Question time

29/10/2012 01/11/2012

We get a lot of requests for general information on hearing to our website (Blamey Saunders hears). I give lots of talks on hearing around the country (happy to do more) where we also get lots of questions. So, post your questions on my blog, and I will try and answer them.

Elaine Saunders

Elaine has worked in hearing research and technology for forty years. She is Co-founder, Blamey Saunders hears, a company which supplies affordable, discrete and highly effective hearing aids through an innovative online telehealth service and clinic based in Melbourne. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology at Swinburne University, and a clinical supervisor and mentor to many other students. She is former Chief Executive of Dynamic Hearing a company which supplied award winning digital signal processing for ultra-low power chips for the hearing aid and telephony industry. Elaine also led the Cooperative Research Centre team that developed a new electrode for Cochlear Ltd, leading to the company gaining the Australian Design award in 2000. In her youth, she was an international track runner. Elaine is an advocate for people with hearing loss, and a popular public speaker on the topic of Hearing and Listening. She is an Executive Director of the Rotary International Action Group on hearing and continues to try and reduce the barriers to hearing help. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Melbourne and Immediate Past Chair of its Health Issues Committee, Elaine is also the Chair of the Board of the Innovation Precinct at Swinburne University, member of the Industry Advisory panel (Engineering) for Swinburne University, and a Directorof ANFF. She was on the Advisory Board of the Children’s Charity Network (2005-2013) and is a former Non-Executive Director of Alfred Health. Elaine grew up with the struggles of hearing impairment from the age of 9 when her father lost his hearing. She experienced the struggles he had with his career, and the impact his loss had on their family. When she was a teenager in England, with her father’s encouragement, Elaine volunteered as a house mother in the residential section of the Royal Derby School for Deaf Children. Her close bond with these children and seeing their challenges first hand changed the course of Elaine’s life, in a quest to help people hear. Elaine has just helped to co-produce a play performed in Melbourne – The Sound of Waves – based on the life experience of a profoundly deaf girl (Jodie Harris, actor) who received a cochlear implant as a trial patient. Elaine was the leader of the Cochlear team that assessed Jodie for her implant in 1999. • Australian Design Award, Social Innovation 2015 • Australasian Industrial Research Group (AIRG) Medal for Research Innovation, 2013 • City of Melbourne: Melbourne Award for Contribution to Community, 2012 • Women in Leadership Forum, Asia: Leading Woman in Healthcare, 2011 • American Academy of Audiology: Award for Achievement in Industry, 2010 • Audiological Society of Australia: Certificate of Outstanding Service, 2008 • Telstra Business Woman of the Year National Award (Private & Corporate sector), 2004 • Biomelbourne Network, Leading Woman in Biotech, 2015

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2 Comments

Hello again Elaine!

Happy New Year and I hope all is well from your end. I was wondering whether I could (once again!) seek your advice on something relating to hearing and hearing protection?

A few years back for about 4 years I rode a scooter and just recently have acquired a motorbike. Both back then and this time around I have been and continue to be quite conscious of wearing these customised ear plugs whilst riding in order to protect the hearing I have left and in an attempt to not damage my hearing further.

Obviously the ear plugs block out almost all of the sound (or that’s my perception with the hearing loss I have) and there is no venting in the ear plugs, and what I’m left with is my tinnitus sounds whilst riding. Now having that sound when I’m riding is no big deal but the ride would probably be more enjoyable, I reckon, without the ear plugs in, just because I’d be able to hear the revs of the bike (note that by no means is it a fast, high powered motorbike, but rather a commuter) and have an overall better experience.

So what I’m wondering is is whether what I’m doing, using occluding, customised ear plugs, is the best idea in terms of not damaging my hearing further? Or, given the type and extent of hearing loss I already have (feel free to check my records at B&S), would it make no difference to my hearing if I use these earplugs or not whilst riding?

And maybe just one more thing… taking into account the whole ‘use it or lose it’ mantra that’s used in relation to stimulating your hearing by wearing aids, for example, is it fair to say that if a person often needed or decided to (through their hobby, workplace environment, or otherwise) wear ear plugs does that mean that they would be at greater risk, in any case, of their hearing deteriorating more rapidly if they didn’t do so? (I guess a really simplistic example may be a hearing impaired motorbike courier who spend most of the day on his/her bike with ear plugs in…. would his/her hearing likely deteriorate more rapidly if he/she didn’t do that for a job due to the lack of ear stimulation for hours a day?)

Well, thanks again Elaine, and it’d be great to hear back from you re these questions, but only if you have the chance – I realise that you must be busy!

Cheers,

Marcus

Marcus Cumming

30/01/2013 at 8:16 PM 13 years ago

Reply
Hi Marcus
Thanks for the comments. I’ve been thinking a lot about hearing protection and the issue you raise.
1.
Musician’s ear plugs help to attenuate sound sufficiently to protect hearing, with filters that allow in enough sound to hear the world around you. These would be a good option.

2.
“Use it or lose it” is a long term affect of chronic sensory deprivation, and wearing ear plugs part-time in a noisy environment is not likely to affect your cognitive ability. Ear plugs are a good idea in noise.

Elaine

31/01/2013 at 12:29 PM 13 years ago

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Elaine Saunders

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