When you’ve only got one good ear, can hearing aids really help? They can when combined with a clever microphone transmitter as Maureen Webb has found. Maureen has lived with hearing problems most of her life. Over the years her right ear has deteriorated to a profound hearing loss. Her left ear works better but still has mild to moderate hearing loss. Whilst Maureen toyed with getting her hearing sorted in the past, it was the ongoing frustration when customers approached her bad ear that led Maureen who was working in a knitting shop at the time, to look around again for a solution. Then a friend recommended Courtenay Hearing Centre.

“Nicholas was just so lovely. He seemed to know the questions to ask and they were all the things that had been on my mind too. He really understood and listened,” said Maureen. Nicholas told her that because sounds were so distorted in her right ear, having a hearing aid in that ear might only amplify the distortions. Instead he suggested she use a microphone transmitter in that ear that would wirelessly transfer sounds from the right side to a hearing aid in her left ear. “If I’d just had a hearing aid on the left side, I’d have been lop-sided and would still have been turning my head all the time,” said Maureen. “But this has really worked. Now I sometimes don’t even know what side the sound is coming from.”

Maureen says while the new devices were tiring for the first few days – “too much noise!” – she quickly got used to them and the difference at work was immediate. “The big test was going to my knitting group which is at a café at night. Just fantastic. Even though it was really noisy I could hear everything people were saying.” Having now retired to a quieter life in Paraparaumu, Maureen says she wishes she’d made the visit to Courtenay Hearing Centre years ago.

“I think people still think there’s a little bit of a stigma about getting hearing aids. But if you’re older, think about all the things your grandchildren are saying that you might be missing out on. Get it done, and get it done Properly.”