Month: September 2024

Welcome to the third article in this blog series on entering into the world of hearing aids. So far we’ve discussed trying hearing aids for the first time and what it might feel like when you first begin wearing your devices.

During this article, we’ll be discussing some of the thoughts you might be having if you’re coming towards the end of your trial period. Furthermore, I’ll offer some reflections that I hope will help guide your decision about whether you would like to keep your devices, or not.

Thought 1: Reflect

When you first visited Harley Street Hearing, part of your hearing aid assessment will have included discussing the listening situations you find the most challenging.  These are called your ‘outcome measures’ and help your audiologist to assess your progress over the course of your appointments. These measures are unique to you and could have included hearing your family, difficulty socialising, or simpler hearing moments like the doorbell or telephone ringing.

At Harley Street Hearing we care deeply about you and your aural fulfilment and want to provide the best possible improvements. Take time to reflect on the concerns you initially raised with your audiologist and evaluate if you feel these situations have become easier, more difficult, or if there has been no change at all. If you have been keeping a sound diary, then use it to reflect on the changes you have noticed in the last month, since you began wearing your hearing devices.

Thought 2: Don’t panic!

Should you not be getting on as well as you hoped with your devices, then don’t panic. Your follow-up appointments provide the perfect opportunity for you to reflect honestly with your audiologist about your progress. The more information you have to hand (especially where there’s room for improvement) the better, as this allows us to fine-tune your devices and make tailored suggestions to suit the specific challenges you might be facing.

I often describe to my patients that one of three things can happen during their follow-up appointments:

1. You’re getting on well and seeing improvements with your hearing. This is wonderful news and allows us to continue down the rehabilitation journey we have started together. We’ll make adjustments to your hearing aid settings based on your feedback to try and improve things even further.
2. You’re seeing some positives, but also some negatives. This is where we can come back to the drawing board and consider our options. At Harley Street Hearing you are welcome to have trials with multiple devices, to see what options might result in better outcomes for you.  This could be considering a different manufacturer, or maybe a different style of hearing aid.  Your audiologist will guide you on what options they think will have the best chance to overcome the difficulties you have encountered.
3. You’re not getting on well at all and are wondering if hearing aids are the right thing for you. Should this be the case, then there are multiple things we can do together. Firstly, if you are at all on the fence, then we may be able to extend your trial period, giving you the chance to try your hearing aids with further adjustments. However, if you would rather return to trialling hearing aids at another time, then you are welcome to return the devices to us within your trial period, and you will receive a full refund for the devices, minus a small trial fee.

Thought 3: What’s included?

Financial considerations are, of course, a crucial part of your decision-making process. So it’s important to highlight what you would be getting as a hearing aid patient of Harley Street Hearing:

1. A lifetime’s worth of aftercare – all your appointments, including wax removal, are all included within the cost of the hearing aids.
2. Two-year manufacturer warranty on the devices, which can be extended to four years.
3. Complimentary annual reviews. We want to see all of our hearing aid patients at least once a year.  These 60-minute appointments give us the opportunity to check the health of your ears, retest your hearing, and ensure your hearing aids are doing the best job they can be for you.
4. Two years’ worth of batteries. Should your hearing aids use replaceable batteries, enjoy a two year supply, included within the cost of your hearing aids.
5. Excellent customer service.  As of September 2024, Google has us rated at 4.9 stars after a whopping 1362 reviews. Don’t just take our word for it, we pride ourselves on our aftercare and this comes across in how people review us.

We also have the option of payment plans, should this make purchasing the devices more manageable for you.

Even if you choose not to go ahead with the devices, this would not mean the end of your care under Harley Street Hearing. We will endeavour to offer you complimentary annual reviews, to retest your hearing and see if we can be of any further help for you in the years to come. To find out more contact us here.

Enjoy this article? You might be interested in some of our others:

• Audiologist Insider: Part One – So you’ve decided to think about hearing aids
• Audiologist Insider: Part Two – So you’ve started wearing hearing aids?
• How do hearing aids work?

