We’re here to help you and or your loved ones hear better so you can get the most out of life. Everything we do focuses on that goal, from the staff we hire, our knowledge and skills, our hearing tests, the brands we select and how we expertly fit your hearing aids, should you need them. It all starts with a hearing evaluation and a conversation with you about your lifestyle, needs and preferences.
What to Expect at Your Appointment
The initial step is getting a complete picture of your history. We’ll ask about your medical history, medical conditions, and what medications you may be taking. The next step is called a needs assessment, which entails looking at what has brought you to our office, what you want to do, and what your expectations are. This includes asking you about tinnitus (ringing in the ears) as well as any issues with dizziness or balance. By the time we start the hearing tests, we’ll have a full understanding of the situation. Then, we use an otoscope to look at your ears to make sure that everything is physically in good condition. We’ll also clean out any cerumen (earwax) we see.
The next step is the test itself. We’ll go into the sound room and complete the traditional hearing test, a middle ear assessment, an inner ear assessment, and then a word assessment. That last test, in particular, is very important. We test not only repeating words back to us but also your word recognition in quiet and noisy situations. If you understand 100% of the words in quiet situations and 20% of them with background noise, that will help us assess your options and work with you to understand what you can expect from hearing treatment.
Once we know your medical history, understand your needs assessment, and complete the hearing testing, then we can sit down and look at the appropriate options available to you. We may have one recommendation or four or more options. Everything is very personalized based on the information we’ve just gathered.
If we feel that hearing aids might be right for you, we’ll explain which hearing aids we recommend and why. We keep an enormous array of demo units on hand if patients want to actually listen to what some of the early improvements could be, and we can do that in real time. It won’t be an exact replica of what you’ll hear with your own hearing aids, but it will give you a sense of what hearing aid amplification is like and what you can expect. This can help you make a decision.
A hearing screening will enable us to determine:
- Whether or not you have hearing loss
- The possible cause of hearing loss
- The degree and type of hearing loss and whether it’s in one or both ears
- The best treatment options
We treat our patients like our own family because we recognize that hearing well is important in all of your relationships!
Check out more reviews to see how our patients feel about our service.
Understanding Your Hearing Test Results
Next, we’ll consider treatment solutions. You can count on our team to take the time necessary to understand your concerns so that they can provide you with everything you need to make an informed personal decision.
