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Hearing Testing

 

We conduct testing in our office to discover the source of hearing loss. Although there is no cure for age-related hearing loss, we will be able to offer some solutions to improve your ability to hear. If your hearing loss is due to fluid or earwax build-up, ear infections, abnormal growths, or ruptured eardrums, we will be able to address those issues through medication and/or minor surgery. In many cases, a hearing aid is required to restore hearing.

 

 

Hearing Testing for Newborns and Children

 

We offer hearing testing for newborns and children. Several types of hearing tests may be offered, based upon the child’s age, development, and overall health.

 

• Behavioral tests involve careful observation of a child’s behavioral response to a sound. These tests may include an infant turning its head, a child raising a hand or repeating words. Behavioral tests can be often used with both infants and children.

 

• Physiologic tests can estimate hearing function and are often used with children who can’t be tested behaviorally (due to their young age, developmental delay, or other medical condition). The tests are often performed on infants and children who are sleeping or slightly sedated.

 

• Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test – measures the hearing nerve’s response to sounds played through tiny earphones placed in the ear canal.

 

• Auditory steady state response (ASSR) test – done in conjunction with the ABR; a computer reads the brain’s response to the sound played through the ear canals and estimates the hearing level.

 

• Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test – pulse-type sounds are played through a tiny probe in the ear canal; the response from the outer hair cells in the inner ear is recorded.

 

• Tympanometry – a procedure that shows how well the eardrum moves when soft sound and air pressure are introduced in the ear canal; used to create a tympanogram, which is a graphic representation of tympanometry.

 

• Middle ear muscle reflex (MEMR) – a series of loud sounds is sent through a soft rubber tip in the ear canal, and a machine records if the sound has triggered a reflex.

 

 

Custom-fitted Digital Hearing Aids

 

Hearing aids are the primary nonmedical treatment for hearing loss in patients of all ages. Digital technology has revolutionized the hearing aid, and a digital hearing aid can help improve hearing ability for the majority of adults and children. Today’s digital hearing aids offer many features including outstanding sound quality, feedback control and wireless and Bluetooth connectivity.

 

Conventional hearing aids are worn behind the ear, while some hearing aids are placed deeply within the ear canal. Cochlear implants are placed surgically beneath the skin and use electrodes to stimulate the auditory nerve.

 

There are many different styles and sizes of hearing aids on the market today. We will custom-fit a digital hearing aid that ideally suits your age, need, and level of hearing loss.