South Florida ENT Associates (SFENTA) is dedicated to providing comprehensive, compassionate, and responsible medical care and surgical treatment of disorders related to the ears, nose and throat. We are committed to improving our patient's quality of life through communication, through the use of the most sophisticated equipment and surgical techniques, and through ethical decision making. Our mission is to listen, to care and to cure.
Lyric is the first extended wear hearing device that is 100% invisible. It is comfortably placed in the ear canal by a Lyric trained hearing professional and can be worn 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for up to 4 months at a time.1No surgery or anesthesia is required.
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Eclipse XCEL
We are excited to announce the latest in hearing aid technology from Siemens Hearing. The Eclipse XCEL is a new tiny, daily wear device designed to rest deep in the ear canal making it almost invisible. With this device you get a custom fit, superior comfort, and excellent sound quality. This new daily wear device allows you to insert and remove as needed, putting you in control.
We are interested in getting patient feedback on this new product and are offering a FREE 2-week trial.
Call today to make an appointment to experience the sound quality of the Eclipse XCEL - 954-389-1414.
Income, Job Performance, and Unaddressed Hearing Loss
How an employee is perceived by employers is effected by how he or she hears. Employees who aren't sure what an employer is asking can't answer their best. In fact, listening is one of the top skills employers seek in entry-level employees and in those being promoted. And individual performance in an organization is found to be directly related to listening ability or perceived listening effectiveness.
Maximizing one’s ability to hear well should be part of any smart career strategy. The ability to hear and listen well enables employees to be more productive. They are better able to understand the work that has been assigned and the expectations that have been set. And people who both hear and listen well are more likely to establish positive working relationships with bosses, clients, and colleagues.
An alarming new study by the Better Hearing Institute (BHI) reveals a direct correlation between unaddressed hearing loss and earnings. The national survey, entitled “The efficacy of hearing aids in achieving compensation equity in the workplace,” clearly demonstrates that hearing loss has a significant impact on people’s ability to earn a livelihood. The study underscores how critically important it is for workers to treat hearing loss early in order to maximize their job performance and earning potential.
According to Sergei Kochkin, PhD, BHI’s executive director and author of the study: “The real tragedy in delaying hearing loss treatment is that when left unaddressed, hearing loss negatively affects individuals and their families for the rest of their lives in the form of lost wages, lost promotions, lost opportunities, lost retirement income, and unrealized dreams. But when people with even mild hearing loss use hearing aids, they improve their job performance, increase their earning potential, enhance their communication skills, improve their professional and interpersonal relationships, stave off depression, and better their quality of life.”
To facilitate a timely hearing test for all U.S. workers, BHI is offering an online hearing test (www.hearingcheck.org) where people can quickly assess if they need a more comprehensive hearing check by a hearing professional.
Key Study Findings
The study, “The efficacy of hearing aids in achieving compensation equity in the workplace,” is based on survey data received from close to 47,000 members of the National Family Opinion (NFO) panel, with responses from nearly 3,232 adults with untreated hearing loss, 1,818 with hearing aids, and 34,351 with normal hearing.
- People with untreated hearing loss lose as much as $30,000 in income annually, depending on their degree of hearing loss.
- Use of hearing aids was shown to reduce the risk of income loss by 90%-100% for those with milder hearing loss, and from 65%-77% for those with severe to moderate hearing loss.
- The loss in income for people with untreated hearing loss due to underemployment is estimated at $176 billion.
- The cost to society is estimated to be as high as $26 billion in unrealized federal taxes.
- There is a strong relationship between the degree of hearing loss and unemployment for those who do not use hearing aids.
- Those with severe hearing loss had unemployment rates (15.6%) double that of the normal-hearing population (7.8%), and nearly double that of their peers (8.3%) who use hearing aids.
Key Facts on Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids
- Hearing loss remains one of the most commonly unaddressed health conditions in the United States today.
- The vast majority of people with hearing loss could benefit from hearing aids.
- More than 34 million Americans suffer from hearing loss—about 11% of the U.S. population.
- 60% of Americans with hearing loss are in the workforce.
- Only 40% of Americans with moderate to severe hearing loss and 9% of those with mild hearing loss wear hearing aids.
- Fewer than 15% of those who received a physical exam in the last year said they received a hearing screening by their physician or nurse during that exam.
- Numerous studies have linked untreated hearing loss to a wide range of physical and emotional conditions, including impaired memory and ability to learn new tasks, reduced alertness, increased risk to personal safety, irritability, negativism, anger, fatigue, tension, stress, depression, and diminished psychological and overall health.
- 9 out of 10 hearing aid users report improvements in their quality of life.
- Advances in digital technology have dramatically improved hearing aids in recent years, making them smaller with better sound quality.
- Designs are modern, sleek, and discreet.
- Common features include:
- Clarity
- Greater directionality
- Better speech audibility in a variety of environments
- Better cell phone compatibility
- Less whistling and feedback then hearing aids of the past
- Greater ruggedness for active lifestyles
(Click on the image to see pdf.)
