Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Why Are Women Cranky or Why Women Mumble When They Talk?


Kimball B. Forbes, MCD, co-owner of Advanced Hearing & Balance Specialists
Probably the most frequent complaint we hear as hearing and balance specialists from our male patients is that their wife mumbles when she talks.  Of course, women don’t generally mumble when they speak and they are not generally cranky, but most men with this complaint have hearing loss in the high frequency range of their hearing.  Since women have high pitch voices, their wife’s voice may sound like they are mumbling when they talk.  Children also have high pitch voices so their fathers and grandfathers may have difficulty understanding their voices. This could make anybody frustrated.

Exposure to loud noise attacks the hearing nerves responsible for hearing in the high frequency range.  People who shoots guns, hunt, use chain saws, operate heavy equipment or have served in the military may be experiencing this type of high frequency hearing loss.  Also, ringing in the ears is usually a sign of nerve damage in the inner ear.

If you have ringing in your ears, or a problem understanding your wife, daughters, or grandchildren especially in a group setting, it may be well to see a clinical audiologist for a hearing evaluation.

When you see an audiologist, your insurance will usually cover most or all of the evaluation because an audiologist is a hearing specialist.

People with hearing problems may tend to withdraw from their spouse, children or grandchild, church, friends or become irritable or embarrassed because they are afraid of asking others to repeat themselves or give the wrong answer.

Many times, a hearing loss causes the greatest frustration to the spouse and family than it does to the person with the hearing problem.  Many marriage relationships have been healed simply be improving the hearing of the spouse who cannot hear well.

If I don’t wear my hearing instruments when I am with my family, I feel like a am missing a few bricks out of my load and that I am not all there.  When I am wearing my instruments when I with my wife and children and grandchildren, I feel like I am a complete person and I enjoy my family much more and I don’t tend to withdraw. Recent studies from the Northwestern University Mayo Clinic have linked hearing loss with memory challenges.  If we can’t hear everything people say, we are not part of everything and so part of our memory of our enjoyment of our family and friends tend to suffer.

The hearing technology that I have worn regularly in the last few years has gotten better and better in it’s ability to help me understand speech in very noisy situations.

Over the weekend  my wife’s cousin and his wife from Idaho were visiting with us and as they were leaving, we were speaking with them as they sat in their car with the engine running.  I was struggling to understand everything my wife’s cousin was saying so I touched a button on my hearing instruments and immediately the car noise dropped, and I could easily enjoy our conversation.

Now we have wireless microphones that are helpful in the car, church, with TV, cell phones, ipods, landline phones and in any very difficult listening situation.

I have had the privilege of serving our patients in Southern Utah for thirty-two years.  I started our clinics in St George, Cedar City, Mesquite and Overton Nevada, Beaver, Panguitch, Delta, Milford, and Fillmore back in 1984.  I traveled to all the office myself, but now we have five audiologists (hearing and balance specialists) to serve all these areas. Call 319-8127 for a Free consultation.  http://www.hearingaiddoctor.com/

Kimball B. Forbes, MCD, has been in the St. George area for the past 27 years and is a co-owner of Advanced Hearing & Balance Specialists. His wife’s name is Jonna and they are the proud parents of 8 children and 4 grandchildren. Kimball is passionate and enjoys helping to build better relationships through better hearing. He is the longest tenured Audiologist in southern Utah. In his early years in practice in southern Utah and Nevada, he established 11 hearing clinics which are thriving today under his direction and leadership. Kimball graduated with his Master’s of Communication Disorders in Audiology from Brigham Young University in 1982. He specializes in:
    •    Hearing Aid Sales, Service and Counseling Specialist
    •    Earmold and Hearing Protection Specialist
    •    Diagnostic Medical Hearing Assessments for Adults and Children