VISION & HEARING NEWS FROM MARTIN STEELS LTD WORKING WITH THE HEARING CARE PARTNERSHIP
TALKING POINTS INSIDE Helping you stay connected Hearing, vision and brain health 20/20 Vision Care How we’re here to help AND MORE!
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TALKING POINTS We are delighted to present the latest edition of Talking Points, our joint magazine with The Hearing Care Partnership.
F message from A
Martin Steels
irstly, we must take the opportunity to thank you for your unwavering support throughout 2020; it’s really been quite remarkable and just goes to show the strength of our local communities.
It goes without saying that we all embraced the importance of staying connected. Due to the restrictions, we introduced a blended approach to hearing care, including phone and video calls. Once again, we learnt a great deal from this and there are some incredibly powerful benefits, so we are delighted to be further developing this blended care approach, which you can learn more about on the following page. This edition of Talking Points also looks at how the impact of lockdown has had on our eyesight. Plus, we explore four eye conditions you might have heard of. Not only this, but our hearing team share details of the very latest hearing aid technology from Oticon. Our hearing services include FREE hearing assessments, the latest in digital hearing aid technology, ear wax removal and much more. With our shared values of patient-centred care, we are proud to provide the highest quality of care and clinical excellence to everyone who walks through the door. We hope you enjoy this edition, and we look forward to welcoming you in practice again soon.
Martin Steels, General Manager 0800 52 00 546 THCP.CO.UK
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
The Hearing Care Partnership | 03
Helping you stay connected
W
e’ve all been part of a world which, during 2020 and 2021, became strangely disconnected through lockdowns, social distancing and more. But with this disconnection has come a new focus on the importance of family, near and far, the value of conversation and enjoying moments that bring us closer together, without effort or frustration. At The Hearing Care Partnership we focus on how to use the best hearing aid technology, as well as a blended care approach to ensure optimal safety, convenience and care tailored to your individual preferences to help you stay connected to the ones you care for.
Zooming in on Technology We’re working with hearing aid technology that can help you stay connected seamlessly throughout your day to all your devices:
A first class service “I was treated with the latest equipment in a very kind and professional manner... A first class service that I’ve already recommended to friends…” Pat Wadsworth
04 | The Hearing Care Partnership
• To your phone – • Your devices at direct streaming home, such as when your phone the TV. rings.
• Connect to your audiologist for remote adjustment, if needed.
Our
blended care approach involves:
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Initial telephone conversation, or online consultation – meet your audiologist and discuss your requirements and medical history.
In practice hearing evaluation, choice of options and recommendations and, where required, a choice of cutting-edge technology to suit your lifestyle, individual preferences and hearing.
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Hearing aids can also be programmed or adjusted remotely and follow-up consultations can also be carried out remotely or in person.
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For those who prefer an in-person experience, we will fit your hearing aids and advise you on their use in practice.
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Family members can join in to hear all about how amazing your hearing aids are, if you want to invite them to a remote appointment.
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You can connect with us anywhere, anytime, at your convenience. As long as you have an internet connection, we’re one click away.
Experts in person-centred care 0800 52 00 546 THCP.CO.UK
As The Hearing Care Partnership, serving our communities, we are here to help you with all your hearing care needs. Call our Dedicated Patient Support Team on 0800 52 00 546 or visit thcp.co.uk. IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
The Hearing Care Partnership | 05
Lockdown and the
impact on our eyesight
L
ife under lockdown has been tough for all of us. Separation from loved ones, the complete disruption of our normal daily routine, and the uncertainty clouding everyone’s future. As well as our mental health, there’s also been an impact on the health of our eyesight. Lockdown has meant we’ve all been watching TV, using our phones, playing on tablets and reading books much more than usual. In fact book sales in the UK have hit an eight-year high. A recent poll by Fight for Sight and YouGov found that 49%1 of us have found their screen time has increased since the pandemic, while 38% believe their eyesight has been affected as a result. With all this time looking at screens and reading tiny text, our eyes get tired very quickly. This can lead to a condition called DES – digital eye strain, also known as computer vision syndrome.
What is DES? DES is caused by prolonged focusing on a digital screen. It is similar to other repetitive stress injuries caused by carrying out the same activity over and over again, without taking enough breaks. When you use a laptop or desktop, your eyes may be constantly moving across the screen, shifting from the keyboard to the screen and focusing on the changing display images, however all of these tasks are at a fixed close distance. Maintaining a fixed focus at a close distance for a long period of time can tire the ciliary muscles in your eyes, leading to fatigue and ultimately DES.
