Brian: 0:11

All right. Well, welcome back to the Vero Beach podcast. This is part two of our interview here with Alexis here from Trilogy and Audiology. Not Trilogy Hearing and Audiology. Is that correct? Is that correct? Yes. All right. All right. I can't say the word correct, but I got the business name correct after a while. Well, we're excited to get into part two here, Alexis, where we get to talk to you more about the behind the scenes of your business. And I know it's you're launching. And I meant to ask this question as the closing question last time, and I totally failed on that. So I'm going to ask that at the beginning of this episode. As a business owner, one of the things that I'm always curious about is I know we all have our purpose and what our goals are. To you, what does success look like?

Alexis: 0:54

So success is if someone comes to me for a problem, whether it be ringing in the ears, hearing loss, maybe they had a bad experience somewhere else, just planting a seed for the future, even if maybe nothing is done, no treatment is is taken place at that time. Maybe they're not ready, but I've made a friend, right? So and maybe they'll remember me in the future when either they are ready or you know something changes.

Brian: 1:19

I love that.

Alexis: 1:20

Alexis, tell us what a typical day looks like for you. Okay. Well, I come into the office and check messages first thing after I get the computer up and running and immediately try and call people back if anyone has called after hours. Because if they leave a message during the day, I always try and get back to them by the end of the day. Uh check my schedule for the day and still building my client, my database, my patient database. So um I've been doing physician marketing in the area, trying to meet other local professionals, doctors, businesses, just letting them know that I am here. And again, that's why I have both hearing and audiology in my business name because not everyone knows what audiology is, but everyone knows what hearing is. Yeah.

Brian: 2:05

Yes.

Alexis: 2:05

But audiology, most people don't know that the first point of contact for hearing and balance care is an audiologist. And I'm focused more on hearing now since I am smaller down the road. Maybe I can add the balance side, but at least for navigating balance issues or questions, just informing the community and educating not only about early intervention for hearing loss, but just exactly what I do. And then since I'm inside Florida i Institute, there already are patients coming in. That was a great partnership. If there's people in the waiting area, I try and go out and introduce myself. That personal connection is really important. The day is always changing right now, depending on how busy I am with actual patients.

Shawna: 2:43

That makes sense. So I would have thought that audiology only had to do with hearing loss. But then you've mentioned several other things that I didn't even think of, like ringing in the ears, balance issues. Is there anything else that would be a sign of something that someone would need to see you for?

Alexis: 3:00

Sudden hearing loss is a very big issue that can happen maybe from acoustic trauma or an inner ear infection or otherwise. If someone contacted an audiologist and told them what they're experiencing, we would know whether they need to come to see us as the audiologist or go straight to an ear, nose, and throat doctor. Because a lot of times the hearing test will identify exactly what's happening. So there's the medical side, we know when to refer out if a medical is needed. But on the clinical side, if someone maybe does realize they have a ringing, a buzzing, some type of sound in the ear that maybe has worsened or it's come on all of a sudden. The first step is checking the hearing because that gives us information of what can be going on. And then we counsel based on what we find. A lot of people that maybe have been seen in the past for tinnitus or tinnitus, the sound in the ear have been told that nothing can be done. And it's true, there is no cure, but there are ways to manage it, which a lot of folks don't realize. And we provide what that management is.

Brian: 3:56

Do you use Chat GPT or anything like that?

Alexis: 3:58

I have.

Brian: 3:59

Okay. So I would encourage you to be like go into Chat GPT and say, hey, I want you to like when you're writing articles, write articles based off of those problems, like what Shauna just talked about, like you know, people having struggles having a hard time hearing, because that's what people are Googling. Right. But tell it to optimize it for AEO. That's answer engine optimization. Because like one of the key things that we're looking at, and and knowing that you know you're new and starting this, like a lot of things is a lot of people. This is again, sorry, people if I'm boring you, but this is the marketing side. I know that when it comes to like there we're in this era called zero click where people aren't they're not searching when they search Google and stuff, they're not clicking on anything, they're just getting their answers from AI.

Alexis: 4:43

Right. Because now that pops up at the top. I know I know.

