Many of my friends say their hearing aids do not help them with background noise. This is the only place that I have trouble. Should I get hearing aids if they don’t seem to help my friends?

The best hearing aid technology today is much better at reducing the effect of background noise compared to even just a few years ago.

However, satisfactory hearing in background noise is sometimes difficult to achieve because of the hearing loss itself. The loss of tiny hair cells in the cochlea means that both the sensitivity to quiet sounds, and the ability to hear fine details are diminished. We use a range of hearing tests in order to gain our best insight into your real-world hearing ability. It’s fair to say that it’s nearly always worth wearing hearing aids, but we will try and give you the best level of expectation based on your hearing abilities first and the hearing aid technology available. Other people’s experience and opinion on hearing aids is valuable, but it’s no replacement for first-hand experience.