What Does a Hearing Health Professional Do?

If you’ve noticed your hearing isn’t what it used to be, you might be thinking about the next steps in terms of receiving a diagnosis and then treatment. Your first port of call should always be a hearing health professional who will be able to look into your ears, conduct a series of tests and then diagnose your problem. In some cases, hearing loss is temporary and this could be due to an earwax build up or infection. However, many people experience permanent hearing loss that require the assistance of a hearing health professional. So, what exactly does a hearing health professional do? There are many types of hearing specialists you could visit to help with your hearing loss. These appointments will typically involve a discussion of your symptoms, your family history, medical background, hearing testing and recommendation of treatments. In most cases, a complete professional hearing evaluation takes less than an hour:

• Your hearing care professional will most likely begin by asking you a few questions about your overall health, lifestyle, and ear health.
• They’ll then look inside your ear canal, which leads to the eardrum, to inspect it. They ‘ll be on the lookout for further information regarding your hearing health. The ear examination is completely painless.
• For the actual test, you’ll be required to wear headphones and listen to a series of tones in order to assess your hearing sensitivity at various frequency levels.

The findings of the hearing test are displayed on an audiogram, a graph that is usually provided to you immediately following the exam. If you do have a hearing loss, your hearing care professional can tell you if it can be addressed with a hearing aid and, if so, which type of hearing aid will work best for you.

Treatment Options

The most commonly recommended option for treating hearing loss is hearing aids. These devices come in a multitude of styles and sizes, including:

• Behind the ear (BTE)
• In the ear (ITE)
• In the canal (ITC)
• Completely in canal (CIC)
• Invisible in canal (IIC)

Your hearing health professional will discuss the various solutions in detail and find the right device to fit your specific needs. This discussion will include things like your lifestyle, degree of hearing loss, dexterity issues and features you may benefit from. Hearing aid styles are so varied, finding the right device for your needs will be easy. Whether you want something discreet or power packed, your hearing care provider will work with you to find the perfect solution.