A Full Audiology Hearing Assessment for an Adult or Child is only $80 at Hearing
Advantage.
A hearing assessment consists of a series of tests that aim to measure your
level of hearing, determine what the cause of any hearing loss might be and
ascertain what can be done to help.
Your Hearing Advantage audiologist will ask you questions about your ear health
and your hearing ability in various listening environments. This information
can help determine the possible cause of any hearing loss and the best course
of action to help you.
Otoscopy is a check of the health of the ear canal and ear drum using an
otoscope, a type of torch that allows the audiologist to see down the ear canal
to check for wax, infection or foreign objects.
Tympanometry involves placing a plug in your ear and measuring how well your ear
drum is working in response to a change in air pressure. It is a test of
function, not of hearing, and can detect problems with the middle ear such as
glue ear or ear drum perforations.
In pure tone audiometry, hearing is measured by determining what is the softest
sound that you can hear across the range of pitches (frequencies) that are the
most important for understanding speech. You will be asked to indicate when you
can hear a range of sounds, ranging in volume and pitch. Each ear is tested
separately. The results of pure tone audiometry are displayed in graphical form
called an Audiogram (see below).
Across the top of the graph are the different pitches of sound, going from low
pitch (bass) on the left through to high pitch (treble) on the right, and
increasing loudness going down the graph (soft sounds at the top increasing to
very loud sounds at the bottom). Hearing loss is described as mild (25-40dB
HL), moderate (41- 70dB HL), severe (71-90dB HL) or profound (91+dB HL)
relative to the pitches affected. The disability caused by each degree of
hearing loss depends on the pitches affected, however a larger hearing loss
usually results in larger disability.
When there is a hearing loss, the next step is to try and determine whether the
loss is caused by a sensory problem (sensorineural hearing loss) or a
mechanical problem (conductive hearing loss). This distinction is made by
measuring your hearing using a bone conductor, which bypasses the mechanical
parts of the middle ear. If hearing is better using the bone vibrator than when
tested using insert earphones or headphones, this suggests a conductive hearing
loss. If there is no difference then it suggests a sensory hearing loss.
Speech testing is used to assess how well you can discriminate words at various
volumes. You are asked to listen to a man saying some words and repeat back to
the audiologist what you think the word is. This test is done with no other
competing background noise.
Another speech test can be used to assess how well you can discriminate words
with a competing background noise present. You will be asked to listen to an
American woman saying a sentence and repeat back to the audiologist what you
think the woman was saying. In the background you will hear some background
noise which will increase in loudness as the test progresses. Both of these
tests give the audiologist vital information regarding the likely benefit you
would receive from using hearing aids.
The audiologist will talk to you about the test results and advise you what the
results mean in terms of your ability to hear in different situations. Some
forms of hearing loss can be rectified through medical management and/or
surgery. If this is the case your Hearing Advantage Audiologist will advise you
on the processes available to assist you.
If there are no medical management options available your Audiologist will
advise you on what other forms of intervention may be of benefit. Sometimes
this involves discussing a series of listening strategies to help you hear.
For some people hearing aids are the only way to help with hearing. A full range
of hearing aid technology and pricing options are available at Hearing
Advantage and your Audiologist will advise you on what hearing aids may be
appropriate for your hearing loss. They will also advise you on the Hearing Aid
Fitting Process.
A copy of the test results is routinely sent to you and your General
Practitioner.
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