Tracy James Hearing is excited and proud to announce that we have been shortlisted for a Best Customer Experience Award at the Newbury Weekly News Best in Business Awards!

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is when the brain finds it difficult to process and understand sound, particularly speech. The pathway between the ear and the brain and the way the brain encodes the information from the ear is not working properly. This means that the sound/speech can be scrambled, altered or delayed.

For a long time there was little information about tinnitus and sound tolerance issues (hyperacusis) in children. This made it difficult for parents to know how to support and help their child. Fortunately this is improving; there is now more information out there and the condition and symptoms are recognised.

Whilst NHS Audiology in West Berkshire offers a great tinnitus and hyperacusis service, the wait to be seen can sometimes seem never ending.  We know the earlier we intervene in helping people manage their tinnitus and hyperacusis the more successful the outcome for them.

More recent developments in hearing aid design (especially in the private sector) has been the use of in the Ear (ITE) and completely in the ear canal (CIC) hearing aids for mild to moderate hearing losses. This includes ready to wear CIC hearing aids.

NIHL occurs when you are exposed to excessive levels of sound for a given time period. From a physical point of view the tiny hair cells in the cochlear (the organ of hearing) are damaged and stop working and therefore are not able to process the sound along the auditory pathway.

Christmas is a time when we all come together. Sadly though, some of our loved ones will miss out on conversations due to hearing loss. Here are some top tips from the RNID on how to start the conversation on hearing loss this Christmas.

If you’re wondering how well you can hear and you would like to do an initial check, it is now possible to do an online hearing test which will indicate if there is a hearing loss present.

Louise works alongside Tracy offering the wax removal, hearing tests and children’s appointments, plus she also offers tinnitus and hyperacusis services.