What to expect from a hearing assessment
First and foremost, we will listen to you – hearing loss is personal and we take the time to listen to your experiences.
Firstly, we recommend that you bring someone with you, as they can often provide useful information and support. Our hearing assessments usually take about 90 minutes.
We promise that we will listen to you; hearing loss is personal and we take the time to listen to your experiences.
We will ask some medical questions so that we have a good understanding of your general health and history. We will then aim to get a really good picture of the difficulties and experiences that have brought you into our practice. Quite often there is one defining moment that has made you (or a loved one) pick up the phone and make an appointment. Our appointment timing means we can really get a feel for your circumstances.
A Full Hearing Test
Next, we will examine your ears. We have the latest technology that can show you images of your ears on the screen if you are interested.
We thoroughly check your ears using state-of-the-art video equipment. We keep the images on your records so we can keep track of your ear health.
If your ears are blocked with wax, your hearing test will not be accurate. You’re in safe hands at Edinburgh Hearing Practice, as we can perform professional ear wax removal.
What you can expect
We take you through a thorough hearing evaluation using the very latest audiometric equipment to record the quietest sounds that you can hear, but also, importantly, the way that your brain is able to understand the signal from your ears. This involves testing your speech recognition both in quiet and in the presence of the dreaded background noise.
We perform tympanometry to check how the middle ear is working. This is a really simple and comfortable test, and is nothing to be nervous about.
At each stage, we will explain the results thoroughly to you and make sure that everything is completely clear. Occasionally we may feel that onward referral is required. This is unusual, but you can trust us to always do the right thing.
If appropriate, and you decide to continue your journey to better hearing, we can make a recommendation on the next steps.
Hearing loss studies
A study published in The Lancet suggests that hearing loss and the social isolation it causes is a major modifiable factor in the development of dementia. Simply put, identifying and treating hearing loss as early as possible will help you to keep socially active, and may help prevent the onset of cognitive decline. So don’t wait to have your hearing tested; the test will give you a baseline understanding of your hearing that you can monitor on an ongoing basis. Call us now to book your test and if you want to find out more about the study.
