Think of them as your personal sound assistant, working quietly in the background whilst you get on with life. One of the biggest frustrations people tell us about is background noise making it hard to follow conversations. Modern AI technology recognizes speech patterns, so it can focus on the voices that matter most to you.

The connectivity is wonderful too. Whether it’s phone calls, your favourite radio programme, or the television, everything connects effortlessly. With new Auracast technology, you can even tune into public broadcasts at airports, theatres, or museums directly through your hearing aids. Some models now monitor health metrics too, offering peace of mind for you and your loved ones.

Let’s Have a Chat

If you’re curious about how modern hearing care could enhance your quality of life and happiness, we’d love to hear from you. Pop in for a no-obligation chat at our Worle clinic, or give us a call on 01934 248426, our team are here to help make your 2026 your smartest year yet!

The post AI Hearing Aids: A Genuinely Helpful Innovation appeared first on Meadows+Wood Hearing Care.

The post Lost & Found on Clifton Downs appeared first on Meadows+Wood Hearing Care.

There are two main types:

• Sensory presbycusis – damage to the tiny hair cells in the cochlea
• Neural presbycusis – loss of nerve cells that carry signals to the brain

Early signs include difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds like birdsong or children’s voices, turning up the TV or phone, struggling with conversations in noisy places, listening fatigue, or tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Some also notice dizziness or a feeling of fullness.

Although ageing is the main cause, other factors can speed it up—such as family history, certain medications, prolonged noise exposure, smoking, or heavy alcohol use. Hearing loss can’t be reversed, but you can slow the progression by protecting your ears, reviewing medication with your GP, and maintaining overall health.

Why act early? Untreated hearing loss can affect much more than hearing. It may strain relationships, cause social withdrawal, increase the risk of depression, and is linked to cognitive decline, including dementia.

The good news: today’s modern hearing aids are discreet, comfortable, and personalised to your needs—helping you stay connected and confident.

If you’re over 50, include a hearing check in your routine health care. Even if your hearing seems fine, a baseline test makes it easier to track changes over time.

Your hearing is precious—protect it to keep enjoying conversations, music, and laughter for years to come. If you are concerned about your hearing, book an appointment today at one of our local clinics in Worle, Shirehampton, Portishead, Weston-super-Mare or Clevedon, Bristol. We’re here to help.

The post Age-Related Hearing Loss – What You Need to Know appeared first on Meadows+Wood Hearing Care.

The post Selective hearing appeared first on Meadows+Wood Hearing Care.

The post Struggling To Hear TV Clearly? appeared first on Meadows+Wood Hearing Care.

We’ve all been looking for creative ways to stay in touch with everyone, and we thought it was a good time to pass our ideas on to you. As well as friends and family, you can even use these tips to speak to us!

Using technology to bridge the gap

One of the first things we did was to start looking for a technological solution to the problem. We spoke to lots of people and found that video conferencing software, like Zoom, was becoming a popular way to have face-to-face conversations with anyone.

We were recommended Zoom and decided to try it. It’s a program that you can download on your computer, laptop, or phone that allows you to video chat with anyone. You can chat to 8 people at once, so it would be a great way to host your next book club.

It’s free too, so you don’t even have to worry about paying for the service. As with a lot of technology, though, it can be a little bit tricky to get set-up, so we’ll walk you through it…

How to get started with Zoom

First, you’re going to want to decide where to download Zoom to. This could be your computer, your mobile phone, or your tablet.

If you’re on the computer, open your internet browser and navigate to the Zoom website. Once you’re there, click the big “Sign up, It’s Free” button in the top right and follow the instructions. The steps are quite simple. First, you’ll enter your email address and it will ask for some simple information. Once you’re signed up, you can download the program, install it, and login with the email address and password that you set up.

If you’re on your tablet or phone, you’ll need to open whichever app store your device uses. For example, if you’re using an Apple product, you’ll need to open the App Store. For an Android product, you’ll need to open the Google Play Store. Search for Zoom in the app search bar and download it. Once the app has been downloaded, you can create an account through the app, sign in, and get started!

Now that you’ve got Zoom installed and ready to go, you can start chatting to friends and family. To create a ‘room’, simply press ‘New Meeting’ and then ‘Start Meeting’. To invite people, press ‘Participants’, then ‘Invite’ in the bottom left, and finally ‘Copy URL’. You can then send this URL to your friends and family so they can join the ‘room’ and start chatting to you.

If you have any problems, feel free to get in touch with us and we’ll see if we can give you a hand. Zoom have a great starting guide, though, if you’re stuck at any stage, just click here.

The post Staying in touch: How you can use Zoom to speak to friends, family, and even us! appeared first on Meadows+Wood Hearing Care.

