Hearing Evaluation Expectations

The full hearing evaluation takes approximately 20-30 minutes, and includes the following:

Case History:

Before coming in for a hearing evaluation, you should spend a few minutes reflecting on your hearing and how it affects your life. In what situations (restaurant, phone, etc.) do you find yourself struggling to hear the conversation? Do your family members get frustrated with you because you misunderstand or don’t hear them speak? Do they tell you that you listen to the TV too loudly? The audiologist’s goal when asking these questions is to obtain a better understanding of your personal hearing needs.

Hearing evaluation:

The audiologist will then conduct a thorough hearing evaluation to determine your type and degree of hearing loss, if any. You can expect to undergo:

Otoscopy: The audiologist will look in your ears to determine the presence of wax, fluid behind the eardrum, holes in the eardrum or other abnormalities of the ear canal.

Tympanometry: A pressure test which determines how well your eardrum is moving. This test is often used to determine the presence of fluid behind the eardrum, holes in the eardrum, or disorders which otherwise effect the outer and middle ear.

Speech testing: The audiologist will insert headphones in your ears and play a list of words in each ear. You will be asked to repeat the words you hear.

Tonal testing: The audiologist will play a series of tones through headphones and/or the bone conduction headband. You will be asked to say “yes” or raise your hand when you hear the tone.

 

Once the audiologist has a full understanding of your type and degree of hearing loss, your results, next steps, and/or treatment options will be discussed.