to over 50%. That’s because age-related hearing loss, known as presbycusis, is the most common cause of hearing loss. Though hearing loss is something so many people experience, we don’t do a good enough job of detecting it before it starts to affect a patient’s life. Early detection is a challenge because too many people assume hearing loss is only worth addressing once it affects your ability to communicate. However, and I can’t state this clearly enough, hearing loss and the inability to communicate are two very different issues. Eventually, the former will lead to the latter, but it shouldn’t come to that dire result. Catching hearing loss early requires testing. Everyone above the age of 60 should receive a comprehensive audiological exam to determine whether or not hearing loss is present. You can’t assume that someone doesn't have hearing loss just because they can carry on a conversation. Even during the early stages of hearing loss, your brain has built-in mechanisms to compensate. Higher frequencies go unheard earlier than lower ones, which means people lose the ability to hear consonants before vowels. If you’ve ever watched “Wheel of Fortune,” you know what a
big deal that is. On the game show, you can buy all the vowels in the world, but it rarely gets you closer to solving the puzzle. Consonants give words meaning, so losing the auditory range to decipher them forces you to compensate. This is why you will think, “I know people are talking to me, but I can’t understand what they are saying.” We perform this compensation in two major ways. The first is speech reading. Even if you’ve never been trained to read lips, it’s a natural reaction to associate mouth movements with sounds. Second, we use context to help us understand what’s being said. These tendencies allow us to infer words even if we cannot hear them perfectly. It’s not foolproof, but it can allow you to hold a conversation pretty effectively with increasingly poor hearing. Many people with hearing loss are not aware of their own problem. Since you can communicate effectively using the these compensatory strategies, you are not aware of what you are not hearing. It shouldn’t take a patient-directed complaint to initiate an audiological exam. The patient is often the last to recognize what’s happening to their hearing. Friends aren’t going to tell somebody they should get their ears checked. It comes down to family members and the medical community
to make sure everyone who has a significant risk for hearing loss, including older folks, gets tested. At Arizona Hearing Center, we believe everyone deserves to know for certain whether or not they suffer from hearing loss. In fact, you probably know someone who could benefit from a test right now. You don’t need to wait until your loved one begins regularly asking, “What?” before bringing them in for an evaluation. Directing patients to Arizona Hearing Center will ensure their quality of life doesn’t suffer due to presbycusis. We have the tools to evaluate and the advanced technology to treat hearing loss. We know millions of Americans suffer from the condition. What we need to get better at is connecting those two dots, and that starts by making comprehensive hearing evaluations a staple of American medicine.
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THE BEST CONTEMPORARY AD CAMPAIGNS
And What You Can Learn From Them
LIMBERING UP For Your Next Road Trip
A great advertising campaign transcends the company that creates it. The Budweiser Clydesdales are nearly as iconic as the beer itself. People still say, “Dude, you’re getting a Dell,” in 2019, despite the fact that PCs aren’t even a major part of Dell’s business model anymore. When it comes to creating an ad campaign that Don Draper would be proud of, it’s best to look at massively successful examples from recent history. Here are a few of our favorites, as well as commentary on why they work and how you can use similar tactics. BRAND DIFFERENTIATION: APPLE This mega-popular ad campaign consisting of 66 spots personified the difference between PCs and Apple computers. Playing the role of “PC” was a buttoned-up, nebbish character you’d expect to find in the most morose workplace on earth. The “Mac” character, by contrast, was laid-back, youthful, and effortlessly cool. After launching the campaign in 2006, Macs became the default laptop for nearly every incoming college student. Clearly, the lighthearted jabbing at the competition worked. OFF-THE-WALL IRREVERENCE: OLD SPICE Most deodorant and shampoo commercials are bare-bones basic. They describe the “odor protection,” “moisturizing effects,” and the like. Old Spice takes the opposite approach. Their ads often feature absurd imagery, insane special effects, and Terry Crews literally yelling at you that you smell bad. Would this tone work for a life insurance company? Probably not, but it’s a great way to make simple consumer goods feel fun and exciting. SOCIAL AWARENESS: DOVE Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty,” which launched in 2004, was a long overdue change of pace for the beauty industry. Since time immemorial, fashion and beauty campaigns featured only impossibly beautiful women who had body types that the average person could never attain. Dove threw this aspirational, and potentially toxic, messaging in the garbage and decided to celebrate women of all shapes and sizes. If you can create a campaign that includes those who aren’t used to widespread representation, you’ll increase your reach in a hurry. CURATED COOL: DOS EQUIS Here’s a dirty little secret the beverage industry won’t tell you: Most industrially produced beers are made by one of two companies, and the vast majority of them taste remarkably similar. The difference, for the most part, comes down to the way they are marketed. Dos Equis, with their “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign, carved out a name for themselves as the beer for urbane, thrill-seeking drinkers, despite the fact that their product is about as exotic as a Coors Light. Sometimes, perception really is reality.
