Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Territory Hearing Director, Principal Audiologist Salimon Joseph provides some handy tips for preventing middle ear infections this Hearing Awareness Week

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Territory Hearing Director, Principal Audiologist Salimon Joseph provides some handy tips for preventing middle ear infections this Hearing Awareness Week · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know the Northern Territory has got the highest prevalence
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of middle ear diseases in the world, that is according
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: to the World Health Organization. And if you haven't thought
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: much about your hearing lately, well it might be a
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: good time to start, because it is Hearing Awareness Week.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: And joining me in the studio to tell us a
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: little bit more is Territory Hearing Director and principal audiologist
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Salomon Joseph.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Salomon, Good morning Kitty. Thank you very much
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: for okay in waiting me for this interview.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: It's great to have you in the studio. We have
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: had you on the show before. You are a great
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: person to speak to about all things hearing and making
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: sure that we know what's going on with our ears
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: as well. I guess to put it to put it
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: very bluntly now, Solomon, tell us what's the focus this
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: year for Hearing Awareness months.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: It's so important for any age group like children to
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: a elderly population. Hearing is so so important faculty for
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: children for the surveyor speech and language development. Good hearing
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: so important. As you all know, our Indigenous children are
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: disadvantages because they are having the high rate of miliar diseases.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: The one of the factor is overcrowding. You can imagine
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: in a house with twenty five people, the hygiene factor
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: will reduce and that itself is a course of milliar disease.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: And I have been traveling to many communities in North
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Intertwines since twenty sixteen and until twenty thirteen, and I
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: have seen firsthand is sad. It's sad. We need when
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: you think about to do the hearing assessment, we need
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: a sound room. And it's not like optometry. We need
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: to control the ambient noise. I am here at mix
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: one sort of four nine from radio station and here
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: the ambient noise is so low. So that is why
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: we can communicate so well each other. But imagine an
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: elderly person if they hearing problem, they are disengaging with
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: the community. Yeah, with a family. They are not knowing
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: what is happening in their own family.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: So it automatically lead to depression, Okay, isolation. So any class, okay,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: from very young to elderly, hearing is a vital faculty
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: we need to help. But in Australia we have a
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: fantastic hearing service system where up to the age of
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: twenty six, if someone has significant hearing laws, they will
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: be eligible for free hearing aid.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Then about sixty five they also will be eligible for
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: hearing aid.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Right, So there are different there are different ways
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: that we can help people if they are suffering from
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: hearing loss. But it's interesting that point you might as
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: well about the middle ear infections and you know, kids
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: not being able to get into sort of or not,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: you know, not being able to go and get their
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: ears maybe traded as quickly when they're in the remote
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: communities is what they can here in town. I know though,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: it is like it is an issue for kids. Even
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: my son had different issues middle ear issues and we
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: took him for a hearing taste. His hearing had been
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: you know, he did have issues with that hearing. And
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: it has an impact on kids in so many other
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: ways as well, like you've pointed out your speech development
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: and even your general health and well being.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely we cannot ignore the hearing faculty as itself.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: It affects it manifests in many ways in our life
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: because as a broadcaster, Katie itself, you need have good
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: hearing and the ability to communicate. Just imagine a child
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: with no hearing will not be in a position to
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: speak clearly. Yeah, because the zero to five year that
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: age bracket is so crucial because the brain plasticity of
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: a child is the highest at that age category, taped
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: up to that five year because if you put a
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: child in anywhere, they will learn a language and reasonably
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: well up to that five years. Yeah, So that is
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: so crucial. And elderly population and the working class people
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: just imagine that the Australian government is supporting up to
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: twenty six and above sixty five, but between the twenty
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: six and sixty five we need to get the support
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: from our own pocket. Their won't be But for indigenous population,
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: if they are above fifty they will be eligible for
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: free hearing it from feral government funding. But twenty six
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: to fifty, if they engage in community activity, community development project,