Brian: 4:45

So some of the things we've been messing with is writing articles like blogs, but having it optimized for AEO, then that's giving answers to questions that people are searching in hopes that AI will recommend your answer and then it links to your article. Oh, yes. Okay. Yeah. So just kind of be thinking about that as you're going through because you you're solving people's problems, and a lot of them don't know what that problem is. They just know that I'm having I have this ringing in my ear. So if you write things about that ringing in the ear, there are these signs of you know, hearing loss or anything like that, that will help more people find you because that's the people that's needing your help and the ones that's gonna be searching for that stuff. So right, yeah.

Alexis: 5:23

Good to know. Thank you.

Brian: 5:23

So, yeah, yeah, definitely. So, okay, so I'm curious how many people suffer with hearing loss?

Alexis: 5:29

I think just in general, it's about one in seven with age increase, then that statistic varies. Okay. But I mean, usually when someone is experiencing hearing loss and family members are saying it's already been present for some time, right? It comes on gradually. It usually isn't something that we just wake up overnight and we're having these hearing difficulties. So it's important to get a baseline when we're younger. And then if something changes, we have that to look back at. If there's a medical component, maybe someone has a stroke that could affect the hearing on one side. We would know based on their previous evaluation, was that there always or is it a change? Because it helps us better treat the issue and counsel regarding it as well.

Brian: 6:46

Gotcha. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. So what are some of the signs to be paying attention to with our kids and stuff as well, or with our parents as well, our elderly parent?

Alexis: 6:56

You know, um, asking to repeat in social situations is usually a big indicator, maybe missing the punchline in conversation and having to ask your friend or someone next to you, or maybe you just begin to isolate in a social environment because it's too hard to separate out what's being said. That's a big component. And we're seeing that problem happen even with people with normal hearing loss having trouble hearing in background noise. And there's also ways to manage that and possibly treat it. Turning the TV up is one of the first signs. And in this day and age with streaming and how TVs are made, it can vary, right? But that is a good indication if you need it louder than everyone else. If you feel like when people speak, it's they sound muffled or they're talking too fast. Now, a lot of times people may talk rapidly and that's a real thing. But a lot of times, if it sounds if you feel like people are mumbling, it may indicate there's a hearing issue. It's not always everyone else. It may be all these people mumble now.

Shawna: 7:54

Exactly. Are there um emotional side effects to what people are dealing with too when they have hearing loss or some of these other problems? Absolutely.

Alexis: 8:02

So um it can actually show up as anger or um aggressiveness, especially in social situations, um, family gatherings. I will hear this often where maybe that person experiencing hearing loss, since they are having difficulty hearing, they may dominate the conversation and talk over people so they feel more in control and they may not even realize that they're doing it. Respond in a more aggressive manner as well. If they misheard something, misinterpreted, and then they're getting told by their friend or loved one, you know, that they did mishear, maybe a little blaming because the denial can go along with it. And especially if there's a known hearing issue and someone's not motivated to take care of it, they may just begin to isolate. They can go the other way where they pull away of social environments. Maybe they aren't going out with friends as much because they get tired of asking people to repeat, they get tired of not hearing, which can then lead to depression. And that's there's so many things tied to our hearing help, which we don't want our quality of life to change just because of hearing, which is oftentimes a very treatable hearing issue or health issue. But to touch on symptoms of hearing loss, I didn't mention um it can feel like a plugged feeling in one or both ears, which it may just be wax. And oftentimes, you know, the first test we do is check into the ears with an otoscope, which is a light that shows us if we can see the eardrum, how much wax. Because if there's wax, that can also lead to ringing in the ears, muffled hearing. So it may be something as simple as that.

Brian: 9:34

Tell us a little bit more about the services, all the services that you offer here, and maybe you kind of explain a little bit to us what those are.

