If you suspect you or a loved one may have lost their hearing, it is important to seek proper testing and evaluation. The purpose of an audiological evaluation is to determine whether hearing loss is present, and if so, the type and severity of the hearing impairment.A professional will use a variety of sounds and test equipment such as earphones and speakers to evaluate your hearing. The process is painless, comfortable, and safe. Contact us for more information.

Tests may include:

– Comprehensive Audiometric Evaluations: pure tone air and bone conduction to determine the type and severity of hearing loss.
– Tympanometry: evaluation of middle ear function.
– Auditory Processing Testing: to identify problems with understanding speech, following directions, or listening in different environments. This evaluation can be conducted on both adults and children.
– Otoacoustic Emission Testing: detect cochlear dysfunction.

Balance problems or dizziness may be experienced in many ways, including a sensation of spinning or tilting, lightheadedness, or feeling just not right in space. The vestibular system in the inner ear is an important component of balance, and works together with the muscular-skeletal system, visual senses, hearing, central nervous system, and cardiovascular system.

The VNG test battery gathers information on how the inner ear and brain are processing information. This test records eye movement that occurs naturally when the inner ear is stimulated. These eye movements are recorded by tiny cameras mounted in a set of infra-red goggles. During the first section of the test the patient follows some lights on the wall. Then the patient sits and lies in several positions while the eyes are monitored. In the third part of the test some cool and warm air is directed at the ear canal, and again the eye movements that occur in response are recorded.

If you are scheduled for a VNG (or ENG) test in our office please do not have food or beverages for four hours prior to the test. Please do not wear makeup. Do not take the following medications for 24 hours prior to the test: tranquilizers, antihistamines, medications for dizziness or motion sickness, or sleep aids. In addition, please do not drink alcoholic beverages for 24 hours prior to the test.

ABR (auditory brainstem response test), BSER, BAER. This test measures how sound travels along the nerve between the inner ear and the brainstem to be sure that pathway is functioning well. The patient listens to a clicking sound while a computer analyzes the response from the auditory nerve. This test may be requested by a physician if the hearing loss is asymmetric, or if there is ringing or distortion in one ear. This test may also be used to infer information about hearing sensitivity in babies or other people who may be unable to participate in a hearing test.

Tinnitus is the perception of a sound in one or both ears when no external sound source is present. It may sound like ringing, steam, crickets, humming or whistling even though none of these sounds is occurring in the environment. More than 50 million Americans experience some degree of tinnitus. For some, the tinnitus affects their quality of life, interfering with relaxation, concentration, and sleep. This is a real condition. Tinnitus is a condition that we can help.

We begin by assessing what the patient is experiencing, what factors may be contributing to the tinnitus, and exactly what the hearing sensitivity is. On the basis of the patient’s individual situation, we tailor a plan of tinnitus management. This approach is called Tinnitus Retraining Therapy. It is based on teaching the brain to “habituate” to the phantom sounds of tinnitus, treating tinnitus like a refrigerator hum – which is often not noticed until we pay attention to it.

This highly successful approach involves two parts: sound therapy and directive counseling. These techniques work in tandem to give you the tools to retrain the brain to filter out the sounds it does not need. Directive counseling is the educational component that helps you understand and control tinnitus. Sound therapy provides low level sound that makes it harder for the brain to attend to the tinnitus sound. For many patients easy to wear open-fit instruments provide both improved hearing and relief from tinnitus – a win-win solution.

We provide expert hearing aid fittings of state-of-the-art digital hearing aids from a variety of manufacturers. Options are tailored to the individual. We offer extensive follow-up and counseling for patients and family members.

The Hearing Center provides a range of hearing aid products, batteries and accessories to support and protect hearing aid use. Talk to our hearing service professionals about products that compliment your individual needs.Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) expand the functionality of hearing aids by helping you separate the sounds you want to hear from background noise, and by enabling you to hear when the speaker is more than a few feet away.

The speaker talks into a microphone, and the speech is sent straight to your ear, thus avoiding the degrading effects of noise and distance on speech intelligibility.

Bluetooth: More hearing aids are equipped to allow for gateway devices that enable digital audio streaming from Bluetooth devices to the hearing aid. If you enjoy Bluetooth-enabled audio devices, such as cell phones, TVs, or computers, you will probably want to check this out.

T-coils: T-Coils allow individuals to access to induction loop systems. An induction or hearing loop system gives off a magnetic field, eliminating the need for any receiver other than your t-coil located within your hearing aid. Using a t-coil and hearing loop together is seamless, cost-effective, unobtrusive, and wireless. You don’t have to obtain extra equipment.

For the ultimate in custom fit, protection and sound clarity, consider custom earmolds.Why use custom ear molds?

– to protect hearing from hazardous environments (airport workers, landscapers, construction personnel, demolition crews)
– to better tune in to music, computers, or gaming devices
– for shooting environments – protects form muzzle blasts
– for swimming – to ensure inner ears remain dry
– for sleeping – assures peace and quiet
– to replace existing hearing aid molds due to damage