Owen Sound Audiology
Unit 2 - 1240 2nd Avenue East N4K 2J3 Owen Sound, ON, Canada

This morning I browsed through the news at the ‘virtual’ Western University Homecoming which is happening this weekend. This marks 40 years since I completed my undergraduate degree at the Faculty of Medicine, Communicative Disorders Program. It’s hard to believe that another two years and it will be 40 years since I graduated with my Masters of Clinical Science and left Western to begin what has been a fulfilling, rewarding career. I came across this article which reinforces my awareness that as clinicians, we endeavour to meet the needs of those we have the privilege to cross paths with. It looks like this underlying compassion and ability to step up, recognize and help others continues with the graduates of today. Well done Michael Urichuk and Taylor Bardell!

LEGO adds figures with hearing loss. We really hope this raises awareness that hearing loss is present in people of all ages, and hearing aids are not a sign of aging or cognitive decline. In fact, the reverse is true! There is an abundance of evidence that hearing loss leads to social withdrawal, increased isolation and cognitive decline and dementia. It’s never to early to meet your local Audiologist, have a baseline assessment and learn you where your hearing is at today.... What if an unfortunate event caused a sudden loss? How do you know what changed if you don’t know what was? It is also important to monitor your hearing periodically with rechecks that detect changes early and open conversations about any concerns you have. We are committed to working with you and your family every step of the way. We are also happy to present information to groups and service clubs, observing the need for social distancing or joining you at your virtual meetings. I’m curious. Have you had your baseline audiologic assessment? If not, why? Let us now by leaving a comment or message us. See more

Wishing everyone a great Labour Day Weekend. Enjoy and recharge. And... Please please remember that the buses and walkers will be out on Tuesday as they head back to class

Are you using the Phonak myPhonak App? In the upcoming weeks, operating system upgrades for both Android and iOS are planned. When you update you device operating system to Android 11 or iOS 14, we have been informed there will be compatibility issues with the myPhonak App. The App Team at Phonak is actively working on this and plans to release a fix for this, via an update to the myPhonak App (to version 4.0.1). Please delay updating your device until the myPhonak App is updated in October, and if you have already updated your device, please be patient as the myPhonak update is on the way.

A really good look at masks and how different materials degrade speech to different degrees.

Wow! We spent the afternoon at the Phonak Paradise Hearing Aid Virtual Launch. Widex had a Virtual Launch for the Moment a couple of weeks ago, and Resound has one coming for their new model in about a week, when well learn what they are calling it. This is an exciting time with some incredible features, like Phonaks Tap Control to answer your bluetooth connected phone if a call comes in while you are streaming from your computer or TV. Widex Moment has great Pure Sound especially for those with mild to moderate losses. Cant wait to see what Resound and others come out with! Exciting times in our world, Id say.

Todays the Day! Support Jesse as he fights childhood cancer.

Today’s the Day! Support Jesse as he fights childhood cancer.

Was screening your infants hearing missed while the Infant Hearing Program was suspended due to COVID? Read this, and contact your regional IHP coordinator. https://www.ontario.ca/page/infant-hearing-program

Thanks Daniel Paccioretti, Catch Every Wave Audiology, for bringing this article to my attention. Ear candling is NOT safe. See your Audiologist for cerulean (ear wax) management.

Was screening your infant’s hearing missed while the Infant Hearing Program was suspended due to COVID? Read this, and contact your regional IHP coordinator. https://www.ontario.ca/page/infant-hearing-program

For all parents of HI this may be of interest.

Thank You Everyone for Your Support, both for Best of the Best and our many years together. And to our incredible staff who make it possible. Heres to Many More!

Heres one good reason for regular assessments and early treatment of hearing loss. Now lets look at the cost of early detection and treatment, reducing incidents of dementia, versus the cost of treatment for those who develop dementia and the psycho-social costs to their families and loved ones. This is one reason why the government needs to put funds into prevention and early detection!

Happy Thursday! We are now open for our regular hours, and all of our measures to keep everyone safe are working well. We do ask that you call before coming to the clinic so we can provide an appointment time. This allows us to limit the number of people at the clinic at one time. Thanks for respecting our new in clinic policies, as we help you Hear For Your Health

Amazing story. Have a severe hearing loss? Call us about Resound Enzo! We are to help you Hear For Your Health.

Great info from Rex, Chief Audiologist at Canadian Hearing Society, Toronto https://www.mynorthbaynow.com//communication-key-while-we/

Please Remember to Vote Each Day , and THANK YOU,

Some good news, and excellent advice

VOTING OPENS FRIDAY JULY 24 AT 5PM!!! Thank you so much everyone for your votes nominating us into the voting round for best of the best under Professional Services Best Overall Service and Health & Wellness - Audiologist! Please vote daily for us in this final round, as we compete against some great companies.

