The audiological exam tells
us the type of hearing loss and how much loss you have. It also helps us to
plan your personalized treatment.
The first step in a complete evaluation is a personal case history. On your first visit, the audiologist will ask several questions to
better understand your (or your child’s) medical and hearing background. Questions about ear pain, ear surgeries, general health, medications, etc. help us to determine possible causes of hearing loss. Questions on lifestyle will help us to determine the most appropriate treatment options.
For children, some questions will deal with birth history, academic progress, speech and language development, etc.
Then the audiologist will look in your ears using an otoscope to see if there are any physical problems, such as wax.
For the hearing test, you will ask to sit in a sound treated booth. During this test, earphones are worn so that information can be obtained for each ear.
The hearing test consists of two basic parts: Pure tone testing and Speech testing.
A pure-tone hearing test determines the faintest tones a
person can hear at selected pitches (frequencies), from low to high. You will hear these sounds through earphones or ear inserts,known as air conduction, and through a special vibrator placed behind your ear, known as bone conduction. Air conduction measures the response of the entire ear and is important to tell us your functional hearing. Bone conduction testing measure the response of the inner ear independently of
the outer and middle ears. This test helps the
audiologist determine the type of hearing loss you may have.
The audiologist will also conduct tests of listening and speech.
One test that the audiologist conducts during a hearing test is the
speech reception threshold (SRT). The SRT records the faintest speech that can be heard half the
time. Then the audiologist will also record word recognition or the
ability to correctly repeat back words at a comfortable loudness level.
Speech testing may be done in a quiet or noisy environment.
Difficulty understanding speech in background noise is a common
complaint of people with hearing loss, and this information is helpful.
The results of the test are recorded on your audiogram.
In some instances, the audiologist may also take measurements that will provide information about how the middle ear
is functioning. These measurements include tympanometry, acoustic
reflex measures, and static acoustic measures. This type of testing is
particularly important in preschool children (ages 3–5), for whom
hearing loss is more often associated with middle ear disease.
The Audiogram