Home Visit · What To Expect
What Happens During a Home Hearing Test
A home hearing test takes under an hour and is completely painless. An RCI-registered audiologist arrives at your parent's door with portable, calibrated equipment, looks inside each ear, runs a free 45-minute hearing test at the dining table, explains the results to both of you, and, if a hearing aid would help, lets your parent try one on the spot. No clinic queue, no travel, no needles. This page walks you through every step so you can promise your parent, truthfully, that it is quick and easy.
Before the visit: what to prepare at home
What we need from you is small. Clear a quiet spot, keep any old reports handy, and be there yourself if you can. That is genuinely all the preparation the test requires: no fasting, no special arrangements.
- Setup
Pick a quiet room
A room away from traffic noise and the television gives the cleanest result. The audiologist carries a calibrated, portable audiometer, so an ordinary quiet room at home is enough.
- Records
Keep documents ready
Old audiograms, ENT prescriptions and a list of current medicines help the audiologist read the full picture. Previous hearing aids, if any, are useful too.
- Comfort
Have your parent seated and relaxed
No fasting, no special clothing, nothing to swallow. Your parent can stay in their own favourite chair the whole time.
Be there yourself if you can
A familiar face lowers resistance, and you will hear the results first-hand rather than second-hand.
Book a home visit
Step 1: the ear examination (otoscopy)
The visit opens with a quick look inside each ear using a small lighted scope called an otoscope. This checks for earwax, infection or fluid: common, fixable reasons a parent can seem "deaf" when the hearing nerve is actually fine. It takes about two minutes per ear and does not hurt.
- Ear check
What the scope shows
Wax blockage, fluid, a healthy clear canal, or a problem that needs an ENT. If heavy wax is the only issue, we tell you honestly before any hearing-aid conversation.
- Painless
Nothing is inserted painfully
The otoscope only rests at the opening of the ear. Your parent feels a soft light and a gentle tug on the ear: nothing more.
Step 2: the hearing test itself
This is the free 45-minute hearing test, done with headphones and a small handheld button. Your parent hears a series of soft beeps at different pitches and presses the button each time they catch one. It is essentially a game of "did you hear that?": no reading, no pressure, and no right or wrong answers.
- Beeps
Pure-tone testing
Beeps from low to high pitch map exactly which sounds your parent has lost. This is what becomes the audiogram: the picture of their hearing.
- Clarity
Speech testing
Your parent repeats simple words so we measure real-world clarity, not just loudness. This explains why they hear that people are talking but miss the actual words.
The same test, at home
It is the identical procedure we run at our Pune, Delhi and Bengaluru clinics, simply brought to the dining table.
About the hearing test
Step 3: reviewing the results with you and your parent
The audiologist plots the audiogram and explains it in plain language, to both of you, on the spot. You will see which pitches are affected and how the loss maps to the sounds your parent keeps missing: grandchildren's voices, the doorbell, the phone. An honest note: a hearing aid manages the loss and brings sound back, but it does not cure the nerve.
- Results
The audiogram, explained
Mild, moderate or severe, and in which ear: described in everyday words, with no jargon left hanging.
- Honest
Whether a hearing aid will actually help
Sometimes the honest answer is "clean the wax first" or "see an ENT before anything else". We say so rather than selling.
- Report
A written copy for you
Keep the report for your own records, a second opinion, or insurance paperwork.
Step 4: fitting and trial options offered on the spot
If a hearing aid suits, the audiologist lets your parent try one during the same visit: try-before-you-buy, in their own living room. We fit across all 8 major brands, so the recommendation is matched to your parent's loss and budget, never to one company's stock.
- Trial
Try it in their own home
Your parent hears your voice, the television and the ceiling fan through the aid, in the very room they live in: the most honest test of whether it helps.
All 8 brands
Signia, Phonak, Oticon, Widex, ReSound, Starkey, Unitron and Interton: compared fairly for fit and budget.
See the brandsHonest pricing
Up to 20-30% off MRP, hearing aids are GST-exempt, and 0% EMI is available. These are bands only: call for an exact quote for your parent's fit.
View pricing- Included
Free lifetime programming
As your parent adjusts over the weeks and months, fine-tuning of the aid is included, for life, at no extra cost.
How long the whole visit takes
Plan for about an hour, door to door. The ear check is a few minutes, the hearing test around 45 minutes, and the results discussion and optional trial fill the rest. You can promise your parent, truthfully, that they will not be kept sitting for half a day.
- ~5 min
Ear check
Around 5 minutes: a quick, painless look inside both ears.
- ~45 min
Hearing test
Around 45 minutes: the free, unhurried pure-tone and speech test.
- ~15-20 min
Results and optional trial
Around 15-20 minutes to explain the audiogram and, if wanted, try a hearing aid on the spot.
Helping a nervous or resistant parent through it
Denial is normal: most parents insist "my hearing is fine, everyone just mumbles". The home visit itself removes half the resistance: there is no clinic, no waiting room full of strangers, and nothing to admit in public. Frame it as a free check, not a commitment to buy.
- Framing
Call it a free check-up
"It's free and it's at home" is far easier to accept than "let's go buy a hearing aid". Start there.
- No pressure
Let them keep control
Nothing is bought unless your parent chooses to. The trial carries no obligation, and they can say no at any point.
- Support
Stay in the room
Your quiet presence reassures more than any brochure. Parents relax when a trusted family member is beside them.
Talk to us first
Read how other families handled this, or message us on WhatsApp before booking to ask anything at all.
Read family experiences
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
Is a home hearing test as accurate as a clinic test?
Yes. The audiologist uses the same calibrated, portable audiometer and runs the same pure-tone and speech tests we perform at our clinics. A quiet room at home gives a reliable audiogram for diagnosis and fitting.
Does the test hurt or involve anything invasive?
No. The otoscope only rests at the opening of the ear, and the hearing test is simply soft beeps through headphones with a button to press. Nothing is inserted painfully, and there are no needles or procedures.
How much does the home hearing test cost?
The 45-minute hearing test is free. You only pay if your parent chooses a hearing aid, and those carry up to 20-30% off MRP, are GST-exempt, and have 0% EMI available. Call +91 9429690093 for an exact quote for their fit.
Which cities do you cover for home visits?
Pune, Delhi and Bengaluru only. Our clinics are in Viman Nagar (Pune), Rohini Sector 9 and Green Park (Delhi), and Jayanagar 4th Block (Bengaluru), and our RCI-registered audiologists travel to homes across these cities.
My parent refuses to admit they have a problem. Can the visit still go ahead?
Yes, and it is often the easiest first step. Framing it as a free at-home check, with no obligation to buy, removes the pressure of a clinic appointment that makes many parents resist. You staying in the room helps a great deal too.
Will my parent get a hearing aid the same day?
They can try one the same day if it suits. Fitting and a no-obligation trial are offered on the spot across all 8 brands, but the decision is always theirs: nothing is bought unless your parent chooses to.
Book your parent's free home hearing test
Give your parent the easiest possible first step: a free 45-minute hearing test in their own home, done by an RCI-registered audiologist, with a no-obligation try-before-you-buy trial if it helps. We cover Pune, Delhi and Bengaluru. Call +91 9429690093 or WhatsApp +91 8485096505 to book a home visit.
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