ReSound have launched a new premium range of hearing aids, the Verso, a flexible new hearing aid that delivers binaural processing through wireless ear to ear communication.

ReSound Verso uses both hearing instruments working together as one system, it promises great speech understanding in noise and ReSound Claim the new Verso will provide the most natural sound experience of any other ReSound hearing aid before it.

Verso offers advanced feedback management without compromising on sound quality or amplification. It operates on the 2.4 GHz platform, the hearing aid industry’s wireless standard.

ReSound Verso provides a versatility and flexibility that comes from both hearing aids working together to analyze the environment and adjust to patient needs. Verso is extremely easy for clients to use.

When changing programs or volume in one hearing aid, the same changes are automatically made to the second aid. Comfort Phone detects when the phone has been placed next to one hearing aid and reduces the gain in the other aid, allowing for much easier phone conversations.

ReSound Verso is available in a full line-up of models, styles and colours – including a new ultra-cosmetic IIC right through to a top performing high power BTE.

When taking the first tentative steps to buying hearing aids it can all look and feel a little daunting. More and more as time goes on our clients are choosing to conduct research on the internet to try to make sense of it all, and try to work out how much it is all going to cost, before ever getting touch to move things forward.

In idle moments (not many of those at Digital Hearing Care, we are always very busy!) I occasionally wonderwhat motivates an individual to pick up the phone or send an initial email to make an appointment.

Life is full of choices, some might say too much choice at times. Here’s a list of the motivators that might move you to a point where you feel able to take a step towards fixing your hearing;

• How much will it cost?
• Dealing with a company you feel you can trust
• Working with an organisation that is independent of manufacturer
• The reputation and longevity of a company
• To have the very best that money can buy or you can afford
• How convenient is it?
• You have a recommendation from a friend or acquaintance

Whatever your motivation for taking action, when it comes to your hearing you just can’t afford to make a mistake. Hearing loss creeps up on us over time and most people are in denial of the problem for far too long.

At Digital Hearing Care we believe we tick all the boxes that make us the best choice for you, we satisfy all the above points. We do not have time limited ‘act now’ special offers, we do not offer disingenuous ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘hearing aids at half price’ deals designed to mislead the buying public. We do not supply older discontinued ranges of hearing aids like some suppliers.

We offer a very professional, friendly, local and independent hearing aid supply and aftercare service, usually in the comfort of your own home.

We offer some of the best prices around on genuinely current technology, no re-branding to try to hide inflated prices.

We offer just about the widest range of hearing aids you will find, we don’t limit our advice to a small range of products like most of the national companies and our aftercare service is red hot, check out our testimonials page on the website.

In everything we do, we aim to exceed your expectations, it’s my personal motto!

When we supply a new set of hearing aids to someone who has worn hearing aids before we are often asked what can be done with the old set that is no longer required.

They can of course be used as a backup, a Plan B should the new hearing aids ever need to be sent away for a service or repair. (A little like keeping hold of your previous pair of spectacles in case you sit on the new pair or lose them somehow!)

Depending on the type of hearing aids you have previously worn there is an alternative, and a way to help others less fortunate in the developing world, an organisation called Sound Seekers.

Sound Seekers is dedicated to helping deaf children in the poorest communities of the developing world, by supporting projects that advance understanding of their needs and improve their access to health services, education, and social support, together with initiatives that enable children to avoid, or overcome, the effects of deafness and ear disease.

They work in partnership with local organisations and institutions to ensure they deliver appropriate, sustainable and cost-effective projects in the areas where they are most needed.

You can find Sound Seekers easily by searching in Google and donate your old hearing aids to those less fortunate. Another organisation that collects old hearing aids is the Lions Club, also easily found via Google.

Communication plays a key role in everyday professional life and often determines success and failure in the workplace. However, what if this very communication is impaired by a hearing loss?

A new study has highlighted how important good hearing is to help in the workplace. ‘Hear the World’ is an initiative by hearing aid manufacturer Phonak who commissioned a study called ‘Hearing is Living’ to investigate how important it is to hear well to succeed in the workplace.

This study demonstrated among other things that people who can hear better again, thanks to hearing aids, have more enjoyment, success and less stress in their profession than people with an untreated hearing loss. A quarter of the respondents hearing aid wearers questioned even stated that they would not be able to perform their job without a hearing aid.

This study questioned over 4,300 people in Germany, France, Switzerland, Great Britain and the USA and here are some of the findings.

