Hearing Loss & Hearing Tests
The first step to better hearing is a professional hearing test.
Is It Time for a Hearing Test?
Your friends and family members may be the reason you’re asking the question above at all. Those closest to someone with a hearing loss will often be aware there’s a problem long before the person with the hearing loss is aware they are having a problem communicating. If you answer yes to any of these questions, then it’s time to make an appointment for a hearing test.
Do others complain the TV is too loud?
Hearing Loss FAQ
Is it possible to lose your hearing suddenly?
Approximately 4,000 new cases of sudden deafness occur each year in the United States. Hearing loss affects only 1 ear in 9 out of 10 people who experience sudden deafness. Only 10 to 15 percent of patients with sudden deafness know what caused their loss.
What percentage of US adults report hearing loss?
Approximately 17 percent of American adults report some degree of hearing loss.
Can loud noise damage your hearing?
Approximately 15 percent (26 million) of Americans between the ages of 20 and 69 have
Can hearing loss put you at risk for falling?
A Johns Hopkins study showed that people in middle age (40 to 69) with even just mild hearing loss were nearly three times more likely to have a history of falling. Click for full study report
What to Expect During Your Visit
We understand that comprehensive testing is the only way to truly grasp the type and severity of your hearing loss. That’s why we conduct in-depth evaluations and provide demonstrations of hearing aids at our office in Warren, Ohio. The process is comprised of five steps.
Step 1
– Your hearing evaluation takes place in a sound-treated room where you listen to a series of beeps played at different volumes and tones. It’s called a Pure Tone evaluation and it helps establish your hearing threshold.
Step 2
– We move on to speech recognition test, which determines how well you hear and understand at your preferred volume levels. If these exams show that amplification would benefit your communicative abilities, we’ll then perform another speech recognition test called the QuickSin.
Step 3
– The QuickSin helps us to determine how you might do in background noise and pinpoint certain hearing aid features may be important to your fitting.
Step 4
– We also perform a bone conduction evaluation to pinpoint any structural problems that could be contributing toward your hearing loss.
Step 5
– Once the evaluations are complete, we can arrive at a detailed diagnosis and provide our recommendations for moving forward. At this point, we offer hearing aid demonstrations to show you the difference between the silence you’ve been living with and the clear sound of this life-changing technology.
We ask that you bring a friend or family member with you for your hearing evaluation. Not only can they offer valuable insight into your condition, but it also helps to have a familiar voice to help with the hearing aid demonstrations.
Types of Hearing Loss
Hearing loss comes in many forms. It can range from a mild loss, in which a person misses certain high-pitched sounds, such as the voices of women and children, to a total loss of hearing. There are two general categories of hearing loss:
Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when there is damage to the inner ear or the auditory nerve. This type of hearing loss is usually permanent.
Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound waves cannot reach the inner ear. The cause may be earwax buildup, fluid, or a punctured eardrum. Medical treatment or surgery can usually restore conductive hearing loss.
Degrees of Hearing Loss
The degree of hearing loss is just one factor we consider when deciding the best approach to helping you hear as well as you possibly can. Below are the categories of the degrees of hearing loss.
Mild Hearing Loss
Someone with a mild hearing loss will not usually notice a problem in a quieter listening situation. As the noise level increases, they will begin to have difficulty following conversations.
Moderate Hearing Loss
Someone with a moderate hearing loss will struggle to hear in quiet and is usually unable to follow a conversation in the presence of noise.
Severe Hearing Loss
Someone with a severe hearing loss is typically unable to hear speech even in quiet surroundings. Communicating with someone who has a severe hearing loss and doesn’t wear a hearing aid is an extremely difficult and exhausting experience.
Profound Hearing Loss
Someone with a profound hearing loss is unable to hear most sounds unless they are extremely loud. People in this category may or may not benefit from the use of a hearing aid.