Mother’s Day is in May and Father’s Day is in June. What could be a better present for your parents or grandparents than giving them the gift of better hearing? It all starts with a hearing test. If they’ve never had their hearing tested before, you might be wondering what to expect.
Rob Hamilton, clinician and owner at Hearing Well Matters!, a family-owned independent hearing clinic in central Burlington, understands the natural curiosity many have before their first visit, and provides the following outline of a hearing test.
The whole assessment usually takes about 30 to 60 minutes, and involves the following parts.
1. Patient intake and hearing history
At your first hearing assessment, your clinician will sit down with you to get to know a little about you, learn about your medical and hearing history, and better understand any areas where you would like to hear better. They will take the time to find out what you’ve been noticing, the situations you may be experiencing issues with, and answer any questions you may have.
2. Video otoscopy
Using a video otoscope, the clinician will begin to examine your ears. This piece of equipment illuminates the ear canal, and allows you to see in real time your ear canal and ear drum. This part of the exam allows the clinician to painlessly assess the condition of the ear lobe, ear canal, and tympanic membrane (eardrum).
3. Tympanometry
In this test, the clinician gauges how well your middle ear is working. The tympanometer measures how your eardrum flexes in response to air pressure. It is used to help detect problems commonly found in the middle ear, such as infections, fluid buildup, eardrum perforations, or issues with the eustachian tubes. This part of the exam can help determine if hearing aids will be able to correct any hearing loss, or if a different treatment would be more suitable.
4. Pure tone threshold testing
This test measures your hearing sensitivity and your ability to hear specific frequencies and volumes. Pure tone testing gauges the severity, location, and nature of any hearing loss. While you wear earphones connected to an audiometer, pure tone beeps are delivered to both ears and you signal whenever you detect a sound. The quietest level at which you can detect any tone is called your hearing threshold.
5. Speech testing
With these tests, done in a soundproof booth, you’ll listen to spoken words through headphones, with or without background noise and at different volumes. You will be asked to repeat what words were just said. Your results are scored as a percentage and show how well you can discriminate between speech sounds.
6. Test results and discussion
Hearing loss severity can vary from mild to profound, and you may suffer hearing loss in one or both ears. Your hearing is measured against normal ranges, with the results plotted on a chart called an audiogram. The audiogram shows results for each ear, with how well you hear sounds both in terms of frequency (high to low pitch) and intensity (soft to loud). Your clinician will break down the results of these tests with you right away and discuss what they signify.
7. Family doctor input
The results of the hearing test are then shared with your family physician, who may decide on treatment of the hearing loss or further medical investigation. They may issue a prescription to treat the hearing loss—in Ontario, the prescription provides access to partial funding through the Assistive Devices Program.
8. Treatment options – Discussion
At this point, your hearing healthcare clinician will explain how you could benefit from wearing hearing aids, and they’ll explain which manufacturers, styles, and technology levels would work best for your situation and why. There are many options to choose from today, with different models and styles available, and they are much smaller and more discreet than earlier iterations.
With Mother’s Day and Father’s Day being celebrated at this time of year, why not offer them the gift of better hearing by booking a free hearing test for them (or yourself)?
Call 905-681-4327 (H-E-A-R) or email [email protected]. You can also visit online, or follow them on Facebook.
573 Maple Avenue, Unit #4