Alexis: 9:40

Absolutely. So I offer hearing testing, not only for the purpose of hearing aids, but again for tinnitus. So someone is experiencing any type of sound in the ears that seems abnormal and other people aren't hearing it, either new onset or longstanding. We um can evaluate for the tinnitus and maybe find ways to manage it and just counsel about it and try and find what the cause is. Sometimes we can do that, sometimes we can't, but the hearing evaluation is the first step. And then also earwax removal services and hearing protection. So I take custom molds of the ears for hearing protection. I actually have gone to the last two gun shows in at the Vero Beach fairgrounds advocating for noise-induced hearing loss, preventing that. Wow. Yeah. Because it's really common. Even hunters, you know, will admit they don't wear hearing protection because only a few shots. And that really at that level, without any protection, without a suppressor, can cause permanent damage, just that one shot. Advocating for hearing protection, most folks don't know that audiologists can take the mold of the ear in the office and we can order whatever type of hearing protection. So dental work, concerts, sports, swimming, if they've had trouble with ear infections, swim plugs for children is really common. If they've had tubes, you know, they got to keep the ear dry with plugs. But with adults, if they get hearing protection, it's typically one and done because we're fully grown. The ear's not really going to change for, you know, decades. So that's a service we provide. A lot of people aren't um aware of.

Brian: 11:08

With doing the molds and stuff, do you guys do you do molds for like uh in ears as well? I'm curious about that.

Alexis: 11:14

So that gets a little more specific. It depends because my son, we did do the impressions for the in-air monitors, and they have very specific instructions. So it depends on the company.

Brian: 11:25

Okay.

Alexis: 11:25

Um, because they require a certain type of mold. But most often, yes, we can do an ear impression for any kind of mold that's needed, but the in-ear monitor specifically can be a little tricky. It depends on the company.

Brian: 11:37

All right. Your website describes your approach as the trilogy way. So can you explain what that means?

Alexis: 11:44

So that's the three-part process and diagnose is the first step. So we want to diagnose what the actual problem is. I get a thorough case history, find out exactly what the patient is hoping to accomplish, why are they seeing me? And then we're going to find out where the hearing is, what the other issues are, and then treat it, whether it be removing the wax and then we check the hearing, maybe everything's fine. Or there's hearing loss, we're going to treat with hearing aids, or maybe we're going to be doing a treatment plan for the tinnitus. A lot of times when people are experiencing tinnitus, they may also have hearing loss, but the tinnitus is overpowering. They don't even realize that's all I can focus on, but they don't feel that it's a hearing problem. And a lot of times treating the hearing problem will also treat the tinnitus. The treatment that's all discussed in during the second part of the process is how can we treat it? Can we treat it? Or do they need to go to a medical provider? And then the final part, once we have applied treatment or move forward with a treatment plan is verifying the outcome. So we have outcome measures in place with questionnaires. And then also, so that's the subjective part, pre and post. Are they getting improvement? Do they feel themselves that they are what we have treated is working? The problem is better. And then there's the verification, which is subjective, which is testing that we are doing. Like if with hearing aids, for example, we test and measure the hearing aids to ensure that they are working as well as they can for audibility, for clear speech, rather than just saying, How are you hearing? You know, by programming what the computer tells us, we take it to the next level by verifying what the treatment plan is, that it is indeed meeting the needs.

Brian: 13:21

Well, that's like that. That's really cool. That's a very good explanation. I'm glad you had that because it was on your website.

Shawna: 13:27

So yes, exactly. She has what's on her website.

Brian: 13:29

All right. So I have one more question for you. Which service do you think people underestimate the most and why?

Alexis: 13:36

I think just getting a baseline hearing evaluation, people don't feel that it's necessary until there's a problem. And preventative health overall, that's one aspect with the hearing that is so simple. It's very affordable. I'm not taking insurance at this time, but the cost for just a hearing evaluation is less than $50. Oh, wow. So when you think about how we spend our money day to day, it is important to get a hearing check. And then if there is a hearing problem, to routinely get it checked every few years, if not annually. So I think that really is the most undervalued. People don't feel that that is a necessary need.

Brian: 14:10

I mean, yeah, that's pretty cheap. I mean, that makes me think like I should probably get mine tested.

Shawna: 14:14

Right. Yeah. I'm so happy you were willing to say that because yeah, right away I was like, oh, I mean, yeah, we should be doing that.

Brian: 14:20

That's really interesting. Like, I mean, well, even like we talked about earlier about the emotional side effects of dealing with hearing loss, just being able to find out earlier that you have some issues there is gonna reduce all that emotional trauma too that you could have.

Alexis: 14:36

Absolutely, because the awareness is there, you're gonna be it's gonna be more top of mind.

Brian: 14:39

Yep. All right. Well, this has been a great episode. I'm getting excited to get into part three where we're gonna talk about Vero Beach. What do you love about Vero Beach? So with that, Say dear neighbor.