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What’s more, looking at a screen for prolonged periods causes us to blink less, meaning our eyes dry out faster.
Do I have DES? Most people who work with screens regularly experience some form of eye trouble. Common symptoms of DES include: • Eye strain • Headaches • Dry or watery eyes • Redness in the eyes • Double vision • Vertigo or dizziness • Blurred vision • Tired eyes
We’ve all been
watching TV, using our phones, playing on tablets and reading books much more than usual
06 | The Hearing Care Partnership
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https://www.fightforsight.org.uk/news-and-articles/articles/news/screen-time/
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How to prevent DES
Diff iculty reading small print text?
To beat digital eye strain, remember the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes of screen viewing time you should take a 20-second break and look at something around 20-feet away. Your eyes will thank you for it.
If you’ve noticed a change in your eyesight during lockdown, it could be presbyopia. This perfectly normal agerelated change happens to everyone around the age of 40 or over. It is characterised by eyestrain from shifting your focus between close and distant points, difficulty in seeing near objects clearly in low light conditions and problems focusing on very small print.
As well as frequent screen breaks and remembering to blink regularly, it’s important to stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water to keep your eyes and body topped up. You might also benefit from ‘computer glasses’. These spectacles are designed to help keep the focus of the eyes comfortable, specifically when using computer screens, and may incorporate a special anti-reflective coating to reduce glare from the computer screen. Your optometrist can recommend suitable lubricating eye drops which may help reduce the symptoms of DES, especially if your eyes are getting dry or red.
Presbyopia can be corrected by using reading lenses, bifocals or progressive lenses, also known as ‘varifocals’.
Presbyopia: QUICK FACTS • Makes reading more difficult.
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To beat
digital eye strain remember the 20-20-20 rule
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The top part of the lens is focused for distance vision, the middle of the lens is focused for intermediate (usually arm’s length) vision and the bottom of the lens is focused for reading vision. There is no line across the lens as the three zones are blended.
With varifocals you get a smooth, continuous image from the top to the bottom of the lens, without any image jump as you change from one distance to another.
• It is caused by a hardening of the lens in the eye. • Usually develops around the age of 40 or later. • It affects everyone and is a natural part of ageing.
Book an eye examination To book an appointment get in touch with your local optometrist or visit www.martinsteels.com.
Oticon More™ More Freedom. More Possibilities. Oticon have unveiled their latest in hearing aid innovation: Oticon More™. Their groundbreaking technology helps you live life to the full and make more of every little detail, in perfect balance and clarity. It is a product of the latest engineering and hearing aid innovation, so you can hear with less effort and tune in to a higher quality, more natural sound.
The trailblazing technology inside Oticon More™ Until now, hearing aids have been built using simple man-made rules of categorising sound into speech or noise, letting all noise in or focusing on just one source. MoreSound Intelligence™ (the groundbreaking technology behind Oticon More™) gives you the latest in hearing aid technology, in 4 parts: • The DNN: gathers more information about the sounds around you, to help provide a clearer and more authentic picture of the soundscape.. • MoreSound Intelligence™: the processor behind the scenes, this will organise the sounds coming through and decide which sounds and voices to prioritise and deliver to you. • MoreSound Amplifier™: delivers the information to your brain, providing you with 6 times the resolution of previous hearing aids for the clearest possible sounds available from Oticon. • Polaris™ platform: a tiny chip within the More™ hearing aids which gives you twice the speed of other hearing aids meaning sounds reach your ears and brain quicker.
What sets Oticon More™ apart? Oticon More™ is the world’s first hearing aid to give the brain the full perspective. Don’t take our word for it, Oticon cites the key to More™ as being “thanks to a breakthrough in hearing aid technology like nothing before – a highly intelligent Deep Neural Network (DNN)”. The Oticon Deep Neural Network is a new way for your hearing aid to look at your hearing. It is state of the art Artificial Intelligence (AI) built into your hearing aid, assessing the sounds and bringing you a clearer and more authentic soundscape, with all of the multiple sounds and voices around you. Here are some of the many benefits of the Oticon More™ hearing aids: • Oticon More™ makes sounds up to 60% clearer inside the brain.
