Hearing tests are an important first step into a world of better hearing.
Here at Hearing Health Solutions, thorough hearing tests are an absolutely essential step along the path of improving the quality of life with better hearing. And just like a blood test or an eye exam, they are designed to evaluate how well your ears work—specifically, how well your ears are able to receive process the sounds in your environment.
What Can I Expect at a Hearing Test?
When you arrive for your appointment, come to the front desk and our office staff will welcome you and provide you with some important forms to fill out. These forms ask about your medical history, personal information and insurance information. Our office team is very helpful, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Next, one of our experienced audiology doctors (hearing specialist) will talk with you about your situation. We will ask about your medical history and your symptoms and any other concerns you might have. We will specifically ask you questions regarding what kinds of sound environments you typically struggle with and any other hearing loss indicators you have noticed (such as struggling to decipher individual conversations in a noisy room or tinnitus symptoms, like constant ringing in ears).
After this, the hearing loss test begins with a visual inspection of your ears. The audiologist will examine your ears using an otoscope. You have probably seen otoscopes many times in your life already as you’ve visited doctors and had regular checkups. It consists of a handle with long, narrow tube that fits into your ear canal. The otoscope magnifies and illuminates a picture of what is inside your ears. We can see if there are any obstructions, ear wax, or if there is any physical damage in the ear canal, or on the eardrum.
Next, we get down to the hearing tests that evaluate your ability to hear certain frequencies, voices and how you hear in various environments. You will go into a soundproof room and be fitted with a set of headphones through which our audiologist will play different sounds in different frequencies into your ear. These sounds will also include speech played at different volumes and with varying levels of noise interference. Your reactions to these tests are recorded in an “audiogram,” which will give us important answers to the following questions:
- Do you suffer from hearing loss?
- If so, to what extent?
- What frequencies are most affected?
- Is one ear affected more than the other, or are there problems in both ears?
This audiogram, along with the otoscope inspection and your symptoms will give us the information we need to start designing hearing solutions to improve your hearing and your quality of life.
Sound Solutions for Overcoming Hearing Loss
If your hearing tests indicate that you do suffer from a degree of hearing loss, our audiologists can help. Today’s technological advances in hearing healthcare have given us a lot of options for you to consider, and we will take the time to inform you about the ones that might best fit your personal needs. If hearing aids are indicated in your situation, we will provide a hearing aid comparison, discuss hearing aid prices, and make recommendations on particular brands that will address your individual hearing loss concerns.
You will also be able to choose from different hearing aid styles during our professional hearing aid fittings. Everyone’s ears are different, so you can try on different types of hearing aids to find which ones are the most comfortable and effective. It can take a while to get used to wearing hearing aids, but once you rediscover the clarity and volume of sounds around you, you will be so pleased to hear them again.
Hearing Tests to Turn Up the Volume
You can’t fix a problem if you don’t understand it. If you have been frustrated with not hearing everything people say to you, or you think everyone is mumbling, or have any of the other symptoms of hearing loss, take action now! Schedule a hearing loss test with one of our experienced audiologists and get to the root of the problem, so we can help you find a solution tailored to you.
- Call us at 888-638-5095 to schedule an appointment for a hearing test at any of our six convenient locations in the Columbus, Ohio area.
Say goodbye to living the quiet, disconnected life—enjoy listening to the people and things you love!