Hearing Test

Hearing tests are non-invasive and take very little time. Most insurance policies cover the hearing test, particularly if you’re having symptoms that affect your ability to hear clearly, like ringing in your ear or having to turn up the volume on the TV so high that neighbors complain. If you’re a senior, work around loud noises or play in a loud band, you should already be getting a hearing test regularly to catch early signs of hearing loss. In NYC, ear, nose and throat specialists provide comprehensive hearing tests and treatment, if necessary. Call the Century Medical & Dental Center today for your hearing test.

Why Should I Get a Hearing Test?

Get a hearing test as part of a healthy aging checkup or after an accident that damaged your ear or eardrum. Hearing tests evaluate your capacity to hear different noise frequencies with different tones. Your ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT) determines the best treatment options by relying on tests that both diagnose and evaluate your hearing problem and severity. The earlier you receive treatment for sudden or progressive hearing loss, the better chance you have of preserving your hearing.

If you develop a hearing loss gradually, you may overlook its onset, missing a prime opportunity for early treatment and a better outcome. Auditory testing reveals hearing problems at the earliest and least severe stages. Hearing loss ranges from mild, when you struggle with soft sounds, to severe, when you lose the ability to hear most sounds.

In New York City, highly skilled ENT doctors at the Century Medical & Dental Center specialize in diagnosing and treating all types of hearing issues and the underlying conditions that often cause hearing problems. Whether you’re dealing with gradual hearing loss, ringing in the ears, frequent ear infections or sudden hearing changes, early intervention is the key to preserving or restoring your hearing.

What Are Signs That I Need a Hearing Test?

Your ability to hear conversations in a crowded environment degrades when you have hearing problems. Poor comprehension and distorted word clarity indicate the need for testing your auditory capabilities. The risk of hearing problems increases for workers in construction, manufacturing, music and noise-intensive industries.

Hearing loss in children is indicated when speech becomes unclear to your child. Communication problems and learning barriers may necessitate a hearing test to determine if that’s the problem.

Other signs that you or your child may need a hearing test include:

• Requesting that people frequently repeat their statements
• Noticing that the quality of sound perception has changed, such as when musical notes become dull or vocals merge into one another
• Having continuous ringing, buzzing or hissing sounds inside your head
• Raising the volume on the television that’s noticeable by your family

You have a reduced sensitivity to sound when you struggle to hear through standard volume settings. Early detection of these warning signs enables the prevention of hearing problems that affect your daily routines.

What Types of Hearing Loss Does a Hearing Test Detect?

Regular hearing tests create a record of your hearing health. Comparing results from previous tests helps identify patterns of decline. This allows for early intervention, such as treatment of underlying issues or the fitting of hearing aids or other assistive devices.

Types of hearing loss include:

• Conductive hearing loss. This hearing loss develops when any blockage affects sound waves moving through your outer ear and middle ear. The blockage may be due to a need for ear wax removal or a reduction of fluid buildup.
• Sensorineural hearing loss. This hearing condition emerges due to injuries inside your ear or within the auditory nerve system.
• Mixed hearing loss. The combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss affects your middle ear and inner ear.

The evaluation of speech recognition and word repetition at various volume levels makes up the testing procedure in speech audiometry. This test measures the sensitivity of your hearing, as well as the range at which you begin to lose sounds.

What Are the Different Types of Hearing Tests?

Tests in speech audiometry require the use of headphones or with speakers that make background noises to replicate common environmental listening situations. This assessment determines your ability to understand spoken language and your speech reception threshold.

Types of hearing tests include:

• Pure-tone audiometry. This test delivers separate tones varying in pitch through headphones to evaluate your hearing sensitivity levels.
• Bone conduction test. This procedure confirms bone sound transmission by using a vibrating apparatus that’s placed behind your ear to assess inner ear functionality.
• Tympanometry. This test measures your ear drum motion as it reacts to atmospheric pressure adjustment through ear canal examination.
• Otoacoustic emissions. This procedure generates gentle acoustic wave signals that a microphone detects after they’re received by your cochlea.
• Auditory brainstem response. This involves testing your brainwaves by attaching electrodes to your head during audio playback through earphones.

The time required for a standard hearing test goes from 15 minutes up to 45 minutes, based on the combination of testing methods, the number of evaluation procedures and how well you follow directions. Children typically are moved quickly through the test to ensure their accuracy.

What Can I Expect Before, During and After a Hearing Test?

Your ENT doctor first discusses your hearing problems, recent infections you’ve had, noise exposure risks and genetic hearing loss background before conducting your hearing test.

The evaluation process enables your doctor to detect the elements that influence your hearing ability, including:

1. The exam begins with a visual inspection of your eardrum and outer ear passageway with an instrument called an otoscope that has a light and set of lenses.
2. You don a headset that allows you to hear various sounds and respond when you detect them.
3. Some tests involve repeating spoken words, while others assess how your ears and eardrums react to sound and pressure changes.
4. The series of steps measure your ability to hear different frequencies of sounds, loudness levels and spoken messages.
5. The testing procedure is painless and takes place in a quiet space that enables precise result measurements.

During your hearing test review, your doctor describes the results of your test. You may need additional tests, such as blood tests or imaging exams to determine if you have other underlying conditions. When a hearing loss is detected and the underlying condition that caused the loss is identified, your ENT doctor discusses potential treatments that may include getting hearing aids.

Expert ENT doctors in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Harlem offer comprehensive hearing evaluations. By comparing past and present test results, they detect changes and recommend the right solutions to help you maintain clear and effective communication. With comprehensive ENT services, they effectively diagnose and treat underlying hearing loss conditions that the various hearing test protocols pick up. Contact the Century Medical & Dental Center in NYC to book an appointment.