What to Expect at Your First Visit
Your experience matters to us.
We treat each patient like a member of our own family, and we’ll take the time to thoroughly explain the details of your appointment. Meeting your individual needs and priorities is our mission at Hearing and Audiology Services and it’s why we take the time to get to know you and your hearing concerns. Our comprehensive hearing evaluations utilize a series of tests to accurately diagnose and treat your symptoms. We’ll always present a variety of solutions and empower our patients to make the treatment choices that best meet their needs.
Before Your First Appointment
Your first appointment with us is an important opportunity for us to get to know you and for you to get to know us. In addition to your medical history we will want to know how hearing loss might be affecting your life. Think about how often your conversations are not smooth, are there activities that you have stopped participating in because you cannot hear, what types of situations are most difficult for you to hear in? Hearing loss and hearing handicap are too different things and we want to help you understand the difference.
Communication is a two-way street! Hearing loss effects not only the listener but their loved ones and people they are close to. We are happy to answer questions for loved ones and we may even have some communication tips for them! You are welcome to bring loved ones to your appointment.
Hearing Test
A comprehensive visit at Hearing and Audiology Services typically takes between 30 and 60 minutes. After visiting, learning your medical history and communication needs the audiologist will begin by looking in your ears (otoscopic examination) to be sure there is no blockage or abnormalities in the outer part of your ears. Next, a test call tympanometry will be conducted. This test helps us to be sure that the middle part of the ear is healthy. For these two tests you will not be required to do anything other than sit quietly. When otoscopic examination and tympanometry are done, you will sit in our sound proof booth for the listening parts of the test. You will wear headphones, listen for sounds and repeat words. We will want to find the very softest sounds you can hear so be prepared to listen carefully.
Reviewing Your Results
When testing is completed the audiologist will sit down and discuss your results. Each part of the test will be explained in detail and we want to make sure that you understand the results. We pride ourselves on being able to explain the results in simple everyday terms that are easy to understand. We believe strongly that people affected by hearing loss make the best decisions about treatment options when they fully understand their individual test results and have very real understanding about treatment options. That is why this part of the visit is the most important and we will take the time to make sure you understand your test results.
We will make specific recommendations but will ultimately leave decisions in your hands – the best hands for deciding what is best for you. You should know that many people may be experiencing trouble hearing, but when all the tests are completed and communication needs are assessed, we find that hearing aids are not the best option at this time. We will not hesitate to let you if this is the case for you.
Hearing evaluations are the first step toward a fuller life.
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