08 | The Hearing Care Partnership
• Best enhancement of speech and reduced background noise in hearing aid technology. • Integrated with the latest in hearing aid artificial intelligence from the Deep Neural Network. • The AI has been trained with 12 million real-life sound scenes. • The sound scene is scanned 500 times per second. • Works seamlessly across varying listening environments. • Connects to Apple and Android devices with Audio Streaming for Hearing Aid (ASHA) via Bluetooth® hearing aid technology. • All aids are rechargeable, with a full day’s power in just three hours, or a 30 minute charge for six hours of power.
Aphra Dowell-Jones Audiologist & Professional Services Manager “The Oticon More™ range of hearing aids offers a revolutionary way of thinking about hearing in environments with background noise. It allows the brain to process sounds in a far more natural way without having to compromise on sound quality.”
Book your FREE full hearing assessment or hearing aid consultation today by calling 0800 52 00 546 or visiting thcp.co.uk
It’s time to get more out of life
New Oticon More™ hearing aids Traditionally, hearing aids enhance speech and reduce other sounds. But your brain needs more. That’s why Oticon More gives your brain access to the full sound scene. What’s more, it connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth® technology, and it recharges while you sleep. Are you ready for more?
Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Android, Google Play, and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
Contact us now for more information on Oticon More hearing aids. ®
Four eye conditions and what they look like
You’ve heard of them, but what do they look like? Helping you identify AMD, cataracts, glaucoma and floaters.
Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
As we get older, we can develop small white patches on the macula – the central area of the retina. These patches, known as ‘drusen’, are normal, but they can build up and eventually disrupt vision. We call this AMD. It can cause blank spots, distortion, blurriness or a loss of brightness or colour in the centre of vision. There are two types of AMD: dry AMD accounts for about 90% of cases, and although untreatable, the vision loss is usually less severe. Wet AMD is treatable, but vision loss, generally, is more severe.
10 | The Hearing Care Partnership
Cataracts
A cataract is an area of cloudiness in the lens of the eye. Symptoms include blurred vision, glare, difficulty seeing in low-light conditions, and faded colours. Management of mild cataracts includes updated glasses prescriptions or lenses to reduce dazzle and glare. Advanced cataracts may need a trip to hospital. But don’t worry: the surgery is carried out under local anaesthetic and you’ll probably be out the same day.
From the expert
Martin Steels General Manager
“Every day I see patients who present with AMD, Cataract, Glaucoma or Flashes & Floaters. These are very commonly occurring conditions. Optometrists are ideally placed to offer routine eye examinations, advice and support to people struggling with their vision. I recommend everyone to have an eye examination at least every two years, and when there are conditions such as AMD and Cataract I often advise people to attend more frequently. It’s really important to come and see us if anything in your vision changes. We’re here to help… don’t wait and risk your sight.”
To book an appointment get in touch with your local optometrist or visit www.martinsteels.com
Glaucoma
Flashes & Floaters
Glaucoma is a group of conditions that affect the nerves of the retina, causing pressure to build up inside the eye. Glaucoma can cause blurring or dark patches to appear around the outside of our field of vision.
The inside of the eye is full of a gel-like substance called vitreous humour. As we get older, it shrinks and becomes sloshy. This can cause ‘floaters’ – small semi-transparent blobs that appear in our vision.
Some types of glaucoma are easy to spot: they appear suddenly, with pain, redness of the eye and blurred vision. But others can sneak up on us slowly.
Flickers of light, flashes and floaters at the edges of the vision are often a sign of PVD – Posterior Vitreous Detachment. PVD is entirely normal, but you should always seek the advice of an optometrist, just in case.
Glaucoma is very treatable, which is why routine eye examinations are so important. Once the retina is damaged it usually doesn’t recover – prevention is definitely better than cure, so it’s best to detect it as early as possible.
0800 52 00 546 THCP.CO.UK
Flashes and floaters that are new, sudden, or include any loss of vision should be treated as a medical emergency due to risk of retinal detachment.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
The Hearing Care Partnership | 11
Richard Stent
(Practice Owner and Optometrist for 20 years) “For me, a key value is professionalism in our service, working to a high standard, being correct and precise. Offering continuity of care which is friendly and caring is vital for providing the right customer experience. “I’ve worn hearing aids previously from the NHS and privately, and for me a personalised approach is really important. “The appointment was one hour, and a detailed history was taken. It was interesting to see the graphic and have my hearing status explained in a way that was easy to understand. “The quality of the sound surprised me as it is more natural and my
“top-end functionality ” There was so much choice – for me, the
my life with
hearing aids To book your FREE full hearing assessment call our Dedicated Patient Support Team on 0800 52 00 546 or visit thcp.co.uk.
allowing connectivity to the phone and TV was important. They are discreet and rechargable too.
hearing so significantly enhanced – I can hear the sparkling bubbles in water now and hadn’t realised I’d been without this sound.
