29/07/2010 by John Lloyd.

Some interesting numbers for you:

In Western Europe, in 2009, 2.6 million hearing aids were sold

Germany claim 713,000 of those and France 408,000, whilst for the UK the figure was 195,000.

Why so little comparatively? - Because our NHS supplied 1million units in that same period!

So whilst NHS hearing aids may not be as cosmetically appealing, or as technically advanced as what can be purchased privately, I think it shows that the UK are ahead of the rest of Europe in helping the hard of hearing, and at least offering a free option.

NHS hearing aids are getting better and neater, but so are privately available hearing aids and there are still many benefits of buying your hearing aids: What are they…?

Crystal Hearing

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23/07/2010 by John Lloyd.

New Hearing Aid Technology - Integrated Warning Alerts

Have you ever missed a phone call or someone at the door whilst in the garden? Ever been worried about not hearing the smoke alarm?

Unitron have developed the first fully integrated hearing aid alert system that connects wirelessly to various detectors around the house that send audible signals directly into the wearers hearing aids via a remote control device which is carried by the wearer.

This package will not be for everyone, but for those interested in reading more please click this link - Unitron Smart Alert

Click this link for more information on current Unitron Hearing Aids

Prices on application as not confirmed yet.

Crystal Hearing

0800 077 8248

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17/07/2010 by John Lloyd.

Excellent news - Phonak have upgraded their TV Adaptor to eliminate lip sync delay.

The TV adaptor is used in conjunction with the iCom and doubles up as a charger.

Benefits of the new adaptor:

1. Stereo sound

2. Extremely short transmission delay

3. Range of up to 30 meters, allowing you to walk around and still hear the TV

4. Plug and play simple to operate

5. Seperate volume adjustments

Price to be confirmed, but item can be posted and used staright away.

Contact - Crystal Hearing

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17/07/2010 by John Lloyd.

If you struggle with using a mobile phone whilst wearing hearing aids you should consider the Nokia Neckloop

The new Nokia Bluetooth neckloop system can be used with ANY Bluetooth enabled mobile phone but must be used with hearing aids that have a telecoil loop programme (the T setting).

Main benefits are:

1. Binaural listening - hear the speaker in both ears

2. The sound is transferred direct to the hearing aids

3. Total elimination of background noise

We can supply these but you may find them cheaper doing your own search.

Contact - Crystal Hearing

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12/07/2010 by John Lloyd.

Now that Crystal Hearing is over 3 years old we will start to see clients who have hearing aids that need repairing after their warranty has run out. This means that the repair will incur costs.

In order to minimise the cost of hearing aid repairs we use an independent repair shop who have many years experience repairing digital hearing aids.

Minor repairs vary between £25-35 and major repairs are £75.

Compare this to the likes of Hidden Hearing and Amplifon who regularly charge between £100 and £200 per repair.

These ongoing costs are an important consideration when choosing who you purchase your hearing aids from.

We can also fix hearing aids not supplied by us. Please call on the freephone number or send the aid in for us to deal with.

All the best

Crystal Hearing

Freephone 0800 077 8248

Hearing Aids

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07/06/2010 by John Lloyd.

The Doro PhoneEasy 409 - for hearing aid wearers who struggle with mobile phones.

i.e. Problems hearing clearly or just finding mobile phones too fiddly to use.

The Doro PhoneEasy 409 mobile phone is proving to be an excellent solution for many hearing aid wearers. This mobile phone is simple to use, with large buttons, but more importantly it is compatible with hearing aids Telecoil programs meaning the signal is sent directly into the hearing aid. Thus avoiding the difficulty of having to line up the hearing aid microphone and the phone speaker. This phone comes highly recommended.

To read more or buy a Dorophone please click here - Doro PhoneEasy 409

(Note: This is not our recommended site to buy from. Please do your own research on prices)

Hearing aids    Hearing Aids    Hearing Aids

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16/04/2010 by John Lloyd.

Product Launch

Oticon have now replaced the very successful Epoq range of hearing aids with the Agil and Agil Pro. This new family of extremely high performing hearing solutions takes speech understanding to a whole new level by protecting the natural spatial and speech cues embedded in a sound scene. The Agil is designed to support the brain’s natural process of understanding speech.

‘Moore’s law’ describes the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. This means that hearing aid models are replaced on average every two years.

