Comprehensive
Hearing Assessments

After our conversation, your mobile hearing professional will conduct a physical examination of your ears using an otoscope. You are already familiar with this instrument, which is a magnifying glass with a tapered tip and a tiny light, used by various doctors to examine your ears. The otoscope helps to identify growths or tumors in the ear canal as well as wax, and other obstructions that reduce the capacity of your ears to conduct sound to the middle and inner ear.

The third phase of your hearing assessment is the part most often associated with hearing tests. For these tests our professional will make sure that you are comfortable before conducting a series of tests, which might include any or all of the following:

• Pure-tone testing, air conduction testing, or simply a “hearing test” includes the transmission of sounds through the headphones to your outer and middle ear. This test allows us to identify the quietest sound you can hear at different pitches or frequencies. Testing may include testing one ear at a time to identify the specific hearing threshold for each ear as well as for both ears.
• Speech in noise testing, this test is administered using earphones and looks at how you understand words whilst background sounds are playing.  Difficulty understanding speech when background noise is a factor is one of the most common complaints that people have when they start to notice decreased hearing ability and the results from our speech in noise test are an important part of our recommendations.
• Speech recognition tests go beyond measuring sound frequency thresholds in order to evaluate your ability to discriminate between spoken words at various frequencies and volumes as well as in various environmental conditions and background noises from silent to extremely loud. Your capacity to repeat the words and/or phrases helps to further clarify your hearing thresholds in real-world application.
• Bone conduction tests make use of a different type of headset, known as a bone vibrator. Using this headset to transmit sounds directly to the inner ear, our mobile professional bypasses the conductive pathways of the outer and middle ear to determine whether your hearing loss is conductive or sensorineural in nature. Sounds heard at equal volume levels using both pure-tone and bone conduction tests indicate sensorineural loss.

In some unique cases, the above tests will lead our mobile hearing professional to recommend other tests or refer you to a doctor or specialist for additional testing and/or treatment.

After completing the series of tests, your mobile hearing professional will discuss the results of your hearing assessment. During this conversation, you will learn the extent of your hearing loss as well as available options for treating your condition. Your input is an essential and valuable part of this discussion because it helps us to develop a treatment plan that meets your hearing needs as well as fitting your personal preferences and lifestyle concerns.

Hearing aids are often the right solution to meet your hearing loss needs, but they are not the only solution we provide. Our hearing professionals also provide additional forms of support, such as ear wax removal, or tinnitus management as well as referrals to other doctors and specialists for additional specialized treatment. If your test results indicate no permanent hearing loss, we can also recommend hearing protection or educate you on preventative measures to prevent future damage to your hearing.