This month, the Meet Our Experts spotlight features Lesley Warren, Audiologist for Pindrop’s new Orangeville location.
Lesley received her Bachelor of Social Sciences from The University of Ottawa, her Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Psychology from Nippising University and her Masters in Clinical Science in Audiology from The University of Western Ontario. Over the past 16 years Lesley has worked in both a hospital audiology department, and in private clinics, providing services to both adults and children.
Lesley has also been trained to offer services through the Infant Hearing Program of Ontario. Lesley is excited to have an opportunity to provide audiology services in the community she grew up in.
She will be the third generation of her family to live, work and raise her children in Orangeville. Lesley will assess your hearing, listen to your concerns and provide you with options that meet your hearing health care needs.
How Hearing Loss Affects Our Patients
“We find many people don’t get their hearing tested because they aren’t sure what to expect or have normalized their hearing loss,” says Lesley. “We see a huge difference in a patient’s life after they’ve received hearing aids. Pindrop recently treated a patient at another clinic who had suffered 30 years of hearing loss because he could not find the right solution for his needs. We solved that problem because we took the time to understand what his challenges were in addition to his lifestyle needs. Often families of patients are also affected by their hearing loss.”
Lesley explains Pindrop’s approach to helping people get fitted properly with hearing aids. The first step includes getting your hearing evaluated by a hearing healthcare professional at your local Pindrop clinic. “Each of our hearing experts are specially trained in the diagnosis and treatment of hearing problems. A hearing evaluation typically takes about 30-45 minutes. We will discuss your options for treating your hearing loss. This may involve hearing aids, hearing protection or simply continued monitoring of your hearing. It may even be possible to try out a hearing aid right in the office to give you an idea of what the experience will be like,” says Lesley.
She explains that Pindrop wants to ensure that each client gets the right solution for their needs. Therefore take home trials are regularly given to patients free of charge, with no obligation, so they can try the hearing aid for both fit and lifestyle accuracy.
Hearing Aid Solutions
“Once you decide on the style and level of technology that is right for you, we may take earmold impressions of your ears. These will be sent to the hearing aid manufacturer where your instruments will be custom fit for you. About 1-2 weeks later, you will come in for your fitting appointment where we will fit the hearing aids to your ears and program them according to your hearing loss,” says Lesley.
“About two weeks after the fitting, we will make fine tuning adjustments to the instruments if needed – based on your experiences with the hearing aids in your daily routine,” she says.
This could be increase or decrease in amplification, based on the specific situation. Pindrop may also use specialized equipment (called Real Ear Equipment) to measure exactly how the hearing aid is amplifying right in the ear canal. If there are any issues with the physical fit of the instruments, these can be addressed as well.
Patient Satisfaction
“Our continued patient satisfaction is important to us. All ongoing services are free of charge. Every six months our customer care specialist will contact patients to schedule a cleaning and hearing aid check up to ensure your hearing aids are working at their optimum capacity. We will also schedule a yearly hearing test to monitor your unique hearing requirements. At Pindrop maximizing your hearing health is our highest priority,” concludes Lesley.
When not caring for patients, Lesley can be found poolside watching her two girls train for the Orangeville Otters swim team. Her two girls are also active in the Orangeville Music Theatre. Lesley also enjoys skiing with her husband and children in the winter months.
For more information about Pindrop Hearing Centre specialists please see Our Experts section.
To book an appointment for a free hearing test please contact Pindrop Hearing Centres.
