As we get older, more and more people are needing to use hearing aids. Maybe a lot more of us should use hearing aids. They're small electronic devices that can wear them in or behind the ear. They amplify sounds so you can be back in the conversation. I don't know how they work. It doesn't matter how they work, but they are very effective and they're getting more sophisticated all the time. But they're also pretty expensive. Well, it's an interesting stories come to light about Apple's air pods, you know, the little air pods that connect with your phone or whatever. Well, for the first time they can be used as hearing aids for those with moderate hearing loss. So I thought it might be a good idea to find out more about this. From Nicole Eglinton, managing director and principal at Audiologists at All Ears and Speech. Nicole, good morning to you, thanks for being with us today.

As we get older, more and more people are needing to use hearing aids. Maybe a lot more of us should use hearing aids. They're small electronic devices that can wear them in or behind the ear. They amplify sounds so you can be back in the conversation. I don't know how they work. It doesn't matter how they work, but they are very effective and they're getting more sophisticated all the time. But they're also pretty expensive. Well, it's an interesting stories come to light about Apple's air pods, you know, the little air pods that connect with your phone or whatever. Well, for the first time they can be used as hearing aids for those with moderate hearing loss. So I thought it might be a good idea to find out more about this. From Nicole Eglinton, managing director and principal at Audiologists at All Ears and Speech. Nicole, good morning to you, thanks for being with us today.

Good morning. Now can you hear me? Okay, because I've actually got the Apple AirPods pro to in at.

Good morning. Now can you hear me? Okay, because I've actually got the Apple AirPods pro to in at.

The moment, oh right, coming through loud and clear. That's a great advertisement. I think when AirPods came out it was an amazing breakthrough because before we had you know, headphones and earbuds and so forth, and they're connected by a wire, and that used to get in the way and be you know, all of a sudden we had Bluetooth and opened up a whole new world to us. Will do it appear that AirPods are opening up another world to those who might be hearing challenged.

The moment, oh right, coming through loud and clear. That's a great advertisement. I think when AirPods came out it was an amazing breakthrough because before we had you know, headphones and earbuds and so forth, and they're connected by a wire, and that used to get in the way and be you know, all of a sudden we had Bluetooth and opened up a whole new world to us. Will do it appear that AirPods are opening up another world to those who might be hearing challenged.

Yeah, look they are. And I know there's a lot of buzz at the moment about Apple AirPods, particularly the ones that have come out, the Pro two and their hearing aid features. And I'm actually really excited about the potential of Steve as a hearing support tool, and I think that many of my colleagues feel the same way. So it's a bit of a game changer for our industry and I do think it is in a positive way as well. So I think one of a newspaper articles has recently stated that Steve Williamson, who's the CEO of Deafness Forum for Australia, he actually commented and I agree with what he's saying that we welcome innovations like this so people can seek early intervention and that hearing support is more accessible.

Yeah, look they are. And I know there's a lot of buzz at the moment about Apple AirPods, particularly the ones that have come out, the Pro two and their hearing aid features. And I'm actually really excited about the potential of Steve as a hearing support tool, and I think that many of my colleagues feel the same way. So it's a bit of a game changer for our industry and I do think it is in a positive way as well. So I think one of a newspaper articles has recently stated that Steve Williamson, who's the CEO of Deafness Forum for Australia, he actually commented and I agree with what he's saying that we welcome innovations like this so people can seek early intervention and that hearing support is more accessible.

I mean it sounds great. Do the AirPods have to be modified or as they are, they can work as hearing aids.

I mean it sounds great. Do the AirPods have to be modified or as they are, they can work as hearing aids.

