Adult
Hearing Evaluations
At Hearing Evaluation Services (HES) we know that a thorough hearing evaluation is a crucial component to providing the most effective solution to hearing loss. A hearing evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of a patient’s ability to hear a variety of sounds, including speech. It allows us to identify the type and degree of loss and create an effective treatment plan. Hearing evaluations can be performed on patients of any age, including infants and children.
What to Expect
Our team of Doctors of Audiology use the most sophisticated technology and state-of-the-art tests to ensure accuracy in the diagnosis of hearing loss and the efficiency in treating it.
Your audiologist will first examine your ear canals for debris or earwax buildup that may be causing your hearing loss. They will then check the function of your eardrums to ensure there is no fluid or pressure build-up behind them and that they vibrate normally.
You will then listen to a variety of different sounds. This allows us to determine your level (or threshold) of hearing across a wide range of frequencies that are important for speech understanding ability. This test also allows us to determine if your loss of hearing is due to a problem with your outer, middle, or inner ear.
Speech testing is also performed, during which you will repeat words that gradually decrease in volume, followed by a list of words presented at a comfortable listening volume. This is to determine the level at which you can detect speech and gives the audiologist information about how well your ears maintain the integrity of speech as it is transmitted to the brain. Depending on your test results, your doctor may also include other types of listening tests as part of your overall evaluation.
Through proper treatment, you can reduce the negative impacts that hearing loss has on your overall health, lifestyle, and communicative abilities. If you’re over the age of 55, a baseline hearing evaluation is also recommended, even if you do not currently perceive any difficulty hearing.
Call our office today for an appointment!
