Hearing aids make a huge difference
LIKE many people with hearing loss, Steve Javan faced a unique combination of hearing issues and he needed an equally unique hearing system to solve them — unfortunately at that time it didn’t happen when he consulted the NHS for help eight years ago.
“The NHS did the best they could, but they only give you what they’re allowed to give you pricewise,” he says. And for Steve, that was a pair of hearing aids which proved ineffective, particularly in his weaker left ear.
“The NHS audiologist told me they would block out surrounding noise and the brain would get used to it eventually, and know what I was listening to. But I tried that for years and it didn’t work for me. I had the volume up so loudly the hearing aids were screeching. Eventually I bowed to pressure from my wife and booked a free hearing test at Amplifon.”
Amplifon are a global hearing specialist which helps customers in over 22 countries across 8,600 hearing centres worldwide — including more than 200 hearing centres in the UK. An Amplifon hearing test takes an hour and 20 minutes and includes a comprehensive health history, thorough examination of the ears and a series of tests which not only map the sounds and frequencies you can hear, but also mimic real-world scenarios to identify the impact any hearing loss is having in everyday life.
“The test was a lot more thorough than I’d ever had before,” Steve says. “My audiologist identified the problems I had without me having to tell him. Of the hearing are a global hearing specialist who really do go the extra mile.
“Within the first few days I decided it would be a definite ‘yes’,” Steve says, but he remembered his Amplifon audiologist explaining that minor adjustments in the first few weeks would make his hearing experience even better.
So, wanting to make the most of his time with relatives in the States, Steve contacted Amplifon in the UK and was put in touch with an Amplifon audiologist near to where he was staying in Madison, Wisconsin — and they adjusted his hearing aids, totally free of charge.
“The NHS can only do so much and Amplifon provide a fantastic service, so to me it’s worth the extra money. I would say to people, ‘Don’t be afraid to go, because it has changed my life’.”