Hearing Evaluations
From screening to evaluation,
the best results come from real attention to detail.
Is It Time for a Hearing Test?
Hearing loss is a sudden or gradual decrease in how well you can hear. It is one of the most common conditions affecting older and elderly adults. Having trouble hearing can make it hard to understand and follow a doctor’s advice, to respond to warnings, and to hear doorbells and alarms. It can also make it hard to enjoy talking with friends and family. All of this can be frustrating, embarrassing, and even dangerous.
Do you have trouble hearing in a noisy room?
Do you have more trouble hearing women than men?
Do you ask others to repeat themselves?
Do you avoid going out because you’ll struggle to hear?
Do you notice any ringing or buzzing sounds in either ear?
Testing
Tympanometry
Tympanometry is a test conducted by audiologists to check how well the middle ear system is working. A soft flexible probe is placed into the ear canal and measures the eardrum’s overall responsiveness to sound. Tympanometry is not a hearing test; instead, it measures how sound travels through the middle ear.
Otoacoustic Emmissions
The cochlea is the sensory organ in the inner ear that converts sound waves into nerve impulses that can be recognized by the brain as sound. The cochlea also does something rather interesting in people with healthy hearing; it makes a soft sound of its own when it is functioning properly.
Pure Tone Testing
Pure tone testing for hearing loss is the gold standard for establishing the exact range of hearing ability or hearing loss. Pure tone testing determines hearing acuity or the quietest sound a person can hear. The client is presented with sounds in the right, left, or both ears through earphones.
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Tympanometry is an excellent way to determine if hearing loss is due to nerve damage or inner ear problems. A person’s tympanogram can tell a lot about their ability the health of their middle ear.
Common problems that can be diagnosed with tympanometry include a blockage of the Eustachian tube, eardrum perforation,
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An audiologist can detect this sound through a process called otoacoustic emissions testing. These emissions can be painlessly measured through a tiny microphone placed directly into the ear canal. The audiologist presents a tone to the eardrum and attempts to detect the cochlea’s response. If the client has moderate to severe hearing loss, the
Otoacoustic emissions testing is an excellent tool for determining how well a newborn baby can hear since it does not require any communication. The presence of otoacoustic emissions indicates that the cochlea’s hair cells are responding to sound (i.e., they are working). It is also useful for diagnosing “nerve deafness.”
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When the client hears a tone, he or she signals when the audiologist. Only one tone is presented at a time, with fading levels of volume at each successive presentation until the client can no longer hear the tone.
A person’s hearing acuity may be better or worse at different frequencies. For example, a person may be able to hear high frequency sounds at low volumes, but is unable to hear low frequency sounds at moderate volumes. Pure tone testing accurately measures hearing across the frequencies of human hearing.
Word Testing
Speech in Noise Testing
People with sensorineural hearing loss (“nerve deafness”) often lose the ability to discriminate human speech from background noise. Speech in noise testing is a way to evaluate how well someone can understand simple words or numbers presented in the midst of varying levels of noise.
Word Recognition Testing
Word recognition testing determines a client’s ability to recognize words that sound alike (i.e., phonemes). It tests the client’s best
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Since understanding speech over noisy backgrounds mimics circumstances commonly experienced in real life, it is more “realistic” than pure tone testing. For this reason, most audiologists recommend speech in noise testing as part of routine hearing aid evaluation testing protocols.
Speech in noise testing is non-invasive. The client is presented with pre-recorded sentences or phrases within different levels and types of background noise, such as other voices, environmental noise, or machine-generated noise. The more spoken words someone can correctly identify, the better her speech in noise hearing is.
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The test takes place in an audiologist’s office in less than 10 minutes.
Before a person receives a hearing aid, word recognition testing determines the best, unassisted speech recognition a person can achieve. After a hearing aid is placed and fitted, the test is repeated so that adjustments can be made to the hearing device, ensuring optimal performance.
Getting Started is Easy
Free Phone Consultation
We can answer many simpler questions over the phone.
Book Appointment
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Meet the Doctor!
Call our office and schedule a time for a free hearing screening.
Follow Up & Care
Our exceptional, friendly staff is one of our greatest assets, and we are proud of their long time association with our office. Patients tell us often how well we work together as a team.
We pride ourselves on staying on the cutting edge of hearing healthcare and great patient communication. Each of our staff members is motivated to achieve the best results for our patients in a calming and comfortable setting.
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