Your first appointment

The first time you visit a hearing care professional, you are in for a pleasant experience that is interesting and informative. You will get to understand your hearing, identify any needs you have, and explore possible solutions.

What to expect at your first visit

  • Talk about your hearing history with a hearing care professional
  • Discuss your hearing needs: situations and sounds that you struggle with
  • Take a hearing test where you listen to different sounds using headphones
  • The professional will explain your hearing test results to you
  • Together, you can develop a plan for your next steps – maybe with hearing aids

Find a hearing care centre

Bring someone with you

You will be able to get more out of your visit if someone close to you shares in the experience.

Most people find it helpful to bring a spouse, family member or friend to their first visit.

Did you know?

  • You hear with your brain, not your ears. Your brain needs to hear all sounds to understand what is said.

  • Untreated hearing loss makes it difficult to follow conversations and is often very tiring.

  • Hearing aids can help you stay connected to the world via devices like TVs and phones.

Understand your hearing

A little knowledge can help you get the most from your first visit to a hearing centre

Top tip!

Fill out our short questionnaire about your hearing and bring it to your appointment

Download questionnaire

Which situations do you find challenging?

Your hearing is completely unique to you. Think about the ways you struggle, so you can get the most value from your first meeting with an audiologist.

Can you hold a conversation in a crowded room?

How well do you keep up during meetings at work?

Do you always hear when players give instructions or make small talk?

Family dinners can be full of excited chatter – What stops you following it all?

Do you turn up the volume more than others would like?

Where do you usually meet your friends? What do you struggle to hear there?

Do streets become challenging when they are busy with traffic? 

In what other situations have you noticed hearing difficulties?

You hear with your brain, not your ears!

Your ears and brain work together. The ears funnel sound into the hearing system and your brain processes the sound into meaning.

Your brain automatically identifies sounds and locates where they are coming from. Then it decides where to focus, which sounds to listen to, and when to concentrate on something else.

Read more about BrainHearing™

You need access to all the sounds around you

To understand where sounds are coming from and have the freedom to focus on what interests you, you need access to sounds around you from both ears.

For good speech understanding, it is important that you have access to everyone who is speaking, and can hear all details in speech – especially in noisy environments.

Untreated hearing loss is tiring and can affect your mental performance

  • You use more mental energy to follow what is being said
  • Using more mental energy to hear leaves less for other brain functions such as remembering
  • Many people experience reduced contact with friends, family and colleagues, which can lead to isolation and depression
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Treating hearing loss helps to keep your brain fit

  • Improved communication skills
  • More free mental energy
  • Easier to be socially active
  • Better stimulation of the brain
  • Help to keep your brain fit and reduce mental decline

Find a hearing care centre

Learn more about how hearing aids keep the brain fit, in this short video