Kimball Medical Center offers comprehensive audiology services Approximately 31 millionAmericans have some type of hearing problem, but the problem often goes unrecognized by the person suffering from it. "Children and teenagers seldom complain about the symptoms of hearing loss, and adults may lose their hearing so gradually they do not realize it is happening, says Sue Ellen Boyer,AuD., a clinical audiologist at Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood. She notes that the first step in the determination or treatment of a hearing problem is a hearing evaluation by an audiologist. "Many people don't really understand what an audiologist is,"Boyer says."We are hearing health care professionals who can diagnose, treat and manage patients with hearing or balance problems." At Kimball Medical Center's Kimball's Institute for Rehabilitative and Occupational Health Services,Boyer provides comprehensive audiological evaluations, industrial screenings and newborn hearing screenings.Additionally, she offers computerized balance and vestibular assessment and ototoxic drug monitoring as well as educational consultation services. "Audiologists use specialized equipment to obtain information about a person's hearing or balance function,"she says."Through various diagnostic tools, audiologists can learn more about the patient's hearing and balance function, and they can also inspect the eardrums,perform limited ear wax removal, and check for medically related hearing,balance, and processing problems. "After the evaluation is done, an audiologist will determine the appropriate treatment and present the options to the patient,"she adds."Hearing aids are often part of the rehabilitative program as many people with hearing impairment can benefit from the use of hearing aids." Boyer earned a doctoral degree in audiology from Pennsylvania College of Optometry andAudiology and completed pediatric training with Utah State's National Center for HearingAssessment and Management.Additionally, she attends ongoing vestibular training around the country and she specializes in vestibular assessment- the testing of inner ear and central balance function of the "dizzy"patient- as well as pediatric evaluation. "We are primary health providers, so we refer patients to physicians when the hearing or balance problem requires medical or surgical intervention,"says Boyer,who notes that hearing loss is caused by medical problems about 10 percent of the time."Audiologists are trained to recognize these medical problems and refer patients to ear,nose and throat doctors." She says that hearing loss can occur due to congenital or hereditary factors, aging,exposure to loud noise,medications, infections,head or ear trauma,disease processes and many other causes. "It is a fact of life that we lose hearing acuity as we grow older, and that hearing problems are commonly associated with the elderly, like eyesight problems,"she notes."But while hearing loss is commonly associated with the elderly,we are finding more and more baby boomers have hearing loss that is negatively impacting the quality of their life,overall health,personal and professional relationships and ability to effectively communicate. It is a problem believed to affect one in 10 adults in the United States." Children are also a focus of an audiologist's attention, says Boyer,who notes that ear infections are the most common problem that children face today, and adds that hearing loss is the single most common birth defect inAmerica. "Out of the 4,000,000 live births in the United States each year, it is estimated that 10 percent are at risk for congenital hearing loss, and of these infants, 30 to 50 of every 1,000 newborns will suffer hearing impairment,"she says, adding that the evaluation of hearing in newborns requires specialized training and highly advanced equipment. Additionally, she points to untreated or undiagnosed ear infections as a problem that could lead to hearing problems in the future. "Good hearing is essential to the social and intellectual development of infants and young children," she says."It is also essential to their development of speech and language, as well as their cognitive development." Audiologists are concerned that every person, regardless of age, benefits from good hearing, according to Boyer, who provides individual counseling to help patients with hearing loss function more effectively in social, educational and occupational environments. "We're also concerned with the prevention of hearing loss and quality of life,"Boyer says."We are often involved in implementing programs to protect the hearing of those people at risk for hearing loss, including those with noisy hobbies or occupations. Prolonged exposure to loud noise causes permanent hearing loss, and because audiologists are concerned with the prevention of hearing loss, they are often involved in implementing programs to protect the hearing of individuals who are exposed to noisy industrial and recreational situations." To contact Dr.Boyer for a hearing or balance evaluation, or to learn more about audiology services at Kimball Medical Center, call (888) SBHS-123 (888-724-7123).