Dont forget to nominate your favorite team for Best Overall Service, under Professional Services, and Best Audiologists under Health & Wellness! Nominations close in just a few days. Scroll down to find the link.

Have you had your hearing checked? Get a baseline assessment! Please!

We had some staff back in the office today working to see a few clients. We will review our safety measures tomorrow, make some tweaks, and next week we plan to start calling those who had appointments in March, April, May and June that we had to postpone. To be fair to everyone we are trying to call those who were originally scheduled in March, then April, then May and then June. BUT if you need service, please call! We will do our best to Help You Hear For Your Health. We ...must work by appointment so it is important to call ahead as we must follow the protocols of the College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists, our regulatory body, and the various health departments who set the rules. This means ensuring we are physically distancing so we need to know when each person is arriving. We sincerely appreciate everyones understanding and patience as we work through this in a manner that ensures everyones safety. Have a great day! See more

We are here to support you as you Hear For Your Health! http://contests.owensoundsuntimes.com/BestOftheBest-20/ Find us under Health & Wellness - Audiologists and Professional Services - Best Overall Service. Thanks for your support!!

July 6 through July 8 we will be having staff meetings during the afternoon as we finalize our preparations to begin scheduling on a more regular basis for in clinic appointments. Our curb side service is available by appointment, so please call or email to arrange your time. We will return all calls and email, but it may be at the end of the day, so please be patient. We are double checking everything to ensure we do our utmost to keep everyone safe and stop this pandemic before a second wave. We want to CONGRATULATE EVERYONE in Grey Bruce for following the advise of our Health Unit and of Public Health Ontario which has really kept the cases low and significantly helped to flatten the curve. Lets keep it up! Stay well, stay healthy and remember we are here to ensure you Hear For Your Health!

Best of the Best 2020 Nominations are now open! Just go to http://contests.owensoundsuntimes.com/BestOftheBest-20/ We have been nominated in 2 categories you will find your favourite (Owen Sound Audiology) clinic under Health & Wellness Audiologists and under Professional Services Best Overall Service! Please remember to nominate us daily from now until Sunday July 19 at 11:00 pm EDT and then vote daily Friday July 24 at 5:pm until Sunday August 9 at 9:00 pm. Dont fo...rget to Follow, Like and Share your favourite team of Owen Sound Audiology! From Owen Sound Audiology THANK YOU for your support over the past 24 years and 6 months since we first opened to ensure you may Hear for Your Health! See more

HAPPY CANADA DAY! As we get closer to some staff returning, my hours of preparing will increase and I may be away from the office for a few days (Thursday and Friday, July 2 and 3). I will try to return messages and emails, though it may be the next day. Please call before coming to the office, as our curb side services are by appointment or by chance. If Im with someone, in the office or for a virtual appointment, I wont be able to answer your knock. Hopefully over the next few weeks we will get back to more regular post COVID operations, so please bear with us for a little bit longer. Thank you for your support, stay safe and stay healthy!

Good Evening a perfect end to a lovely day. In the last week, many calls have come in about intermittent hearing aids. Given the humidity, the culprit seems to be moisture. Your are my favourite troubleshooting tips: 1. Check and if necessary check the wax guard and the hole below after you remove it. Wax blocking the opening prevents the sound from coming out. 2. Wipe off your aids, especially around the opening for the microphones. You may have plugged them if your hands... were covered with sunscreen the last time you handled your aids. 3. Open the battery compartment - does the battery look wet or oily? That may be moisture buildup, causing the intermittent sound if the battery isnt making a good consistent contact. 4. Dump the batteries out onto tissue or paper towel, and wipe them off. Is the tissue wet? Now wipe out the battery door and replace the dry battery. 5. Wipe around the back of your ears if that is where your aids sit. Also wipe the bowl of your ears, where the earmold sits, including the opening of your ear canals. Of course, only the opening - do not put anything into the canal! Now try your aids. If these steps helped, try repeating at mealtimes, especially on humid days. If you think moisture is the issue, we have excellent hearing aid dehumidifiers for nightly use to dry your aids well overnight. Follow this with a good cleaning of any dry debris in the morning, and just like that you may have solved the problem! See more

Closed until Tuesday June 30 2020. Please check here for updates, and note we wont be open on Wednesday July 1 Canada Day!! Messages on our voice mail will be monitored, as will our [email protected] email. We look forward to seeing everyone soon. Stay safe, physically distance, and enjoy Summer!

