SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND, January 31, 2010
/24-7PressRelease/ -- Having suffered single sided hearing loss, Joyce Parker tried numerous hearing aids with little success, until she was introduced to Transear. Four years ago, Joyce, 59 from Dewsbury had to undergo surgery in her left ear to remove a vestibular schwanomma, which is a benign growth on the vestibular nerve which causes hearing loss and balance problems. Most of the tumour was removed, however removing it all would have left Joyce without the use of one side of her face due to its location near the facial nerve. Left with some facial paralysis and she soon realised that the remaining hearing in her ear had gone.
Joyce said: "I didn't think that single sided hearing loss would be that bad but I couldn't hear noisy environments, tell what direction sound was coming from or hear people when they stood to the left of me - it was so frustrating. It really knocked my confidence."
Initially, Joyce hadn't been offered a hearing aid but when she eventually saw an audiologist she was offered a bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA). Not wanting to undergo further surgery, she opted for a bone conduction aid on a headband instead.
Now however, Joyce has the bone conduction aid called Transear which is available privately in the UK, doesn't require an operation but has one part worn behind the ear and another part worn deeply in the ear canal, which transmits vibrations through the ear canal bone to the hearing ear where sound is processed by the functioning cochlea.
She says: "I went to a tenpin bowling alley on three occasions. The first time I had no hearing aid, the second I had the aid on a headband and the third I had the Transear. The first time I couldn't hear conversation in such a noisy environment. It was a little better wearing the headband, but after two hours it was uncomfortable because it has to be worn tight. With the Transear however I could hear and it was comfortable. I could limit the background noise with the flick of a switch, this means it is helpful in various environments where there is a high level of background noise.
Of course it isn't as good as normal hearing and one way it doesn't help is that I am unable to tell the direction of sound, but I am very pleased with it and I hope that it will become available on the NHS so that other people may benefit from it."
Vivienne Michael, CEO of Deafness Research UK, said: "We are delighted that Joyce has received such positive benefit from her Transear bone conduction aid, which is only made possible by ongoing scientific research and subsequent technological advancement. As the UK's only medical research charity committed to finding treatments and cures for such debilitating hearing conditions as Joyce's, we are always desperate for further funding to invest into new research projects."
The Deafness Research UK helpline is free of charge and can be contacted on 0808 808, where tinnitus sufferers can receive a wide range of information and guidance based on the most up-to-date scientific research.
As the Transear is a new product that has only been in the UK since early in 2009, Research UK believes that it will only be available privately until there is enough scientific evidence to support it and the NHS becomes prepared to fund it, and that may take between three to five years. The NHS does however provide bone anchored hearing aids (BAHA) for people who are prepared to undergo minor day surgery as this already has a lot of published medical literature showing benefit. Any patient considering a BAHA should first have a trial of a bone conducting device on a headband as not everyone with single sided deafness finds that they gain adequate benefit to want to go ahead.
For information on research into deafness and other hearing conditions, log on to the website at http://www.deafnessresearch.org.uk where you can access a wide range of information. People can call the Deafness Research UK free phone helpline on 0808 808 2222, or e-mail info@deafnessresearch.org.uk
ENDS
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Ref: DRUK0176-Yorkshire woman benefits from transear hearing aid
http://www.deafnessresearch.org.uk
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