Harley Street Hearing has an exciting new Auditory Training Therapy (ATT) service, and we did an interview with Nadia Abbott, Senior Audiologist at Harley Street Hearing who is running the service to find out more about it.

Welcome Nadia, thanks for taking the time to speak with us! So, tell us a bit more about your background:

I graduated as a Speech Therapist and Audiologist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 2010 and over the years I have worked in both speech therapy and audiology settings in South Africa and the UK.  There are not always ample opportunities wherein I can combine these two qualifications’ skillsets but with this new service there is a nice balance between the two.

So tell us what is Auditory Training Therapy?

With the auditory training therapy my background is in the Buffalo Model therapy which was developed initially to treat auditory processing disorder (APD) but has been successful in helping anyone who has processing difficulties to improve these skills, this includes those with hearing loss. The therapy is individualised and focuses on the auditory processing skills that are affected like speech-in-noise processing, sound identification and discrimination, localisation and sound integration from both ears. It does this by helping patients to make new associations between the words or parts of words (called phonemes) that they are hearing and what has actually been said.

Ok let’s take a step back, what is Auditory Processing Disorder?

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a disorder of the central auditory system which causes a disruption in the way an individual’s brain understands what they are hearing. It does not affect the hearing mechanism and can exist in people with normal hearing but also co-exist with individuals who have a hearing loss. In much more basic terms, it’s what the brain does with what the ears hear.

Typical characteristics of someone with APD:

• Unable to localise the direction of sound.​
• Difficulty understanding words that are spoken quickly or in a noisy room.​
• Difficulty paying attention to auditory information.​
• Reading and spelling difficulties.​
• Challenges following directions unless they are short and simple.​
• Challenges with learning a new language.​
• Difficulties singing or enjoying music.​
• Trouble understanding and remembering spoken information.​
• Taking longer to reply to someone who is talking to you.​
• Often need others to repeat themselves.​
• Struggles to understand sarcasm or jokes.

Does a person have to be diagnosed with APD to benefit from Auditory Training Therapy?

Yes and no. If someone has normal hearing but they suspect they may have APD then we would recommend an APD assessment to diagnose APD and to determine which processing skills, they struggle with.

If someone has hearing loss, then we know that some of their processing skills will be affected due to the loss and duration of the loss, so in these cases the assessment is not done to necessarily diagnose APD but to determine which processing skill are affected so we can focus our therapy accordingly. Hearing technology would also be recommended since improving access to speech sounds will help ensure the brain is getting as much information as possible which helps with processing.  Beyond this, if there are still difficulties then ATT would also be recommended.

Expanding on that last point, Harley Street Hearing has a lot of patients with hearing loss, so who would you recommend should have ATT?

Patients who would benefit most from this therapy are individuals who have been fitted with hearing aids and have had fine tunings and adjustments made to their hearing aids but still feel that they are struggling in various situations regarding their hearing.  It is important to note that often the difficulties experienced are not a result of the ears not accessing the sound with the hearing aids but more due to how this sound is processed by the brain. During ATT we identify where the brain is struggling, and we address this in the therapy. This therapy has even been proven to be successful for individuals with Cochlear Implants, a special type of hearing device that is implanted into the ear.

How is the Auditory Training Therapy program structured at Harley Street Hearing?

The program consists of 12 weeks of therapy but there will always be an assessment before we start therapy and a re-assessment at the end to determine the level of improvement of the affected auditory skillset. This therapy can be offered in the clinic or via telecare remote sessions over Zoom.

If someone is interested in Auditory Training Therapy, what should they do to access this service?

If you have already been diagnosed with APD, suspect you may have APD or if you are already one of our loyal patients who wears hearing aids and feel that you need some additional help to improve your hearing experience then give us a call to get more information or to get the right appointment booked for you. Contact us here.

Thank you so much Nadia for taking the time to speak with us about Auditory Processing Disorder and Auditory Training Therapy!