The Agil Pro now has a micro-chip twice as fast as the Epoq which allows the hearing aid to maximise the potential of the key features it promotes including Spacial Awareness, Speech Guard, feedback suppression, surround sound directionality and speech enhancement. All technical features are shown  here.

The Agil Pro comes as ITE, BTE and a fantastic sleek new mini-BTE / RIC (not quite as small as the Audeo Smart but slightly more sturdy).

More reading about Oticon at Crystal Hearing UK - here

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06/04/2010 by John Lloyd.

ARE YOU RECYCLING YOUR HEARING AID BATTERIES?

Amongst the 600 million batteries ending up in landfill every year, 50 million are hearing aid batteries! Both these figures are unacceptable and are well behind the rest of Europe. Please do your part to help reduce this.

Rayovac has now signed up with one of the largest recycling schemes in the UK called ‘Battery Back’.

‘Battery Back’ now has 3000 collection points for batteries, including your hearing aid batteries, and we urge you to use these collection points, or to save your hearing aid batteries and hand them to your dispenser so that he/she can dispose of them accordingly. This is vital for the batteries that contain mercury, as the mercury eventually leaks back into the soil and can ultimately enter our water system and food chain. Mercury is highly poisonous and destroys our vital organs and nerve tissue.

To find your closest collection point visit:

http://www.wastecare.co.uk/battery/

More info at:

www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/sectors/sustainability/batteries/page30610.html

Mercury Free Hearing Aid Batteries - only £1.80 per pack

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Hearing Aids

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21/03/2010 by John Lloyd.

FINALLY! - I have now sorted out the email notification system for my hearing aid blog so that you will now be automatically notified when new articles are posted. I was unaware this wasn’t already happening, so you will have missed all previous articles, but these can be found by visiting the blog and browsing the ‘Categories’ on the right hand side. (click here)

For those who don’t know what a ‘blog’ is click here

This blog reel is a very good way for you to keep in touch with new developments in the hearing aid world, for all the latest released hearing aids, accessories, advice notes, and now also LESSONS!

Articles that may be of interest to get a feel of the blog include:

Lessons 1 and 2

(Lesson 1 - What is a Digital Hearing Aid?)

(Lesson 2 - The hearing test explained)

Mercury Free Hearing Aid Batteries

I hope over time you find this a helpful way of learning more about hearing loss and hearing aids, so that next time you need to upgrade you have a greater understanding of your own personal needs and what is on the market that may be of help to you.

 If you wish to be removed from the notification system please let me know.

All the best

John

Hearing Aids

Hearing Aids

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22/02/2010 by John Lloyd.

There are two issues here. 1. Raising awareness to the new mercury free batteries now being supplied by Rayovac, and 2. Ethical disposal of your hearing aid batteries.

Most batteries have until now contained some level of mercury within them, which means that careless disposal of these batteries will eventually lead to the mercury being leaked into the soil. This mercury then gets into our water and food chain and is ingested by us all! Mercury is a highly toxic substance which damages the brain, kidneys and lungs. Symptoms ironically can include hearing impairment; so a viscous cycle for those who have a hearing loss and who don’t consider the implications of where they discard their batteries!

Rayovac now supply mercury free hearing aid batteries which after considerable development are now providing equivalent lifespan of the mercury batteries. It is in the interest of us ALL to use products that DON’T contain mercury, but as with everything these new batteries are slightly more expensive due to the development costs involved.

At Crystal Hearing we already offer a price on our batteries that is barely profitable so we cannot bear this additional cost.

We can supply ‘Rayovac Mercury Free Extra Advanced’ batteries in all sizes for a discount price of £18 per 60 cells

(Click here for the Rayovac website)

There is a new European Batteries Directive being implemented from the 1st February that requires the UK to recycle 25% of portable batteries by 2012. So please help us to do our bit and either dispose of your batteries at your local tip (or any other appropriate recycling point) or if you cannot do this then please save them in a pot/bag and give them to your dispenser so he/she can dispose of them accordingly.

Click here for the our other Hearing Aid Batteries web page.

We now supply ‘mercury free’ Rayovac Hearing Aid Batteries for only £1.80 / pack

(This price is for Blog subscribers - normal price is £2 / pack)

Crystal Hearing

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