What does a hearing assessment involve?
Stages of the Hearing Assessment……..
A hearing test will be conducted by one of our registered Hearing Aid Audiologists, the whole process is simple, painless and is entirely free of charge.
First of all, you need to understand what the audiologist will be looking for. The audiologist will most likely test your hearing in a number of different ways, to determine where the hearing problem is located.
The assessment is made up of 3 stages
Stage 1:
- The audiologist will ask you a few questions about your history with regard to your hearing loss, relevant medical problems and information about your life style, this will help the audiologist decide the best way to assist you with your hearing loss.
- The audiologist will look into your ears with an instrument that is cone-shaped and has a light in one end. This device is called an Otoscope. It helps the audiologist to see into your ear better and determine if there are any abnormalities in the ear canal or eardrum.
- The audiologist will then talk to you about your needs and expectations and what you are hoping to achieve
Stage 2:
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The audiologist will then test your hearing with a calibrated audiometer, which produces sounds of different volumes and pitch. These are like low, middle and high musical notes played at different volumes. During testing, you are asked to indicate, when you hear a sound in the headphones. The minimum intensity of a sound at any frequency required to create the sensation of hearing is known as the Hearing Threshold. Both ears are usually tested. This will provide us with information about your level of hearing loss and what type of hearing loss you have.
Your loss may be:
- Sensorineural which is the natural deterioration of the ear as we age
- Conductive, where the middle or outer ear isn’t functioning correctly
- A combination of them both (mixed
Stage 3:
The Hearing Aid Audiologist will discuss with you what the test shows and recommend any action that you should take.
- If your condition dictates it, they may refer you to a doctor.
- You may be advised that the provision of and aid would be of benefit to improve your hearing.
- Or that your hearing is currently fine and you need no support at present.
Whatever the outcome, you will receive unbiased, confidential, professional advice as to your individual hearing requirements.
Should you require a hearing system, then we can offer you a choice of five different levels of price and technology. The most expensive solution may not necessarily be the best to compensate for your hearing loss, we will always advise you about the optimum solution, not necessarily the most expensive one.
Our structured approach ensures that everybody can find a solution that suits their lifestyle and their pocket.
Fitting
Fitting of the hearing aid normally occurs about 2 week after your test, at the fitting stage the audiologist will explain to you all about your aid, how to insert and remove the aid, how to adjust the volume and advise on caring for your aid.
Aftercare
The audiologist will visit you again about 3 weeks after the aid has been fitted, just to ensure everything is ok, any minor adjustment and fine tuning will be done at this stage to ensure you are getting the best out of your hearing aid, as well as giving you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have.
Of course, should you require assistance at any time, our staff are always glad to help with advice or can even arranging further visits where necessary.
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