If you’ve taken the initiative to schedule a hearing test, congratulations! You’re one step closer to healthier hearing. If your test is upcoming, you may be wondering what all it will entail. We review this information below.
1. Review of Medical History
First, your audiologist will review your medical history. This is an important step in confirming or ruling out possible causes of hearing problems. They may ask you about information such as:
- Any diseases or illnesses you’ve experienced.
- Surgeries you’ve had, whether major or minor.
- Medications you have taken or are currently taking.
- Medications you’re allergic to.
- Medical devices you’ve used or currently use.
2. Needs Assessment
The next step in a hearing test is called a needs assessment. This step starts with a review of your symptoms, including what they are and when you experience them. Consider whether you have difficulty with:
- Talking on the phone.
- Watching TV at home.
- Following along with conversations in the car.
- Listening to one speaker out of many, like at a restaurant.
- Hearing the voices of women and children.
- Keeping up with conference meetings.
If you do, it might be helpful to make note of these situations in advance rather than trying to recall them on the spot.
The second step of the needs assessment is for your audiologist to ask you what your goals are going forward. For example, you may wish to watch TV without bothering others in your home, keep up with conversations at dinner parties or follow along at work without feeling exhausted.
3. Hearing Tests
After the needs assessment are the actual hearing tests. Know that you will likely undergo more than one test. In fact, you may be tested with many of the following:
- Pure tone audiometry testing.
- Speech and word recognition testing.
- Tympanometry testing.
- Auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing.
- Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) testing.
4. Review of Audiogram
The results of these hearing tests will be plotted on an audiogram, which is a graph that visually represents your hearing loss. Your audiologist will review this with you and tell you what your type and degree of hearing loss is.
5. Prescribe Treatment
If your hearing loss is mild to severe, your audiologist will likely prescribe hearing aids. If your hearing loss is severe to profound, cochlear implants may be a better solution.
For more information or to schedule a hearing test, call Spartanburg | Greer ENT & Allergy today.