Enjoy this article? You might be interested in some of our others:

• Does loss of hearing affect balance?
• Audiologist Insider – So you’ve decided to think about hearing aids
• Can an ear infection lead to hearing loss?

I will be the first to admit that I’ve been very excited about Phonak’s new Audéo Sphere Infinio hearing aid. However, my responsibility to you is to go beyond just outlining those positives.

I’ll discuss the top five reasons I think you should buy them, but they are definitely not without their flaws, so I have an equal number of negatives that you need to consider before you do so.

Reasons you should buy the Audéo Sphere Infinio

It’s been a few weeks now since I attended the epic launch of this new hearing aid technology, and I was delighted to be the only audiologist from the UK to attend. Now that I’ve had some time to get hands-on with them, here are five standout features that I think are worth shouting about.

1. Speech in noise processing

Firstly is Phonak’s introduction of their Deep Sonic chip, which is a world first. These hearing aids contain a separate computer chip designed to separate the speech you want to hear from background noise. Honestly, I wish you could have all been exposed to the demonstrations I experienced, because not only does it work, but it works incredibly well. In fact, in a couple of weeks’ time, I aim to upload some sound files demonstrating its capabilities versus some of Phonak’s competitors, so make sure that you watch this space.

This Deep Sonic chip essentially cleans up speech from noise using artificial intelligence in the form of a deep neural network, which has been trained using 22 million sound samples. Phonak claims it is capable of performing 7.7 billion operations per second. As a result, Phonak boasts that this provides a 10 dB signal-to-noise ratio improvement and up to 36.7% enhancement in speech understanding in noisy environments compared to their competitors.

Now, you don’t need to just take my word for it. Hearing Tracker has teamed up with HearAdvisor, an independent hearing aid vetting lab that has built a breathtaking audio lab allowing for the independent testing of all hearing aid technology. The mastermind behind this is Dr. Steve Taddei, and for the first time ever, this setup allows for the comparison of hearing aid products using a standardised test battery.

Now, you might be thinking, why is this important? Well, instead of relying on each manufacturer’s testing, where somehow they always manage to find a way to rank themselves as number one with their own results, for the first time it’s now possible to compare each manufacturer reliably. Here’s the latest data from HearAdvisor comparing all manufacturers’ latest products, and as you can see, the new Audéo Sphere Infinio is leaps and bounds ahead of every other hearing aid manufacturer for speech-in-noise performance.

So, the take-home message is that this artificial intelligence Deep Sonic chip is really doing what Phonak is promising.

2. Automatic environmental adaptability

Impressive new feature number two is Phonak’s update to AutoSense from version 5 to version 6. Now, AutoSense is one of my favourite adaptive programs out there. It’s designed to continuously analyse your surrounding acoustic environment and make real-time adjustments to optimise sound clarity and comfort.

This feature automatically categorises the world into seven key areas, including:

• Calm situations
• Speech in noise
• Spheric speech in loud noise
• Speech in car
• Comfort in noise
• Music

Your audiologist has full control over how these hearing aids react in each specific environment and can adjust them accordingly, which, in my opinion, is unrivalled by any other hearing aid manufacturer out there at this moment in time.

With this new AutoSense development, Phonak claims they have enhanced speech understanding by a further 16% and reduced listening effort by up to 45%, which again contributes to the hearing aids reducing background noise, making it easier for you to focus on conversations. This means you can rely more on your ears and less on focusing on lip reading and the context within a sentence.

3. Bluetooth connectivity

Phonak have always been pretty unique in their approach to connectivity, and they’re the only manufacturer out there to use classic Bluetooth, allowing you to connect to any Bluetooth source, including smartphones, tablets, and computers. This integration supports a wide range of audio codecs, ensuring high-quality streaming regardless of the source, and it also supports dual streaming, allowing you to connect to multiple devices simultaneously, which isn’t possible from any other hearing aid manufacturer out there at this moment in time.

Within the Infinio family of hearing aids, Phonak have improved the transmission power over their previous models, providing a far more stable Bluetooth connection. This ensures consistent audio quality and connectivity over a longer distance and creates a seamless, lag-free transition when switching audio between different sources.

