Hearing Loss 2020

Hearing Wellness Exposition   |   by Shirley A. Molenich, MD

Over the last two years I have been writing articles about hearing loss and programs for the general public to better educate them. I became president of Sertoma (Service to Mankind) in 2017, and I realized that hearing disorders really weren’t understood by the public. Sertoma and Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) worked together to do our first program in April 2018 and our second program in April 2019. They were both well received. 

It is time to talk about our 2020 program, which is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, 2020, at Tarrant County Medical Society building (555 Hemphill St, 76104). The 2020 program will include Jed Grisil, MD (ENT), Terri Jo Edwards, AuD, and Marylyn Koble, MS, CCC-A, Audiology. 

Dr. Jed Grisil has been working with our medical society since last fall to address the need to screen patients for hearing disease, specifically the need for audiograms to better define the problem. He and I have talked about the importance of diagnosing hearing problems earlier, because the longer they go undetected, the more time it will take to see success in therapy. His topic is Treating Hearing Loss in the Modern Age: From Prevention to Treatment and Medicine to Surgery.

Terri Jo Edwards, AuD, will also be a speaker. She did speak at our first program in 2018. Her topic at that time was the brain-ear connection and her talk was excellent. One of her areas of interest and concern is developing a coalition between the audiologist and the physician to help improve patient care. This is an area of major interest in relation to the fact that many chronic diseases play a role as risks for hearing loss, i.e., diabetes, smoking, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, as well as genetic issues. There are also issues about various medications causing hearing loss and certainly important prevention issues, such as noise exposure. 

Our third speaker is Marilyn Koble, MS, CCC-A, an audiologist who will speak on tinnitus, which is a difficult problem to diagnose and more so to treat. 

We will have discussion about the various technological devices that help patients better manage hearing impairment in addition to hearing aids. I will be doing an additional article as we get closer to the event. Sertoma and HLAA appreciate the Tarrant County Medical Society allowing us to use the facility. We especially appreciate the staff support from Rick Geyer and Allison Howard.