Audicles Hearing Services
By Rudy Arispe | Photography by David Teran
About 33 percent of older adults, age 65, have some degree of hearing loss, and by age 85, 55 percent of individuals will experience some type of hearing loss. For children, there is between a 5 and 13 percent incidence of hearing loss, which slowly increases until age 65, and then compounds with age, said Tracy Board, Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) at Audicles Hearing Services.
“As we age, with each decade, the chance of developing hearing loss becomes dramatically higher,” Dr. Board said.
On an encouraging note, however, Dr. Board stresses there’s help for anyone experiencing hearing loss, which can be diagnosed and treated with state-of-the-art hearing aids. Since 1944, Audicles Hearing Services has been delivering advanced hearing healthcare through a combination of industry-leading best practices and a team of Doctors of Audiology who continue to stay at the cutting edge of their profession.
Just as you make an appointment to have your eyes examined or teeth cleaned regularly, Dr. Board advises anyone who is experiencing any type of hearing loss to make an appointment to have the issue diagnosed.
“We are starting to see more people start to come see audiologists sooner in life,” she said. “Hearing loss can lead to cognitive decline. It used to take 10 years for someone to make an appointment from the time they noticed hearing loss; now it’s about seven years.
“Treating hearing loss helps neural networks function properly and keeps the language center of the brain stimulated,” Dr. Board continued. “We want to address hearing loss, so we don’t lose the ability to understand speech and also to make sure the brain continues to process sound properly. We don’t want to start losing cognition.”
For adults experiencing hearing loss, Dr. Board notes that it often affects their relationships. “They are working harder to communicate in the workplace, but at home they don’t make as much effort, and it can cause close relationships to deteriorate,” she said.
While she uses several different hearing aids with her patients, there is one brand that she prefers above others. “I like ReSound because they were the first brand to use Auracast technology, which is now being employed in all hearing aids being manufactured today. It gives people access to sound in a way we’ve never done before,” she said. Auracast allows hearing aid users to stream sound from electronic devices and public sound systems directly into their hearing aids.
This year, Dr. Board had an Auracast system installed at the Tobin Center. This system will allow hearing aid users with Auracast technology to stream the sound of shows directly into their hearing aids. For those who don’t have Auracast hearing aids, other listening devices will be available to allow them access to the sound system.
“One of the most frustrating things I see in adults is when they sit down at a theater and just take out a set of hearing aids that they likely paid several thousand dollars for, and put them in their pocket. They feel like the hearing aids alone don’t help them at all in theaters. This technology opens up a whole new world to Tobin Center patrons and allows them to maximize the technology they have paid for,” Dr. Board said.
Other services include comprehensive hearing assessments, advanced hearing aid technology, hearing aid repairs, and earwax removal.
Dr. Board originally had planned to become a speech and language pathologist until a professor at the University of Texas at Austin convinced her to pursue a career in audiology. “He really showed me how I could help people with hearing loss,” she said.
She joined the team at Audicles Hearing Services in 2004 and eventually purchased the practice, and says she continues to run the company like a family business. She’s also grateful that she followed her professor’s advice and finds her career in audiology to be quite rewarding.
“I get to meet all types of people every day, including babies up to my oldest client, who is 105 years old,” she said. “I feel like I accomplish something important every day at work.”
And more than that, she is helping individuals with hearing loss reconnect them with the world around them.
To schedule an appointment or for more information, visit www.audicles.com.