On top of that, the Spheres also support hands-free calling, which is pretty limited with other hearing aid manufacturers, meaning you can keep your phone in your pocket, and the microphones on your hearing aids will pick up your voice to send to the other person on the end of the phone. This is both a positive and a negative, which I’ll discuss later.

The final connectivity feature which I think Phonak is right to be bragging about is the introduction of LE Audio, meaning they’re also Auracast-ready and will be compatible with the pending Auracast transmitters that we’re likely to see rolled out in public venues over the next few years.

It’s worth noting that, while it’s built into the Infinio, it hasn’t yet been activated. This will likely be done in the future with a simple and free firmware update. At this moment in time, in my opinion, it’s not really a big deal, as, as far as I’m aware, no public venues have yet installed the Auracast transmitters. But I do promise to update you on this as soon as I know more about that update.

4. Versatility

Reason number four that you should buy the Infinio Sphere is its versatility. As far as suitability goes, these are the fitting ranges for the interchangeable receiver wires, so whether you have a mild, moderate, severe, or profound hearing loss, they’re technically suitable for you.

I’m delighted to say that this also includes Phonak’s ActiveVent receivers, which I am a big fan of. This receiver, which is unique to Phonak, has a built-in moving piston that changes its position depending on your listening environment. It diverts either more or less sound naturally down your ear canal or, on the contrary, via the hearing aids.

So why would we want this? In turn, this will change how well you hear in noise, how clear your voice sounds, how clearly you can hear in general, and also how music sounds when it’s being streamed from your phone. If you’re wondering if this matters—yes, it does. A lot. There are both positives and negatives to having your ear canals either open or closed, and depending on your hearing loss, sometimes it’s beneficial to have a hearing aid that can do both, but on different occasions. Until ActiveVent was released by Phonak, this wasn’t possible.

For example, in a quiet environment, you might want the vent to be open, allowing natural sound in and out, giving you a nice, natural feeling and connecting you with your environment. Yet, when in noise, it’s better to have your ears closed so that all the sound you’re hearing is via your hearing aids, having been cleaned of background noise. The same thing goes for music and streaming, so when streaming from your phone, the ActiveVent will close, both blocking sound in and blocking sound out simultaneously, which should enhance your music, giving it greater fullness and richness when the sound is being streamed from your phone.

5. Robustness & durability

Now, my fifth and final reason that I think you should definitely try out these hearing aids, before I come on to the not-so-great elements about them, is their robustness. With Phonak’s previous family of hearing aids, they had one standout model which was brutally tested and pushed to the limits in terms of robustness—this was called their Life model.

When I was recently at the launch for the Audéo Sphere Infinio hearing aids, Phonak was screaming from the rooftops about this extra protection having resulted in far fewer breakdowns over the last few years, and I’m delighted to tell you today that Phonak has taken on board your feedback about the previous standards just not being good enough.

Reasons not to buy the Audéo Sphere Infinio

Now, I always share both sides of the story, and while everything I’ve listed so far is exactly what I would want a hearing aid to do, it wouldn’t be fair of me not to give you a balanced view of the technology. There are five things that mean the Audéo Sphere Infinio is not perfect for everybody out there.

1. Size

So, let’s discuss size. I honestly don’t think the size of these hearing aids is an issue, and I don’t want you to dwell too much on it. But I know it was also a concern that Phonak had when they were launching this technology. So, just to give you an idea in terms of size, here is a banana for scale, then you can see Phonak’s previous model, the L R, and also their biggest current competition, the Oticon Intent.

In all honesty, gone are the days when it used to be the race for the smallest hearing aids. Yes, there are, without question, smaller receiver-in-canal hearing aids out there, such as the Widex Moment, but it comes at a significant cost for functionality. For example, you will lose Bluetooth connectivity, rechargeability, and overall functions around clarity and noise reduction capabilities.