81 per cent of the respondents with a hearing aid have discovered they are able to work normally again since wearing a hearing aid. 22 per cent of the respondents are even convinced that it would be impossible for them to pursue their work without hearing aids. Another 84 per cent state that the hearing aid enables them to take active part in meetings and discussions with their colleagues again; telephone conferences no longer pose a problem to 64 per cent of the respondents with a hearing aid either. No mean feat when one considers that 24 per cent of the respondents with an untreated hearing loss report that they are no longer able to get properly involved in meetings due to their reduced hearing; for 32 per cent a simple telephone call quickly becomes a challenge. 15 per cent have even made mistakes due to being unable to understand something.

No wonder then that the hearing aid wearers have less stress in their daily working life than those with an untreated hearing loss. “Added to the everyday challenges in professional life come even more psychological stress factors for people with reduced hearing. Primarily in meetings or telephone conferences it is difficult to follow the dialog and get actively involved. “Always having to check on things is unpleasant and may seem unprofessional. It’s not unusual for those affected to feel excluded and often be afraid of misunderstandings. Not only the performance suffers as a result, but above all the self-esteem”, explains Prof. Dr. med. Martin Ohlmeier, Director of the Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Klinikum Kassel/Germany.

Another important finding of the study: Good hearing perceptibly influences working morale and income. For instance, 74 per cent of the hearing aid wearers with average to severe hearing loss confirm that they enjoy their work and 76 per cent that they have good concentration. In comparison: of those affected who do not wear hearing aids only 67 per cent (enjoyment in work) or 66 per cent (good concentration) agreed with such statements. This also affects the salary: for instance, 50 per cent of the hearing aid wearers believe their income to be in line with their assignments and performance, the figure is only 40 per cent for the respondents with an untreated hearing loss. Also interesting: Whereas 27 per cent of the respondents with untreated hearing loss attempt to conceal their reduced hearing at work, 67 per cent of the hearing aid wearers assume that their colleagues are not even aware that they use a hearing aid.

Less stress and more enjoyment on the job as well as a relaxed relationship towards colleagues: a key finding of the “Hearing is Living” study is the positive influence of good hearing on everyday professional life. People with good hearing have it a lot easier in their working life.

Siemens have for a month or two now offered an update on their existing hearing aid technology for their Pure and Motion BTE hearing aid products, namely XCEL technology.

XCEL, the new generation of BestSound Technology, is made for accelerated acceptance. Its three key features work harmoniously to deliver the perfect balance between Sound Quality and Audibility. The result: maximum spontaneous acceptance and long-term listening satisfaction.

From 13/9/12 Siemens will also offer XCEL technology in all their custom ITE products too.

At the same time they will launch Siemens VoiceLink. VoiceLink is a companion microphone that connects to miniTek. It is useful as a remote microphone to overcome problems with hearing at distance, reverberation and noisy environments. It is a practical help for instance when out to dinner in a noisy restaurant. VoiceLink can be given to the speaker for direct speech transmission to the hearing aid wearer.

A question often asked by potential clients, particularly people new to hearing aids is ‘how long will my hearing aids last’. Being based in the north of England I will sometimes be asked ‘will these new fangled hearing aids see me out lad?’

Roughly translated the question could be ‘will my hearing aids last a lifetime?. The answer to that question has to be how long the client expects to be around! On average clients tend to upgrade (or at least consider upgrading) around five or six years after the initial purchase and there are a number of factors that make this figure typical.

Hearing aid technology is in a constant state of development and improvement, as a rough rule of thumb each of the manufacturers we supply releases a new range of technology that supercedes the last. Hearing aid chip technology improves at a similar trajectory as computer chip technology so typically each new range of hearing aids has about twice the processing speed, twice the on board memory etc.

This extra performance is used to enhance existing features and introduce new ones, so by the time you have two or three new releases of technology you can expect to see reasonable improvements in performance from your old hearing aids to your new ones.

Also at around five or six years hearing aids are usually starting to be a little past their sell by date, often becoming less reliable with age and use. They can of course be regularly serviced and with a little care you can extend the life of your hearing aids.

The majority of hearing aids we supply at Digital Hearing Care have a five year warranty as standard (most suppliers offer a two year warranty), and when the five year warranty expires it often starts our clients thinking it is maybe time to consider an upgrade.

The five year rule for considering upgrading hearing aids obviously is not hard and fast, our business has been in existence for around ten years. We have some early clients still using the same hearing aids supplied eight or nine years ago and some ‘early adopters’ that hear about the very latest technology in our regular newsletters and want to have the best hearing quality possible, opting to pay for the latest and best. I have a number of clients well into their third set of hearing aids in ten years of hearing aid supply.

