FAQs
No. You can make an appointment to see us without a medical referral. However, there are restrictions on certain assistance from the government, such as bulk billing, which requires us to have received a medical referral from your doctor before the hearing assessment. Contact our administration team , who will be able to explain precisely what you need to do in these cases.
A hearing assessment is a painless procedure, taking a little over 30 minutes. It will most often follow these stages:
- Otoscopy: a visual examination of your ear canals and eardrums, to assess the condition of the outer ears.
- Tympanometry: a painless test of your ears’ ability to hold pressure, to assess the condition of your middle ears.
- Puretone audiometry: a hearing test to determine how loud a particular pitch or frequency has to be, before it is audible.
- Speech discrimination: a hearing test to determine whether your central auditory nerves are transmitting sound correctly to the primary auditory cortex, the part of the brain which deals with sound.
- Discussion: our audiological team will carefully explain your results, so you can understand exactly what, if anything, is wrong with your hearing.
- Recommendations: based on the results and your understanding of your condition, our team will present options to treat your hearing problem. This may range from therapy and auditory training, to medical intervention which will treat underlying causes of hearing loss, to a custom solution from the wide range of modern hearing devices we offer. There is no pressure or obligation at this stage; rather, honest advice on the variety of hearing options available for you to choose.
An audiogram is a graph which measures the softest audible volume you can hear a particular pitch or frequency. This is recorded in decibels, or volume (vertical axis), versus hertz and kilohertz, or low to high pitch (horizontal axis). It plots the progression of hearing ability – often, people with hearing loss can hear better at lower frequencies than higher frequencies, although this can be quite different for a person suffering from, for example, Ménière’s disease, who may experience loss in the lower frequencies while retaining near normal hearing in the higher frequencies.
Audiograms are used by audiologists to program hearing devices to compensate for this loss. The hearing thresholds of both ears are plotted on the same graph, with the results for the left ear notated by an ‘X’, and the right ear by an ‘O’.
Hearing devices all include similar components, such as a microphone to pick up sound, an amplifier to make parts of the sound louder, a receiver to deliver the amplified sound to the ear and an on/off switch to power the device. However, there are a wide range of hearing devices in terms of style, features and functions. Please refer to our pages detailing available styles , and the features offered by different classes of hearing devices.
The hearing device which best suits you will depend on your listening needs, type of hearing loss, budget and lifestyle. Our audiological team can help you make the right decision – one which leaves you happy with your hearing.
The answer to this will depend on a number of factors, such as:
- Which devices are suitable for your hearing needs?
- Are you an eligible pensioner or veteran?
- Are you selecting an Office of Hearing Services-approved hearing aid, or a ‘top-up’ model?
- Do you have health insurance which offers rebates on hearing devices?
- Can you claim the Australian Tax Office’s 20% rebate on medical expenses totalling more than $1,500 per year?
Rest assured, our team at Acute Hearing can guide you through the many choices offered to hearing device users and help you find the solution which best fits your individual needs.
There are a number of categories of eligibility for this program, all of which are subject to change. Our team at Acute Hearing can provide assistance to find your eligibility status; alternatively, the Office of Hearing Services can be contacted at 1800 500 726 (voice) or 1800 500 496 (text telephone).
This will depend on the results of your individual hearing assessment. The majority of hearing loss occurs in both ears, although it is not uncommon for people to experience hearing loss in only one ear, especially when their hearing loss has been caused by exposure to unilateral noise (such as working in a static position with loud machinery).
Yes. At Acute Hearing, we believe that clients should be happy with their choice of hearing solutions. After your hearing assessment and device fitting, we have a 60 day, no obligation period during which clients can become accustomed to and happy with their hearing devices. The devices can be returned during this time for a refund, minus an administration/ assessment fee, or fully exchanged for another type or brand of device. Contact our administration team for full details
All hearing losses are different, and each client’s needs are also different. Therefore, hearing devices require some initial fine-tuning to best match your individual hearing and listening requirements. These adjustments are performed by our audiological team at Acute Hearing, and are included as part of your hearing device package, which also includes hearing therapy and an aural rehabilitation program.
Like any change, becoming accustomed to your new hearing devices takes a little time. By following the direction of our audiological team, you can train yourself to wear your hearing devices for longer periods of time, and in different surroundings. More information is available below, under How do I use my new hearing devices successfully?
Begin your training program in familiar surroundings, such as in your own home. After you have read the operating instructions carefully and have familiarised yourself with your hearing devices, put them on and start a simple face-to-face conversation with someone you talk to regularly. Add to the complexity of your surroundings in stages (having a low noise in the background, or speaking with someone whose face is turned away), although very noisy environments should be avoided for the time being.
Our goal is to train the brain via constant controlled stimulation, until you are at the stage when you can wear your hearing instruments all day without noticing them. Remember to wear your hearing devices at home too, so you will be able to hear the telephone ringing, the doorbell, etc. Ideally, your hearing devices should become a natural extension of your body, similar to glasses or contact lenses. Wearing hearing devices and hearing a greater range of sounds may tire you, or make you irritable at first, so make allowances for the effects of fatigue. If this happens, take a break. Train, rather than force yourself to get used to your hearing devices. A positive attitude and a desire to better understand what is being said are decisive factors in your success.
We can carry out minor repairs and cleaning at our Ringwood Head Office while you wait, or you can drop the devices off and pick them up at your convenience. We can also arrange more complicated repairs via the manufacturer of you hearing devices
Assistive listening devices are accessories that help you hear in particular listening situations, such as when you are on the telephone, watching TV or when you are asleep. For example, Sennheiser manufactures television headsets which allow hearing device users to listen to a television through their devices, via a wireless connection. This enables users to listen to their television at a comfortable volume, without disturbing friends or family members who may be nearby. These headsets can be provided free of charge to eligible pensioners and veterans. Your specific needs and hearing loss will determine which ALDs are suitable for you.
This includes informational counseling, preparing the hearing aid user with what to expect and how to react to his/ her new hearing environment. It also involves finetuning the hearing aid and adjusting the adaptation to suit and meet the client’s needs over a period of time. (We call this fitting the hearing aids with training wheels, and then taking those training wheels off over a period of time.) Some of our patients also need specific training which we call auditory training. This can be done formally via our LACE program, or informally and conditioned to the client’s needs.