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: then they will be eligible for free hearing it too.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Slomon, tell me, are they different things that we can
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: do to really protect our ears and to look after
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: our health.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. The simple thing is blowing the nose. Regular nose
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: blowing is so crucial. And we have a system called
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: esiation tube that balances the middle year pressure. The station
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: tube connects to the back of the throat from the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: middle ear and in northern we are in a hot
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: and humid weather and children wanted to go to their
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: swimming pool. Some children, when they go to swimming for
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: quite often what happens is they will have blocked years.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: So what they need to do they need to blow
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: their nose air rate the middle part of the year
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: and the East station tube will open up and it
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: will equalize the pressure. You will notice that whenever we
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: take off on a plane or when we land, you
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: will feel the pressure. Defense if you swallow, it equalizes
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: the pressure. So when we have that pressure in the
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: middle part, high pressure or low pressure, the children will
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: feel a blocked feeling because up to eight nine a year,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: the east station tube is in a flat plane. After
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: that it will have an incline, so it's much easier
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: to aerate the middle part of the year. So regular
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: nose blowing the hygiene fact tell. And whenever we have
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: a hearing issue, eve the child is not talking very well.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Most likely the child may not be hearing very well.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: And we parents, okay, I am a father of two children.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: We take it for granted that whenever children complain, oh
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: you're a child Okay, I'm not taking it so seriously,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: but I have seen firsthand when I was working at
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Quins and Health after diagnosis, this child has got a
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: hearing laws and the mother said, my son was telling
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: me many times that okay, Mummy, I am not hearing well,
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: and I ignore it for okay, such a long time. Okay,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: no parent should experience that when a child is complaining
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: about mummy or daddy, I am not hearing very well.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: Take to a hearing specialist audiologist and they will do
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: the proper hearing assessment through different audiology tools. We do
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: casestry otoscopy and timber doomety is a test to find
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: out the middle air function, and OE test is the
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: inner ear faction and the pureton audiometry. We have a
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: wide range of testing two to assess the proper here.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so Solomon, to anybody listening this morning, you know
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: who on this hearing Awareness week and thinking to themselves,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: oh look, I'm really you know, I think my ears
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: are okay, but I'm not one hundred percent sure. Or
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: maybe it's somebody who has had serious issues, or maybe
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: it is a parent that has got a child that
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: they're worried that they may have some issues with theory.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Is what is the best thing that they can do?
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: A very important message, Katie. If you have any doubt
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: regarding your child's speech and language development or hearing concerns,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: take them to a hearing specialist. They are audiologists and
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: we have Okay, we will be starting out on audiology
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: practice too, and I am at auditorian and it's so
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: important in territory. We need more audiologists or more audiologist
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: services to us as the hearing of children and adults
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: and right rehabilitation, rehabilitation through hearing aids and surgical pathway
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: that directly take them to the hospital. We will refer
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: them to hospital and that will be a bit delay
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: in surgery. That will be the evitting team is a
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: bit high at the stage and it will happen. But
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: take them to a hearing specialist. They will do proper
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: hearing tests in a sound Peter room.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that is really great advice, I think, because
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: you don't want, you know, you don't want to feel
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: as though they're being left behind or that there are
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: any issues if they if they're not diagnosed, or if
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: they're not able to see somebody quite quickly. Absolutely, Solomon,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: it is lovely to speak to you this morning. I
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: always appreciate you coming in and having a chat with
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: this and I think it's really important. You know, our
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: hearing health is very important now. Ear health is very important,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: and I think that sometimes it's not until something goes
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: wrong with your ears that you realize just how important
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: they are and how much you need your hearing.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and it is my prior and privilege to talk
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: to an award winning journalist who got Order of Australia
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: from Australian governments.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, oh, thanks so much, Salomon Joseph. It is always
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: great to speak to your territory hearing director and principal audiologists.
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: Thank you, lovely, Thank you