How the pursuit of perfection began

“We met in the evening at the home of Christian Tøpholm to talk about the future over a bottle of Red Martini. When the bottle was empty, we shook hands and said, “We’ll do it!” – Erik Westermann

Widex was founded in 1956, by Christian Tøpholm, a gifted electronics engineer and Erik Westermann, a successful businessman. To this day, the company remains under the ownership of the two families.

In 1949, both men joined Oticon, a Danish hearing aid manufacturer. Tøpholm, as a factory manager, responsible for technical development; and Westermann as an export manager, responsible for sales outside of Denmark. With Tøpholm’s vision to compete through technology and in-house manufacturing capabilities, and Westermann’s success creating contacts in markets through Europe and America, the two of them became a dream team, forming a strong friendship. Oticon’s annual production saw a tenfold increase from 1,000 to 10,000, whilst exports rose from 20% to 90% of the company’s turnover.

By 1955, the two men were becoming disillusioned, feeling their valuable work was not being appreciated by management, and mutually decided to resign.

On 30th November 1955, they shared a bottle of Red Martini, the only drink Tøpholm had available at his home that evening. Neither was enamoured by the prospect of returning to their respective industries and fuelled by the boldness served to them from the contents of the bottle, resolved to set up their own company.

In January 1956, they were ready to begin their plan. The cellar beneath Christian Tøpholm’s suburban home in Naerum was taken into use as a combined development laboratory, workshop and production hall. Funds were tight in the early days, and the company’s first year was a bit of an uphill struggle.

However, through hard work, dedication to quality, ground-breaking technology, gifted craftsmanship, and some goodwill from family and business associates, Widex successfully released their first hearing aid mid-way through 1956, the Widex 561, an elegant pocket model. From there, the rest is history.

Today, Widex is renowned for producing exceedingly natural sounding hearing aids through a commitment to innovation, focus on quality craftsmanship, and dedication to being the only CO2 neutral hearing aid manufacturer. They are also proud to offer their hearing aids exclusively to independent hearing practices like us!

Widex through and through

Key to Widex’s ability to continually produce quality, innovative solutions that few can match, is the dedication to Christian Tøpholm’s vision to manufacture equipment and components to keep every process in house. From nano coating and electronics mounting to rubber moulding and coil-winding, Widex is committed to producing all the components of their hearing aids, to ensure that every part of the hearing aids adhere to their stringent quality standards. Nothing is left to chance.

Sustainability

Widex has always been committed to corporate social responsibility and ethical standards. In 2010, Widex took its passion for advanced engineering and social responsibility one step further with the construction of their completely CO2 neutral headquarters in Lynge, Denmark.

Innovative, energy-efficient, wind-powered, Widex’s headquarters reflect the proud Danish tradition of environmental awareness, making them the only CO2 neutral hearing aid producer in the world.

The design of Widex headquarters utilises a combination of old and new technology to provide a truly unique building. These include a geothermal system that uses groundwater as a heat reservoir to store an entire years’ worth of heating and cooling, the first of its kind in Denmark, as well as the use of solar cells and recycling of rainwater.

But the most visible contribution is the windmill which delivers more power annually than Widex uses. The windmill also means that Widex is a WindMade certified company – the first global consumer label for companies that use wind energy.

Striving for perfection

From the very beginning, Widex has been dedicated to its vision of providing perfect sound to everyone. Christian Tøpholm’s ability to see possibilities others had overlooked and his attention to detail, was what set Widex instruments apart from the beginning. Widex’ pursuit of natural sound has always guided everything the company does. Leading audiological research, quality craftmanship and the unique technology behind natural sound have always set the company apart. Widex led the shift to digital, while persevering the warmth and range of analog. They pioneered the use of new processors, improving sound quality while eliminating latency. And with AI they have made sound uniquely natural for every owner. Now, with their most recent technology, WIDEX MOMENT they have achieved the ultimate goal – a sound so natural, it doesn’t sound like a hearing aid.

Supporting independent hearing professionals

Widex have always had a slightly different way of doing business, and now they are really setting themselves apart by making their hearing aids exclusively available to independent hearing practices, meaning that their products are not available in high street stores or the NHS.

Premium plus

With the launch of their new hearing aid, Widex Moment, Widex have repositioned themselves to become the only premium plus hearing aid manufacturer in the industry. This is a reflection of the superior level of quality, design and service which Widex are renowned for.

Widex Moment will be available for demonstration to our wonderful clients when we reopen. If you’d like to be one of the first in the country to try the new Widex Moment, register your interest with us on 01277 264938 or info@meadowswood.co.uk.

The post The History of Widex – Over 60 Years in the Making appeared first on Meadows+Wood Hearing Care.

The post The new Phonak Marvel in-the-ear hearing aid appeared first on Meadows+Wood Hearing Care.