At Fresh Hearing we are totally committed to using real life patient feedback to find the best and most appropriate hearing care solutions.
We asked our hearing care expert Nish Vasant, about some of the latest, digital hearing aids available at Fresh Hearing and what feedback he had been given from real patients, who have actually tried the devices for themselves.
WHAT MANUFACTURERS ARE YOU ALLOWED TO WORK WITH AT FRESH HEARING?
As completely independent hearing aid specialists, we can choose ANY manufacturer we like. Hearing technology these days is outstanding but it is no good to anyone if it is not right for the patient’s lifestyle or is fitted incorrectly.
We choose our technology based on the unique human being sat in front of us at that time, not just by what is latest or ‘in fashion’ at the time they come to see us. There are so many factors to take in to account when choosing the right hearing aid for someone and it has to be about the correct audiological advice alongside the patient’s preferences and budget.
WE SAW THAT THE SWISS MANUFACTURER, PHONAK LAUNCH A NEW PRODUCT CALLED PARADISE, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF IT?
Phonak is part of the Sonova group and we like their products as well as those from one of their other companies, Unitron. You may have seen our FLEX: Trial advertised on our website which is where patients can home a brand new pair of Unitron FLEX aids and try them in their own environments (at home for example). We love this approach as it shows we are not afraid of letting our patients take control and they know that we won’t give them the ‘big sell’. We use the data collected from the flex trial hearing aids to accurately tell which level of technology is best suited for our client. Very much like a Doctor would send you home with a blood pressure monitor, we send you home with the flex trial devices to collect information about your lifestyle.
The Phonak Paradise range has had a wonderful response from our patients, some of the new features and styling have been particularly well received. When we first started fitting Paradise (and any new product actually), we are always a little sceptical despite some of the manufacturers long standing success rates with patients globally. This is purely because it’s the patient feedback we use, not our opinion of the product as that is what joins the technology up to the whole reason we do our jobs in hearing care in the first place.
My overall opinion of the products is that they are reliable, robust, stylish, simple to use so you can get on with your daily life and that they provide a clear and natural sound. The devices themselves sit neatly on my patients ears and we can even choose colours to suit people’s hair or skin tone.
ARE THERE ANY FEATURES THAT YOU ARE PARTICULARLY IMPRESSED WITH?
Yes actually. I really enjoyed hearing my patients talk about the noise cancellation which can vary depending on the type of room you are in. Noise cancellation is so important is noisy and busy environments and allows the hearing devices to focus on speech as opposed to the general steady state background noise that we generally want to make less intrusive. Phonak call this feature Dynamic Noise Cancellation and the developments here have been noticeable and improved speech understanding in noise.
The other feature I like is via the connectivity options on Paradise. Telephones and other modern day devices have historically been an issue for people with hearing loss or who have noticed changes to their hearing so providing an easy to use solution to like the hearing aids to telephones and televisions is incredible. Whilst we are talking about telephones, there is a feature on Paradise that allows you to use a ‘tap’ of the device to answer phone calls, stream or pause music and activate a voice assistant! A built in microphone allows you to use hands free via your hearing aids too – these developments in hearing technology never cease to amaze me!
Whether you are an experienced user and have upgraded to Paradise or a first time user, these features are highly beneficial.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The technology that Sonova use in their devices is some of the best in the industry and having a combined approach using the flex trial devices we find our customers are exceptionally happy with their hearing aids. The different levels of technology available in the Phonak paradise hearing aids means there is a product available within this platform for every type of lifestyle. We also find that the rechargeable aspect of this range of hearing aids have proven very popular, particularly with customers that have dexterity issues.
If you would like to speak with us about the latest, digital and discreet hearing technology designed to maximise your every day life please get in touch by clicking here
Fantastic friendly and attentive service, highly recommended. 5*
I was very impressed with the service provided by Nish - friendly, attentive and reassuring!
Great service did the job perfect
5* experience! Professional and knowledgeable, wouldn't go anywhere else!
