Free Hearing Check

All assessments are carried out to national standards and using recommended protocols. Accurate evaluation requires a few things.

First, the equipment has to be calibrated to ensure accurate sound levels are produced. Second, the audiologist has to be experienced and follow best practice guidelines.

Third, the person having the test has to respond correctly. Sometimes this is difficult for a range of reasons, and it is the skill of the audiologist to determine if accurate responses are being given.

If a person can follow simple instructions, then a hearing assessment is possible. So, for most adults, carrying out a test is straightforward. Sometimes if a person has tinnitus, this interferes with the test, however, there are ways to deal with this.

For children, there a different techniques which can be used, often called play audiometry when listening games are used to interest the child.

So for most people, testing hearing is possible.

There are several reasons why an accurate hearing test cannot be carried out. Some of them are shown below.

The person has an ear infection which is making the ear discharge, or their ear is sore.

The person has been in a very loud environment in the last 24 hours.

The person is on medication which is making them drowsy.

The audiologist will always ask relevant questions to ensure the hearing test should be carried out.

Pure tone audiometry is the standard hearing evaluation carried out when a person listens to single pure tones in a quiet environment.

There are several advantages of carrying out more advanced listening tests. Speech-in-noise tests are carried out in our Leeds audiology clinic. These tests assess how difficult it may be for a person to hear speech sounds in the presence of background noise.

These are useful because different people have different abilities to hear speech sounds even if their pure tone audiograms are the same. For anyone considering hearing aid technology, these tests are routinely carried out at The Hearing Space.

A hearing check is a shortened version of the full pure-tone audiometry hearing test.  Instead of testing all the frequencies of sound that are included in a full pure-tone audiogram, the screening hearing test focuses on the most important frequencies that we need to hear for speech understanding. If these are found to be not heard well, then a more complete hearing test is usually recommended.

If you or your family or friends suspect you have a hearing problem, then you should get tested as soon as possible. Hearing deteriorates as we get older and for some people, this change happens more quickly.

If you have never had an audiology test, then getting one around age 50 will give you a good understanding of your hearing level for future reference.

Most people who experience hearing loss wait at least 7 years to get help. With new research now showing links between untreated hearing loss and a higher risk of dementia, at our audiology clinic we recommend a hearing test at regular intervals.

Many high-street hearing aid chains offer free hearing tests. Yes, they are free at the time of testing, however, they are usually a marketing tactic to get people to visit their store. In reality, the time necessary to perform an accurate hearing test and to determine the needs of a person costs money.

At The Hearing Space, we want to be open about costs and thus we charge for hearing tests. If you are over 50 however, we do offer a free hearing check.

Yes and no. Our online hearing test can be carried out at home and will give you an indication if further testing is recommended.

We would always recommend a full hearing test if you have noticed problems with your hearing.

We offer full diagnostic hearing test, all performed to national standards.