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Widex Super440 and 220 launched in the UK

February 2nd, 2012 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

Widex have released a new product to the market, a super power RIC hearing aid called the Widex Super. This new range of hearing aids is based on the latest C-ISP platform common the the Widex Clear and Clear Fusion range and has all the benefits already found in the rest of the Clear range along with some nice extra features.

The Widex Super is designed to be weather proof, runs on a 675 battery for long life without making the hearing aid unnecessarily bulky. It’s loaded with the class leading wireless capabilities but also has a trusty telecoil facility to make use of as well where appropriate, with a specially designed volume control and program button.

The Widex Super is compatible with the full range of DEX wireless accessories and makes use of IE (Inter Ear) technology where your hearing aids talk to each other 21 times a second.

The Widex Super is available with a custom hard tip, custom soft mould, double domes and tulip domes and is available in two technology levels, the Widex Super440 is at premium level and the Widex Super220 is a mid range product.

Hearing aid prices for the Super440 are equivalent to the Clear440 and the Super220 is priced equivalent to the Clear220.

On first inspection the Widex Super looks like a really interesting product and demand is expected to be brisk.

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Widex Clear 440, 330 and 220 now available in ITE and CIC

February 1st, 2012 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

After what seems like a very long wait Widex have released their ITE and CIC versions of their acclaimed Clear range of wireless hearing aids. When the BTE and RIC versions if the Widex Clear were released to market at the end of 2010 it was expected that the ITE and CIC versions would follow on shortly after that, the first quarter of 2011 being the favourite.

Unfortunately Widex struggled to get the wireless side of the ITE and CIC side of the portfolio to a position where they were happy to release and almost a year after the expected release date Widex are finally confident the they can supply ITE and CIC versions of the Clear.

As frustrating as it has been for all concerned Widex should be commended for not bringing a product to market when not entirely happy, we’re not sure some other manufacturers would have held off like this against harsh criticism before being entirely happy that the product was ready.

We think the wait will have been worth it, the Widex Clear wireless technology particularly when used in conjunction with its excellent accessories is in our opinion groundbreaking.

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Does stress worsen the effects of tinnitus?

January 16th, 2012 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

A study by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has shown that those suffering from stress, particularly long term stress, are twice as likely to suffer from tinnitus. This study comes at a timely junction what with Tinnitus Awareness Week just around the corner.

The effects of tinnitus and stress are something that we at Digital Hearing Care anecdotally have been aware of from comments our clients have told us over the years, the more stressed they feel the more prevalent the tinnitus that is already there seems to increase in intensity.

In the study, the test subjects were exposed to stressful situations, for example answering questions while at the same time being interrupted. After the test, blood tests were taken as were new hearing tests. The blood tests tested for levels of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone which is activated in stressful situations and animal tests have shown that cortisol affects hearing.

“We found that tinnitus is 2.5 times more prevalent in people who are under long-term stress,” says Professor Barbera Canlon, who was one of the people leading the research.

Another interesting point of note was that hearing speech in noise was worse with the group that was exposed to stress. You could draw the conclusion that stress can lead to tinnitus and tinnitus can lead to stress, a bit of a vicious circle.

At Digital Hearing Care we have found that wearing hearing aids can lessen the prominence of tinnitus while you are wearing them, although not everybody gets a reduction in the perception of tinnitus it is quite common. For some the beneficial effects of wearing hearing aids to reduce tinnitus are very marked.

Most people that suffer from tinnitus also have some degree of hearing loss, although not exclusively so.

This article is based on information provided by hear-it.org a web site that has been established to increase public awareness of hearing impairment.

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Tinnitus Awareness Week 2012

January 14th, 2012 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

Tinnitus Awareness Week 2012 is almost upon us and is a worthwhile way for the British Tinnitus Association to encourage better awareness of the problems associated with tinnitus and the help available to alleviate the symptoms and deal with this distressing condition.
The campaign is taking place between Monday 6th to Sunday 12th February 2012.
The British Tinnitus Association (BTA) are using the campaign to encourage better tinnitus awareness among primary care practitioners, including an improved understanding about tinnitus and the services available in secondary care, also by working closely with tinnitus and ENT experts and audiology professionals across the country.
Around 10% of the population suffer from tinnitus, and the campaign is aimed at addressing the apparent widespread dissatisfaction and unnecessary distress caused by a lack of understanding and knowledge of the support available with some health professionals.

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Hear the World, Phonak global initiative celebrates its 5th birthday

December 30th, 2011 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

Five years ago Hear the World, a global initiative set up by Phonak, was launched with a big vision in mind: to make the general public aware of the importance of good hearing and the consequences of hearing loss, as well as to inform them about prevention and solutions.

Today over 50 celebrity ambassadors around the world support the mission of Hear the World; these include Sting, Take That, Bobby McFerrin, Lenny Kravitz, Annie Lennox, Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.


The Hear the World Foundation was also launched in 2006 to provide support for children with hearing loss, to enable them to develop at an appropriate rate for their age. Thus, the Foundation is currently supporting projects in twelve countries worldwide.