People also obviously lose hearing aids, drop them on the floor accidentally and stand on them, leave them on the table for the dog to mistake as a biscuit, drop them down the toilet accidentally and any other number of accidental loss and damage that might need a replacement early on. Our advice – always insure your hearing aids! The easiest most cost effective way being to add your hearing aids onto the all-risks section of your home insurance policy.

If you have hearing aids that are five years old or more maybe it is time to start considering the great new technology around, check out our hearing aid prices and ask for a hearing assessment, we have a UK wide network of independent hearing aid audiologists to hand to help you should you need it.

Phonak Nano is now available in three technology levels, previously supplied at premium and advanced level (Phonak Ambra and Solana Nano), the Nano has another variant in the mid range of technology, the Cassia Nano.

Phonak Ambra, Solana and now Cassia Nano virtually disappear into the ear canal, Phonak Nano can now be supplied at every technology level barring entry level.

Phonak have also released variations on their CROS range of hearing aids, a water resistant H2o version of their ‘on the ear’ CROS system with a size 13 battery, and also with a size 13 battery, an in the ear version to complement the existing ITC version of the Phonak CROS that takes a 312 battery. No doubt this will be good news to those that like more time in between changing batteries.

All the newly released products are based on the now familiar Spice chip and benefit from the excellent performance Phonak are renowned for.

Starkey hearing aids have for a while now been going down the route of wireless communications. Wireless connectivity was recently introduced to the custom Wi range of ‘in the ear’ products and Starkey are just about to launch wireless connectivity in their Ignite range of entry level hearing aids, to me it seems rather pointless buying hearing aids from Starkey that don’t have wireless connectivity.

There are odd examples where the X Series still wins out, for instance if you want a small neat RIC product with a size 10 battery there is always the Xino non wireless model, although taking advantage of wireless functionality I’d argue even then that a ‘slightly’ larger RIC product from the Wi range would in most cases be more appropriate.

There has been an important element missing from Starkey’s range of wireless accessories and that is a phone streamer. Step forward Surflink Mobile. Unfortunately Surflink Mobile will not be available until September 2012 but it promises to be an interesting product and so much more than just a mobile phone streamer.

Surflink Mobile uses Starkey’s new JustTalk mode to enable true hands free mobile phone conversations thanks to its ability to turn Starkey’s wireless hearing aids into both phone receiver and microphone. It also works as a remote microphone, assistive listening device, media streamer and hearing aid remote too! Sounds interesting, as we receive information we will post as it becomes available. As yet we don’t have any indicaton of pricing.

On Wednesday 1 August 2012 the Health Professions Council who are the regulatory body for hearing aid dispensers will change their name to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The change is being made by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which will also see them taking on the regulation of social workers in England. Although not everyone registered with them works in ‘health’ or ‘care’, the new name will better describe the expanded remit. They will be the same organisation and will continue to undertake the same functions. The web address will change to www.hcpc-uk.org

Siemens are introducing the latest upgrade to their BestSound technology in May 2012. This new technology will roll out across its RIC products, the Siemens Pure and Pure Carat, and the Siemens Motion SX and P, but only at the top three tiers of its range at present.

This means at 701, 501 and 301 level the Pure, Pure Carat, Motion SX and Motion P will now be available in the new XCEL chipset.

The Xcel Pure and Pure Carat use the familiar housings of previous models but now have the benefit of a smaller M receiver and a new ‘semi-open’ click dome, similar to tulip domes used by other manufacturers.

The Motion Xcel SX and P now ship with stylish new housings and offer the rechargeable option.

Also at the same time as releasing the Xcel chip, Siemens have released a deep fitting product called the Eclipse XCEL. It is an interesting idea where the aids sit deep in the ear with an exchangeable soft dome to aid comfort, the first half of the aid is custom fit and the second half projecting deep into the second half of the ear canal has the comfort dome. The dome has a fitting the same as a Siemens’ Click dome.

Siemens state that they have introduced a two knee point compression system into the algorithm of the technology, the stated aim is to increase naturalness of speech and sound generally, and to increase the effectiveness of the feedback manager too. The sound quality has been remarked upon as to be less like amplification, more like not wearing a hearing aid, and generally pleasant to wear.

It’s a little early to make too many assumptions but overall looks like a set of products worth consideration.