Budget Hearing Centers Hearing Consultation
What Is A Hearing Evaluation
Hearing impairment affects more than just your ability to hear — it affects your quality of life. Budget Hearing Practitioners stress the importance of an accurate and timely hearing test. The hearing evaluation is just the beginning of your treatment, and it’s essential to setting your unique care plan in motion and taking action on your hearing loss. Your in-depth hearing evaluation will help us craft a treatment plan that renews your ability to hear, allowing you to truly hear your best and live life on your terms.
What to Expect Next
The interview process helps our practice determine the extent of your hearing impairment and aids us in uncovering any specific areas requiring further attention. Some typical questions you’ll want to prepare for are:
- Has anyone else in your family had hearing problems? Have you had any illnesses or injuries that might have affected your hearing?
- Have you taken any medications that might have contributed to hearing impairment?
- Have you been exposed to loud noises in your workplace or while participating in leisure activities?
The Ear Exam
One of our hearing care providers will take a close look inside your ear and determine whether the hearing difficulty you are experiencing could be caused by an obstruction or damage to the ear canal or eardrum. We use a special instrument called an otoscope or video otoscope to inspect your outer ear. You will be able to see your canal via a TV monitor.
The Hearing Test
Next we’ll need to determine the nature of your hearing loss. There’s a chance we will include hearing tests per the following:
• A Practitioner will get you seated in a soundproof booth
• Comfortable foam ear inserts will placed in each ear
• When the test begins tones from 10 different low and high frequencies will be sent to you through the inserts
• All that is needed is to push a button located on a handheld joystick when various frequency tones are heard
• During the testing the Practitioner will complete a Pure Tone Test, a Mastoid Bone Conduction Test, a Non-Amplified Word Test, a Most Comfortable Listening Test, a Most Uncomfortable Listening Test, and Various Speech and Word Recognition Tests
• The data from each segment of the hearing test will be used to determine the depth of your hearing loss if present, the measures needed to treat the loss and a cross test validation of all the hearing loss data
The Results
The findings from your tests will be plotted on a graph called an Audiogram. An Audiogram, above, is arranged with frequencies across the bottom and decibel levels down the side. The results show the relative ability of the right and left ears to hear various frequencies at specific decibel levels. The testing results are discussed and shown on a large screen TV monitor, giving you a thorough understanding of the information. In addition a tape from the video library is often played by the Practitioner when explaining various issues, such as word recognition, to further illustrate the findings.