Your Trusted Hearing Test Experts in London
Do you have concerns about your hearing and want to get it checked out in a reputable hearing clinic in London? If the answer is yes, you’ve come to the right place. At VIP Hearing Solutions, we carry out highly-personalised hearing tests for patients from all walks of life on a daily basis.
To continuously provide our patients with an excellent level of care, our team consists of some of London’s best audiologists who have over 40 years of combined clinical experience. Our hearing clinic is also equipped with the finest, state-of-the-art equipment, which helps us carry out the most accurate hearing assessment possible.
As part of your hearing test appointment, we will help you understand where your hearing is currently at, what is causing your hearing loss (if you have any at all), and what can be done to improve it. So, if you have or suspect to have impacted hearing, don’t wait. Book yourself in for a hearing test today.
Take a Free Online Hearing Test
Don’t have time to pop by our clinic or book an appointment for an in-person hearing test? Although we highly recommend it, that’s not a problem. For the time being, you can use our free online hearing test, which will give you a rough idea of how well you’re hearing.
This test only takes about three minutes and all you’ll need for it is a pair of headphones or earphones. Before the test begins, you’ll be asked a few relevant questions, such as your age range and how you’d describe your hearing. It’s important that you answer all questions correctly and to the best of your ability so that you get the most accurate results.
What Are Hearing Tests?
In most basic terms, hearing tests are a series of non-invasive assessments carried out by a trained healthcare professional in a controlled environment. These tests play an essential role in helping your audiologist determine the cause and severity of your hearing loss. Some of the tests that we carry out at our hearing clinic in London include:
- A full audiometric hearing assessment
- Tympanometry
- Acoustic reflex
- Speech audiometry
Following the results of the hearing tests, your audiologist will recommend the most appropriate treatment options or interventions to improve your hearing. In some cases, your hearing loss can require you to use a hearing aid to aid your hearing, while in other cases, the hearing loss can be as a result of excessive earwax inside your ear canal.
Our Hearing Test Services
At VIP Hearing Solutions, we offer our patients a variety of diagnostic tests that can help us determine the exact cause and severity of your hearing loss. They include:
Audiometric Hearing Test
Our audiometric hearing test is the gold standard for hearing loss diagnosis. This procedure determines the quietest level of sounds that you can hear across multiple frequencies. For this procedure, you will wear headphones in a soundproof booth while your audiologist plays a variety of sounds at different volumes and frequencies. If you can hear a sound, you will indicate to the audiologist, who will keep track, creating what is known as a clinical audiogram.
Tympanometry
This diagnostic test is used to evaluate the condition of your middle ear and the mobility of the eardrum. It can help with diagnosing fluid in the middle ear, eustachian tube dysfunction, and perforation or scarring of the eardrum.
This test is relatively straightforward. Your audiologist will insert a probe into your ear canal, which will change the air pressure and measure the response of your eardrum.
Acoustic Reflex
Also known as stapedius reflex, this test is used to measure the reflexive contractions of the middle ear muscles when exposed to loud sounds. This reflex plays an important role in preserving your inner ear from damage when you’re exposed to loud noises. If it does not function as expected, you are more prone to damaging your hearing when you’re in loud environments.
Speech Audiometry
And lastly, we often carry out speech audiometry assessments for patients who have issues hearing and understanding speech. This test is crucial for determining the severity of hearing loss and its impact on the patient’s ability to communicate with others – be it in person or over the phone.
We also carry out a variety of different diagnostic tests, just contact a member of our team to find out more.
Why Choose Us for Hearing Tests in London?
VIP Hearing Solutions is one of London’s most renowned clinics for hearing care. Each member of our team is dedicated to setting a standard of excellence by being proactive and committed to putting our patients at ease while determining their cause for loss of hearing and finding the most effective treatment.
Collectively, we have over 40 years of experience and a strong clinical background. Our clinic is also equipped with state-of-the-art hearing technology, which helps us to a tremendous extent when it comes to providing our patients with an accurate diagnosis and personalised care. Other reasons why you should choose our award-winning hearing clinic in London include:
- We are independent with no affiliation to manufacturers or third-party companies
- We have hundreds of overwhelmingly positive reviews on Google, Trustpilot, and Doctify
- We work with the majority of private healthcare insurance providers in the UK
Thanks to our hard work and dedication, we have become one of the best places for hearing health and proudly care for over 20,000 patients! And we hope that you trust us enough to make you part of that great statistic.
