How Hearing Aid Specialists Test Your Hearing

If you are facing your first hearing screening, it can be a little bit intimidating. You are not sure what to expect, and may be worried that you have suffered a slight hearing loss. Knowing a little bit about the testing and the process can help ease some of your anxieties.

A hearing evaluation can let your hearing aid specialist know many valuable things about your hearing, including whether or not you have a hearing loss, how significant it may be, what it is caused by, and how to best treat it.

Before the test, the specialist will probably ask you lots of questions having to do with your medical history, your symptoms, and how your hearing problems have changed your daily life. By asking these questions, he is trying to get a better idea of what might be going on, so that he has a clue of what to look for during the actual hearing test.

Questions he may ask:

• Have you noticed difficulty hearing?
• Did your hearing change suddenly or gradually?
• Is there any history of hearing loss in your family?
• Are both of your ears affected of just one?
• Do you have ringing in your ears?
• Do you frequently get dizzy or experience vertigo?
• Do you have any ear pain?

After he is done taking a medical history and asking you other relevant questions, he will want to look inside of your ears with an otoscope to check for any visual clues such as built up ear wax or growths within the ear canal.

After the physical examination, it will be time for the actual hearing test. The test is actually made up of a series of tests, including a bone conduction test, air conduction test, and speech test. Each is designed to give the hearing aid specialist more clues to why you are having trouble hearing.

Both the air conduction test and bone conduction test will use a series of beeps and other noises to test how well you can hear sounds. You will be asked to raise your hand or push a button whenever you can hear one of the sounds.

During air conduction testing, you will sit in a sound booth or put on a pair of headphones in which to hear sounds through. During bone conduction testing, a device will be placed behind your ear to send sounds directly to your brain.

During the speech test, you will be evaluated to see how well you can hear someone speaking to you. Most patients are asked to bring a trusted friend or family member along to participate in the speech testing, as it can be easier to identify a familiar voice.

After the testing and evaluations, the hearing aid specialist will want to sit down with you and discuss the results of the tests, as well as what treatment options are available to you. As you can see, having a hearing test is really not a difficult process, and you will benefit from it with better hearing and peace of mind.