UK readers may be interested to know that Oxford Hearing Centre are doing a buy-one-get-one-free offer on Rayovac Proline hearing aid batteries. The offer runs from the 1st to the 28th of February and covers sizes 10, 13 and 312.

Below is a list of some of the hearing aid sellers in the UK. I’ve listed the major high-street chains but there are also many, many independent audiologists and sellers operating all over the UK as well.

Specsavers have hearing centres in more than 600 of their branches. I’ve found that this normally means that they have an audiologist onsite on certain days, depending on how popular the store is – I’ve asked in some branches and the audiologist is only in once day every two weeks, other branches it’s twice a week. You can book an appointment online. To find your nearest hearing centre, go here.

Hidden Hearing have been providing hearing aids for over 35 years, they have 75 stores nationwide. Their website is here. You can find your nearest store by going here. You can book an appointment at a branch or a Hidden Hearing audiologist can visit you at home, look here for more info.

The Hearing Company have been providing hearing aids for 50 years. They have over 400 outlets nationwide, mostly within opticians such as: Scrivens, Ronald Brown, Dollond and Aitchison and Conlons. You can find your nearest store here or visit their main website.

Amplifon have brances throughout the UK, you can find your nearest by going here. You can make an appointment with them online. They also have a nice online hearing test on their website.

Want to know about British Sign Language (BSL)? Signstation has video, interactive exercises, pictures, graphics and explanations about BSL and Deaf people at work. Signstation supports Deaf awareness training under the Disability Discrimination Act.http://www.signstation.org/signstation_dictionary/showUserHomePage.do

The comment below is from Paul Weston, he originally wrote this as a comment, but I felt it was worth posting separately as it raises some good points. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he is saying but moving his comment to its own page gives people room for comment.

A quick straw poll of friends shows that of four people that have had hearing aids fitted, four of them are not used. The hearing aid has not been adjusted in a way that gives acceptable sound. 100% dissatisfaction.

I’ve just been fitted with a hearing aid. The specialist said I needed two at $3200 (12 channel) each. I opted for one (6 channel) at $1600. The process has shown severe deficiencies in the ability of the audiologists involved and possibly in the quality of sound from what I consider an expensive aid.

First, the audiologist ignored my specification for a vented tip. When I complained at the first fitting I was told that I wouldn’t get a good result from that type – but that wasn’t mentioned when I ordered the aid. Then a dodgy demo ‘proved’ that a vented tip was prone to feedback – but the closed tip also caused feedback until correctly calibrated.

The adjustment seems very primitive. I would have expected that the aid would be adjusted to match the hearing in my better ear (that has 90% function.) Instead, the aid is reefed up in volume to the max that it will take. I was told I have to ‘maximise’ my hearing. My wishes for a more holistic approach are ignored and the body language of the audiologist is “sit down shut up and accep what WE know is best for you.”
As a result, my ’sound picture’ is distorted. I should perceive a central sound centrally, but with high volume on the right ear, everything is shifted to the right.

I’ve been told to return in 3 weeks for fine adjustment. So I have to suffer what I perceive as too high an amplification and not enough compression (sound smoothing) for three weeks? This is the typical approach used to wear down customers – with such protracted visits they eventually give up and throw the unit in a drawer.
The $1600 hearing aid sounds like a $10 novelty amplifier.

I have been told that it is normal for it all to sound strange and over amplified. What a lot of horse apples. Has it not occurred to the hearing ‘professionals’ that a hearing aid can be introduced at a lower volume for initial comfort and then slowly, over a week or so, brought up to whatever volume the user finds he or she can adapt to?

In my case, with one ear only amplified, surely the aim would be to match the response of the ‘good’ ear. I’d be happy with 90% in both ears instead of 90% in one and a viciously over amplified 120% in the other.

All this talk of 6 and 12 channels sounds impressive but it’s only a graphic equaliser and it wouldn’t surprise me at all (call me a cynic) to discover that a 6 channel hearing aid is a 12 channel hearing aid with 6 channels disabled. These are digital hearing aids. The frequency response is controlled by software.

Then there’s the matter of price. The street price of these aids varies enormously ($800 to $1200) – which leads me to wonder if they’re made for $100 in a factory in Korea.

