Many new patients report that they haven’t had their hearing tested recently. Some haven’t had a hearing evaluation in 20 years, or their last test may even date back to grade school. If it has been a while since your last hearing evaluation, you might not know what to expect. A diagnostic hearing evaluation includes meeting with a Doctor of Audiology, inspection of your ears, and completion of a hearing test. Many different tests are included in a comprehensive hearing evaluation, but it usually only takes about 45 minutes or less.
A hearing evaluation begins with a conversation with your doctor. The goal of this part of the appointment is to get as much information as possible about the difficulties you’re experiencing and how long you’ve been experiencing those issues. Your Audiologist will also document any medical concerns that could be related to the hearing system.
Next, the Audiologist will inspect your ear to look for specific landmarks and/or abnormalities on the ear canal and eardrum. It is also important to evaluate the amount of wax (cerumen) in the ears because excessive wax may interfere with testing. Next a series of tests will be performed.
For the first test, you will enter the testing booth. The Audiologist will insert foam earphones into your ears or place earphones over your ears. The Audiologist will begin conducting a test by playing a series of beeps to determine the softest you can hear. This same test is repeated while you wear a headband. This portion of the test helps us determine the type of hearing loss.
The next test is speech testing. The Audiologist will ask you to repeat words. This helps the Audiologist determine your word recognition ability in controlled conditions. The Audiologist may add additional testing such to assess your middle and inner ear.
After testing is complete, the Audiologist will review the results and discuss recommendations specific to your concerns. Recommendations may include monitoring of hearing over time, use of amplification and consultation with a physician, to name a few. If amplification is recommended, the Audiologist will use test results to fit hearing aids to your specific hearing loss.
To schedule a free consultation with one of our Doctors of Audiology, contact Gardner Audiology at 800-277-1182 or info@gardneraudiology.com
