our clients

Case Studies

The comprehensive range of hearservice products and services assist with the prevention and management of hearing loss.

hearservice is here to help you…read the case studies below to find out how hearservice can help.

Suzie - the musician with tinnitus (ringing in the ears)

Suzie is a 23 year old singer/songwriter. Recently Suzie has noticed temporary ringing in her ears after gigs. She read in Rolling Stone magazine that exposure to loud music caused many famous musicians to lose their hearing, and that the tinnitus can sometimes be a warning sign. She's tried wearing standard ear plugs at gigs before but found that they distorted the quality of the music and affected the way she played.

Suzie's drummer Tim told her about musician's ear plugs which are custom made to fit each ear and are designed to protect hearing while not affecting the quality of sound. Suzie then made an appointment with hearservice.

During her appointment, the hearservice Audiologist conducted a comprehensive hearing test, evaluated her needs and took impressions of Suzie's ears to create special moulds for her ear plugs. The Audiologist provided advice to Suzie on dealing with tinnitus and in consultation with Suzie, the Audiologist referred her to the speech pathologist for a detailed review.

Suzie completed an assessment with the speech pathologist to evaluate her reaction to the tinnitus. Suzie's individual management plan included:

Tinnitus information
Noise induced hearing loss education
Appropriate hearing protection while avoiding over-protection.

A fortnight later, Suzie was fitted with her musician's ear plugs by her Audiologist. A few weeks later the Audiologist contacted Suzie to check her progress. Suzie told her Audiologist that the ringing in her ears after gigs had subsidised. Now Suzie feels confident that her hearing is protected and the quality of sound is maintained.

* Please note that in general clients with tinnitus usually report increased perception of tinnitus noises when earplugs are inserted. In Suzie's case, the ringing she noticed was a symptom of temporary shift in hearing caused by exposure to loud noise in excess of 85 dB.

go to top

Charles - the executive with hearing loss

Charles is the Director of a national software development company. As the Director, Charles spends much of his time in meetings which involve senior executives from national companies in the banking and finance sectors. Lately Charles is missing important information and misinterpreting vital points.

It’s Thursday morning and yet another crucial meeting. Charles is sitting across the table from the Director and Chief Financial Officer of a major banking corporation. Charles is having great difficulty following both executives. The meeting is rescheduled to include Charles’ PA Katie, who he’s been relying on lately to relay important information he’s been missing. Charles is becoming increasingly embarrassed and aware of his hearing difficulties.

The following day Katie downloaded fact sheets from the hearservice website and left them on Charles’ desk. A week later Charles contacted hearservice for an assessment and after some discussion with his Audiologist, Charles decided to try the latest technology in hearing aids. Included in the purchase of Charles’ hearing aids, was a free one hour rehabilitation session designed to provide additional strategies in managing his hearing loss professionally and socially.

Charles is amazed at just how much the hearing aids and additional strategies have improved his work and social life and wonders why he didn’t try them earlier.

go to top

Peter - the partner stuggling with TV

Peter and Shirley have been married for 39 years. Shirley is worried that Peter is turning the television up so loud that “the neighbours are starting to complain”. Despite the extra volume, Peter still has difficulty following his favourite shows, and is constantly asking Shirley to repeat what was said. This is annoying for Shirley and frustrating for Peter. Recently, Shirley has found the volume too loud to stay in the same room. The couple now watch TV from separate rooms in the house, and Shirley complains they are spending more time alone in their retirement than when they were both working.

One day, Shirley was advised by her neighbour of hearservice assistive listening devices. She contacted hearservice and after a comprehensive hearing assessment was referred to the hearservice Devices Specialist for a free appointment. Shirley and Peter tried out a number of devices designed to help Peter hear the TV better. They settled on a wireless headphone system that allows Peter to control the volume he hears, without affecting the volume for Shirley. Since using the headphone system, Peter is pleased he is able to follow TV so much better and Shirley is happy to spend more time with her husband.

go to top

Lisa - the teacher with hearing aids

Lisa has had a hearing loss from birth and wears her hearing aids daily. She is a graduate primary school teacher and has just completed her work placement. Since securing a position in a local school, Lisa finds she is struggling in the classroom environment, but believes there is little chance for improvement given that she already has hearing aids.

After describing her concerns to the year level co-ordinator, Lisa was made aware of the Vicdeaf Rehabilitation and Information Team and made an appointment for a hearing loss rehabilitation session with one of their Speech Pathologists. During her consultation, Lisa was given a number of practical strategies, which would allow her to feel more confident when encountering challenging communication situations in the classroom.

Lisa’s Speech Pathologist informed her of strategies to maximise communication:

Speech reading
Conversational strategies such as using context to predict the parts of the sentence that she did not hear
Environmental modification:
- Rearranging the class room furniture
- Altering lighting (to improve her ability to speech read)
- Closing doors and windows (to reduce interference from environmental noise)
- Placing children who are more difficult to understand further forward in the room
- Improving room acoustics.

The Speech Pathologist referred Lisa to one of the hearservice Audiologists, to discuss further hearing aid options, in particular the inclusion of a specific program in the hearing aid to help reduce the effects of background noise.

Finally, the Speech Pathologist was invited to give a talk to Lisa’s students. In a fun and interactive presentation, her students listened to a ‘hearing loss simulation’ CD, which helped them to understand what living with a hearing loss might be like.

Lisa no longer struggles in the classroom and is much more relaxed. The additional program in Lisa’s hearing aids, combined with practical communication strategies, have significantly improved Lisa’s life both personally and professionally.

go to top