I’d also question the mechanism by which a money back guarantee is made. I can return the hearing aid and get an almost complete refund. What happens to that hearing aid? I bet it’s not destroyed and I wasn’t offered a refurbished unit. Is the ‘new’ unit I paid for actually new? The package I was given had been opened and the cord used for the recharger had been undone and re-done.

I pay full price for the hearing aid but am I not given the connectors or the software to access the functionality of the unit because obviously I’m old and stupid and ripe for exploitation?

I think it’s time for a big enquiry into the hearing aid industry. My first impressions are of incompetent service and an over priced product.

Be careful not to have your hearing aids turned up too much and put excessive strain on your ears.

If you find yourself wincing at loud noises while wearing your hearing aids, if you start to get ringing in your ears, or if your ears hurt then you should see your audiologist and get them to test your hearing and check your volume settings.

If your aid has a manual volume control then don’t be scared to turn it down a bit when you know you will be in noisy surroundings – you don’t have to stay on the same volume all the time.

Many modern digital hearing aids will have the ability to dampen or cut out excessively loud noises and stop over-amplification occurring – if your aids don’t have a feature like this then you need to control it yourself by turning your volume control down or switching programme to something quieter.

The owner of a Burger King franchise in Newark has agreed settle a lawsuit filed by a student who was fired after one day on the job because the owner discovered he wore hearing aids.

Andy Patel, who owns the Burger King inside the University Hospital complex, reached a settlement with Jordan Myrie Feb. 5 as the student’s lawsuit was about to begin trial in Superior Court in Newark.

Witnesses were expected to testify that Patel showed up at the store after his manager hired Myrie in July 2005, saw hearing aids in both of his ears and told the manager to get rid of him.

“The owner sees that he has a hearing aid and says he doesn’t want that look in his store,” said Myrie’s attorney, Khalifah Shabazz, who announced the settlement today.

She said Patel ignored the pleas of the manager to keep the boy on the job. Patel claimed Myrie was let go because the manager exceeded the hiring budget, Shabazz said. But she said the manager stated in a deposition that the owner made it clear the hearing aids were the issue.

Shabazz, a Newark lawyer, said the student was protected under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed because of a confidentiality agreement. In addition to the monetary settlement, she said, Patel agreed to train his employees on discrimination law.

Jordan, who was 16 when he was hired, lived in Hillsborough and planned to ride to work for the summer with his mother, a University Hospital employee. The youth was born with hearing impairment in both ears.

Shabazz said Myrie, now a student at New Jersey Institute of Technology, was wounded by his dismissal because it confirmed his fears about how other people looked at his handicap.

“This was the kid’s first job,” she said. “It made him fearful about what to expect in life.”

–>The original article on nj.com

Phonak’s revolutionary chip technology powers three exciting new Digital Wireless Accessories: iCom brings Bluetooth to the hearing impaired; the myPilot command center provides full-color display feedback; and iCube enables totally CableFree Fitting.The CORE (Communication Optimized Real-audio Engine) technology developed for the chip used in the new Exélia and Naída hearing instruments permits wireless communication between the left and right hearing instruments and has now produced a trio of leading-edge accessories.

iCom
Outstanding among the three is iCom, a communication interface that hangs around the neck and fits into your life like your MP3 player or cell phone. Featuring full stereo sound, broadband audio streaming, FM connectivity and Bluetooth, it is designed to provide unlimited wireless connection to entertainment and communication devices.

iCom receives Bluetooth signals from a mobile phone, wirelessly streaming them to both Exélia or Naída instruments like a Bluetooth headset. As a result, hearing impaired people using their cell phones will be in a better position to understand in noisy situations than people with normal hearing. And accessing the full range of functions couldn’t be easier: they’re all available at the touch of a single button.

