What to Expect at Your Audiology Appointment

Your healthcare professional has suggested a hearing test. Family members and friends say they have to speak up or repeat themselves more often, so you’re ready to find an audiologist. Many people are uncertain about what to expect at an audiology appointment. Here’s some information to help put your mind at ease.

Why select an audiologist?

An audiologist is a trained professional with a medical background that does much more than test hearing. An audiologist takes your medical history, checks your ears including your inner ear and eardrum, and performs several hearing tests. This helps to give a full evaluation of any hearing issues you may have and how best to treat them. Audiologists usually have master’s degrees and doctoral degrees.

The first appointment with your audiologist

Expect this appointment to last around an hour. The audiologist will first take your medical history and ask you questions about your ears and hearing. The next step is an examination of your ears with an otoscope. This checks for any problems with your ear canal or eardrum, as well as for earwax or blockages.

Hearing tests are next. Tympanometry examines your middle ear function by checking how well your eardrum responds to pressure. The test is not painful and checks for possible infection or dysfunction.

An audiometry test is perhaps the most familiar test. You enter a soundproof room and wear a special set of headphones. A series of sounds play and you indicate when you hear the sounds. These tones are played at different volumes and pitches to determine the loudest and softest sounds you can hear. This is called a pure-tone test.

You may also have a tuning fork or bone conduction test. The audiologist creates a tone with the tuning fork and you note when the sound fades and how loud it is in each ear.

After the tests, your audiologist will meet with you to discuss the results and make recommendations.

What to bring to your audiology appointment

Because there’s a great deal of information given during the first appointment, it’s a good idea to bring a friend or family member who can help take notes and provide support. You’ll also want to prepare a list of questions prior to your visit.

Write down any medications you’re taking as well as your medical history, especially if you have had any physical problems with your ears, including ear infections or tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

Bring along your insurance cards and information any of your other doctors may have provided.

Knowing what to expect at an audiology appointment will help put you more at ease when it comes to meeting with the audiologist and undergoing testing. Once you’re prepared to take the first steps toward improving your hearing problems, your quality of life will increase.