What happens during a hearing assessment? 

For over 50s it's recommended you have a hearing test every year, this is because over 40% of people over 50 have hearing loss*. If you think you have a degree of hearing loss its important to get it checked as soon as possible because the earlier it’s treated the greater your chances of preventing further loss are. Hearing loss has also been linked to depression and it's important to treat it for our overall health and well-being. Plus, in most cases it's your friends and family who suffer the most as they are repeating themselves and listing to a loud television.
_{*Action on Hearing Loss 2018}

A hearing test is a non-painful, non-intrusive assessment that is carried out by a qualified Hearing Aid Audiologist. It typically lasts for an hour and can take place in one of our shops, a clinic or even in your own home.

The Hearing Aid Audiologist will want to know about you and your hearing so will ask you some questions to build a picture of your history. Using an Otoscope the Audiologist will look into your ear to examine it for any signs of infection, damage to the ear drum and any abnormalities. To understand how you hear speech without being able to lip read or how you hear in background noise, the Audiologist will ask you to repeat a list of words back to them. Finally, you will listen to different sound frequencies through headphones and the results will be plotted onto an Audiogram. After all this, the Audiologist will be able to explain the hearing loss you are experiencing, if any, and what solutions are available to you.

The first and probably most important thing to remember is that even though it is named as a hearing assessment, there is no pass or fail. This first step in your journey to better hearing health is about finding out if we can help with any hearing loss you may have, so we understand that it can be quite daunting. This is also why we recommend bringing along support such as a friend or family member. All our hearing aid consultations including our hearing assessments are completely free – you don’t part with a penny!