Launched recently, HearLIFE Hearing Care Centre is now open in Ipoh. Aimed as a one-stop centre for consultation, HearLIFE also intends to create awareness in people about hearing issues.
Some of the services they provide include hearing assessments for adults and children, hearing aids evaluation and fitting, hearing implant evaluation and fitting, as well as speech therapy.
“We feel that the cochlear implant awareness here is very low. There are two types of treatment namely, hearing aid and cochlear implant. They differ according to the degree of hearing loss,” said the audiologist, Sylvia Lee Wai Hun.
Hearing aid is only useful for certain sounds and only improve hearing to a certain degree. It can help patients hear but not understand speech.
Instead of putting in the ear and amplifying sounds like what a hearing aid does, cochlear implant stimulates directly into your cochlear. This involves teaching patients how to understand the sound and conveying it through speech.
The journey to good hearing is a long one but at the end of the day, it depends on the individual itself. Children with hearing loss, however, are encouraged to do an implant before three years old.
“The critical period of learning begins at three years old. If they decide to get an implant after that, the process will be harder. That’s why we provide pre-operation counselling for the children’s parents. Not everyone can accept it,” Sylvia added.
HearLIFE also emphasises on rehabilitation, where the patients begin to adapt and continue with speech therapy before learning to speak properly. A cochlear implant usually costs around RM70,000, excluding the surgery, depending on the package.
For further details on HearLIFE : No. 2-12, Jalan Kamaruddin Isa, Pusat Perdagangan Kepayang, Fair Park, 31400 Ipoh or call 05 5417527.
Khaleeja
