Hearing aids

[BrizoH71]

Just before we left the UK, my wife was told she needed hearing aids. We unfortunately weren't able to get her some at the time, but we'll be able to do so once we're back over in the UK for a few days in September.

But, is there anywhere in Heraklion/Agios Nikolaos where she might be able to go and get them here? Like Specsavers or Boots back home, she can have an auditory test and then buy from them direct; is there similar here?

[Kilkis]

There are several suppliers of hearing aids in Heraklion but I couldn't find any in Agios Nikolaos. Ear Plus and Evikoon seem to be nationwide chains. Both have web sites that claim to work in English but Evikoon only seems to work in Greek. It is quite likely that they will be more expensive than in the UK as spectacle suppliers certainly are. My late wife got two Siemens digital 4 channel aids at Specsavers for the price of a single Siemens digital 2 channel aid.

I don't know if any of the suppliers also do hearing tests, like Specsavers in the UK, but if not it should be possible to find an ENT specialist to provide a hearing profile for you.

It will take a bit longer than a few days in the UK as, after doing the hearing test, they need to order the aids that you choose and then program them to your profile when they arrive. They also like to do the programming in two stages. They program in a profile that is the correct shape but doesn't have the full gain. Once you have got used to that they reprogram them to full gain. If you do intend to use Specsavers I would recommend visiting an ENT specialist in Greece a week or two before you go and have any wax removed. Any wax present distorts the profile.

Warwick

[Dinksy]

I also recently went down the investigation route for hearing aid supplies. What was quoted here was nearly double what I could get the same devices for in the UK. Found Boots very good and they may not be the very cheapest but having explained where I resided I was given enough spare parts to last me many years. Yes they wanted to check that all was well every 6 months but the saving was enough to cover flights etc and even a few days away on holiday. Managed to get the initial supply over the Christmas holiday period whilst back in the UK so could fit in both supply and check up appointments on the one trip.