HealthInfo Canterbury
Treating hearing loss in adults
Te whakarauora i te ngarohanga whakarongo ki ngā pakeke
Treating your hearing loss will depend on its cause and how severe your hearing loss is.
If an ear condition is causing your hearing loss, it will need treatment such as:
- removal of wax
- treatment of infection.
If your hearing loss is permanent, such as from ageing or noise-induced hearing loss, you may need hearing assistance.
Hearing aids
Hearing aids make sound louder to help you hear it. There are several different types of hearing aids. Which one works best for you will depend on what you need the hearing aid for and how you want it to look. It may depend on what type of hearing loss you have and the shape of your ear.
Audiologists at a hearing clinic usually assess your hearing needs and fit hearing aids. It's worthwhile getting the correct hearing aid, as it can make a big improvement to your quality of your life.
You can read more about hearing aids on the Audiological Society website.
If you have severe hearing loss not helped by hearing aids, you may be suitable for a cochlear implant device.
Funding for hearing aids
Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People provides help with paying for hearing aids for adults through two schemes. This may only pay part of the cost of the hearing aid you choose. You might also have to pay some of the costs. For example, the audiologist fees and replacement batteries. More details are available on the Whaikaha website.
Hearing Aid Funding Scheme
New Zealand residents aged over 16 with a permanent hearing loss who are living in New Zealand may be eligible for the Hearing Aid Funding Scheme, which covers the cost of your hearing aids if you meet one of these criteria:
- have had a significant hearing loss since childhood
- have both a hearing loss and a visual, intellectual or physical impairment that makes it harder for you to communicate safely and effectively
- have had a sudden significant hearing loss within the last six months
- have a Community Services Card and are working more than 30 hours per week, in full-time study, seeking employment, engaged in voluntary work or are a dependent person's main carer.
Hearing Aid Subsidy Scheme
New Zealand residents aged over 16 with a permanent hearing loss who are living in New Zealand but who don't qualify for funding can get some money to help toward the cost of hearing aids.
Other funding options
ACC may help with costs if your hearing loss is due to an accident, which can include work-related noise-induced hearing loss.
Veterans’ Affairs may help with costs if your hearing was damaged, or you developed tinnitus while serving in the New Zealand Defence Forces.
You can find links to other possible funding sources on the Audiological Society website.
Other hearing assistance
Some devices can help you manage with hearing loss. These include special phones, alerting devices and sound amplifiers.
You can get help with finding out what would help you through the Deaf Aotearoa Hauora programme.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- Deaf Aotearoa
Advocacy and services for the deaf community including employment support.
- New Zealand Audiological Society
Information about hearing health, funding for hearing aids and how to find an audiologist.
- National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Guidance and resources for workplaces and people with hearing loss.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed May 2020.
See also:
Blocked ears (Eustachian tube dysfunction)
Communicating with the deaf or hearing impaired
Hearing in babies and children
SourcesReview key: HIHEL-52900
