THE HEARING CARE PARTNERSHIP
HEARING TESTS
St Neots Only
What is a hearing test?
A hearing test helps determine if you have hearing loss, whether minor or more severe. At The Hearing Care Partnership, our free hearing assessments are easy and painless.
Your audiologist will ask about your lifestyle, go through your medical history, and perform a variety of tests – otoscopy, tympanometry, pure tone audiometry, and speech tests.
We’ll talk through your results with you, whether you need any treatment, and if hearing aids could be beneficial.
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When was your most recent hearing test?
How often do you visit the doctor, dentist or optician? And when was the last time you had a hearing test? If it wasn’t recently, you’re not alone. But it’s just as important to visit an audiologist regularly.
Having regular hearing tests will help you keep your hearing healthy and will help us increase the chance of catching any irregularities early on, avoiding any further hearing decline.
This is particularly important if you’re over 50, as the risk of hearing loss rises to 40% in this age group. Increasing again to 70% in the over-70s.
Am I eligible for a free hearing test?
All adults are eligible for a free hearing test at The Hearing Care Partnership. You don’t need a GP referral or to go through the NHS, simply book an appointment directly with us. Our friendly audiologists are here to ensure you feel comfortable and supported throughout the process.
Apart from difficulty in hearing, hearing loss can also affect your psychological wellbeing. Feelings of isolation and frustration are common amongst those suffering from hearing loss as they find it harder to interact and communicate with other people, so they often avoid doing so altogether. Depression and even dementia are more likely to develop if hearing loss is not addressed, so the warning signs shouldn’t be ignored.
How do I know if I need a hearing test?
Perhaps you struggle to enjoy conversations when there’s too much background noise, you often need people to repeat themselves or speech can sound muffled or lack definition – these are all signs that you might be experiencing hearing loss.
As hearing loss is often gradual, it can be hard to tell it’s happening. In fact, it’s often a loved one that notices your hearing loss long before you do. On average, it can take around seven years for someone to recognise and accept their hearing loss and choose to wear hearing aids.
Here are some of the signs:
Finding it difficult to communicate in groups or with background noise
Missing sounds like the doorbell, oven timer or phone calls
Feeling isolated from conversations due to hearing difficulties
Turning up the TV volume louder or needing subtitles
Persistent ear ringing
Needing to ask people to repeat themselves
