27 July 2009
This unique hearing event, organised by Leightons HearingCare, aims to raise awareness of hearing loss in the community of Cirencester and Swindon. The two day event is being held at Cotswold Water Park Four Pillars Hotel on 25th and 26th August and aims to provide a better understanding how hearing actually works.
It will offer a great opportunity to meet representatives from Oticon, Phonak and Resound – the people who make the hearing aids. Come along, have a free hearing test, and see for yourself just how small, stylish and incredibly clever the latest digital hearing aids really are.
See how you hear - NEW
For the first time, Leightons will provide an opportunity for you to actually “See how you hear”. Using one of the latest breakthroughs in hearing healthcare, Leightons can actually show which parts of everyday speech you might not be hearing. This is a great insight for anyone worried about their hearing or for all current hearing aid wearers. Using speech as a tool to identify and measure hearing loss, helps to offer a more intuitive understanding of how communication is affected by a hearing loss.
Talking about digital hearing aids
Leightons will bring together a team of professional hearing aid consultants from three of the world’s leading hearing aid manufacturers especially for the event. Representatives from Oticon, Phonak and Resound, will be on hand to discuss any hearing concerns you might have, and demonstrate the huge advances in today’s digital hearing aids.
Free hearing test
Leightons have always been proud to say they are “the best place to talk about hearing” and this event shows just how true this is. So if you are concerned about your hearing and want to talk to someone, or wish to learn more about the latest digital hearing aids, then book your Free Hearing Test by calling 0800 280 2550.
The free hearing awareness event will be held on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th August 2009 at:
Cotswold Water Park Four Pillars Hotel
Lake 6
Spine Road East
South Cerney
Gloucestershire
GL7 5FP
Map and Directions PDF
- Please contact 0800 280 2550 for further information.
13 July 2009
Very occasionally in one’s life something fundamental happens to change that life for the better. That something has just happened to me.
I have been suffering from impaired hearing for a number of years and have been putting off the ‘evil day’ for ages. A number of things persuaded me to postpone the inevitable for as long as possible. Vanity was certainly one reason and the experience of my father also played its part. Towards the end of his life, he became profoundly deaf and, not with standing the fact that he was a highly intelligent, Oxford educated, professional gentleman, he was treated like a fool on account of his rather obvious and inadequate hearing aid and his consequent tendency to shout.
Over the past couple of months things have come to a head. Having to say to my wife “sorry?” or “would you repeat that?” twenty, thirty, forty times during the course of most days had become very irritating for both of us. It was clear that something drastic needed to be done.
What brought it to a head was a lunch we had in a New Forest restaurant with a couple of friends. We were seated at a wide table and having asked my friend several times to repeat what he had just said, he became somewhat exasperated and said very firmly, “For goodness sake make an appointment with Leightons”. I knew Leightons were opticians but was unaware that they dealt with hearing correction too. With immediate support from my long suffering wife, I made an appointment to go to their local branch.
The consultation took about an hour and was extremely thorough, beginning with my family history and details of my own hearing loss. I have, in fact, been conscious of a deterioration for some thirty years. My profession involves a lot of public speaking and in the early days it was almost always without any PA system, so I would often shout for sustained periods. My hearing was noticeably poorer at the end of a working day than it had been at the beginning. After a few tests my consultant, Glyn James RHAD, asked me to return in a couple of days for a fitting. I must now wax eloquent about the great change to my life. I wear these tiny devices from about 8am until around 11pm each day. I am barely conscious of their existence (apart, of course, from the fact that I can now hear). Indeed, they are so discreet that I am afraid I might jump into the shower with them still in place.
A few days ago I attended a barbecue with an old friend who has been aware of my affliction for some time and, after chatting with him for a while he asked me why I hadn’t asked him to repeat anything. I had to show him the devices because he hadn’t spotted them. He reminded me of a story his father, who was profoundly deaf, used to tell. After he was fitted with these highly efficient hearing aids, his consultant asked him whether his children were pleased. He explained that he hadn’t told his children but just sat in the corner quietly listening to what they were saying about him. He changed his Will four times in a week. I have worn them to a drinks party where I heard pretty well everything that was said (whether I wanted to or not). I have worn them to church, to the cinema, to a public meeting and to lots of business meetings.
Previously I had dreaded these sorts of occasions but now I feel comfortable and confident again. They don’t come cheap – what does? Fundamentally, there are three different choices, which cost from £1,000 to £2,200 per ear. But trust me, if you can afford them, buy them. I had to sell a much loved painting, but it was well worth it. They have truly changed my life. Leightons has more than 30 offices in London and southern England.