Subsided hearing tests and moulded plugs

[paulears]

If any of you are musicians, this offer could be really good value.

 

Link here

 

Basically £40 (£30 if you are an MU member) gets you a proper hearing assessment at a clinic near you - they're all over the place - then a set of custom moulds. My musician friends are signing up as the test is a good idea anyway, but the ear moulds very handy.

 

You sign up and there is a questionnaire - they want a referee who can confirm you are a professional musician, and they want 4 URLS of internet locations that prove it. It does look like allied stage type jobs might possibly also be covered, but you'd have to ask.

 

I've been thinking of a hearing test anyway - so forty quid seems a good deal.

[GridGirl]

I would absolutely encourage anyone who can, to do this. Moulded plugs are far more comfortable than any sort of generic plug (and generally better in terms of flat attenuation, which means you hear things fairly naturally, just quieter) and once you've lost your hearing, there's no getting it back, so stopping hearing loss before it gets too bad is super important.

[paulears]

They got back to me late this afternoon approved - so I just have to call them to pay the £40 and make the appointment. A friend says that as they keep the mould data, it's also cheaper to get an IEM mould made up too - so I might look into that too.

[sandall]

It's worth mentioning that hearing tests (but AFAIK not the moulds) are available for free on the NHS (via your GP) & at many high street pharmacies & opticians, though at these only the test is free.

[paulears]

I tried my GP, the waiting list for a non-essential 'check' hearing test is currently around 4 months. The term was 'no clinical need' - which I think is one of the tick boxes the GP has to complete. I suppose you could say you have sudden hearing loss, but you'd have to lie! This GP was also turning away a fella in his twenties who asked for a testicular cancer check, as per the TV campaign in the morning. "What symptoms do you have?" - none he said. He was told he couldn't just have a test because it had been on TV. The same surgery took over the blood test contract locally, but my mum has type 1 diabetes, and this means she has to have her blood tests done by the hospital, as it's a long term condition. Oh - and if you have a cyst or skin tag - these are now no longer treatable at the surgery, and they cannot get you a hospital appointment because again, there is no clinical need. Not very hopeful really.

[cedd]

I applied yesterday and am just waiting to hear back. Thanks for sharing the link. Always been pretty hot on hearing tests anyway. We have them annually at work but they're not the best - the occupational health nurse admitted that she bought the booth on ebay and a few of us have come back having failed on the same day, then passed with flying colours on our follow up appointment!

My problem has always been that booking a hearing test is a sure fire way of guaranteeing I'm going to get a cold!

[sandall]

I tried my GP, the waiting list for a non-essential 'check' hearing test is currently around 4 months. The term was 'no clinical need' - which I think is one of the tick boxes the GP has to complete.

Now that the local CCGs are responsible for all financial decisions I guess it's a bit of a postcode lottery. I had to wait several weeks for my test, but it was pretty thorough. There is always the high street option, if you don't mind fighting off the expensive-hearing-aid salesman at the end of your session.

[paulears]

I’ll wait and see what this private test is like. The NHS one seems to test at quite wide points in the audio band so I’m interested in how detailed it is. I had my eyes tested by a recent graduate in vision express and couldn’t get on with the prescription. The old school local optician spent twice as long and the prescription was very different! I bet their hearing tests are similar!

[sandall]

The NHS one seems to test at quite wide points in the audio band so I'm interested in how detailed it is.

My graph was plotted at 125, 250, 500. 1k, 2k, 3k, 4k, 6k & 8k. After years of sitting beside spinning VT heads I was expecting a deep hole at 1k, but it was actually a steady (if alarmingly steep) slope from 500Hz in both ears.

 

I had my eyes tested by a recent graduate in vision express and couldn't get on with the prescription. The old school local optician spent twice as long and the prescription was very different! I bet their hearing tests are similar!

I tried Specsavers, a local optician & Boots over a 6 month period & ended up with 3 very different prescriptions, paying from £25 to over £300 per pair.The only ones I can get on with are the expensive pair from the local optician, but that might be just because the frames are really light.

[paulears]

If they don’t got higher than 8k how can they monitor your top end dying away? I’d have expected 10,12, and 14 to be checked?

[sandall]

They possibly do - for younger ears :(. I wouldn't know about the high street chains - they are only in it to sell you expensive German hearing-aids.

[pjb304]

I went to a highstreet chain a couple of years ago for a free hearing test and was surprised to find they only tested 3 frequencies(1k, 2k, & 4k), and that the iso-booth was so bad I could hear the audiologist chatting to his colleague whilst the automatic test was running. I was not impressed.

[jamesperrett]

If they don’t got higher than 8k how can they monitor your top end dying away? I’d have expected 10,12, and 14 to be checked?

 

Most hearing tests are only interested in how well you can hear speech. Even 8k is probably superfluous for that. There's nothing to stop you checking your own upper limit yourself though - just be careful with the level that you use.

[kerry davies]

Perhaps I was lucky? I was thinking about hearing protection and passed the David Ormerod hearing centre in Hereford and found the daughter of an old friend, whom I had known since she was in nappies, working as receptionist. She fixed me an appointment and the audiologist turned out to be a drummer in a thrash metal band. I couldn't have dreamed of better service though only got "friends and family" discount.

 

If this offer is anywhere near the test quality and mould quality I experienced I couldn't urge people enough to take advantage of it. Testing above 8-10K is only useful if repeated to monitor deterioration but not essential since we, hopefully, aren't getting measured for hearing aids but hearing protection.

 

I have been wearing reading glasses for well over 20 years and my sight has not deteriorated significantly over that time. Normal sight is keener than 95% of people and the prescription has gone from 2.0 to 2.5 over the years. I do get tested every year for free because my mother had glaucoma and again, I cannot recommend regular testing more if either parent had significant vision problems. The opticians know I can buy cheapo glasses off the shelf so don't even bother offering their expensive ones.

[sandall]

Most hearing tests are only interested in how well you can hear speech. Even 8k is probably superfluous for that.

Probably because that's why most people go for one. I went for a test because I found I was needing the TV sound much higher than my wife, & also had trouble with lecturers who wouldn't use the mic. In the end, because I was "in the trade" & the audiologist turned out to be a music buff, my 10' session turned into a 2-way discussion lasting the best part of an hour. I actually have quite severe HF loss in both ears, so do have the option of wearing hearing-aids, but while I sometimes have to watch overall levels when the band are meant to be "background" rather than in-your-face, I don't get complaints about tonal balance - perhaps because I try to avoid using eq unless it's needed.