Dr. Jenkins Featured in Denver Magazine
Richard Hartman walked into my office, looked me in the eyes and
said, "I'm here because if I don't do something about my hearing
loss, my fiancee is going to leave me." He was serious, and so
was his fiancee.
He, like many people, denied his hearing loss more to himself than others. "I reallt thought I was doing well. Unfortunately, it began to affect my work and social life. All I knew is that I didn't want a hearing aid." Less than an hour later, he was wearing a hearing aid for the very first time, and he couldn't believe what he'd been missing!
Dr. Jenkins, Colorado's first board-certified doctor of audiology, has heard many stories like this. "You may not realize you're missing something until a friend or family member brings it to your attention. You may not think that your hearing loss is bad enough to warrant a visit to an audiologist, but treating a mild loss is more beneficial than waiting until it gets worse," she says.
"Our hearing is like any other part of out body. Use it or lose it. Left untreated, even a mild hearing loss can contribute to a cognitive decline in later years."
Two out of three people needing help are under the age of 65. "Our hearing is like any other part of our body: Use it or lose it," Dr. Jenkins says. "The neural connections your brain uses to interpret speech can atrophy without the stimulation of a hearing aid. If untreated, even a mild hearing loss can contribute to cognitive decline in later years."
Dr. Jenkins has more than 25 years of hospital and clinical experience and is referred to by more than 100 are physicians. Because of the extra requirement for board certification (including extensive ongoing education), she is able to offer ther patients the highest level of expertise. "The more informed I am, the more I can help," she says. Advanced Audiology is one of only four clinics in the country hand-selected to do testing on the newest technologies months before they become available to the general population.
Hae you been waiting for a hearing aid that's 100% invisible? Well it's here! The Lyric by InSound Medical is hidden deep inside the ear canal, one-sixth of an inch from the eardrum. There are no batteries, nothing to clean, and no feedback or squeaking. You wear it 24 hours a day, seven days a week for months at a time. "My patients are telling me the sound quality the lyric provides is better than any hearing aid they've had," says Dr. Jenkins.
There are other devices so advanced that their processing power surpasses the kmost advanced computers. Today's hearing aids can weigh less than a nickel and perform more than four million computations per second, affording better sound quality and clarity than ever before.
When should you have your hearing tested? It's best to see an audiologist at the first signs of hearing loss says Dr. Jenkins. "The sooner that we treat it, the easier it will be for your brain to adjust, and the better you'll be able to communicate both at work and at home."