But Bluetooth isn’t intended just for phone use: it hooks an iCom up to all the other devices that are part of our lives, such as laptops, MP3 players, televisions, GPS and stereo systems. The alternative to Bluetooth is a wired connection between the audio jack of iCom and the headphone output of any audio device. To integrate FM solutions, simply click an FM receiver on iCom and you can pick up speech with a transmitter and receive it in a range of up to 65 feet.

myPilot
Although modern digital hearing instruments are designed to work automatically, some end-users welcome the option of manual control. With myPilot, Phonak introduces a brand-new generation of remote controls with a host of new functionalities that provide access to completely new features such as ZoomControl. Bidirectional communication between myPilot and the hearing instrument allows wearers to change individual settings and obtain useful status information such as battery levels, volume, or current program. This information is shown on a large color display. Convenient functions such as time and date displays and an alarm are also integrated.

iCube
Finally, new wireless CORE technology simplifies the programming process for the fitter. Until now, connections between hearing instruments and the PC have been established with cables. The iCube fitting device facilitates CableFree Fitting by streaming the fitting data wirelessly to the hearing instruments. The result: reliable, hassle-free fitting, according to Phonak.

Source: Phonak via The Hearing Review

“You can use those Starkey Destinys but a pair of Oticon Epochs would be much better for you. The Epochs are cutting-edge tech” said the audiologist. “Why would the Epochs be better?” I asked. “The technology is far more advanced…. ” he replied.

I’m sure an Oticon Epoch is more advanced than a Starkey Destiny but I really wanted that audiologist to tell me why the Epochs would allow me to hear better. I wanted to know how they’d sound different, how they’d sound better and clearer and what things I’d be able to hear with them that I wouldn’t be able to with the Destinys. Difficult questions to answer, I’m sure – but would he be better placed to answer them if he himself wore them?

I think he would.

I visited a new audiologist recently, an audiologist who is hard of hearing and wears a hearing aid herself. When I first found out she wore one I was very surprised but also very pleased: at last, someone who can fit me with hearing aids who truly understands my problems. She wears an Unitron Moxi, which she is recommending to me and have more confidence in her recommendation because she has used it herself and knows the aid inside out. What’s more, she has a very similar level of hearing loss to me and so I can see the Moxi in action as if I were using it.

When we came out of the consulting room and went to the front of the shop to make a follow-up appointment one of he colleagues spoke to her, she heard her clearly and responded, all I heard was a mumble. I also noticed that when she asked me for my personal details she was able to hear my address details first time – not something I could do at the moment with my Starkeys as I am relying on context to build sentences a lot of the time.

It was great talking with her, I’ve been able to ask so many questions about the Moxis, such as: Do they work well with phones? How long it the battery life? Etc. She has also been able to talk about how the noise reduction sounds, how the different programs sound, how comfortable the aid is and so on. This is all stuff you want to know when buying a new aid and stuff you usually need to find out for yourself during your trial period.

Plantronic Clarity have released a new phone for the hard of hearing – the C4230 telephone / answering machine. Features include:

Volume and tone control – A volume boost control allows you turn up to a maximum of 50db. As well as volume boost, the C4230 allows you to change the tone to suit your own hearing loss – a chart supplied with the phone guides you on tone settings that will help you.

Light and vibration alerts –  You can hook this phone up to some of Clarity’s alerting products, such as lamp flashers and bed shakers.

InventorSpot carries a detailed user review in which the phone performs very well.

Melinda Beck has written in the Wall Street Journal about her experiences with a Widex Inteo aid. It’s an interesting article because it touches on some of the problems that new hearing aid wearers face, such as:

A rush of new sounds: New aid wearers will be hearing many sounds that they haven’t heard for a long time (if ever) – this can be overwhelming to begin with, but as Melinda noted with the rustling crisp packets, it soon becomes background noise.

The telephone: The enemy of many hearing aid wearers. Some phones and hearing aids just don’t play together, with others you have to work out exactly how to hold the phone to your ear to get the best chance of hearing and avoiding feedback. This is particularly true with BTE models that have the microphone above the ear.

Melinda did return the Inteo at the end of her trial but from her closing sentence I think it may not be long before she pays the audiologist another visit.

Getting an earful: Testing a tiny, pricy hearing aid.

Another interesting thing about the article is Melinda’s opening sentence: “Let’s get one thing straight: I’m much too young for a hearing aid.” That’s probably written with her tongue firmly in the cheek but I think it does reflect on an attitude that many people have that, unfortunately, means that they will not seek the help they need to correct their hearing loss.