What is that you say? As we get older, our hearing is often not what it used to be. However, the message to the Pattaya City Expats Club meeting on September 16 was that there have been vast improvements in the technology to overcome hearing loss.
Dr. Mukda Pattana-anek, audiologist and executive manager of DMED Hearing Centers Co, Ltd. explained that hearing aids have not only improved significantly, but for those wanting a more economical solution, now offers a hearing aid with choices you want for your specific hearing loss and lifestyle.
Wallapha (Tan) Vessanont, manager with DMED Hearing Center’s Pattaya Office announces promotions being offered to PCEC members.
Before introducing Dr. Mukda, Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg announced that in addition to making arrangements for her talk, Bangkok Hospital Pattaya (BHP) had arranged for attendees to have free blood pressure checks and free hearing tests in a booth set up for that purpose.
MC Richard noted that Dr. Mukda has worked with the BHP Hearing Center for several years. In addition she is also an associate judge with the Administrative Office of the Labor Court, Region II and is an associate member of the National Council of Women of Thailand and with the Audiology and Communication Disorder Society of Thailand. Dr. Mukda has a PhD in Education Management as well as two Master Degrees.
Dr. Mukda began by mentioning that today, she wanted to acquaint everyone with a recently introduced hearing aid from Widex (a Danish company) that is unique in that if offers those with hearing loss a platform that can then be customized for specific features they need instead of buying a more expensive hearing aid whose features may be more than they need. Consequently, it is called a Menu hearing aid since there are many items you can choose. These hearing aids offer flexibility in choosing the hearing aid you need based on your type of hearing loss and your lifestyle. Within the Menu package is a very fast chip, noise reduction, high level compression, state-of-the-art feedback cancellation and more.
The basic Menu is an affordable hearing aid that comes in 3 channels but can be upgraded to 5 and 10 channels to add more features. You choose the features and pay only for those you need. In addition to the choices offered by the channels, there are some enhancements that can be added for better speech understanding, extended range of audible sounds and extra programs and accessories. She pointed out that it’s a hearing aid that can be used for many years with various additional features and upgrading that can be made throughout the years.
Dr. Mukda Pattana-anek, Audiologist and Executive Manager of DMED Hearing Centers Co, discusses with PCEC members a unique hearing aid from a Danish company that offers those with hearing loss a platform that can be customized for specific features.
For those that do need a high tech hearing aid, there is available the Widex Clear model hearing aids. Although more expensive than the Menu hearing aids, the Clear technology is wireless and gives end users hearing closest to natural hearing possible. With new technology like InterEar and WidexLink, Clear hearing aids communicate seamlessly with each other just like two ears do. Features like InterEar TruSound compression, Digital Pinna and InterEar Speech Enhancer helps the user to locate and focus on the dominant speaker in challenging situations. Fitting of the Clear hearing aid is made convenient as it is done wirelessly. There is no more hassle of fixing the correct programming shoe and ensuring a working programming interface before they can proceed. There are different Clear models available with the Clear440 having the latest technology and most features.
Both the Menu and Clear hearing aids also come with some accessories. The Dex wireless accessories can make hearing easier in difficult listening situations. T-Dex is a device that connects your hearing aid with mobile phones. At the push of a button, end users can have a mobile phone conversation directly in their hearing aids without worries about environmental noise and feedback issues. There is also an accessory that connects to your TV to improve your ability to hear it as well as remote control devices that let you select the “programs” provided by your hearing aid.
After Dr. Mukda answered several questions, MC Richard called on Chris Parsons with the Pattaya Players who spoke briefly about their upcoming production – Chris had set up a table outside for those that wanted tickets. He called on Bob Smith who plays Sergeant Plod in the production to provide a brief monologue from the play as a preview.
MC Richard then provided an update on upcoming events and called on Roy Albiston to conduct the Open Forum where questions are asked and answered about Expat living in Thailand, Pattaya in particular. Visit the Club’s website at www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com to learn more about their meetings and activities.
A fortunate PCEC member has his hearing tested in the soundproof booth specially set up for Dr Mukdas’ presentation.
Sgt Plod (Bob Smith) of the Pattaya Players gives members a brief excerpt from the Players upcoming presentation, ‘The Perfekt Crime’. More details are available at www. pattayaplayers.org
