Indy Doctor, Styx Using New Hearing Aid Technology For World-Wide Event

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — The ability to hear your loved one speak, your phone ring, vocals and music during a concert and other every day sounds is part of life many take for granted. Between the new models and updates to devices we use every day, there is one in particular being used by an Indianapolis doctor to improve the quality of life for a specific group of people - those suffering from hearing loss. Dr. Colleen Watson, an audiologist at Whisper Hearing Centers, is fitting local patients with an internet-connected hearing aid ahead of a world-wide event.

On Aug. 22, legendary rock band Styx will play the final show of their summer tour at a New Jersey venue, during the world's first ever rock concert that will be broadcast directly to those wearing the Oticon Opn hearing aid.

“We’ve been fitting Oticon hearing aids for quite some time, when this product came out a year ago it was unlike anything they’ve put out in years," Dr. Colleen Watson, said. “It gives hearing impaired people access to technology people take for granted." (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Indianapolis Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts and LIKE Indianapolis Patch on Facebook.)

Through the Oticon Opn's direct connection to the internet, wearers can experience the technology we take for granted such as being able to take phone calls, or hear doorbells and smoke detectors.

But how?

"It’s like connecting to a Bluetooth," Watson said. "If we can do that, so can Oticon users. Studies have shown people with hearing loss feel cut-off from the world, so this improves their quality of life. People can fit in with their kids and their grandkids. It opens up a new world for people.”

More from Patch:

• IU School Of Dentistry Students Seeking Patients
• Donate Blood For A Chance At Disney Magic
• The New Snortable Stimulant: Coco Loco

Oticon Opn technology is hands-free, said Watson.

“Any information they're streaming from their phone allows access to both ears, hands-free," Watson said. “It gives them an ability to hear and understand so much better. Before this wireless technology came out, depending on the severity of hearing loss, people were not able to hear very clearly.”

Watson has been fitting hearing aids for 25 years and said she's pleased with the response to this hearing aid.

“People are amazed, their eyes light up, it's fun to fit people." Watson said. "I saw a woman last week who owns her own small business, works at home and was open to new options as she had worn other hearing aids previously,” Watson said. "She had previously used other Bluetooth devices with her phone, but when I demonstrated this she was amazed."

Watson adds the hearing aid isn't big and bulky like older models and many patients who've tried it out were sold after one experience.

People of all ages suffering from hearing loss can try the Oticon Opn technology at any of the independent audiology practice's 14 Indianapolis locations, which can be found at whisperhearingcenters.com.

"If hearing loss is so gradual in their coming years, being able to try this in the office gives them the realization of, 'Oh I may be be missing that,' and it eases them into it,” Watson said. “There isn’t anything to be apprehensive about, its super easy, we're always there for them.”

For those already fitted with the Oticon Opn technology, enjoy the Styx show.

More information: oticon.com and whisperhearingcenters.com.

(Images via Oticon and Styx)