2. No disposable batteries

A recent poll on my Hearing Tracker YouTube channel showed at least a third of my subscribers use disposable batteries. Now, of course, I cannot be certain about this, but I am 99% sure—99.9% sure—that the Audéo Sphere Infinios will never be released in a disposable battery option. I know that’s a brave statement to make, but I feel that with the computational power within these hearing aids, and the energy that’s needed to drive them, I just don’t think a zinc-air battery will meet its needs.

That isn’t to say that the lesser-spec Audéo Infinios won’t come with a disposable battery option in the future, a little bit like we saw with the Phonak Lumity hearing aids. But it is worth noting that it was a good two years after their initial release that we saw the non-rechargeable version.

3. Battery performance

Now, I just knew that battery life was going to be a factor with these hearing aids. When I was initially exposed to these hearing aids back in January this year, way before they were released, Phonak, at a top-secret event, coyly asked us how important it was that the batteries on these hearing aids last for a full day. Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there may be some issues around this, or it might be an issue going forward with regards to it lasting for a full day.

So, what does this mean in reality as far as you’re concerned? If the hearing aids are working in their AutoSense setting and adapting according to your environment, and you have a balanced lifestyle, then I am pleased to report that you will not have issues with battery life. They will last you for a full day.

Where the issue comes in is when the artificial intelligence ‘spherical speech in noise, speech in loud noise mode runs continuously. Continuous use could potentially reduce the battery life to around half of its capability. Only time will tell in reality if this is a significant problem for normal daily use.

4. Compatibility

As far as connectivity goes, there is no telecoil and no CROS system compatibility with the Spheres, and I am a big fan of both. If you are interested in the telecoil, then you’ll have to stick with Phonak’s Lumity family of hearing aids for now or look into one of Phonak’s competitors.

However, if you’re interested in a CROS system, then you can look at the standard Infinio. In all honesty, the lack of a telecoil shouldn’t be an issue for you going forward with the introduction of LE Audio and Auracast. However, until we see that global rollout of those transmitters into public venues, and if you’re used to utilising a loop system, then these hearing aids may not be right for you.

5. Bluetooth

The fifth issue that I’ve identified with the Infinio is the fact that Phonak uses classic Bluetooth. Yes, you heard me correctly—this came up in the positives too. That’s because, in my opinion, it is a blessing and a curse at the same time. All right, that sounds quite dramatic—it’s not that bad at all!

One feature that my patients love about their Phonak hearing aids is the fact that their microphones pick up their voice when they’re on the phone, and you can keep your phone in your pocket, giving you a truly hands-free experience, a bit like using a set of AirPods when you’re on a phone call.

The downside of this is that I have some patients—again, this depends on the phone they use—who report that if they take a call in a moderately noisy environment, the person on the other end of the call may struggle to hear them speaking. Now, to be fair, this is an issue with all manufacturers. However, the other guys do allow you to turn it on and off. I don’t know if this will change when the LE Audio features are enabled down the line, I will report back on this as soon as I know more.

But there is a fix if you’re an Apple user, which is to enable voice isolation mode on the phone itself. When enabled, this feature isolates the microphones on your hearing aids to pick up your voice only, and it cuts out—or aims to cut out—the surrounding noise, making it better for those hearing you on the other end of your phone call. And it does work.

So, now you should have a balanced view of all this new technology. But before you even consider buying them, you have to check out the best hearing aids of 2024.

Phonak Audéo Infinio Sphere Review: 5 Reasons to Buy it and 5 Reasons to Not!

Matthew Allsop is a Partner at Harley Street Hearing and the content creator for Hearing Tracker, where he shares his honest opinions on all things to do with hearing health and hearing aid technology. Hearing Tracker is the world’s first truly independent resource for hearing aid customers. You can watch his video reviewing the Phonak Audéo Infinio Sphere below.

Enjoy this article? You might be interested in some of our others:

• Phonak releases brand new Infinio hearing aids
• Reviewing the Phonak Infinio family of hearing aids
• Oticon Intent hearing aids review: The pros and cons