Such a good question. So I've been having a look into that and looking at some comics research and things into the AirPods Pro two and I think the difficulty is they absolutely can be fit to hear it to someone's hearing loss, so they're not recommended. So they've been approved by a therapeutic or TGA Therapeutic Goods Administration in December to be used as what we call the hearer device, So that means that it's a device that can test hearing and it can provide amplification or enhance the sound for people who have a mild to moderate hearing loss. So that's for adults. It's not recommended for children, and it's not recommended for people that have a more severe hearing loss. So what you can do is they're around four hundred dollars. You purchase them, and then you do need an Apple iPhone to use them, so you can purchase them, you link it to your iPhone and then you can go through a series of steps to actually test your hearing. So I'm really keen to try this out on everyone at work and to see what the difference is between the hearing that we get from proper accessents and the hearing that you get from testing it through Apple. It was quite good, I have to say, for my own hearing. But we have to keep in mind that when we're doing a hearing of test through a phone, it's going to tell us the levels of I guess, the softest sound that we can hear, but it's not going to look at the cause of that hearing loss or if there's any significant hearing difference between the ears, which can indicate a medical condition which is serious. So it doesn't give us all the information, which is why I think they're putting that claimer on there. Kind of mild loss to have a go, but it wouldn't replace seeing an audiologist. So with your question, what is it like when you program it to fit your hearing loss? And it does do an okay job, but what the research is finding is that it's coming out around the fifty percent mark. I think there's a company called Hearings is a hearing hearing It's a body in a US that looks at assessus hearing devices independently and gives recommendations as to whether they're any good, and the original AirPods came out in the bottom twenty five percent of hearables. These ones are a bit better. They're in about fifty percent range, so they can be adjusted to your hearing loss. But when we look at targets, so when someone comes in to see us with a hearing loss, and then we put it into to a prescription formula and work out what exactly do we need to keep this person back from their hearings so that they've got the clarity of speech and they can access the speech with ease. And when we look at their Apple AirPods, the second generation of the AirPods too, it doesn't okay match, but it seems to be giving a bit more in the low pitch sounds, so that's more like the background boomy sounds, which will have the overall impression of loudness, but it's not really meeting the high pitch sounds which help us work out what the meaning of speech is, what the words are, and those consonant sounds.

Such a good question. So I've been having a look into that and looking at some comics research and things into the AirPods Pro two and I think the difficulty is they absolutely can be fit to hear it to someone's hearing loss, so they're not recommended. So they've been approved by a therapeutic or TGA Therapeutic Goods Administration in December to be used as what we call the hearer device, So that means that it's a device that can test hearing and it can provide amplification or enhance the sound for people who have a mild to moderate hearing loss. So that's for adults. It's not recommended for children, and it's not recommended for people that have a more severe hearing loss. So what you can do is they're around four hundred dollars. You purchase them, and then you do need an Apple iPhone to use them, so you can purchase them, you link it to your iPhone and then you can go through a series of steps to actually test your hearing. So I'm really keen to try this out on everyone at work and to see what the difference is between the hearing that we get from proper accessents and the hearing that you get from testing it through Apple. It was quite good, I have to say, for my own hearing. But we have to keep in mind that when we're doing a hearing of test through a phone, it's going to tell us the levels of I guess, the softest sound that we can hear, but it's not going to look at the cause of that hearing loss or if there's any significant hearing difference between the ears, which can indicate a medical condition which is serious. So it doesn't give us all the information, which is why I think they're putting that claimer on there. Kind of mild loss to have a go, but it wouldn't replace seeing an audiologist. So with your question, what is it like when you program it to fit your hearing loss? And it does do an okay job, but what the research is finding is that it's coming out around the fifty percent mark. I think there's a company called Hearings is a hearing hearing It's a body in a US that looks at assessus hearing devices independently and gives recommendations as to whether they're any good, and the original AirPods came out in the bottom twenty five percent of hearables. These ones are a bit better. They're in about fifty percent range, so they can be adjusted to your hearing loss. But when we look at targets, so when someone comes in to see us with a hearing loss, and then we put it into to a prescription formula and work out what exactly do we need to keep this person back from their hearings so that they've got the clarity of speech and they can access the speech with ease. And when we look at their Apple AirPods, the second generation of the AirPods too, it doesn't okay match, but it seems to be giving a bit more in the low pitch sounds, so that's more like the background boomy sounds, which will have the overall impression of loudness, but it's not really meeting the high pitch sounds which help us work out what the meaning of speech is, what the words are, and those consonant sounds.

