What to Expect at Your First Appointment

At Audiology Services, we refer to a standard hearing test as a comprehensive hearing evaluation. This evaluation includes a battery of tests that determines your overall ear health, if the need for a medical referral is necessary, and how well the auditory mechanism is working. We will be able to identify if there is a hearing loss, and if so, the type and degree of hearing loss.

  1. Comprehensive case history – why are you here? What is bothering you?
  2. Video Otoscopy – We take a look into your ear canal with our video otoscope so that you can see what your ear canal/ear drum looks like. We are evaluating this part of your ear anatomy to be sure there is no obtrusive ear wax, and no visible middle ear pathologies. We can also tell if you are using those Q-tips too much!
  3. Tympanometry – this is a test that measures how well your eardrum is moving. Injury, surgery, and ear infections can affect the health/mobility of your eardrum. Your eardrum plays an integral part in the transmission of sound. This test will also indicate to us if there is a problem with the middle ear space that may require a referral to a medical doctor.
  4. Pure Tone Audiometry – this is the part of the test where we ask our patients to step into the sound controlled audio booth. The clinician will place headphones or ear inserts over/in your ears so that you can hear the tones that we present to you. The clinician will present a series of tones from low to high frequencies so that we can determine your level of hearing. Did you know that you hear sounds through the air? And that you also hear sounds through bone vibrations from the mastoid bone, located behind your ear.

During this part of the test, the clinician will also test your loudness discomfort level, your most comfortable listening level, your speech reception threshold, and your ability to discriminate speech in quiet and in noise. Speech in noise scores are essential to the prescription of hearing instruments. Less than fifteen percent of providers actually implement speech in noise testing, according to The Hearing Review. Understanding your speech in noise scores assists us in determining the technology level appropriate for you. The technology available today has digital noise reduction features that help to filter and/or eliminate background noise in difficult listening environment.

After we collect all of this important test data, we have a review session in our technology suite. We will go over your results and help you to understand the type and degree of hearing loss that you present with. If there is a hearing loss present, we will review the solutions available to you. It is our goal to educate you throughout your hearing healthcare journey and the options that are available to you. We will assist in obtaining any insurance information and financing options.