Which hearing aid should I choose?

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Your ears are as unique as you are! There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach when it comes to choosing your hearing aids. Our Hearing Aid Audiologists are experts in helping you choose the right hearing aid – as well as basing their decision on your hearing loss and your ear shape, they’ll ask you about your budget, the style you’d like, and the functions you want.

Summary

How do I find out if i need a hearing aid?
Which hearing aids should I buy?
Can I adjust my hearing aids?
The steps to hearing better
Do I need two hearing aids?

How can I find out if I need a hearing aid?

Because hearing loss is so gradual, it’s not always easy to notice if you’re not hearing as well as you used to. Here are some signs you can look out for:

The TV’s volume is too loud for other members of your family
You find it difficult to keep up with conversations when there’s background noise
Chatting on the phone is tricky even when the room is quiet
You feel like people are mumbling a lot, and you have to ask them to repeat what they’ve said.

Often it’s your loved ones who notice a hearing loss before you do – so they might hint that you’re finding it difficult to hear too.

Luckily, at Boots Hearingcare, it’s easy to find out if you how well you’re hearing. Our free online hearing check can give you an idea in only a few minutes. You can also book a free 15-minute hearing check at your local Boots Hearingcare by clicking here or calling us on 01 5060164 .

If the test indicates that you could be hearing better, we’ll invite you back for a full hearing assessment, which takes around 75 minutes. If we think a hearing aid could help you, then you’ll be invited for further appointments to discuss the different options and have your hearing aid fitted.

More than just a hearing aid

We know that the expertise, care and advice that’s available is just as important as the hearing aid you choose. That’s why all our appointments are free, and your hearing aids come with free aftercare for life – meaning that whenever you need us, you can book an appointment and we’ll help without it costing you a penny. We also offer a 90-day money-back guarantee on all our hearing aids, so if you don’t feel that the hearing aid is the right one for you, you can return it within 90 days and we’ll give you a full refund.

Which hearing aid should I buy?

We’ll help you choose the right hearing aid based on a few different factors: the first is the nature and severity of your hearing loss. We’ll also ask you about your lifestyle, the type of work you do, and your hobbies: for example, making a lot of phone calls, spending a lot of time in the car, having a very active social life, or spending more time at home are all factors that can help your Hearing Aid Audiologist advise you on which hearing aids will work best for you. They’ll also bear in mind your ease with technology, the style you’d prefer, and the shape and size of your ear canals when they present the different options to you.

Can I adjust my hearing aid?

When your Hearing Aid Audiologist fits your hearing aid for the first time, they’ll tailor its settings so it’s right for you. In your follow-up appointments, they can make other minor adjustments and tweaks if you’d like them. You might find it useful to keep a hearing diary in order for you to remember certain situations where you noticed you’d like the volume or the settings to be tweaked, and then bring it to your next appointment to show your Hearing Aid Audiologist.

It might take a little while to get used to your new hearing aids and you might find they need a couple of adjustments.

The steps to better hearing with Boots

Step 1: Your free 15-minute check

The first step at Boots Hearingcare is a free 15-minute hearing check done by a Boots Hearingcare expert. Anyone over 18 can have a free hearing check at Boots! We’ll do a short hearing test and if it looks like you aren’t hearing at your best, we’ll invite you back for a longer appointment so we can do a more thorough hearing test. Our Hearingcare experts can also answer any questions you have about hearing loss and offer any advice and tips about how you can hear better.

Step 2: A full hearing assessment

The next step is a full hearing assessment where a Hearing Aid Audiologist will do a longer, more detailed hearing test wich includes a test to see how well you can hear in background noise. After a full hearing assessment which lasts around 75 minutes, your Hearing Aid Audiologist will decide if they think a hearing aid could help you.

Step 3: Finding the right solution

If a hearing aid could help you, and you’d like to find out more, your Hearing Aid Audiologist will work with you to learn about your lifestyle, your hobbies, and the situations where you’re struggling to hear. They’ll use this and other information like your preferred style and your budget to advise you on some hearing aids that might be right for you. They’ll talk you through the different options and answer any questions or concerns that you might have, and you’ll be able to experience the difference hearing aids could make.

Step 4: Your new hearing aids

You’ll be fitted with your new hearing aids! Your Hearing Aid Audiologist will talk you through using them, showing you how to change the batteries or charge them, how to clean them, and how to put them in your ears and take them out. At Boots Hearingcare, we offer a 90-day money-back guarantee on all our hearing aids, so if you change your mind at any point in the first 90 days, we’ll give you a full refund.

Step 5: Free aftercare for life

Once you’re happy with your hearing aids and you’re getting used to wearing them every day, we’ll invite you back to see us every 12 months so that we can check your hearing aid over and talk to you to make sure you’re still hearing at your best. But you’re welcome to book an appointment at any time in one of our stores across Ireland - and don’t forget, all our appointments are free!

Do I really need two hearing aids?

Hearing with both ears is called binaural hearing. Binaural hearing allows you to determine which direction a sound is coming from: it will reach one ear a fraction of a second sooner (and more loudly) than the other.

Your brain uses the time between when the sound reaches both your ears to calculate the direction that the sound has come from. This means that the only reliable way to tell where a sound comes from is by having two healthy ears, it also helps to hear better in background noise.

Binaural hearing is essential for things like being able to determine where a car is coming from so you can cross the road safely – it could save your life!

Two healthy ears – two hearing aids
Most forms of age-related hearing loss affect both ears. Even if one ear is worse than the other, it’s usually better to have two hearing aids – they can be programmed differently so that each one is perfectly tailored to the hearing loss in that ear. In short, you need both your ears working at their best to let you hear at your best – it’s as simple as that.