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Home Sweet Home.

Everything you need and more…right here in Saline County!

Our staff would love to be your hometown audiologist!
Saline Audiology.com
www.salineaudiology.com
501-778-3868

Just a reminder:

During winter, Saline Audiology goes by Benton Public Schools on
Inclement Weather Policy.
If Benton Schools are closed we will also be closed.
If you have an appointment scheduled, we will reschedule your appointment as soon as possible.
We will update our Facebook page with our closings.

Thank you!
Saline Audiology Staff

Some tips to help you reduce falls inside and outside of the home:

• Wear sensible, properly fitting shoes with nonskid soles.
• Avoid shoes with extra-thick soles.
• Keep the home well-lit.
• Remove boxes, newspapers, electrical cords and phone cords from walkways.
• Secure loose rugs with slip-resistant backing.
• Store clothing, dishes, food, and other household necessities within easy reach.
• Use nonslip mats in the bathtub or shower.
• Repair loose floorboards and carpeting right away.
• Install easily accessible or glow-in-the-dark switches in the room entrances.
• Place night lights in the bedroom, bathroom and hallways.

Factors that may put a person at risk for falling include reduced vestibular and balance function.  A patient’s age is the most telling sign of fall risk. Reflexes become slower as one ages along with a decrease in muscle and bone strength.  Other risk factors include a history of falls, cognitive impairment, depression, arthritis, and even hearing loss.

Approximately 30% of people who fall report hearing difficulties.  The correlation between falls and hearing loss does seem plausible, given that hearing loss often leads to social isolation.  Living a sedentary lifestyle often results in decreased muscle tone, strength and overall endurance – which further increases the risk for falls.

Audiologists, who have earned undergraduate and doctorate degrees in the field of audiology, evaluate and treat patients with hearing and balance disorders. Audiologists determine the type and severity of hearing loss and develop a treatment plan, which may include fitting for hearing aids and assistive listening devices.

Click on the link below to read the rest of the article:

http://bismarcktribune.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/what-you-need-to-know-about-an-audiologist/article_bd4d008a-7880-11e3-91b8-001a4bcf887a.html

Researchers May Have Discovered a Plan to Disable Meniere’s Disease

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colo, may have figured out what causes Meniere’s disease and how to attack it. According to Carol Foster, MD, from the department of otolaryngology and Robert Breeze, MD, a neurosurgeon, there is a strong association between Meniere’s disease and conditions involving temporary low blood flow in the brain such as migraine headaches.

Carol Foster, MD

Meniere’s affects approximately 3 to 5 million people in the United States. It is a disabling disorder resulting in repeated violent attacks of dizziness, ringing in the ear, and hearing loss that can last for hours and can ultimately cause permanent deafness in the affected ear. Until now, the cause of the attacks has been unknown, with no theory fully explaining the many symptoms and signs of the disorder.

“If our hypothesis is confirmed, treatment of vascular risk factors may allow control of symptoms and result in a decreased need for surgeries that destroy the balance function in order to control the spell,” says Foster. “If attacks are controlled, the previously inevitable progression to severe hearing loss may be preventable in some cases.”

Foster explains that these attacks can be caused by a combination of two factors: a malformation of the inner ear, endolymphatic hydrops (the inner ear dilated with fluid), and risk factors for vascular disease in the brain, such as migraine, sleep apnea, smoking, and atherosclerosis.

The researchers propose that a fluid buildup in part of the inner ear, which is strongly associated with Meniere attacks, indicates the presence of a pressure-regulation problem that acts to cause mild, intermittent decreases of blood flow within the ear. When this is combined with vascular diseases that also lower blood flow to the brain and ear, sudden loss of blood flow similar to transient ischemic attacks (or mini strokes) in the brain can be generated in the inner ear sensory tissues.

In young people who have hydrops without vascular disorders, no attacks occur because blood flow continues in spite of these fluctuations. However, in people with vascular diseases, these fluctuations are sufficient to rob the ear of blood flow and the nutrients the blood provides. When the tissues that sense hearing and motion are starved of blood, they stop sending signals to the brain, which sets off the vertigo, tinnitus, and hearing loss in the disorder.

Restoration of blood flow does not resolve the problem. Scientists believe it triggers a damaging after-effect called the ischemia-reperfusion pathway in the excitable tissues of the ear that silences the ear for several hours, resulting in the prolonged severe vertigo and hearing loss that are characteristic of the disorder. Although most of the tissues recover, each spell results in small areas of damage that over time result in permanent loss of both hearing and balance function in the ear.

Since the first linkage of endolymphatic hydrops and Meniere’s disease in 1938, a variety of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the attacks and the progressive deafness, but no answer has explained all aspects of the disorder, and no treatment based on these theories has proven capable of controlling the progression of the disease. This new theory, if proven, would provide many new avenues of treatment for this previously poorly controlled disorder.

The research is reported in the December 2013 edition of Medical Hypotheses. The entire paper is here.

Source: University of Colorado School of Medicine via EurekaAlert!

Saline Audiology is a full service audiology practice owned and operated since 1997 by veteran doctors of Audiology, Lisa Richey and Credonna Miller.

With offices in Benton and Hot Springs Village, the clinics offer a wide range of services for infants through geriatrics.  Evaluations and follow-up care are provided for all types of hearing problems, dizziness/vertigo, and state-of-the-art hearing aid fittings.

Keeping abreast of the latest technologies in amplification devices and latest research in the field, Saline Audiology provides each patient with the assurance of excellent expertise and knowledgeable guidance with patient commitment being a top priority.

Saline Audiology
5 Medical Park Drive, Suite 101
Benton, Arkansas 72105
501-778-3868
or
101 Este Way, Suite 2
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas 71909

501-922-0053

 Saline Audiology Christmas Schedule will be as follows:
Monday, December 23rd -OPEN both offices
Tuesday – Friday, December 24th – 27th – CLOSED

Monday, December 30th – OPEN both offices
Tuesday- Friday, December 31st – January 3rd – CLOSED

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!