Desert Sound Audiology

Desert Sound Audiology is a hearing care practice in St. George, Utah, led by Dr. Heather Smith, a Doctor of Audiology. The office is located at 144 W Brigham Rd, Building E, on the south end of St. George near the Bloomington interchange, and serves patients throughout Washington County.

A doctor-led, pressure-free visit

The practice states that patients receive professional hearing care from a Doctor of Audiology for the entire visit, in a supportive, pressure-free environment. Desert Sound Audiology also states that it offers the same top-rated hearing aids as its competitors for significantly less, and that it accepts TruHearing and UnitedHealthcare hearing aid benefits — two of the more common third-party hearing benefit administrators attached to Medicare Advantage plans and employer coverage.

That distinction matters more than it might appear. Hearing aid retail in the United States spans a wide range of business models, from big-box counters and online direct-to-consumer sellers to clinical audiology practices. An audiologist holds a doctoral-level clinical degree and is trained in diagnostic evaluation, not only device fitting, which means the visit begins with understanding the nature and degree of hearing loss rather than with a product recommendation.

Hearing care in Southern Utah

Washington County has one of the fastest-growing older adult populations in Utah. St. George, Washington, Santa Clara, and Ivins have all drawn substantial retiree relocation over the past two decades, and age-related hearing loss — presbycusis — is among the most common health conditions in that demographic nationally. Demand for hearing evaluation and hearing aid support in the region has grown accordingly.

The regional lifestyle also shapes what patients need from a hearing device. Southern Utah living skews outdoors and social: pickleball courts, hiking groups, community centers, church congregations, and restaurant patios. Those are acoustically difficult environments, with wind, reverberant hard surfaces, and competing background conversation. Hearing aid programming that performs adequately in a quiet living room may fall short in exactly the settings that matter most to an active St. George resident, which is why follow-up adjustment appointments are a normal and expected part of the process rather than a sign something went wrong.

The desert environment adds a practical maintenance dimension as well. Fine airborne dust, low humidity, and summer temperatures that routinely exceed 100 degrees are hard on small electronics worn against the body. Receivers and microphone ports collect debris, and heat and perspiration affect battery performance. Local, in-person access to cleaning, repair, and re-fitting is meaningfully more useful here than a mail-in service window.

Services offered

• Comprehensive hearing evaluations


• Hearing aid fittings and programming


• Hearing aid repairs


• Earwax removal


• Tinnitus treatment


• Auracast broadcast audio setup for television


• In-home hearing care visits

In-home hearing care

Desert Sound Audiology offers in-home hearing care visits, with Wednesdays designated for in-home appointments including the Washington area. For patients who no longer drive, who are recovering from surgery, or who live in an assisted living or memory care setting, an in-home visit removes the single largest barrier to getting hearing loss addressed at all. It also allows the audiologist to hear the actual acoustic environment the patient lives in — the real television, the real kitchen, the real telephone — which is difficult to replicate in a sound booth.

Auracast and current hearing technology

The practice offers Auracast setup for television. Auracast is a Bluetooth broadcast audio standard that allows a transmitter to send audio directly to hearing devices, so a television's sound arrives in the hearing aids without requiring the room volume to be raised. It addresses one of the most persistent and most quietly disruptive hearing loss complaints in a shared household.

Visiting the office

Desert Sound Audiology is open Monday through Thursday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, at 144 W Brigham Rd, Building E in St. George. Appointments and questions can be directed to (435) 414-8282, and more information is available at desertaudiology.com.