What to Expect at a Hearing Evaluation
If it’s been a while since a licensed hearing care provider tested your hearing, it’s time to schedule an appointment for a comprehensive evaluation with the experts at Hear Michigan Centers. Whether or not you’re experiencing symptoms of hearing loss, everyone should take hearing tests regularly to understand the state of their hearing health. Plus, addressing hearing loss early on is the best way to prevent it from worsening or causing interruptions in your daily life. Below, our hearing care providers explain the process of a comprehensive hearing evaluation so you know what to expect at your appointment.
We know everyone has different medical backgrounds, lifestyles, and needs regarding their hearing loss. Our comprehensive hearing evaluations and hearing care services are tailored to meet the unique needs of all our patients throughout Michigan. Whether you need to update your hearing aid prescription or get relief for tinnitus, we’ll stay by your side on your journey toward better hearing health. Contact us today to learn more about what we offer at our hearing care centers or schedule an appointment online for an in-person comprehensive hearing exam.
What Happens at a Comprehensive Hearing Exam?
Hearing exams vary depending on the clinic you choose and the symptoms you’re experiencing. Different hearing care professionals may conduct different parts of the evaluation, but they typically involve the following steps:
- Your hearing care provider will ask you questions about your medical history to conduct a case study of your health.
- An otoscopy will be conducted.
- Your provider will ask you to take the tympanography testing portion of your exam.
- Your ability to hear different levels of speech will be tested.
- Your provider will complete air and bone conduction testing (resulting in an audiogram) to see how well your inner ear responds to sound.
All the parts of your comprehensive hearing evaluation will be used to build a complete picture of your hearing health, allowing our hearing care providers to develop an individualized treatment plan that works for you.
Your Medical History
Most healthcare professionals ask their patients about their medical history, regardless of the issue they’re experiencing. They might ask you what ear you use while talking on the phone, which medications you’re currently taking, whether your family has a history of hearing loss, what the noise levels in your work environment are like, what recreational activities you participate in, and any other hearing concerns you or your family members notice. The more information you can provide your hearing care professional, the better they can tailor your treatment plan to suit your specific needs regarding hearing loss.
Otoscopy
An otoscopy is a clinical procedure used by hearing care providers to examine structures of the ear. Visually checking your ears might seem like an obvious first step, but several things that adversely affect a person’s ability to hear can go unnoticed. They can see if there are any abnormalities, such as scarring on your eardrum, blockages in your ear canal, or an infection present. In some cases, the problem should be addressed by a primary care physician before completing the rest of your comprehensive hearing evaluation.
Tympanometry
Tympanometry tests the flexibility of your eardrum by carefully placing a probe in your ear canal, creating an airtight seal around it, gently raising the pressure in it, and drawing it back out. The tympanometry machine will create a graph of the pressure changes (graphs of a healthy eardrum have a single peak). The eardrum doesn’t have as much flexibility when there’s an issue, usually resulting in a flat line on the graph with little to no peak. The eardrum is sometimes overly flexible, and the peak is much taller than the normal range. The results of this portion of the exam show your hearing care provider whether your eardrum is healthy, whether perforation is present, or if other medical conditions are possibly at play.
Testing Your Speech
The speech testing portion of your comprehensive exam will take place in a quiet sound booth while wearing headphones. You’ll repeat words you hear through the headphones to your hearing care provider. The first portion of the test finds the softest level you can hear simple words. Once your threshold is determined, you’ll repeat the words spoken to you through the headphones again, but you’ll hear them at a normal volume to test how well you can recognize words. People with hearing loss often have a hard time hearing and understanding speech. This test accurately measures the normal amount of speech you understand, helping our hearing care providers determine if hearing aids or other assistive listening devices would be beneficial.
Aid & Bone Conduction Testing
The audiogram, also called air and bone conduction testing, is the best-known part of a comprehensive hearing evaluation. Most people call this part of the exam the “hearing test,” which hearing care providers use to categorize your hearing loss type and level of severity. Like the speech testing portion of the exam, air and bone conduction testing involves two parts:
- Air Conduction Testing – You’ll wear headphones while your hearing care provider plays tones at varying levels and frequencies. You’ll signal to your provider by pressing a button or raising your hand to confirm you hear the tone they’re playing through the headphones. This allows your hearing care provider to determine your hearing threshold, which is the softest level you can hear in a normal environment. Simply put, this test shows how good or bad your hearing ability is.
- Bone Conduction Testing – This part uses the same process as the air conduction portion, but instead of headphones, your hearing care provider will place a headband on your head with a small plastic piece behind your ear. When a tone sounds, the plastic piece vibrates on the bone behind your ear, allowing us to see if your auditory nerve is functioning normally.
If the results of your air conduction test differ from the bone conduction results, there could be a physical condition preventing sound from reaching the cochlear nerve.
The Results of Your Exam
Your comprehensive hearing evaluation results give your provider a complete picture of your hearing health and lifestyle, allowing them to develop an individualized treatment plan for your case. Your test results might be a lot to process at first, but rest assured the team at Hear Michigan Centers will explain everything in detail and guide you through the next steps. When you leave our hearing care center, you’ll understand:
- Whether or not you have hearing loss
- Your specific hearing diagnosis (the type and degree you have)
- The next steps involved in your custom-prescribed treatment plan
- How to use proper hearing protection to prevent further noise-induced hearing loss
- How to maintain your hearing health and practice ongoing care
- What symptoms to look out for regarding hearing loss
- How to get the hearing healthcare support you need
Contact Us to Schedule a Hearing Exam Appointment Today
There’s no reason to hold off on scheduling your next comprehensive hearing evaluation when the team at Hear Michigan Centers is here to ensure the process goes quickly, smoothly, and hassle-free from start to finish. Whether you’re experiencing symptoms of hearing loss or not, understanding your current hearing ability is important for your overall health and well-being.
Our in-person hearing tests allow our hearing care providers to get an in-depth look at your hearing health, medical history, lifestyle, and other factors regarding your diagnosis. Equipped with highly advanced diagnostic tools and years of experience, we make it easy for patients to get the high-quality hearing care they deserve throughout Michigan. Contact us today to learn more about our hearing services, or schedule an appointment to start your journey towards better hearing.
