FAQs
Have more questions? Our friendly team are happy to answer all your questions.
- Call us on 8331 8047
- Email us on info@hearingsense.com.au
- Or download the form
There are many different brands of hearing aids. Each brand uses their own:
- Prescription and formulas for amplifying sound
- Way of reducing background noise
- Fitting software which your clinician can adjust to get the right sound for you
- Wires, tips and accessories so we will find the most comfortable solution for your ear
As a result, one brand of hearing aid will sound absolutely clear and amazing to one person yet may not sound as good to someone else.
That’s why we believe brand choice is very important. It’s also why we operate as an independent clinic. Being independent means we aren’t owned by a hearing aid manufacturer. In turn, this gives us the freedom to select the most suitable hearing aids for you – regardless of the manufacturer.
A real life story
A client came to see us because his partner was “fed up” with his hearing problems. Before I called them into the office, I could hear them yelling at each other quite loudly in the waiting room, as he refused to put in his current hearing aids.
When he came in and I began finding out a little more about him, I learnt that he had paid $9000 for a set of hearing aids from another clinic the previous year but never wore them because he didn’t think they made a difference.
After completing a full hearing test and explaining the results using our TV and live demonstrations of ear cells, I asked him to let me reprogram his hearing aids from scratch to see if we could improve the sound. We did this and he noticed an improvement after a week. But he was still having trouble hearing his partner or the TV - especially with any kind of background noise.
I suggested he do a brand comparison and trial a different brand of hearing aid, because there are differences in the prescription and features of each manufacturer’s aids.
He agreed so we proceeded to fit the new hearing aids and set him up with a wireless TV streamer and a microphone which his partner could wear in the car and in noisy restaurants. Using a microphone meant his partner could be anywhere in the house or in a shopping centre and he could hear her as though she was standing right next to him.
After 2 weeks of test driving the different brand of hearing aids in the real world, the client returned for his follow-up appointment. As I walked into reception, I could hear the client and his partner chatting and laughing quietly with each other.
That absolutely made my day because I could instantly tell these new hearing aids had changed their lives!
Having the flexibility to select the right hearing aids from across all brands is VITAL.
Kelly-Mare Korcek, Senior Audiologist
Hearing aid technology can vary greatly between brands and styles. The manufacturers also have different grades of hearing aids. We like to think of them as falling into 4 main categories:
- Premium
- Advanced
- Performance
- Basic
Premium hearing aids tend to have many more automatic features than a basic model. However, the main differences between each category of hearing aid is the way they reduce background noise and focus on speech clarity.
For example, in a noisy restaurant, a premium hearing aid may include moving microphones to automatically find and reduce background noise (using artificial intelligence), while focusing a beam on the voice you want to hear. Whereas a more basic hearing aid will be fabulous for hearing the TV. But when there are high levels of background noise, it will be more difficult to hear conversations.
This doesn’t mean you should always select premium hearing aids!
Your choice should always depend on your lifestyle and the situations that create the most severe hearing problems for you.
The Hearing Sense clinicians strongly believe in making recommendations specifically tailored to each person. We do this by understanding your lifestyle, communication difficulties, your budget and importantly, the results of your comprehensive hearing testing.
Budget is always a factor. That’s why we offer a range of ways to pay for your hearing devices. In addition, we guarantee we will NEVER, EVER push you into buying expensive hearing aids.
In fact, we are so committed to ensuring you purchase the best hearing aids for your needs, we give you a 30 day FREE trial.
Quite often, people delay having their hearing checked because they don’t want anyone to know they need hearing aids. For these people, appearance and invisibility are vitally important. The good news is, modern hearing aids are so much smaller than they once were. Now, there are tiny, discreet solutions - even for people with severe hearing loss.
For other people, small hearing aids are difficult to use or they may have dexterity problems due to health issues like arthritis. That’s why we offer a huge range of styles and sizes of hearing aids at all of our clinics. It’s also why we offer a 30 day free test drive with every new hearing aid. It means you can check out how easy your hearing aids are to use as well as the hearing benefits they provide.
This is a great question to ask because sometimes, one ear may have greater hearing loss than the other. This can occur because of noise damage on one side (e.g. a loud explosion) or an ear infection in just one ear.
As part of your free hearing test, we conduct an audiogram. This is the first key to deciding whether you need one or two hearing aids.
We also take a very good look at your speech understanding in each ear during your comprehensive hearing test assessment. This is important because sometimes damage to the hearing nerves in one ear can be so severe, there will be minimal benefit in fitting a hearing aid to that ear.
Generally, if there is hearing loss in both ears (even if one ear is worse than the other), it‘s a good idea to trial a pair of hearing aids. Your hearing will feel more balanced and even and you won’t need to tell your family to “speak in my good ear”. The brain uses the input from both ear’s to help you hear clearly so generally a pair of hearing devices is recommended.
However, the choice is entirely yours and by trialling a pair of hearing aids, you can experiment by wearing them together or one at a time.
Most people take their hearing aids out when sleeping – unless they are Lyric hearing aids. Of course, it’s perfectly fine if you happen to fall asleep wearing your hearing aids while watching TV.
Most hearing aids are coated with a nano-coating which helps prevent dust and moisture affecting their performance. However, most hearing aids aren’t designed to withstand a full drenching.
If you accidentally get your hearing aids wet, there are a few things to do:
- Take out the battery as rust or corrosion can occur if it’s left in
- Use a cold hairdryer to blow dry the battery compartment and the overall hearing aid
- Leave your hearing aids somewhere warm and dry overnight or in a drying chamber if you have one
Lyric hearing aids are the only exception to this rule as they are placed deep inside the ear canal. That means you can swim or shower with them in place. In addition, we can make a set of custom plugs which we recommend you wear if you are intending to swim with Lyric.
We highly recommend insuring your hearing aids for accidental loss or damage. Then, if you severely damage your hearing aids or simply lose them, this type of insurance cover should allow you to purchase the latest hearing aids of equivalent value. In addition, most hearing aids come with a 3 year warranty.
At Hearing Sense, we can help you with a claim and provide all the necessary paperwork to make it easy to get you hearing well again as quickly as possible.
Hearing aids last for many years – as long as you look after them. We once had a gentleman bring in 20 year old hearing aids which were still working well. But he is the exception. Generally, most people like to replace their hearing aids every 5 – 6 years, but this is entirely up to the individual.
Hearing aids are NOT like glasses. If your hearing changes, we can reprogram your hearing aids at any time to account for the change. It’s all part of our Hearing Experience package where you receive FREE appointments for the life of your hearing aids.
Yes you can and it’s a super easy process.
If you are on a pension or DVA with hearing aids through the government
Simply contact us and we’ll transfer you using the Government Portal. This will transfer your file from your previous provider so we can look after you. It also means we can take care of all your hearing aid batteries and maintenance under the Government program.
Importantly, you DO NOT need to pay us again for the year’s maintenance – it’s simply transferred over.
If you are not on a pension
Simply book in for your comprehensive, free hearing test and we will sign a File Request which allows your file to be transferred. It’s as easy as that! There is no charge for any hearing tests.
We totally believe in making everything possible for our clients to have hearing success and completely and utterly step into life again, hearing clearly. We are very passionate about helping people hear better and just love our jobs!
Kelly-Mare and Pavel Korcek
