When was the last time you had a hearing evaluation? If you’re like most people, it’s probably been a while. Still, whether you suspect you have hearing loss or not, it’s a good idea to have your hearing abilities evaluated by a professional at least every couple of years.
If it has been some time since your last hearing evaluation, you might not know what to expect. Today, we’ll explain four different kinds of hearing evaluations so that it does not catch you off-guard.
You should get a professional hearing evaluation at least once every few years. Here are a few different kinds of hearing evaluations.
Pure Tone
Generally speaking, this is the most commonly used kind of hearing evaluation. You may also hear this referred to as ‘pure tone audiometry.’ Pure tone hearing tests are a great starting point because they test your ability to hear sounds both at different tones and at different volumes.
For this test, you will don a pair of headphones and sit in a booth. The audiologists will play a wide variety of sounds at various tones and volumes. If you can hear the sound, you will either have to raise your hand or press a button.
Tympanometry
Tympanometry may sound like a fancy word, but—from your perspective, anyway—it will require less of you than pure tone audiometry. For this test, the audiologist assisting you will insert air pressure into your ear canal and measure the resulting movement of your eardrum. The goal of this test is to ensure that no blockage in your ear canal impairs your hearing.
Bone Conduction
Like tympanometry, this form of hearing evaluation is outside of your control. Rather than using air pressure, bone conduction testing utilizes minute vibrations. The audiologist then measures how your inner ear responds. This test is especially useful to determine what kind of hearing loss you have.
Speech Testing
The name of this fourth and final kind of hearing evaluation might confuse you. What does speech have to do with hearing loss? Hearing loss can manifest in a wide variety of different ways, and one of those ways is the sufferer’s inability to distinguish speech from other sounds.
For this test, the audiologist will have you listen to human speech in first a quiet, then a noisy environment. The goal is to gain a sense of your speech reception threshold. It’s not enough just to hear human speech; you have to comprehend it too. For this reason, you may have to repeat back to the audiologist the speech you have listened to.
Contact Bay Area Audiology Today for Your Hearing Evaluation
Ready to do something about your hearing loss? Our Doctor of Audiology, Dr. Trisha A. Bents Muth, is exceptionally experienced in the art of audiology, and provides the absolute best solutions. Bay Area Audiology has been working to give patients a comfortable environment with thorough evaluations. We are independently owned, and unbiased when it comes to finding you the care you need.
You can always come into the office or contact us in advance to set up an appointment. We also provide updates on our social media websites. You can check out our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest to keep up with Bay Area Audiology.
Don’t hesitate–we can help.