What can I expect during a hearing assessment?

You’ve booked your appointment, now what?

Now that you have decided to take the first step in having your hearing checked by a certified hearing professional and booked a complimentary appointment at a hearing healthcare center, you may be wondering what exactly you can expect from your upcoming appointment.

It starts with the basics

First of all, when you enter a hearing healthcare center, you will be asked some questions about your hearing difficulties and health history in general. This allows them to understand your specific lifestyle needs and motivation better. A certified hearing healthcare professional will then take you in to a testing room. Here he/she will use an otoscope to look in your ears. The health and function of both the middle and inner ear will be assessed through a series of tests that are not invasive or painful at all.

The hearing booth

There is usually a sound-proof booth to assess hearing levels. Once inside the booth, a complete audiological assessment will be performed, which will indicate the type and degree of hearing loss. The ability to recognize and understand spoken words is also evaluated at this stage.

Results explained to you

When your assessment is complete, the hearing healthcare professional will share the results with you and make appropriate recommendations for treatment, if necessary. If hearing aids are recommended, your hearing healthcare professional will discuss various options and explain the advantages of specific hearing aids that are appropriate for your needs.
Each hearing aid is uniquely fitted to match an individual’s hearing loss and hearing needs.  The fitting process usually takes place about two weeks after the initial assessment. During this fitting appointment your hearing aid will be programmed using computer software and customized to fit your exact hearing levels. Highly sophisticated equipment is used to verify that your new hearing aid is providing the necessary level of amplification and is comfortable to the wearer.

Achieving solutions that meet your needs

The hearing professional will also go through how to care for your hearing aid and any maintenance that may be required to ensure you are getting the most out of your instrument. Follow-up appointments are an important and necessary part of the rehabilitation process that allow the wearer an opportunity to provide their own feedback, which gives the hearing professional valuable information that will be used to adjust the hearing aids to better suit individual preferences.