Best Hearing Centre: Battlefords Hearing Centres

Hearing loss is the third most common physical condition in older North Americans behind hypertension and arthritis, according to a study by the National Academy on an Aging Society, though new data from Statistics Canada shows that up to 77 percent of older adults do not know they have hearing loss and this impacts their quality of life. Medication can also play a role in hearing loss, as over 200 medications are listed to have potential hearing loss as a side effect.

Thankfully, 90 to 95 percent of people with hearing loss, according to the Better Hearing Institute, can benefit from hearing aids.

“There are a lot of benefits to getting hearing devices versus leaving it untreated,” BC-HIS and owner of Battlefords Hearing Centres Chantelle Emery said. “There are significant risks to untreated hearing loss, such as up to a 40% faster decline in cognitive ability, isolation due to avoiding noisy/crowded situations, a faster decline in speech understanding, anxiety and depression. We want to make sure our patients have a high quality of life and are able to be involved in this community instead of being isolated without clear social interaction.

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Battlefords Hearing Centers is a full-time hearing center in The Battlefords area, and is staffed by Hannah Mcleod, an Audiologist with her Clinical Doctorate of Audiology and Chantelle Emery, who is the clinic’s CEO and is Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences. The clinic offers a full range of services with the latest technological advancements such as diagnostic hearing evaluations, workplace hearing screenings, hearing aid services, earwax removal, and assistive listening devices. The clinic also has a focus on hearing conservation, to help you prevent hearing loss in the first place through education, and products such as custom hearing protection. There are a variety of custom earplugs available, including specialty products for music, light sleepers, or loud workplaces.

“For example, if you are working on a train as an engineer and you need to be communicating periodically, you can have a unique filter on the ear plug that allows you to hear the radio and still communicate,” Hannah McLeod said. “And when you move into a louder situation, you can switch to a stronger filter that blocks out more noise.”

Specific ear protection for shooting and hunting that only blocks loud sounds, or filters that preserve music quality while reducing the volume are available as well.

“There are many different styles to suit each need,” she said, adding they can be customized quite extensively. “The more we know the more we can help our clients. We are very passionate about educating the public about hearing loss and hearing protection.”

The clinic also sees patients for earwax removal.

“We have a video otoscope, allowing our patients to see inside their ears”

“We’ve certainly seen some interesting things this year, from eardrum perforations, tumors in the ear canal, Q-Tip injuries, and foreign objects in the canal, to even having one patient with a tick in their ear!”

The clinic currently sees patients ages 12 and up, though they specialize in adult hearing health. They treat a wide variety of patients, including those suffering from noise-induced hearing loss, genetic hearing loss, hearing loss from medication, or acquired hearing loss that occurs with age.

“And for those who do require treatment, modern hearing aids are not like the clunky old ‘80s beige’ devices many think of,” Hannah Mcleod, local Audiologist said.

“They are very discreet and almost all the new hearing aids have Bluetooth compatibility. So that people can stream phone calls and control them with their phone,” she added. “Some have built-in artificial intelligence assistance as well.”

The New Starkey Livio with artificial intelligence can translate other languages, has fall detection, which send a text message to a patient’s loved ones when a fall occurs, and has an activity tracker/heart rate monitor.

Some hearing aids come with GPS to allow you to find it should you misplace it. Others can be remotely programmed, which allows the clinician to login and adjust hearing aids remotely to fit into your busy schedule or avoid a long drive.

“It is an amazing opportunity for farmers too busy harvesting to have their hearing aids adjusted without interfering with their day,” she said.

Battlefords Hearing Centres are located in North Battleford and Meadow Lake. To book an appointment or to inquire about any hearing need, the clinics can be reached at 1-833-445-5700 or heartohelp.hearingcenters@gmail.com.