Opting to go private paid off for me

Steve Javan says regaining his hearing was worth every penny

“I’d say to people don’t be afraid to go because it’s changed my life.”

When his wife remarked on the weather because she could hear the rain hitting their conservatory roof, Steve Javan admits he was none the wiser. Now he can hear every raindrop thanks to Amplifon, the global hearing specialist dedicated to helping people hear better since 1950.

When he first encountered hearing loss eight years ago, Steve was prescribed hearing aids from the NHS but they did little to improve his hearing.

“The NHS did the best they could and they can only give you what they’re allowed to give you price wise,” he says.

The hearing aids he was given proved ineffective, particularly in his weaker left ear. “I had the volume up so loudly that the hearing aids were screeching”, Steve comments. “Eventually I bowed to pressure from my wife and booked a free hearing test at Amplifon.” The testing process was of a completely different standard, he remembers. “It was a lot more thorough than I’d ever had before and my Audiologist identified the problems I had without me having to tell him. Of the hearing aids I’d had in the past he said one of them had been doing nothing because I had hardly any hearing left in that ear. That’s when he explained to me I could use a cross-over system.”

“There was a huge difference straight away, it was superb,” Steve says. “There was a different volume and clarity of sound when talking to people, even being in a room with other noise going on.”

Though he was sure of the difference already, Steve was offered a month’s trial before committing to the new system. “I’d already decided within the first few days that it would be a definite yes,” he says.

Now with his “neater and less conspicuous” hearing aids, life is a lot clearer and has allowed Steve to indulge in his favourite hobbies. “I used to play in brass bands and I listen to a lot of music so I can pick up the sounds a lot more now – you don’t realise over the years how much you’re losing your hearing,” he says. “I can also wear earphones now, which I couldn’t before. Furthermore we have a conservatory at home and in the past my wife, Jackie, would say it was starting to rain because she could hear it on the roof, but I couldn’t hear it. Now it’s as plain as anything.”

His family have also noticed a difference, especially his eightyear-old granddaughter in the US. “When we’re video calling she says ‘I don’t have to shout anymore’ and she no longer sees me as ‘daft papa’ who can’t hear her.”

Steve is one of many people Amplifon has helped in more than 22 countries worldwide. With 200 hearing centres in the UK, Amplifon’s Audiologists combine their expertise and the latest digital technology to provide tailored solutions to enable customers to hear clearly again in all environments and in every situation.

“The NHS can only do so much and Amplifon provide a fantastic service so to me it’s worth the extra money,” Steve says. “I feel part of the conversation now and Jackie doesn’t have to be my ears all the time, repeating what people are saying. “I’d say to people don’t be afraid to go because it’s changed my life.”

Steve Javan