Collin County Living Well Magazine May/June 2016 | Page 11

thing to watch them hear or hear better for the first time,”
says Dr. Brassine, who’s had patients cry because they
were so happy finally being able to hear more fully.
“I have a patient who I was fitting yesterday with this technology that connects directly with her iPhone. Her husband’s in Guatemala for four months learning Spanish and
now she can Skype or Facetime him and hear everything
through her hearing aids,” says Dr. Brassine.
Among the many other examples of this technology working for Hearing Services of McKinney’s patients is in the
recounting of a younger older adult who recently moved
to Collin County. She’d suffered memory loss from a stroke
and was finding it difficult to navigate through the area.
“She was trying to take her car in to get worked on and
she got lost. She happened upon an AT&T store. She has
a Made for iPhone Hearing Aid, so she can stream phone
calls directly through her hearing aids,” says Dr. Brassine.
“The guy at the AT&T store was able to go to her phone, put
the address she was trying to find right in her GPS, and she
could hear those instructions directly in her hearing aids. It
saved her.”
Indeed, as Dr. Brassine points out, the new generation of
hearing aids are far more sophisticated and user friendly
than ever before. Many run through apps, which offer a
patient the ability to adjust the hearing aid to their specific needs. “Users can create and customize their own
programs. So, for instance, if they’re in a really noisy restaurant and they’re having challenges hearing, they can
modify some of the settings themselves and they can even
save that. And with the GPS in the phone, they can even

tag that location so that the next time they’re physically
at that restaurant (if the phone is also present) it would
recognize that and automatically put that program into the
hearing aids,” explains Dr. Brassine.
“We’re all social beings. We’re meant for communication.
And when there’s hearing loss and communication gets impacted, that has an effect not only on your own self but it
starts to have an impact on relationships with others,” explains Dr. Brassine. “In the beginning stages of hearing loss,
you may have a family member who’s willing to be your
second set of ears. But at some point in time, they’re going
to get frustrated and they’re going to want you to address it
and deal with it.”
With that in mind, Dr. Brassine says that signs of hearing
loss can subtly creep up. If someone feels like they’re missing
things in conversations, or if they’re having to ask people to
repeat things, or if they find themselves turning the television
volume up louder, are all signs. Additionally, if people sound
like they’re mumbling or if high-pitched sounds like whistles
and doorbells can no longer be heard, these are also indicators of hearing loss, according to Dr. Brassine.
When hearing loss is suspected, it’s best to see an Audiologist sooner rather than later. Which is another reason Hearing Services of McKinney has an advantage. “We’re all
Audiologists. As Audiologists, we have more education, we
have more experience,” explains Dr. Brassine. There’s an
advantage to having a doctorate degree. When someone
comes to see us for their hearing care needs, they’re seeing
a Doctor of Audiology.

972.838.1300
www.hearinmckinney.com
4201 Medical Center Drive, Suite 270
McKinney, Texas 75069
(Across from Medical Center of McKinney)

“When hearing loss is suspected, it’s best to
see an Audiologist sooner rather than later.”

COLLIN COUNTY Living Well Magazine | MAY/JUNE 2016

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