What to Expect at a Hearing Test
An audiological evaluation is conducted to determine the extent and classification of hearing loss you may have. It is usually done by an audiologist, an expert who is highly trained in recognizing and treating hearing loss and other issues associated with the auditory system. Here at Moore Hearing Centers, Dr. Moore will conduct the hearing evaluation with you!
During the assessment, Dr. Moore will evaluate your hearing ability and the auditory system overall from a battery of diagnostic tests. From your test results, he will be able to make conclusions about the comprehensive status of your hearing health.
The complete hearing evaluation is painless, easy, and comfortable. This entire process can take between thirty minutes to one hour and may differ for each individual, as everyone's requirements are unique. Even if you don't have to complete every segment of the exam, comprehensive hearing tests usually entail the following stages:
Health History
During the preliminary part of a hearing assessment, you may be asked a series of questions regarding your past and current medications, medical conditions if there is any history of hearing issues in your family, the levels and duration of noise you are exposed to, your pastimes, working experience, and any hearing concerns you are presently having. These inquiries are similar to the many questionnaires you have filled out at previous appointments for other medical conditions. This may also include a personal assessment of your perception of your hearing ability in different settings. With this data, our audiologist can gain insight into your performance in the next stages of the exam.
Otoscopy
The main purpose of an otoscopy is to investigate the outer portion of your ear to identify any blockages or impediments with an otoscope - a special probe that emits a beam of light from its tip. Obstructions can range from earwax accumulation to foreign objects lodged in the ear canal to various anomalies resulting from illnesses. Our audiologist will also inspect your eardrums and look for signs of scarring or perforation. Dr. Moore can and will remove obstructions if necessary, prior to any testing being done.
Tympanometry
We use tympanometry tests to evaluate the elasticity of your eardrums and the effectiveness of the mechanical portion of the ear. To carry out this test, a tympanometer probe is inserted into the ear canal. This device changes the pressure slightly in the ear, emits a pure tone frequency, and records the eardrum's responses to the sound at various pressures. The information obtained from this procedure is used to create a graph that shows how the emittance value changes with the pressure, which is referred to as a tympanogram.
Speech Testing
In order to ascertain a person's capacity to comprehend speech, an assessment is done in a soundproof chamber with the use of headphones. This evaluation encompasses two components: the Speech Reception Threshold (SRT) examination and the Word Recognition Test (WRT). During the SRT exam, the volume of the words played through the headphones is gradually decreased until you are only able to correctly articulate 50% of the words heard. The WRT assesses your proficiency in identifying words at standardized sound levels. After both assessments, it is possible to determine the probability of progress with differing treatments. Speech-in-noise testing may also be done, to evaluate your processing ability in competing signal noise.
Air and Bone Conduction Testing
These two tests are used to determine the source of your hearing difficulties. In both, you will be seated in a soundproof room, but for the Air Conduction Test, you will be wearing a pair of headphones through which varying frequencies are emitted. You must either raise your hand or hit a button when you hear them. As for the Bone Conduction test, instead of headphones, you will be wearing a headband that holds a special plastic vibrating unit against the lower back area of your ear. The vibrations it produces bypass the outer and middle ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. The collective results of these two will indicate whether underlying physical conditions are causing your hearing loss or if it is a direct result of auditory nerve damage.
Comprehensive Hearing Examinations
Comprehensive hearing examinations are quick and pain-free and allow you to confirm the state of your hearing health. With regular screenings, you will have plenty of time to remediate any potential complications and not reduce the risk of being caught off-guard by latent hearing conditions. Thus it is imperative to schedule a hearing test as soon as possible if you are experiencing any symptoms or suspect that there is something amiss with your sound perception. If allowed to progress unchecked, hearing loss can increase the risk of developing complications from other medical conditions in the future.
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