Waxing lyrical about hearing: Bellbird Hearing
From the moment you walk through the door of the recently established Bellbird Hearing clinic, you have a sense of a warm and caring environment. The waiting area is inviting, the staff welcoming – a place designed to overcome any reluctance patients may associate with requiring treatment for hearing loss.
After any ear wax removal, we automatically conduct a hearing test to check whether there are any underlying hearing issues,” says owner and senior audiologist Sam Sloane.
Age is a central factor in hearing loss; women over the age of 65 and men over the age of 57 can expect permanent underlying hearing loss. Other common factors include loud noise exposure and ear infections.
Typical signs of hearing loss might be missing soft speech consonants; Tinnitus (a ringing or hissing sound); and not hearing the sound of rain falling and native bird song. “It happens so gradually that people often don’t perceive the change, and often report that their hearing is fine and that people just don’t speak clearly enough,” says Sam.
He and his experienced team have helped thousands of people to better hearing. “Our expertise is in triaging the issue and making the correct appointment for the individual,” he says.
Independently owned
Locally owned and fully independent, Bellbird Hearing is welcoming and comfortable, and not aligned with particular brands of hearing aid technology. If the need for a hearing aid is indicated, the company carries an extensive range of products from all the main manufacturers such as Phonak, GN Resound, Beltone, Unitron, Starkey, Signia, Oticon and Widex.
“It is a huge advantage to be independent. It means we can choose technology to suit the individual’s particular needs,” says Sam. “Where once a person might have gone home and put the hearing aid in the drawer because it just didn’t work for them, we can ensure they go out the door with technology that enhances their life.”
Latest technology
A high proportion of hearing aid candidates desire a totally invisible hearing device, he says. “There are a multitude of tiny hearing aids on the market including the Phonak Lyric and Widex Moment IIC.
“Starkey, an American manufacturer, offers some of the best miniature in-the-ear hearing aids in the world. Early next year it plans to release new hearing devices, including a very small completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aid called the Evolv AI. Despite its small size, it will be able to deliver sound from your mobile phone and is capable of making 55 million sound adjustments every hour to optimise the sound and speech quality in any environment.”
www.bellbirdhearing.co.nz
