Page 31 - 04_May-2025

Sponsored Feature
Can You
Hear Me?
Hearing loss affects more
than your ears
MOST PEOPLE ASSOCIATE hearing loss with
aging, but it can happen to anyone at any age
— from toddlers to young adults to seniors.
Many people who would benefit from
hearing tests do not get their hearing
checked, or put off doing so for years.
Friends, family and colleagues become
even harder to hear, and people can begin to
retreat from work and social life as they lose
their hearing.
Remington Shandro, owner of
Professional Audiology Clinic in Edmonton
and Sherwood Park, says everyone over 55
should get a hearing test. One third of adults
over 65 have hearing loss, but rather than get
tested, they push through — “playing life on
hard mode” as Shandro puts it, to avoid the
stigma or inconvenience of a hearing aid.
Shandro has worn hearing aids himself
since the age of three, a personal experience
that informs his work and allows him to
empathize with his patients.
Often, hearing loss begins with losing
high-frequency sound, so it can sound like
everyone is mumbling. Keeping up with
conversations takes extra effort.
But there aren’t only social consequences
to not getting a hearing test. Untreated
hearing loss is also associated with health
problems, from cognitive decline to
depression to increased fall risk. Shandro
prefers to focus on what treating hearing loss
can add to one’s life, rather than scare people.
“We’ve been able to help people not only
hear again, but reconnect socially, going
back to their book club or friend group,”
Shandro says.
Everyone over 55 should
get a hearing test.
Audiologists don’t just fit people
with hearing aids, though. The staff
at Professional Audiology Clinic
help patients with all things ear
related, from tinnitus to earwax
removal and hearing protection.
In a world of hearing clinics
owned by big corporations and
staffed by hearing aid practitioners,
Shandro is proud to staff his clinic
with professional audiologists,
whose primary education and focus
is health care, helping people make
informed decisions about treating
their hearing loss.
“We’re not just hawking hearing
aids,” Shandro says. “We want to
profaudiology.com
support our patient’s whole health.”
His passion for personalized
patient care is why he bought the
clinic from his mentor Kathleen
Jones two years ago, and continues
to operate the clinic independently.
“We’ve been locally owned for
nearly 40 years,” says Shandro.
“That’s not going to change.”