Complete Hearing Evaluations

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Otoscopy

Otoscopy allows the audiologist to view the ear canal and tympanic membrane or eardrum and is used to look into the ears to screen for illness during regular check-ups

 

Tympanometry

Tympanograms assess problems in the middle ear by measuring the stiffness of the eardrum. It checks for fluid and negative pressure in the middle ear, and possible problems with the ossicles and tympanic membrane. The device is placed in your ear and a small amount of pressure is applied inside the middle ear.  The tympanogram records the results on a graph. During the test, it’s important to remain still since any movement can change the pressure in the middle ear and affect the test results.  

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Acoustic Reflexes

This test checks to see whether a reflex contraction can be elicited in the middle ear by playing loud sounds.  Pressure is applied to one ear while a loud beep is introduced to each ear. The results of the muscle response are recorded.  The results of this test are used in combination with other test results to rule out additional concerns.

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Otoacoustic Emissions

A healthy cochlea (the organ of hearing) echoes back some of the information it receives as a mechanism of the outer hair cells.  This test delivers some high frequency information to the cochlea and measures the "echo" response.  This is an objective test of hearing and can be used as a general indicator of health of the cochlea.

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Comprehensive Audiometric Hearing Testing

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• Pure Tone Test

A pure tone hearing test checks for the softest tones you can hear at various pitches, from low to high pitches.  You will be seated with earphones in a soundproof room, while the audiologist is seated outside to operate the audiometry equipment.  You will then be tested to see if you can hear a range of pitches, and respond to them by raising your finger or hand, or pressing a button.  Results are recorded on a graph, called an audiogram. For young children, more play-oriented tests may be employed, including visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA) and conditioned play audiometry (CPA).

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• Bone Conduction Test

A bone conduction test sends tones via vibration to a device placed behind your head.  This test assesses your inner ear’s hearing ability by allowing sounds to bypass your external auditory canal and middle ear through your skull. This allows it to more accurately examine your inner ear’s hearing ability without having the external auditory canal and middle ear affecting results. The results of your test are revealed on an audiogram. This testing will indicate the severity (mild, moderate, severe, profound) and the type (conductive, sensorineural, mixed) of impairment. 

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• Speech Discrimination

The speech discrimination test measures how well you can hear speech when it’s loud enough to comfortably hear. This is known as the Most Comfortable Level (MCL). Your hearing specialist will read or play a list of words given through headphones and you will repeat back what you hear. Your speech discrimination score is measured in percent – 100% meaning you can hear and comprehend everything said to you, and 0% meaning you can’t hear and understand anything said, regardless of the loudness level.