FAQs

Find answers to your questions
I need to have a hearing test, how much will this cost me?

Hearing Aid Specialists SA offer free, no-obligation hearing tests to all Australian Pension Card holders, Vetren’s Affers and private clients. (conditions apply)

Will I get my hearing aid on the day of my assessment?

No. Hearing aids are not available off-the-shelf. They need to be ordered in specifically for you and you will need an appointment approximately two weeks after your test for the hearing aids to be programmed to a prescription based your hearing impairment. You will also be required to attend at least one follow up appointment, one to two weeks after your fitting appointment, to ensure that you are happy with your hearing aid settings. If additional fine tuning is required at your follow up, further appointments may be necessary.

How much do hearing aids cost?
On average hearing aids range in price from $2000 to $8500 a pair depending on the technology within the device.

How much you spend on a hearing aid depends on a number of factors including the extent of your hearing impairment and what effect your hearing impairment has had on your speech understanding ability, your cognitive capacity, your eyesight and dexterity, how socially and physically active your lifestyle is and how much you can afford to spend factoring in the life of a hearing aid is between 4 and 6 years.

How do hearing aids work?
A microphone picks up a sound in your environment and the hearing aid amplifies and processes the sound to remove unwanted noise and delivers it into your ear.
Why have 2 hearing aids?
We hear better with two ears than we do with one. Our brains use the information we receive from two ears to work out where sounds are coming from and to separate important sounds from noise. With two hearing aids we can provide balance to your hearing, even if there is a difference in the hearing in each of your ears. Most importantly you hear louder with two ears than with one alone, so if you are fitted with two hearing aids it is important to wear them both together for maximum benefit.
I live by myself, why do I need hearing aids when I’m by myself?
  • To keep the nerves connecting your ears to your brain active so that you can continue to make sense of the sounds you do hear.
  • Safety – awareness of sounds around you and being able to hear alarms ringing
  • Being able to hear when someone is at the door and when the telephone rings.
  • So as not to disturb your neighbours with your TV or radio.
How long will my hearing aids last?
The average life of a hearing aid is 4 to 6 years. Under the Office of Hearing Services Program your hearing aids are expected to last 5 years unless something significant changes about your hearing or your health which means that the hearing aids you have are no longer appropriate for your needs. Looking after your hearing aid, keeping it clean and well maintained will extend the life of your device.
How do I know how to clean my hearing aid?
Your hearing specialist will show you how to look after your hearing aid at your fitting appointment. Additionally, here at Hearing Aid Specialists SA our fully trained staff are able to provide cleaning services over the counter without an appointment and are able to provide advice on how to care for and maintain you hearing device. If required, you can also book an appointment to see our qualified clinician’s for a clean and check appointment.
What does a hearing aid look like?
There are two basic styles of hearing aids, those for which all the electronics of the device are enclosed in a shell which sits fully in the canal and/or bowl of your ear and those with a piece behind the ear containing the majority of the electronics which is connected to a piece sitting within the ear by either a tube or a wire. The size of the device suitable for you depends on a range of factors including the size of your ear, the amount of wax your ear produces, the health of your outer ear and the extent of your hearing impairment.
Will a hearing aid give me back normal hearing?
Your hearing aid cannot restore normal or perfect hearing, there will still be some situations where you experience difficulty, particularly in very noisy situations.
How often do I need to change my batteries?
All hearing aids run on batteries. Most hearing aid batteries will last between 1 and 2 weeks when you are wearing the hearing aid every day, for most of the day, and remembering to turn it off when you are not wearing it. Some factors that will determine battery life are how many hours per day you are wearing the aid, what size battery the hearing aid uses, how hard the hearing aid working, how old the hearing aid is and how well maintained it is (a dirty hearing aid will be working harder than a clean one and will run through more batteries).

There are now some technologies available that run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries which never require changing but which need to be charged overnight daily. At this stage only behind the ear type devices offer this technology.

Do I need to wear my hearing aid all day?
You should wear your hearing aid every day during your waking hours, but not when showering or swimming, as they are not waterproof.
Can I use my hearing aid on the telephone?
You should be able to hear clearly with your hearing device on a telephone with good reception and sound quality. With a behind the ear type device you should be aware that the microphones are located in the piece that sits on the top of your ear, so you should hold the telephone receiver to the top and slightly to the back of your ear for the clearest signal. For an in the ear type device you should hold the telephone receiver approximately 1-2 cm from your ear to prevent whistling.

Most hearing aid manufacturers have technology available throughout their product range whereby you can wirelessly stream the sound of your mobile phone through an intermediary accessory into your hearing aids (i.e. your hearing aids will act like a pair of wireless headphones). There are also now technologies available where this can be achieved without an intermediary device.