TWIN FALLS, Idaho β During Audiology Awareness Month, Twin Falls Neighborhood Reporter Lorien Nettleton visited St. Luke's in Twin Falls to learn how hearing loss affects people at all stages of life and what treatment options are available.
Dr. Keely Coffee gave Nettleton his first hearing screening in decades. Dr. Coffee has seen firsthand how hearing loss can impact her patients and even her own loved ones.
Come along for a hearing screening with Idaho News 6
"I have a lot of family members who have [experienced] hearing loss, and I've seen how important hearing is in communicating and really transforming their lives and giving them access to sound, and so I love that. I have the opportunity to be able to restore sound and help them regain control of their lives," Dr. Coffee said.
As an audiologist, she gets to help unravel the puzzle of all the different things that can affect how well people hear.
"It's typically gradual, and so a lot of people are just adapting to their environment," explained Dr. Coffee. "They don't realize that they're losing it. Oftentimes, other loved ones will report it before the patient themselves will."
Hearing loss can happen naturally with age, but it can also occur at any stage of life, including in children. But there are signs to watch out for.
"Some things you might notice in your environment [include] turning up music louder, television, or radio up in volume," added Dr. Coffee. "You might notice you're saying 'what, hmm, repeat that' more often, and then you might just mishear what someone is saying because some words are just so similar that even a syllable off can really distort the meaning of [the] sound."
At St. Luke's in Twin Falls, the audiology clinic offers the full range of hearing services, including pediatric and cochlear implants that can make life-changing moments possible.
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Dr. Coffee said that offering pediatrics, cochlear implants, and a variety of other audiological services has proved vital to the local population.
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