Adult Assessments
Testing Procedures
Basic Tests with tones of different pitch are performed for most patients. These are usually presented through head phones and sometimes other devices. We plot, on a graph, the softest sounds which you can hear in each ear at all pitches important for everyday listening. This graph is the audiogram. Sometimes this test is quite quick, but it can also be complex if we need to find out details of where your ear is damaged.
Tympanometry is a speedy and very useful test of middle ear function. The middle ear is where you find all of the mechanical parts of the ear. It can be blocked due to infections, colds, or a range of other conditions. Ear doctors (ENT Specialists) are skilled at repairing and treating disorders of the middle ear. Should we discover that this part of your ear is involved, we shall arrange for you to see a doctor.
Speech testing for us means measuring how well you hear speech. We want to know how loud speech needs to be before you start to pick it up, what your best listening level might be and whether you get everything right or not at that level. We also want to know how much we can boost the volume before you find it too loud!
Levels of assessment are set according to how much information we need. The most basic testing is called screening - it either passes or fails you on a test. If you fail, we do more tests. Most of our testing is more than just screening; it is designed to end up with an audiogram. For most patients we do pure tone tests and tympanometry. If you are moving towards hearing aids we also do speech testing. A lot of industrial testing involves only the audiogram. We do these tests according to certain rules and criteria.
After the tests we explain the results to you. This is actually the most important part of the procedure, as it is an opportunity to link up our measurements with the history you gave us before the tests. We believe this to be a vital step in knowing that we are talking about the same things in planning for further work or just helping you to understand the status of your hearing.