Hearing Test
What can you expect from your hearing test?
Your History
Your medical history will be discussed and additional questions about past illnesses, noise exposure, dizziness and any other basic medical history that may have had an impact on your hearing will be reviewed.
Looking Into Your Ear and Assessment of the Structures
The audiologist will look into your ear with an otoscope and take pictures of your ear canal and eardrum to assess their overall health. This helps the audiologist to determine if there are any abnormalities. The overall structures of the ear are evaluated with a pressure test known as tympanometry, an evaluation of the muscles behind the eardrum, known as acoustic reflexes, and a screening of the health of the inner ear known as otoacoustic emissions. All tests performed are non invasive and essential to the overall evaluation of your hearing.
The Sound Booth
The next step is to evaluate your hearing through insert earphones and a head band called bone oscillator, at the important speech frequencies in a sound booth. You will press a button when you hear very soft tones. The second portion of the test evaluates your ability to detect and understand speech.
Test Results
Following the testing, the audiologist will review your results and recommend the necessary intervention, which may include medical referral, hearing devices or additional testing.