The support provided since 2006, which now totals more than a million Swiss francs, comes in the form of financial aid or in the implementation of teams working locally.
Over the past five years, Hear the World has successfully raised awareness in the media and among the general public. This is a success story that has won over 20 prestigious awards for communication and marketing, including the Sabre Awards, PR Week Awards, the Econ Award, the Comprix and the Marketing Trophy.

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Siemens iMini 301 coming soon

December 27th, 2011 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

Following the success of the Siemens iMini 701 sub CIC hearing aid Siemens have announced that they are releasing a Siemens iMini at the 301 performance level on 3rd January 2012. Hearing aid prices for the Siemens iMini 301 are expected to be around £1095 per ear, so virtually invisible hearing aids with great technology just became more affordable.

Like the Siemens iMini 701, the new 301 performance level is individually crafted by hand from the finest materials and fits beautifully and comfortably in the ear canal with no external components. Perfect for hesitant first-time users and experienced users alike. The Siemens iMini is;

- An incredibly small instrument manufactured and handcrafted by highly skilled technicians.
- Elegant, exclusive shell and instrument design with nano-coating.
-and has BestSound Technology built in.

The main differentiator between the two models is the iMini 701 has 10 channels as opposed to the 301 having 8, and the 701 has the benefit of SoundBrilliance while the 301 does not.

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Widex Super – The Power to Hear

December 22nd, 2011 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

We’ve had notification of a new range of hearing aids from Widex UK, the Widex Super. The products will be launched at the end of January and are designed for hearing aid wearers with a severe to profound hearing loss.
Widex hearing aids have a long tradition of providing technology for the severe / profound hearing loss, an old favourite was the Widex P37 / P38 early digital super power BTE hearing aids, widely supplied privately and also in small numbers via the NHS supply chain.
Widex haven’t been so prolific in this area for quite a number of years until the Widex Fusion power RIC a year or so ago so it will be interesting to see what they come up with…

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Starkey Wi Series to be made available from mid January 2012

December 13th, 2011 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

From January 16th 2012, Starkey Hearing Aids will be adding a full range of custom styles to their Wi Series range to complement the already popular RIC 13 and RIC 312 styles.

What this will provide in a custom shell;

Complete wireless media streaming and programming

The benefits of Binaural Spatial Mapping

Synchronized user controls

Optional volume control, program switch, and automatic telephone response

and Starkey’s industry-leading features.

For a full UK hearing aid prices list of the full Starkey hearing aids range, and also that of all the other manufacturers we stock please click the Hearing Aid Prices link as above.

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Hear the World Project to help children with hearing loss in Nairobi

December 12th, 2011 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

At Digital Hearing Care we support the Phonak Hearing Aids ‘Hear the World Foundation’, and one of the projects they are running is the ‘Regain Hearing – Join Life’ project in Nairobi.

The foundation is building a care network for children with hearing loss. The project aims to provide diagnostics and hearing aid fittings right through to speech therapy and a self help group for adults.

In the UK we take the benefits we have regarding hearing healthcare for granted, a basic range of hearing aids is provided on loan free of charge via the NHS system, and for those that want or need more than that there is the private supply chain through companies like ours. It goes without saying this is not the case throughout the world and the aim of the project and the foundation is to help people with hearing loss where it is particularly needed. We applaud this.

If you would like to make your own contribution to this cause please contact us directly and we will supply you with details on how YOU can make a difference.

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Diseases that can lead to hearing problems

December 5th, 2011 by Paul Minikin
"Hearing Aid Audiologist and Owner of Digital Hearing Care"

The majority of hearing loss we come across as hearing aid audiologists tends to be either age related ‘wear and tear’ or noise induced hearing loss, where the individual has been exposed to excessive amounts of noise in their lifetime.

A much smaller percentage of our clients have hearing loss caused by other issues, sometimes that can be hereditary factors, either from birth or that appear later in life, and various diseases and disorders.

In children at any point in time it is estimated that around 40% of the child population is suffering from glue ear to one degree or another, to a lesser degree it can be a problem for adults also, and is classed as Otitis Media.

Otosclerosis is a condition of the middle ear we sometimes see in clients. It is a build up on the third bone in the middle ear, the stirrup bone, or the stapes. This condition inhibits the transfer of sound vibrations through to the hearing nerve and causes more than anything a lack of volume in most cases. The underlying hearing nerve function is usually not reduced but everything is just quieter!

Other conditions we sometimes see are Ménière´s Disorder, which manifests itself as an irregular build up of fluid in the cochlear region, this causes various symptoms including dizzy spells, nausea, gradual loss of hearing over time and distorted hearing, particularly when an attack is in progress. More rare are acoustic tumours and other problems.

Most of the hearing loss we encounter as hearing aid professionals are due to some kind of damage or wear on the cochlea or hearing nerve and the best results are with good quality hearing aids properly fitted and programmed, sometimes with middle ear losses surgery can be an option in particular, but we find a lot of clients prefer a non surgical alternative even then and choose hearing aids.

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