Honest answers, plainly said.

The easiest tell: ask the people who live with you. Family is usually the most honest signal — they notice the TV volume, the "what?" frequency, the social withdrawal long before you do.

Then ask yourself: do restaurants exhaust you? Can you understand your grandchildren on the phone? Do you avoid group conversation? Any two of those, it's worth a free 60-minute test.

Not even close. We see patients in their 30s and 40s regularly · noise exposure (concerts, motorcycles, occupational) accounts for the majority of early hearing loss. Tinnitus alone — even without measurable loss — is reason to come in.

Baseline testing in your 40s is also clinically smart. We have something to compare future tests against if anything ever changes.

Yes — almost always. Tinnitus without measurable hearing loss is a real condition we treat. Sound therapy, masking, and the validated TFI protocol have a 70%+ patient-reported improvement rate over 90 days.

Sudden tinnitus on one side, or tinnitus accompanied by dizziness or hearing loss, is a same-week priority appointment. Call us.

Five to seven years for the device itself · most patients upgrade at year five. Battery life on rechargeables is 16-30 hours per charge in the first three years, gradually shortening.

The dome and wax-guard accessories are weekly-to-monthly replacements. We give you a year's supply at fitting and refill them at no charge for any aid you bought from us.

Yes. Full refund, no restocking fee, no "what was wrong with them" interrogation. About 4% of our fittings get returned · we'd rather know in 60 days than have you stash them in a drawer for ten years.

The only exclusion is custom in-the-canal models that physically can't be re-fit to another patient. We'll tell you up front if your selection is in that category.

Modern aids stream from any iPhone or Android device made in the last 4-5 years. For landlines, TVs, or older phones, every brand we carry has a small "TV Connector" or "Phone Clip" accessory ($199-$299) that bridges Bluetooth to those devices.

The new Auracast standard (in our ReSound Nexia) will eventually let aids stream directly from theaters, airports, and stadiums — early adopters available now.

OTC aids (sold direct-to-consumer at Costco, Walgreens, Bose, etc.) are FDA-approved for perceived mild to moderate loss only. They're a one-size approach, programmed by you via app, with no real-ear verification.

Prescription aids are programmed to your specific audiogram, verified in your ear, and adjusted across follow-up visits. About a third of patients who try OTC end up with us inside 18 months · we credit OTC purchases toward Rx aids when we can.

Original Medicare (Parts A & B) does not cover hearing aids. It does cover medically necessary diagnostic testing when ordered by a physician.

Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans almost all include a hearing aid benefit · typically $700-$2,500 per pair every 1-3 years. Bring your card, we'll verify your specific allowance in five minutes.

Premium pairs from us run $2,995 to $3,995 retail. Most patients pay $0 to $1,800 after insurance · the average is $1,200.

Our 0% in-house financing turns that into $50-$150 a month for 12-24 months with no credit check. CareCredit extends to 60 months for patients who want a smaller monthly payment.

For commercial PPOs and Medicare Advantage, no. Walk in or book directly. Some HMO plans require a referral · we'll let you know in your insurance verification call before the visit.

If you'd like us to send your audiogram and notes back to your primary, just say so on intake. We email a clean copy the same day.

Yes. Once we've fit your aids in person, most adjustments can be done remotely — we connect into your aid via the manufacturer app and tweak settings live. Saves you a drive, especially if you're rural or recovering from surgery.

Initial diagnostic testing and real-ear verification still need to be in-clinic. Dr. Okafor also offers in-home visits within 60 miles of Madison.

Yes. Dr. Okafor's in-home program covers Madison + 60 miles · we bring portable diagnostic equipment, a sound-treated screening environment, and the same brands. The visit fee is $185 plus standard service rates · waived if it's their first visit and they purchase aids from us within 90 days.

Yes, ages 3 and up. Dr. Brennan specializes in pediatric audiology and uses play-audiometry techniques for younger children. We do school-screening follow-ups, IEP audiology reports, and FM-system fittings for classroom use.

For ages under 3 we refer to UW Health · they have a dedicated infant audiology team with sedated ABR capability we don't carry.

The honest answer: you don't drag them. You make the appointment for both of you, together. The free 60-minute test is approachable in a way an "okay, but only because YOU said so" hearing aid sales pitch isn't.

Frame it as: "Let's both get tested. I want to know my own baseline." A hearing test is data — they get to decide what to do with the data. We never pressure first-time patients toward devices.

Three things: face them when you talk (lipreading helps even normal-hearing listeners), reduce background noise (turn off the TV, move the conversation away from the dishwasher), and rephrase rather than repeat. If a sentence didn't land the first time, the same words louder usually doesn't help — different words, same meaning, often does.

Hearing loss and cognitive decline are linked — untreated hearing loss is one of the largest modifiable risk factors for dementia per the 2024 Lancet Commission. The good news: getting a hearing test is the right first step regardless. If we find significant loss and you treat it, you reduce dementia risk. If hearing is fine, that data point matters too · share it with the patient's primary or neurology team.

Pure-tone audiometry both ears (air and bone conduction), tympanometry, speech-reception threshold, word-recognition score, and QuickSIN speech-in-noise testing. Plus a 15-minute consultation with the audiologist where we walk through the audiogram and answer your questions.

If you've had a recent test elsewhere, bring it · we can verify it instead of redoing.

From your free test to walking out with aids: typically 7-10 business days. The selection appointment is 60 minutes, the fitting/programming is 90 minutes, and we schedule a follow-up at 2 weeks and 6 weeks.

Same-day "drop-in fit" is possible for receivers-in-canal stocked in our most common power level — about 60% of patients qualify.

2240 University Avenue, Madison, on the corner of University and Highland. Free patient parking in the rear lot, ground-floor accessible entrance, and Madison Metro Route 2 stops directly outside.