Rehabilitation for Head and Neck Cancers

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, explains the changes in hearing in head and neck cancer patients can be more permanent over the course of their treatment and how this is treated. 

Changes in hearing tend to be more permanent when we're talking about treatment with chemotherapies like cisplatin or carboplatin. With those patients, we're often seeing some changes in hearing over their treatment plan or their course of treatment. That doesn't mean that there aren't things that we can do to help them hear better long term with hearing aids or some other assistive device that might help them on the telephone.

Some of our patients who are receiving radiation therapy directly to the ear or to the neck might have a temporary hearing loss that's related more to fluid and swelling and things in the ear. Those patients might benefit from a visit to one of the ear, nose and throat physicians or nurse practitioners for treatment for that type of hearing loss.

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, describes the Ototoxicity Monitoring Program as the most comprehensive in southeastern Wisconsin. Patients are seen initially for baseline testing before starting treatment, during treatment and at the end of treatment to manage side effects medication or treatment may cause.

Head and neck cancer itself doesn't generally cause hearing loss. Unfortunately though, some of the treatments that we give patients with head and neck cancer can cause hearing loss or other issues with their ears.

That's why we want to — as part of our Ototoxicity Monitoring Program — see those patients before, during and after their treatment. We can carefully monitor their hearing let their oncologists and doctors know those results in case they need to make any change in the treatment plan.

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, explains head and neck cancer treatments can cause side effects including hearing loss, ringing and buzzing noises in ears and possibly, balance issues. 

Unfortunately, some of the treatments for head and neck cancer can cause issues with the patient's ears. The patient may experience hearing loss, ringing or buzzing noises in their ears or balance issues.

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, talks about medications that treat head and neck cancer can cause ototoxicity, or hearing loss. Some chemotherapy treatments and long-term antibiotics can cause hearing loss. 

There are a number of drugs or medications that can cause ototoxicity, hearing loss or ear issues. Some of them are the chemotherapy treatments, such as cisplatin or carboplatin. There are also some long-term antibiotics that can cause hearing loss as well. All of these medications are part of our Ototoxicity Monitoring Program.

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, describes the head and neck cancer treatment team including doctors, audiologists, nurse practitioners, speech pathologists and physical therapists available to any patient having issues with their ears and balance during  head and neck cancer treatment. Hearing aids and services, diagnostics and physical therapy for balance issues are also provided. 

We're fortunate here to have audiologists, speech pathologists, physicians and nurse practitioners — as well as physical therapists — all available to help our patients that might be experiencing any sort of issues with their ears, hearing or balance as a result of their their chemotherapy or radiation treatments.

We provide:

Hearing aids
Hearing aid services
Diagnostics
Medical professionals who can treat other medical causes of hearing loss that that might require an antibiotic
Surgery
Physical therapist to deal with any balance issues that our patients might be experiencing

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, describes the Ototoxicity Monitoring Program as the most comprehensive in southeastern Wisconsin. Patients are seen initially for baseline testing before starting treatment, during treatment and at the end of treatment to manage side effects medication or treatment may cause. 

I'm proud to say that we have one of the best and most comprehensive ototoxicity monitoring programs in southeastern Wisconsin. In our Ototoxicity Monitoring Program, we see patients initially for baseline testing prior to the start of treatment. That way we can get a good idea of what their hearing is like before any measures are taken.

We will also see them during that process — while they're receiving treatment — and there's different protocols depending on what medications or drugs the patients are taking.

At the end of treatment, we like to see them again for testing, so that we can deal with whatever effects that medication or treatment may have caused on their hearing. We alert the physicians and oncologists along the way through this monitoring process and keep them apprised of what's going on with their patients as well.

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, describes the importance of the Ototoxicity Monitoring Program, including information sharing with the patient's treatment team and making sure the patient can hear throughout treatment to maintain communication. 

Sometimes, in the initial stage of treatment, we are just another appointment. Then, when a patient comes in and actually sees what we have to offer them — the counseling that we give them even just as part of our appointments, our contact information so they know how to reach us, the expectations — it changes.

Some patients don't know that hearing loss might be a consequence of their cancer treatment. Giving them this information is very helpful — going through results, following up with them and being a sounding board if they have questions. It becomes a very important part of the process that they weren't expecting it to be.

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, explains that the Ototoxicity Monitoring Program treats patients with head and neck cancers as well as patients with other types of cancer who may receive therapies that affect the hearing. 

As part of our Ototoxicity Monitoring Program, we see patients with head and neck cancer, as well as other cancers that might be best treated with cisplatin or carboplatin. We offer:

Diagnostic services
Hearing aids services
Monitoring services

We're always looking for any way that we can assist them to better function with any hearing loss or other ear-related issues that they might be having.

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, describes the patient offerings of appointments, contact phone numbers, information and results reviews that make the Ototoxicity Monitoring Program an important and helpful part of the patient's head and neck cancer treatment process. 

As part of our Ototoxicity Monitoring Program, we like to look at the patient as a whole. We're not looking at them as just a cancer patient. We're looking at them as a human being, and we want to make sure that we can do whatever we can to ease them through this transition in their life.

We want to make sure that they're able to understand what changes might occur with their ears and their hearing, what we can do to help them deal with those changes if they do occur, counsel their family on what to expect and how to help that patient cope with any hearing loss that they might be experiencing and to just know that we're there for them.

Our goal isn't just to help treat your cancer. It's to help you manage any ramifications of that and to maintain or improve your quality of life

Karen Belgard, AuD, audiologist, describes the Ototoxicity Monitoring Program looking at the head and neck cancer patient as a whole individual and not their cancer treatment only. Coping assistance and counseling for the patient and their family is provided to help the patient maintain and improve their quality of life. 

One of the reasons we monitor patients who are receiving these medications is so we can pass that information to their prescribing physicians to may make changes to their treatment plan. The changes could be the dose of the medication, the medication itself or the mode of presentation. There's all sorts of things that might play into that.

We also are concerned with how the patients are hearing throughout this process. We want to make sure that, if patients are experiencing any hearing loss, we can help them stay a part of the process. We make sure they are able to hear at their appointments and contribute to their treatment plans.