Auditory Training &
Auditory Implants
London Ear Centre offers a variety of auditory training services and implants to help rehabilitate your hearing, with everything from tinnitus therapy to auditory brainstem implants available at our specialist hearing clinics in Marylebone, Stepney Green, Canary Wharf, and Orpington in Kent.
LACE® Auditory Training
Auditory training can help you to develop skills and strategies when your hearing levels are inadequate, just as physical therapy can help to rebuild your muscles in the even of physical weakness or injury. LACE® auditory training (Listening and Communication Enhancement) is a home-based, self-paced adaptive auditory training programme that’s designed to help improve your listening and communication skills.
LACE® auditory training can retrain the brain to comprehend speech up to 40% better in difficult listening situations, such as:
- In noisy restaurants
- When in the company of rapid speakers
- When in the company of competing speakers
LACE® auditory training may benefit people who struggle to hear speech when there’s a lot of background noise, regardless of whether their hearing is otherwise normal. At London Ear Centre, we are a certified provider of LACE® auditory training, and routinely offer it as part of our hearing aid fitting appointments, in addition to standalone auditory training sessions for those with clinically normal hearing.
High-Quality Auditory Medicolegal Assessments
At London Ear Centre, we also specialise in providing high-quality medico-legal assessments, reporting, and auditory training rehabilitation related to hearing and balance impairment. Our team of experts are highly experienced in carrying out comprehensive diagnostic audio-vestibular evaluations to accurately identify, verify, and manage impairments of the ear that may be the result of occupational disease or accidental trauma.
All investigations carried out at London Ear Centre take place in fully compliant clinical environments and in strict accordance with BSA guidelines.
The results of your hearing assessment may show that your hearing loss is caused by noise exposure, a balance disorder, tinnitus, or another cause, and you may benefit from a different type of auditory training, depending on your diagnosis.
For Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
Noise-induced hearing loss, also known as NIHL, is a significant problem, and it accounts for 75% of civil claims linked to occupational disease in the UK. Our medico-legal audiograms, which are fully compliant and impartial, are performed to the highest clinical standards to ensure the accurate diagnosis of noise-induced hearing loss. All testing is performed in soundproof booths in line with strict testing protocols.
What’s more, we also offer aural rehabilitation in the form of hearing aids to ensure all claimant case needs are met. Find out more about managing the symptoms of ear damage from loud noise.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Tinnitus is another significant problem that often results from occupational disease or accidents, leaving many people in need of tinnitus retraining therapy.
Our medico-legal tinnitus evaluations include detailed consultation, validated tinnitus questionnaires, audiometry, and psychophysical testing measures, with all of our findings summarised in a concise clinical report.
Where necessary and when requested, we can also offer rehabilitation in the form of tinnitus therapy to ensure all claimant case needs are met. Read more about tinnitus management.
For Balance Impairment
Balance impairment can result from trauma suffered to the head from accidents or injury and is a key feature in related civil cases.
Our expert medico-legal balance evaluations include detailed consultation, validated balance questionnaires and a comprehensive audio-vestibular test battery, before our findings are summarised in a concise clinical report.
We can also offer audio-vestibular rehabilitation as part of our auditory training offering to ensure all claimant case needs are met.
Sometimes, hearing aids aren’t the most suitable option, and they might be of limited benefit for people with some types of hearing loss. If this is the case for you, an auditory implant may be the best solution for your hearing needs instead. Read on to find out more about the different types of auditory implants.
Cochlear implants are surgically implanted electronic devices that convert sound into electrical signals. These signals bypass the damaged hair cells in the inner ear and provide direct auditory stimulation.
Cochlear implants have two parts: an internal receiver that’s implanted surgically under the skin behind the ear, and an external sound processor part that’s worn like a hearing aid. Cochlear implants are usually suitable for children or adults with severe to profound permanent deafness who gain limited or no benefit from their hearing aids.
Middle ear implants are surgically implanted hearing aids and are an option where conventional hearing aids or bone conduction hearing devices are not suitable for medical reasons. Middle ear implants work by directly stimulating the bones of the middle ear, bypassing the outer ear entirely. There are generally two types:
- Fully implantable middle ear implants - with this type of auditory implant, all parts of the device lie under the skin, without the need for an external sound processor
- Semi-implantable middle ear implants - part of the device is worn externally, and another part is placed in the middle ear
BONE CONDUCTION HEARING DEVICES
A bone conduction hearing device works by transmitting sound vibrations through the bones of the skull to the cochlear of the inner ear. These devices are suitable in situations where sounds are unable to pass through the ear in the usual way ( through the outer and middle ear). There are generally two types of bone conduction hearing device:
- Bone conduction hearing implants, which are positioned permanently into the bone behind the ear via surgery
- Bone conduction hearing aids, which are a non-permanent, non-surgical option and are typically worn in the form of a soft headband or spectacles
AUDITORY BRAINSTEM IMPLANTS
Auditory brainstem implants are the least common of the various types of auditory implant, and are mostly fitted on adults who have suffered trauma to their hearing nerve and therefore wouldn’t benefit from hearing aids or cochlear implants.
Auditory brainstem implants are similar to cochlear implants in how they look and work, but the internal part of these implants is surgically positioned onto the brainstem, bypassing the cochlea and auditory nerve completely.