“Using hearing aids has made conversation more spontaneous, there’s less repetition. The hearing aid is behind my ear, but the great sound quality is a real pay-off. “I’ve really noticed how writing while listening has become so much easier at work. I’m managing to hear staff at work and my family at home so much better too. “Managing hearing and vision is so important to overall health, my wife has had a hearing test too!”
Danny Danziger (Patient Inter view)
“As my hearing changed, I learned to “box clever” and made adaptations when visiting my favourite places, drinks parties and dinners or carrying out interviews, which is an essential part of my work life as a journalist. “Having tried hearing aids before, I was somewhat unsure of the possible outcome for getting hearing aids. My wife suggested I consider new hearing aids and I found it helpful to talk to a friend who wears the latest hearing aids, too. My optometrist advised a hearing test and suggested that it might be a good idea to try some new hearing aids, as technology has advanced considerably. “I liked my audiologist, enormously. Her manner was friendly and professional. She gave me confidence. She was able to answer my questions about the procedure as well as the hearing technology available. I felt much more savvy about the brain’s role in hearing and managing in noise. “Since receiving my hearing aids, I am able to manage in conversation with greater ease and notice I am less tired at the end of the day, as listening is less effort. My primary concern was defeating the crowded restaurant, and this has improved considerably, though it is still not perfect. My hearing aids are comfortable and managing on the phone is also a lot easier, as my hearing aids can stream directly from the phone. “Conversation has become easier and communication in general is easier with the family. “Through my conversation with my audiologist, I have discovered a lot about the misconceptions associated with hearing loss and general lack of knowledge in this area.” 12 | The Hearing Care Partnership
the future “holds in hearing I’m interested to learn what
technology
and continue to be fascinated about the role of the brain in hearing.
BOOK TODAY Call 0800 52 00 546 or visit thcp.co.uk.
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Stephanie Hedicker BSc, PGDip, Audiologist & Hearing Aid Consultant “The dream when working in the NHS was always to be able to have time to spend with my patients, time for them to consider their options and understand their diagnosis. Finally I am able to have that time with my patients as their clinician, to assist them in their hearing journey whilst also having multiple diagnostics tests available to help facilitate this. I have always been passionate about ‘Patient centred care’ and finally I feel that I am fully able to achieve it.”
Audiologist & Speech Therapist “I am absolutely passionate about providing the best service for all patients, improving their quality of life and their communicative abilities. I thrive on problem-solving and continual learning, always striving to improve myself. I believe the formation of authentic and empathetic relationships with patients is vital to genuine interaction and trust. My role as an Audiologist allows me to empower patients through a better self-understanding about their hearing and how hearing aids improve their communication and their links to family and friends, as well as improving brain networks.”
Hear from our patients Brilliant service
10 stars if I could!
“The hearing specialist who helped me with my blocked ears... was fantastic. Really calm, compassionate and professional. I suffer from severe anxiety and she did everything in her power to put me at ease and inform me of what needed to happen. Both ears unblocked too! 10/10 - fantastic service. Thank you!”
“...I’m so so grateful for everything and we have learned so much about hearing that I never even knew was going on… I’m a different lady now, more vocal, and just love hearing the birds for the first time ever, you don’t realise what your truly missing out on until you put these in and boy, the difference is just amazing!! 10 stars if I could, thank you for teaching us about hearing and my gift of now being able to hear the world around me…”
Mr Rooney
Debora Cochrane
Outstanding service!
Best I have ever received
“The care and support… was absolutely second to none. She was so kind and helpful and made sure my mother received the best possible service. The new hearing aids will transform my mother’s life... Outstanding service!”
“This hearing test was the best I have ever received! It was very thorough and showed up some hearing difficulties that I wasn’t aware of!! Your hearing is priceless and l recommend…” Fiona Sinfield BEM
Mr Rowett
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Person-centred care, putting you first As an accredited partner of the Ida Institute, world leaders in person-centred care, we’re proud to provide the highest levels of care and personal service so you can make the most of your hearing.
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Excellent To book a FREE Full Hearing Assessment, call 0800 52 00 546 or visit thcp.co.uk/book Martin Steels Ltd and The Hearing Care Partnership Arundel 01903 863 987 | Storrington 01903 863 409
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