About the Hearing Matters Podcast
 
The Hearing Matters Podcast discusses hearing technology (more commonly known as hearing aids), best practices, and a growing national epidemic - Hearing Loss. The show is hosted by father and son - Blaise Delfino, M.S. - HIS and Dr. Gregory Delfino, CC, located in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and East Stroudsburg, PA. C-A. Blaise Delfino and Dr. Gregory Delfino treat patients with hearing loss at Audiology Services.

Redux, the Latest Technology for Drying

In this episode, Blaise Delfino speaks with Matt Hay, director of marketing and sales for Redux, the company that makes the newest system for drying hearing instruments. Matt lives in Indiana, where Redux is located, and travelled to Nazareth for this episode.

Matt explains that Redux is a professional in-office hearing instrument dryer for hearing aids and implants. Hearing aid dryers have been around for a long time and they basically just use hot air and a fan. 

Matt Relates his Journey to Better Hearing  

When Matt was in college, he began to notice that he had trouble hearing in one ear. He tried to ignore it. But with time, his hearing continued to get worse. He went to an audiologist, who recommended he get an MRI. It showed that Matt, now 19 years old, had bilateral acoustic neuromas, or tumors on the hearing nerve. He was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis 2, or NF2. 

Matt went through the grieving process about losing his hearing. He first was in denial, but after getting reinforcement from others that his hearing loss was profound, he got hearing aids. He was thrilled to be able to hear. He remembers hearing the bird chirping and his feet hitting the sidewalk. But eventually he needed an auditory brain stem implant, or ABI. Because his nerves were damaged by the tumors, hearing aids or a cochlear implant could not help. Doctors surgically implant electrodes into his brain stem. The surgery is extraordinarily complex and often causes adverse side effects, however Matt was fortunate to have very few.

Learning to Hear Again 

Matt had devised ways to cope with hearing loss before getting the implant, so he able to adapt with the support of his family and friends. He used music as therapy. He asked himself, “What songs do I want to hear in my head for the rest of my life, in case I never hear again?” He created a play list of songs that he listened to over and over. 

After the implant, Matt says everything sounded like a gravel truck. He listened to music because he knew how each song was supposed to sound. He made progress, and after the first year, he became better at differentiating sounds. He has had the implant now for 16 years and believes music helped him to be able to differentiate speech. He is now totally deaf, but has 95 percent speech recognition, thanks to the implant, his music therapy and the support of wife, parents, immediate/extended family and his colleagues.

A New Career

After working for the same company for 20 years, Matt was feeling that he wanted a change. He was involved with hearing healthcare as a volunteer, raising money and awareness for nonprofits. However, he genuinely wanted a job that would enable him to feel that he was helping people

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