Going private was the right call

AS she cranked up the volume on the TV again, so she could hear it, Helen Nourish was reminded of her mum. She explains: “My mother wouldn’t get hearing aids, even though she obviously had agerelated hearing loss and needed them. It used to drive me mad.”

But having turned 60, Helen realised that she had now developed her own hearing difficulties and needed to get help.

She says: “It was about five years ago that I began to notice I was suffering with hearing difficulties.

“As well as having the television turned up loud I was always asking people to repeat themselves. It got to the stage where I couldn’t even hear the birds singing.

“My husband John would laugh and say ‘You’re getting just like your mum!’”

Helen, a former credit controller, went to see her GP who referred her to an NHS hearing loss clinic where she was given hearing aids.

She says: “I realise that there are now 66, hasn’t looked back.

She says: “They are so comfortable I forget I’m wearing them.

“The sound quality is much better and they even help with my tinnitus. Because I can hear other sounds better I don’t notice the ringing in my ears so much.

“I was really impressed with the level of aftercare service too. I can pop in any time to have them tweaked.”

One of the biggest advantages Helen has found from her new hearing aids is that they connect to her iPhone.

She explains: “I hear the ringing direct to my ear, rather than from the phone – it’s brilliant.”

Not only has her improved hearing given Helen’s social life a boost, she can also chat happily with her two grandchildren, Sam, 9 and Poppy, 7, again when they call.

She smiles: “It’s wonderful to be able to chat to them on the phone and hear what they are saying at last.

“I would definitely recommend Amplifon to others.”