• Custom Hearing Protection & Earmoulds
• LACE UK – Listening Skills Enhancement Training

The 3Rs of Checking Your Own Hearing is a very easy-to-remember self-check that you can use on a regular basis as an early warning system for any changes in your own hearing. You don't need any special equipment. It's all based on things you'll encounter in every day life.

We often joke that someone has "selective hearing", meaning they ignore us when it's convenient to them.

But actually, selective hearing is something far more powerful. Its secret lies in the partnership that our ears have with our brain, and harnessing its power can have huge benefits when it comes to listening in challenging situations.

This article explains how.

LACE is an interactive home-study computer or DVD course that enables you to increase your listening skills by up to 45%.

Whether you wear hearing aids, are just acquiring aids, or simply wish to improve your listening skills, LACE training will help you get the most out of the sounds of life.

Many hearing aid users in the UK are missing out on the full benefits of their current hearing technology because it hasn’t been properly optimised for their individual hearing and lifestyle.

That's why we've developed H.A.L.O.™ (Hearing And Listening Optimisation) – to ensure you get the very best out of your hearing aids.

Just how long can you spend in noise before risking damage to your hearing?

The following table is a summary of safe listening times taken from the Government's website on Noise At Work. Our handy table includes the sound levels in dB(A), safe listening times, and some examples of things that are typically that volume to help you put it in context.

This gentleman has very kindly agreed to explain his observations on his recently upgraded Phonak hearing aids. He plays the clarinet so that was an important factor in the choose of technology. We needed to ensure that the sound reproduction for music was natural and without distortion.

The most important tool at work is possibly also the most underrated: your sense of hearing. And if you employ people, it’s your staff’s hearing too. In this article we explore how hearing affects your business's effectiveness and what you can do to ensure it isn't compromised.

The latest research shows that we talk an average of 16,000 words a day – and contrary to popular belief, it's about the same for women as it is for men!

So think how many words we hear on a daily basis – and it's not just the conversation we're listening to. It's all those ones we overhear, the ones on the radio and TV... but are we about to miss the best conversation of our lives?

'I have noticed much more difficulty with hearing high frequency pitches and consonants, as the years have gone by, due to an asymmetrical hearing loss; resulting in a particular problem hearing conversations in busy or noisy environments.

The team at Broom Reid & Harris have been very helpful. They identified a new type of hearing aid which is ideal for people in my position. It sits in the ear, but does not go into the ear canal, and it magnifies the sounds I can’t hear to the right level without blocking out those that I can.

I am involved in a lot of local organisations and my new aid means that I can hear conversations without straining – it has made a big difference.

A lot of people put up with bad hearing because they think it is something that just happens, especially as you get older. My advice would be to have a hearing test and, if you need a hearing aid, to be prepared to wear it – it makes all the difference to your quality of life.

Valerie Bacon