12 conditions, A to Z
Ears, plainly explained
How to reach us
01632 960500Sandra answers, and works out what to book.
Mon–Fri09:00 to 17:30
Sat09:00 to 13:00
12 Market Place, Kingsmere WX5 1EP
Getting in
- Level entrance from Market Place, no steps anywhere on the ground floor
- Hearing loop at the desk and in both test rooms; we speak clearly and face you
Twelve things people bring to Market Place, in plain words: what it usually is, how urgent it is, and what to do. Most of it is routine. One of them is an emergency, and we have put it first.
Hearing tests within a week; wax removal within three days
Free hearing tests this week
1 condition
Today
A doctor first, then us. Phone your GP and say the words, or go to A&E.
Hearing tests
Sudden hearing loss
Hearing in one ear drops over hours or a couple of days, sometimes with ringing or a full feeling. It is an emergency because steroid treatment works best within 24 to 48 hours.
What it feels like
- One ear suddenly muffled or silent
- Often on waking
- Ringing or fullness in that ear
- Sometimes dizziness
What to do
Phone your GP today and say 'sudden hearing loss', or go to A&E. Then phone us: we will test the same day and write to the doctor.
Book thisFrom £95
5 conditions
This week
Book within the week. Wax and infections are quick to sort and slow to ignore.
Wax removal
Ear wax
Ears make wax on purpose; sometimes it builds up, especially with hearing aids or narrow canals, and blocks the sound. Blocked, muffled, your own voice loud. Removed by microsuction in twenty minutes.
What it feels like
- Blocked or full feeling
- Muffled hearing, often after a shower or swim
- Own voice loud in your head
- Hearing aid whistling
What to do
Olive oil drops for three days, then book microsuction; usually within three days. No cotton buds.
Book thisFrom £75NHS advice
Ear infection
Pain, discharge, sometimes fever and muffled hearing. Outer-ear infections come from water and scratching; middle-ear infections come after colds. Neither is ours to treat.
What it feels like
- Pain, sometimes severe
- Discharge or a smell
- Muffled hearing
- Fever with a middle-ear infection
What to do
Pharmacist or GP this week. Once it has settled, we will check your hearing has come back.
Hearing tests
Hearing loss in one ear only
A loss that is clearly worse on one side needs a doctor's look before anything else, because the causes are different from the everyday kind and a few of them matter.
What it feels like
- One ear much worse than the other
- Sound seems to come from one side
- Sometimes ringing in that ear only
- Sometimes unsteadiness
What to do
Book the diagnostic assessment; we will write to your GP for an ENT referral the same day if the tests show it.
Book thisFrom £95Hearing tests
Ménière's disease
Attacks of spinning dizziness with hearing loss, fullness and roaring tinnitus in one ear, lasting hours. Diagnosed by an ENT consultant; we help with the hearing between attacks.
What it feels like
- Spinning dizziness lasting hours
- Hearing fluctuates in one ear
- Roaring tinnitus
- Fullness in the ear
What to do
GP for an ENT referral. We provide hearing tests to track it and aids that cope with a changing loss.
Book thisFrom £95NHS advice
Perforated eardrum
A hole in the eardrum from infection, a blow, or a cotton bud. Usually heals itself in a few weeks. Keep water out and no syringing or microsuction until it has closed.
What it feels like
- Sudden pain then relief
- Discharge
- Muffled hearing
- Whistling when blowing the nose
What to do
GP this week. Tell us if you have ever had one before we remove wax; it changes what we do.
Not on this list?
Two minutes, one honest suggestion.
Six plain questions about everyday life tell you which appointment to book, or whether a doctor should see you first. No headphones, nothing to buy.
Do the hearing check →Or ring Sandra on 01632 960500 and say what is wrong; you will be told plainly whether it is us or a doctor first.
6 conditions
Routine
Start with the free hearing test, in your own time. It is worth having a first result.
Hearing tests
Age-related hearing loss
The commonest kind. The high pitches go first, so speech loses its edges: people seem to mumble, groups are hard, the television creeps up. It is gradual, it is in both ears, and hearing aids help most people a great deal.
What it feels like
- People mumble, especially women and children
- Restaurants and gatherings are hard work
- TV louder than the family like
- Fine one-to-one, lost in a group
What to do
Book the free hearing test. If aids would help, you can hear a pair the same day; if not, we will say so.
Book thisFreeTinnitus
Tinnitus
Sound with no outside source: ringing, hissing, buzzing. One in eight adults has it. Usually harmless and usually with a hearing loss you had not noticed. It cannot usually be cured, and it can nearly always be made to matter much less.
What it feels like
- Ringing, hissing or buzzing
- Worse in quiet, worse at night
- Worse when tired or stressed
- Often with some hearing loss
What to do
Book the tinnitus consultation, or come to the free support group first. One-sided or pulsing tinnitus: GP first.
Book thisFrom £120Hearing protection
Noise-induced hearing loss
Years of bands, sites, guns or engines wear out the same high-pitch cells that age does, only earlier. It cannot be reversed. It can be stopped from getting worse with the right plugs.
What it feels like
- Ringing after loud events
- Speech hard in noise from your forties
- A dip at one pitch on the test
- Working or playing in noise
What to do
Free hearing test, then custom plugs. If you already have a loss, aids help in the same way as for age.
Book thisFrom £120Tinnitus
Hyperacusis
Ordinary sounds, cutlery, traffic, a child's voice, feel painfully loud. Often alongside tinnitus. It is real, it is not damage, and sound therapy helps most people.
What it feels like
- Everyday sounds feel too loud
- Wearing ear plugs at home
- Avoiding shops and restaurants
- Often with tinnitus
What to do
Book the tinnitus consultation with Priya; the approach is the same. Do not wear plugs indoors; it makes it worse.
Book thisFrom £120Wax removal
Earache without infection
Ear pain with a clean, healthy ear is often the jaw, a tooth or the neck, referred to the ear. We can look and tell you the ear is fine; the dentist or GP takes it from there.
What it feels like
- Ache in or around the ear
- Worse with chewing or yawning
- Ear looks healthy
- Clicking jaw
What to do
See a pharmacist or GP; if the ear itself needs a look, book wax removal and we will check it and charge only £25 if it is clear.
Book thisFrom £75Hearing tests
Blocked Eustachian tube
After a cold or a flight the tube from the ear to the throat stays shut: fullness, popping, muffled hearing that changes when you swallow. Usually settles in weeks.
What it feels like
- Fullness after a cold or flight
- Popping or crackling
- Hearing changes when swallowing
- Both ears or one
What to do
Steam, swallowing, a decongestant from the pharmacist. If it lasts more than six weeks, book the diagnostic assessment: tympanometry shows exactly what the middle ear is doing.
Book thisFrom £95
Free hearing tests this week
Call us.
01632 960500Sandra answers. Ring me if you are not sure. Working out what to book is my job, not yours.
Mon–Fri09:00 to 17:30
Sat09:00 to 13:00
Getting in
12 Market Place, Kingsmere WX5 1EP.
- Level entrance from Market Place, no steps anywhere on the ground floor
- Hearing loop at the desk and in both test rooms; we speak clearly and face you
- Large-print price list and appointment cards; everything we say is also written down for you
The rules on the wall
- Real-ear measurement on every fitting; 91% of pairs kept after the 60-day promise
- The test is free from 50, the prices are on the wall, and nobody here is paid on sales
- Independent since 2009: every maker, four levels, four years of aftercare with the same faces