Our Professional Audiologists
At VIP Hearing Solutions, we have the pleasure to work with some of the most talented, experienced, and accredited audiologists in London. Each healthcare professional working at our clinic has a strong clinical background working for the NHS and is recognised by the HCPC (The Health and Care Professions Council). Our other accreditations are included with the British Academy of Audiologists (BAA) and the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists (BSHAA).
Whether you are seen by Mr Nick Clive, Mr Mo Khan or another member of our team of audiologists, you can rest assured that you’ll receive the highest standard of personalised care.
What to Expect During a Hearing Test
In-person hearing tests at VIP Hearing Solutions can look slightly different for each patient. That is because we strive to offer a service of the highest standard that is personalised to the unique needs and circumstances of each patient. That being said, we can give you a general idea of what you can expect.
At the time of your appointment, you’ll be called into the office of one of our audiologists, who will be carrying out your hearing test. First, they will have a brief conversation with you about your medical history and hearing concerns.
Following the initial conversation, the audiometric hearing assessment will commence. For this test, you’ll be given a pair of headphones. Your audiologist will then proceed to play sounds in various frequencies and volumes. Your sole responsibility is to listen and notify the audiologist if you can hear the sound.
Once the audiometric hearing test is completed, your audiologist will discuss your results with you. If the results indicate a hearing loss, your audiologist will devise a thorough, personalised management plan for you. If you need onward referral for further investigation, this will also be managed for you in full.
Interpreting Your Hearing Test Results
The results from your hearing tests and what they mean will vary from test to test. For example, if your hearing is assessed through an audiometric hearing test, you’ll get an audiogram, which is a graph that shows the softest sounds you can hear at various frequencies, which are also known as pitches.
The severity of your hearing loss will be judged based on decibel (dB) levels at which you can hear the different frequencies. If the results of your audiogram fall within the 0 to 20 dB range, you have normal hearing. Anything over 25 dB can indicate hearing loss, in which case, further evaluation may be necessary.
Once you’ve completed the required testing, your audiologist will review and interpret the results with you. Based on their findings, they will walk you through all of your options and help you pick the one that makes the most sense for you. This is also the time when you can ask any and all questions that you may have.
Frequently Asked Questions
The cost of a hearing test in London will vary from clinic to clinic. Another factor that can affect the price would be whether you only need a standard hearing test or if you’ll require additional tests to further evaluate the cause for your hearing loss.
If you’d like to find out the cost of a hearing test at VIP Hearing Solutions, please get in touch with us today so that we can have a chat and find out more about your particular case.
If you can feel that your hearing is impacted in any way, that’s the best sign that you need to book yourself in for a hearing test. Some of the most common symptoms that would warrant a visit to our hearing clinic include:
- Sounds are muffled and unclear
- You hear ringing, buzzing, or hissing sounds in your ear (indicating you may have tinnitus)
- You can tell that your hearing is not as good as it should be
While the above are obvious indications that you need to book yourself in for a hearing test, there are plenty of times where knowing that you need a hearing test isn’t as obvious. If you find yourself doing the following, you should also consider getting your hearing checked out:
- Turning up the volume on your TV, radio, or mobile phone
- You have difficulty hearing people on the phone
- Frequently asking people to repeat themselves
We also recommend hearing tests to people who don’t necessarily have any complaints with their hearing. The reason being is that the sooner an issue with your hearing is diagnosed, the sooner the problem can be corrected. This is especially important for patients who are getting older or work in loud environments and are at higher risk of having their hearing impacted.
The time it’ll take for your hearing test to be completed can vary depending on a number of factors, including the complexity of your case, your medical history and symptoms, and the number of questions that you’ll have for our audiologist at the end. Generally speaking though, our thorough hearing test appointment will last anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes.
No, hearing tests are neither uncomfortable nor painful. Hearing tests are non-invasive and are carried out in a comfortable, soundproof booth, which will allow your audiologist to get a full grasp of your hearing abilities.
If you are sensitive to certain sounds or have any concerns prior to your appointment, please let our team know on the day of your appointment, and they will do their best to make the hearing test as comfortable as possible for you.
If your audiologist concludes that you are experiencing hearing loss, the next step is to determine the reason why your hearing is affected. At VIP Hearing Solutions, we have state-of-the-art equipment, which can help us carry out additional hearing tests, such as:
- Tympanometry
- Acoustic Reflex
- Speech Audiometry
These additional hearing tests can further evaluate the nature and extent of your hearing loss, which will help your audiologist diagnose the problem and create an appropriate plan of action to restore or aid your hearing.
For patients who need onward referral for further investigations, we have connections to many reputable ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) consultants who can carry out further investigations, with same day appointments where possible.