Even though road trips offer you a break from the monotony of your office, the stiffness in your muscles and joints that comes from sitting in one position for too long can follow you onto the road if you’re not careful. Whether in front of a laptop or behind the wheel, taking the opportunity to stretch and exercise on your summer road trip is a great way to prevent the soreness from following you back to the office. Here are a few stretches to keep in mind for the next rest stop. FOR THE NECK Reach your left arm over the top of your head and touch your right ear. Then, gently pull your head to the left and hold it there for 15 seconds. Repeat this process with your right arm. FOR THE CHEST Stand in front of a door frame with one hand pressed on either side and your elbows at 90-degree angles, then lean forward. This will cause your chest muscles to open up. Hold this position for 15 seconds. You can do a similar stretch by bending downward while keeping your hands on your car door in front of you, stretching your entire upper body. FOR THE HIPS While you’re driving, a good way to prevent sore hips is by making sure your knees are slightly elevated above them in your seat. Once you have the opportunity to stop, try doing some hip flexors. Kneel on one knee, slowly push your pelvis forward, squeeze your shoulders back, and open your chest. Hold this position for 15 seconds, then repeat while kneeling on the other knee. FOR THE LEGS To stretch out your hamstrings, place your right heel on a small step. Extend your arms upward, and then lean your upper body forward. You’ll feel a pull in the back of your upper leg. Once you’ve done this for about 15–30 seconds, repeat the process with your left heel. The road may be long, but that doesn’t mean you have to feel it in your muscles. If you stop every couple of hours and take some time to limber up, your body will thank you.
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602-277-4327 | www.azhear.com
Take Advantage of the Summer
And Host a Great Company Picnic
PICNIC FOOD/DRINK Let’s not forget the most important part of a good company picnic — the food! First, you need to consider what type of picnic will go best with your theme. Will this picnic be a potluck, or will the food be catered? Will alcohol be allowed at the picnic? If so, will the company provide it, or will it be BYOB? When in doubt, just choose the realistic option for your budget and remember to stick with your theme. Ultimately, the purpose of your company picnic is to give your employees opportunities to bond outside the office and celebrate one another through awards and team building. Follow the above tips and your company picnic will go off without a hitch!
HAVE A Laugh PICNIC LOCATION Large public parks can easily accommodate big groups, but if you’re in a pinch, you can also use your company campus. If you have enough in your budget, you can rent a venue nearby that works with your theme. Make sure your location has enough seating for everyone and keep track of the weather reports for that day if you’re grilling outside. Are you tired of watching perfect summer days pass your office by from the wrong side of the window? Instead of leaving work to enjoy the weather, bring your company outside! A company picnic is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the warm weather and foster team camaraderie through awards, team building exercises and, of course, good food. Putting on a slam-bang company picnic is no easy feat, but if you start with these three fundamentals, you’ll be well on your way to pulling off an event the whole company will remember for years to come. a theme your employees will be excited about. From a Hawaiian luau to a country western barbecue, the possibilities are endless. To generate more hype at the office, you can hand out fun invitations that go along with the theme, like lei necklaces or custom sunglasses. At the actual picnic, the theme should influence your setup, team building exercises, activities, and food and drink. PICNIC THEME The first step to organizing a company picnic is to choose
PUZZLE
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602-277-4327 | www.azhear.com 2627 N. Third Street, Ste. 100 Phoenix, AZ 85004
2627 N. Third Street, Ste. 100 Phoenix, AZ, 85004
14418 W. Meeker Blvd., Bldg B, Ste. 102 Sun City West, AZ 85375
Inside This Edition
1.
Don’t Assume — Test
2.
The Absolute Best in Advertising
Limbering Up
3.
Hosting a Company Picnic
Have a Laugh
4.
3 Free Apps to Help You Catch Those Z’s
Insomniacs Unite 3 Free Apps to Help You Catch Those Z’s Everyone with a smartphone has heard time and time again that looking at your phone before bed is a bad idea. According to the National Sleep Foundation, “The use of electronic devices in the bedroom further disrupts the natural pattern of the sleep-wake cycle” primarily because of the blue light emitted from the screen. While most scientific data pertaining to sleep recommends you place your phone in another room overnight, those who toss and turn regardless of phone location might benefit from using technology rather than tucking it away. Here are three FREE sleep apps that might help you get to dreamland faster. PZIZZ While there are many apps that claim to help people fall asleep quicker, very few are programmed to prevent sleepers from growing bored of the same monotonous soundtracks. Pzizz combines music, sound effects, and binaural beats, and an embedded algorithm generates a slightly different track each time you use it. SNORE REPORT Many troubled sleepers who are able to fall asleep are jolted awake shortly afterward. The inability to stay asleep
throughout the night can stem from a multitude of factors, but snoring tends to be the most common. The Snore Report app records through the night to detect any snoring sounds and then provides the user with an overview of the previous night’s recording, including an index to determine snore intensity. Using this app might not help you fall asleep faster, but it could offer helpful information about why you aren’t able to stay asleep. SLEEP CYCLE ALARM CLOCK Instead of setting an alarm to jolt you out of sleep at a specific time, choose a window of time to wake up with the Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock. The app will sense your sleep movements and ring an alarm when you’re in the lightest stage of sleep. This way, you’ll wake at the optimal time, feeling refreshed rather than groggy.
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602-277-4327 | www.azhear.com
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