Hearing Tests

Hearing the words "test" or "exam" can be scary. You might feel a little nervous the first time you go for a hearing test. If you're like most people, it's been about seven years since you first noticed changes in your hearing before you went to get help. This gives you a lot of time to worry about what will happen at your hearing test. 

At Aberdeen Audiology, we want all of our patients to start their journey to better hearing armed with as much information as possible. That's why we made this list of what to expect at your first hearing test, whether or not you choose us to give it.

You will be treated with respect.

This one comes first because, of course, it is the most important. Hearing loss is a personal, even "embarrassing" problem for some people. From the moment you make an appointment to the moment you leave, you should expect to be treated with the utmost respect and care for yourself, your feelings, your questions, and your worries.

We start with a consultation.

Like most other health care practices, we will ask you questions about your health and family health history. These questions are meant to help us learn more about you and determine if there are other things to consider, like damage to your ears or a history of taking medicines linked to hearing loss.

We then conduct an ear examination.

One of the first tests we will conduct is using an otoscope to look inside your ears. This first exam aims to see if the ears or eardrums are hurt or if there are any physical blockages like earwax buildup within your ear canal.

The hearing tests

What kind of hearing test you get will depend on many different things. Here are some of the most common hearing tests that people take. Most of the time, these are based on your specific areas of concern, your medical history, and the preferences of your audiologist. They all have in common that they are quick, easy, and not painful.

• Pure-tone audiometry: This test helps find out where you can hear and where you can't. During this test, you will hear different sounds at different volumes and be asked to press a button or raise your hand each time you hear one.
• Speech recognition test: This test looks at how well you can understand speech without visual cues like facial expression or lip movement or social cues like context. Sometimes only sounds (b, sh, th, etc.) are played, and sometimes speech is played in a noisy environment.
• Bone conduction test: This test can seem unnerving initially because it measures how well you can hear sounds that travel through your bones. A small vibrating probe is put on the bone behind your ear to do the test. It's a painless test that checks how well your inner ear picks up sounds that travel through your bones.
  

A look at your results.

One good thing about hearing tests is that you can get the results immediately, so you don't have to wait. We will discuss your results and their meaning for your hearing profile. You'll be able to ask questions and get answers, and you'll get a detailed report on your hearing strengths and weaknesses. If a hearing loss is detected, we'll work together to form an action plan to get you on the road to better hearing.

Contact us today to set up a hearing test with us!