You’ve been meaning to book a hearing test for a while now. Something is a bit off. The telly volume has crept up, family have started making comments, and you know deep down it’s time. But every time you get close to picking up the phone, a little voice says “not today”. Partly because you’re not sure what you’re walking into. Partly because you’re worried it’ll be clinical and cold and end with someone trying to sell you £4,000 worth of hearing aids on the spot.

We’ve heard this so many times over 24 years that we thought it was worth writing down exactly what happens at a hearing test, start to finish. Because it isn’t clinical, it isn’t a sales pitch, and it doesn’t end with pressure. It’s mostly a conversation, with about 20 minutes of quiet listening in the middle.

Here’s the whole thing.

1. Arriving at the clinic

You come in through the front door, usually into a comfortable waiting area with a sofa or a couple of armchairs and a cup of coffee on offer. If it’s your first time, you’ll be asked to fill in a very short form (name, contact details, GP surgery, that sort of thing) so we’ve got your details on file. If you’ve brought someone with you, they’re welcome to sit in on the whole appointment. We actively encourage it.

At the time of your appointment, one of our audiologists will come out and greet you personally. There’s no sitting in a corridor being called by a number.

2. The conversation at the start

The first part of the appointment is a proper chat. We’ll ask you about what you’ve been noticing, when your hearing feels better and when it feels worse, whether the family has been mentioning anything, whether the phone is easier or harder than in-person conversation, and what you’d like to be able to do more easily than you can at the moment.

This is the most important part of the appointment, honestly. The test itself is a measurement, but the conversation tells us what actually matters to you. If you struggle in restaurants but you don’t care about the telly volume, that shapes what we recommend at the end. So don’t be shy about telling us the specifics.

3. Looking in your ears

Before we do any hearing tests, we look inside your ears with an otoscope. It’s a small handheld light-and-magnifier that lets us see your ear canal and eardrum clearly. It’s completely painless and takes about 30 seconds per ear.

We’re checking for a few things. Wax build-up (which can affect hearing all on its own). Any signs of infection or damage. The health of the eardrum. If we find a load of wax, we might recommend a wax removal appointment before running the hearing test properly, because wax can affect the results.

4. Sitting in the booth

The main part of the hearing test happens in a soundproof booth, or in a very quiet consultation room with a set of headphones. You sit down, we put a pair of headphones on you, and we play a series of quiet tones at different pitches (called frequencies) in each ear one at a time.

Your job is simply to press a small button (or raise your hand) every time you hear a sound, even if it’s really quiet. There’s no wrong answer. If you don’t hear something, don’t guess. We’re trying to work out the quietest sound you can genuinely hear at each pitch, and that only works if you tell us honestly.

We then repeat the process with speech. We play a series of words at different volumes and ask you to repeat them back. This tells us how well you can understand speech, which is often more important than just what sounds you can hear.

The whole booth section usually takes 15 to 20 minutes, and it’s not tiring. Just quiet listening.

5. Looking at the results together

Afterwards we come out of the booth and sit down together to look at the results, which are shown on a graph called an audiogram. The audiogram plots the quietest sound you could hear at each pitch across the range of human hearing.

We’ll talk you through what it means in plain English. If your hearing is fine, we’ll tell you honestly. If there’s a mild loss, we’ll explain what that means and whether it’s worth doing anything about. If there’s a more significant loss, we’ll talk through your options carefully, without any pressure to make a decision on the spot.

Most patients say afterwards that this was the most useful part of the appointment. They finally get a clear picture of where they are, in language that makes sense.

6. What happens next

If your hearing is fine, that’s the end of the appointment. Come back in a year or two for a check.

If there is some level of hearing loss, we’ll talk through what your options are. Hearing aids are one option. So is waiting a while and monitoring. So is trying certain listening strategies. We’ll explain the options honestly. There is absolutely no pressure to buy anything at the first appointment.

If you do decide to try hearing aids, we’ll book a separate appointment for a proper fitting, which involves taking your ear measurements, ordering the aids from the manufacturer, and coming back in a couple of weeks to fit and fine-tune them. This is a real, careful process, not a rushed thing.

Cost and clinic details

A hearing test at any of our four clinics is £35, and we refund that £35 in full if you go on to purchase hearing aids from us. It takes about an hour, start to finish. Home visits are also available if getting to a clinic isn’t easy.

We have four clinics: Carmarthen, Cardiff, Llanelli and Haverfordwest. Family run for 24 years. Independent, which means we fit hearing aids from every major manufacturer based on what suits you, not what makes us the most margin.

If you’ve been putting it off, we’d love to see you.

[Book a hearing test at your nearest clinic.]

Frequently asked questions

How long does a hearing test take?

About an hour from the moment you sit down. The actual quiet listening part in the booth is only about 15 to 20 minutes, and the rest is conversation before and after.

Does the test hurt?

Not at all. It’s completely painless. You’ll listen to some quiet sounds through headphones and press a button when you hear them. That’s all.

Do I have to buy hearing aids at the appointment?

Absolutely not. Most patients don’t. Plenty of people come in, have a test, and either don’t need hearing aids or take time to think about it. We’re a family-run practice, not a sales floor.

What if I already have hearing aids?

We can still test your hearing to see where you are now, and we can service, adjust or reprogramme aids you’ve bought elsewhere. There is a fee for adjusting aids bought elsewhere (£50 per appointment), which we’ll be upfront about at booking.

Can I bring a family member with me?

Yes, please do. Bringing someone often makes the appointment easier, particularly for the conversation at the start and the results at the end. They can also help you remember what was said afterwards.

Do you offer home visits?

Yes. Home visits are available if getting to a clinic is difficult. Home hearing test £70, home wax removal £120, both together £155. Home visit fees are not refunded against hearing aids.