Table of Contents
Introduction:
Regular hearing tests are crucial for maintaining good ear health. Just like visiting the dentist, scheduling routine hearing tests allows for early detection of any hearing changes and potential intervention. Whether you’re considering scheduling a private hearing test for the first time or simply curious about what to expect, this article gives in-depth revelation on what happens at a hearing test along with the processes, giving you a clear picture of what to expect before you book a private hearing test.
- Medical and Hearing Health History:
when you arrive at the Private hearing clinic, your Audiologist will first take a brief history of your hearing health and the drugs you’re on. This is to help narrow down what could be a cause of your hearing loss. So before you go for your appointment, it’s great to take notes of the drugs you’re taking and recall times when your hearing loss started, what led to it and who in your family has a hearing loss. This thorough assessment aids the audiologist in pinpointing potential causes of your hearing concerns and tailoring the subsequent tests accordingly.
- An Ear Exam:
After Your audiologist has gotten your hearing history, he’ll move on to assess your ear canal for any blockage of ear wax or foreign objects which could obstruct sound from moving clearly to your eardrums. Additionally, your audiologist could check for signs of an ear infection, inflammation or other anomalies that can affect your hearing. If a blockage of ear wax or any object is seen, your Audiologist will go ahead and clear that out for you. If signs of an ear infection were seen, your audiologist would prescribe drugs and ear drops to help clear out the infection.
- The hearing test:
If You were cleared of both cases during the ear assessment, your audiologist would go ahead to perform the private hearing test, starting with the Pure Tone Audiometry test which involves you sitting in a soundproof booth with headphones on, listening to sounds and bits at different frequencies starting from clear and loud tones to faint tones. What your Audiologist is looking out for during this test is the Tones you can’t hear, this helps him determine the extent and nature of your hearing loss.
After that test, your audiologist would perform a speech-in-noise test which would test your ability to hear clearly amidst background noise. This is usually done by playing pre-recorded conversations for you to identify with real-life noise in the background, simulating real-life listening scenarios.
Most Private audiologists go ahead to conduct what we call a Tympanometry test to be more thorough. This test is done to check the health of the middle ear to be sure that’s not a contributing factor to why you have issues hearing.
- Results and Aftercare:
After all hearing tests have been done, your audiologist will present the results to you on a sheet called an Audiogram which is a graphical representation of your hearing thresholds across different frequencies. This gives a pictorial representation and understanding of the degree of your hearing loss if any was seen and your Audiologist would explain the results to you. If any form of hearing loss was seen, management and aftercare options such as hearing aids would be discussed.
A great thing about the private route is you can decide to have a same-day hearing aid fitting provided their schedule is free. Once you’ve selected a style, your audiologist will program and customize the hearing aids to your specific hearing needs and type of hearing loss, fine-tuning settings to optimize sound clarity and comfort. If you are satisfied with the results, you can then place an order for your hearing aids.
Conclusion:
Private hearing tests offer a comprehensive and personalized approach to assessing your hearing health and with understanding the process, you can feel more prepared and confident on the path to improved hearing.
By prioritizing regular hearing assessments and seeking professional guidance from audiologists, we empower ourselves to preserve and safeguard our precious sense of hearing for years to come.