Do you hear people clearly in a quiet room but struggle to follow conversations in a restaurant, café or busy family gathering? Our speech-in-noise testing in Wigan helps us investigate how background sound affects your ability to understand speech. This specialist assessment is available at Wigan Hearing, our independent audiology clinic in Standish.
What is speech-in-noise testing?
A conventional hearing test measures the softest tones you can hear. Speech-in-noise testing looks at a different everyday challenge: understanding spoken words or sentences when other sounds are present. During the assessment, you listen to recorded speech with competing background noise and respond to what you hear. The results help us explore how much background sound affects your speech understanding under the test conditions.
Who might benefit?
- People who find conversations difficult in pubs, restaurants, cafés or meetings.
- Anyone who can hear a voice but struggles to make out the words.
- Patients whose real-world listening difficulties seem greater than their pure-tone audiogram suggests.
- Hearing-aid users who want their difficulties in noisy settings assessed as part of a review.
How is it different from speech audiometry?
Speech audiometry often assesses word understanding in a relatively quiet setting. Speech-in-noise testing introduces competing sound, giving us complementary information about more challenging listening situations. It does not replace a full hearing assessment or, by itself, identify the cause of every listening difficulty.
How can the results help?
We interpret your results alongside your hearing history, ear examination and other appropriate tests. They can help us explain your listening difficulties, discuss realistic expectations and consider communication strategies, hearing-aid options or further investigation where appropriate. A speech-in-noise result is one piece of the clinical picture, not a guarantee of how anyone will hear in every real-world environment.
What happens at the appointment?
Our HCPC-registered audiologist will ask about the listening situations you find difficult and decide which assessments are suitable. You will listen to speech with background noise and repeat or identify what you hear. We will explain what the findings mean in plain language. The exact tests used depend on your clinical needs.
Frequently asked questions
Can I need this test even if my hearing test is normal?
Yes. Some people report difficulty understanding conversations in noise despite relatively good pure-tone hearing thresholds. A broader audiological assessment may help explore their concerns.
Is speech-in-noise testing included in the £50 hearing assessment?
Not every hearing appointment needs this additional test. Please contact us before booking so we can discuss suitability, appointment arrangements and any applicable charges.
Do you offer this testing for children?
We do not offer children’s hearing assessments. Please contact us about adult speech-in-noise testing.
Arrange speech-in-noise testing in Standish, Wigan
Visit Wigan Hearing at 30 Preston Road, Standish, Wigan, WN6 0HS, with free customer parking behind the clinic. Call 01257 444044 or contact Wigan Hearing to discuss an appointment. Hearing assessments are arranged directly with our team rather than through the online ear-wax booking system.
Explore our hearing tests in Wigan and other specialist audiology services.