Do you find the T.V. volume needs turned higher than normal to hear what is being said? Are you asking people to repeat themselves, or are you catching yourself asking ‘what’ more often? These are small clues that may indicate your hearing should be tested by an audiologist at South Valley Ear Nose & Throat.
An audiologist will begin by asking questions about your hearing and will then perform an exam by looking into your ears with an otoscope looking for possible small objects that may be blocking sound.
Pure Tone Audiometry is a test commonly used at South Valley Ear Nose & Throat. A person is taken into a sound-proof testing room and earphones are placed on their ears. The door is closed so the only sounds the patient hears are coming from the headphones. The person is instructed to raise their hand or push a button when they hear a sound. Each ear is tested separately. The audiologist is visible through a window in the sound-proof room and they record the results of the hearing exam. Once finished, the audiologist then compiles the data and reviews the results with the patient or parent.
Tympanometry is a common test used used to detect fluid in the middle ear. The audiologist gently inserts a soft plug into the ear canal. Air is very gently pushed in and out of the ear the eardrum to vibrate. Eardrum vibrations are measured and a graph, called a tympanogram, is created. These graphs shows reasons for hearings loss such as a hole in the eardrum, a stiff eardrum or an eardrum that moves more than it should.
After the hearing evaluation, you will review the results of each test with an audiologist, and a physician will recommend a treatment plan for your type of hearing loss.