So the clarity you can understand people at the price I mean four hundred dollars nigh on for the AirPods sounds a lot. But when you compare it what's a typical price for a reasonable set of hearing aids.

So the clarity you can understand people at the price I mean four hundred dollars nigh on for the AirPods sounds a lot. But when you compare it what's a typical price for a reasonable set of hearing aids.

It depends so you can get them for different prices and obviously different companies and things, and it depends upon the level of technology. So there is that services program, which is the people that have a pension card and they can access really great hearing aids fully subsidized by the government. And then there are you know, you can get hearing aids a pair for less than a thousand dollars, or you can get up to I don't know what the most expensive one is. At the moment, our most expensive are probably around the eight thousand dollar mark for two, but that's when you're looking at all the whistles and bells for someone that's probably, you know, still leaving a very active life. In business meetings, in work, in different situations, we want the hearing aids to adjust automatically depending upon what environment they go into. So really, when someone comes in to have a hearing assessment and we look at their hearing results and then we look at do they need a device, we're also trying to ask the questions on what are your goals, what do you do during the week, what's important to you and what would be the best recommended technology for that.

It depends so you can get them for different prices and obviously different companies and things, and it depends upon the level of technology. So there is that services program, which is the people that have a pension card and they can access really great hearing aids fully subsidized by the government. And then there are you know, you can get hearing aids a pair for less than a thousand dollars, or you can get up to I don't know what the most expensive one is. At the moment, our most expensive are probably around the eight thousand dollar mark for two, but that's when you're looking at all the whistles and bells for someone that's probably, you know, still leaving a very active life. In business meetings, in work, in different situations, we want the hearing aids to adjust automatically depending upon what environment they go into. So really, when someone comes in to have a hearing assessment and we look at their hearing results and then we look at do they need a device, we're also trying to ask the questions on what are your goals, what do you do during the week, what's important to you and what would be the best recommended technology for that.

It sounds like the Wily AirPods might full a niche Seriously, if you have any sort of hearing issues, you should go to an audiologist to get it checked out.

It sounds like the Wily AirPods might full a niche Seriously, if you have any sort of hearing issues, you should go to an audiologist to get it checked out.

Absolutely, And I do want to say though we do support well as for the clinic, and I'm sure other colleagues are going to do the same support people in using the Apple Emport two devices. But what I would suggest is still coming to an audiologist to have a proper hearing assessment done. We can then actually program those hearing levels that we get into the Apple iPhone, got it, And we can make adjustments doing real ear measures to try and get the Apple AirPods to best fit your hearing loss. Again, it's not going to be as good as a proper hearing device, but is going to be better if we can help adjust that. Not to mention, if we pick up anything of concern, we can talk you know, O fen Throat specialists, your doctor and pick up anything there to manage them appropriately.

Absolutely, And I do want to say though we do support well as for the clinic, and I'm sure other colleagues are going to do the same support people in using the Apple Emport two devices. But what I would suggest is still coming to an audiologist to have a proper hearing assessment done. We can then actually program those hearing levels that we get into the Apple iPhone, got it, And we can make adjustments doing real ear measures to try and get the Apple AirPods to best fit your hearing loss. Again, it's not going to be as good as a proper hearing device, but is going to be better if we can help adjust that. Not to mention, if we pick up anything of concern, we can talk you know, O fen Throat specialists, your doctor and pick up anything there to manage them appropriately.

Good advice, Thanks for that, Nicole. Nicole Eglinton, Managing director and principal audiologist at All Ears and Speech five Double A Mornings with Graham Goodings,

Good advice, Thanks for that, Nicole. Nicole Eglinton, Managing director and principal audiologist at All Ears and Speech five Double A Mornings with Graham Goodings,