Happy Sunny Saturday! Our preparations to increase the number of appointments are well underway. We have increased our supply of PPEs and installed plexiglass sneeze guards where needed. Many of you have difficulty understanding us when we are masked so you will be happy to know that we have clear face shields to make conversation easier to follow. We will be spacing appointments to minimize the number of you arriving at the same time to maintain physical distancing and you w...ill be required to bring and wear a non-medical or 3 layer cloth mask covering both your nose and mouth while you are in the clinic. We will continue to provide repair service using the curb-side model, again limiting the number of people entering the clinic. We will be screening for COVID-19 symptoms when we call to confirm your appointment and again when you arrive. We are working to increase our capacity to provide virtual remote care. This allows us to connect to your hearing aids when they are paired to your smart phone or tablet. For this, we open a chat with you, similar to using FaceTime, Zoom or Skype, and our software allows us to program your hearing aids while we are chatting. This is a great addition to our clinic procedures, and will be a great tool to reduce winter driving as you wont need to physically come to the clinic for adjustments! I think this makes the COVID-19 glass half full. Enjoy this wonderful day and we hope to see you soon! See more

I hope everyone enjoyed the lovely weather today. Its so nice to have longer, brighter days. We are having our annual equipment calibration day this Friday, June 19, 2020 and so we will be closed for the day. If you need batteries or service, please leave a message with your name and phone number or email [email protected]. If we arent able to reply on Friday, we will contact you on Monday. We look forward to seeing you again soon. Please follow the guidance of Public Health and stay well. P.S. Dont forget to Like and Share our page

Happy Sunny Saturday to Everyone! Its a beautiful day for getting out doors to enjoy all the wonderful sounds! Just close your eyes and listen. The different bird songs, the car in the distance, a plane overhead and possibly someones lawn mower. What can you hear? Be sure to call your Audiologist if you dont think your aids are giving you all they should be and most of all enjoy your day. Oh, I think I heard a puffy cat...

Hi Everyone. I want to let you know that the office will be closed Thursday and Friday this week. We will do our best to reply to messages and emails (519-376-0887 or [email protected]) but it may be Monday before you hear from someone. Please be sure to leave a call back number! And as always, thank you for your support, stay safe everyone. We are waiting on face shields to arrive and working to ensure all protocols are in place to keep everyone safe from this viru...s. Our infection control has always been diligent, and the addition of plexiglass sneeze guards, masks, gloves and more frequent disinfecting (after every client) have upped our standards. Please recognize that we are limiting the number of appointments and still doing parking lot curb-side appointments to severely limit the people inside the office. As we flatten the curve, we will catch up on our recalls and backlog. If you require service, let us know. During this time of limited social contact, hearing loss should not add to anyones isolation. For anyone who doesnt understand how isolating hearing loss can be, we are happy to provide ear plugs with instruction for proper insertion. Wear them 24/7 for a week and you will quickly understand. Stay well, screen yourself regularly for COVID symptoms and isolate if you are concerned about exposure. Lets truly flatten this curve! See more

Plexiglass hung and trim going on. Our touchless hand sanitizer dispensers are also mounted. Preparations for limited appointments, well spaced time wise, are well underway.

Good Morning Everyone My husband and I will finish hanging our plexiglass shields tomorrow morning in preparation for opening although our opening date is unknown. We are monitoring our colleges recommendations and will proceed based on these recommendations. We are doing curb-side Audiology and hoping the weather agrees. If you need service or any supplies please let me know by calling 519-376-0 887 or email [email protected] and leave me a message regarding yo...ur needs. I will return your call or email within a short timeframe. Thanks for following us, Nancy See more

I trust everyone had a Safe and Socially Distant Victoria Day! And remembered to celebrate May - Speech and Hearing Month. The office will be staffed tomorrow by late morning, however we are continuing only parking lot audiology for pick up and delivery, as well as mailing items to you upon request. Give us a call or email [email protected] if you need supplies or service. We are working on the details to gradually resume in office care, so stay tuned, and Stay Well!

IMPORTANT UPDATE - I will check messages on Friday May 15, but am unable to be in the office as I am tied up with a personal matter. If I dont reach you on Friday, I will call again Tuesday. Stay well, and enjoy the weekend! Nancy Happy Monday everyone. Just a reminder that no will be available in the office this Wednesday May 13 or Thursday May 14. We will get back to you Friday, so please be sure to leave a message or email [email protected]. Thanks and have a great week.

I hope everyone is enjoying May - Speech and Hearing Month! Please, if there are seniors or high risk individuals in need of service to repair their hearing aids, consider asking them if you could drop them off for service and return them. Their communication and safety depends on their devices working properly. Consider this a possible Mothers Day Gift for a neighbour who wont be seeing her son or daughter during this time. Also please note that no one will be available at the office on Wed May 13 or Thursday May 14. We will answer all messages on Friday, please be patient. Thanks!