Tag: hearing test

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Annual Hearing Test

Better Hearing Month – It’s time for your annual hearing test

Just as eye exams are a part of your routine health checks, it’s a good idea to get annual hearing tests, too — for these reasons:

Hearing loss is a natural part of the aging process and is sometimes so gradual you don’t notice it until it’s too late. An annual test will give you a good head start towards getting the care you need.

  • Your hearing changes as you age. By testing your hearing annually, your hearing professional can detect and measure those changes, and counsel you on the prevention methods or hearing solutions that are specific for your loss.
  • The majority of general practitioners don’t screen for hearing loss — so even if you have routine physical exams, chances are your hearing wasn’t given the attention it deserves.
  • Dedicated hearing professionals have the experience and state-of-the-art equipment needed to inspect your ear canal, accurately measure your hearing loss, assess your unique needs, and prescribe a solution that takes all this important and personalized information into account.

Free hearing tests all May

May is Better Hearing Month, making it the ideal time to schedule your annual hearing test with the hearing professionals at Advanced Hearing Centers Atlanta. To arrange for your free hearing test and consultation, contact us by filling out our Contact Us page and we will be in touch to schedule your free appointment.

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Hearing Loss – Say What?!

Hearing Loss

Adult-onset hearing loss affects millions of Americans and accounts
for a huge economic burden in our country. There are two major forms
of hearing loss – “sensory / neural” and “conductive”. Sensorineural
hearing loss is caused by injury to the acoustic nerve or the cochlea.
These injuries can be from noise damage, viruses, meningitis, and of
course the slow degeneration of aging. Conductive hearing loss is
most commonly from an earwax impaction, fluid behind the ear drum,
infections, or a type of ear scarring called otosclerosis.

A hearing test is a brief painless test battery performed by an
audiologist to determine what your hearing level is, how it compares
to normals, and what type of hearing loss you may have. This, as well
as a microscopic examination of the ear and eardrum will allow the
physician to make recommendations about improving your hearing.

Wax removal, antibiotics, steroids, minor procedures, and sometimes
MRI scans can be useful in sorting out the hearing loss. An
electrical hearing test, called an ABR, is often helpful as well,
especially in young children.

Sometimes the only option for improving hearing are hearing aids.
These have gotten much smaller and much more advanced over the past
decade. The smallest of which are now the size of a large pencil
eraser and are completely hidden in the ear canal. Your physician and
audiologist can make recommendations about which type and size of
hearing aid may be best for you.

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Hearing Loss in Restaurants

Noisy restaurant bad for hearing

Why do restaurants wreak such havoc on your hearing?  The most common sort of age-related hearing loss begins the in the highest frequencies (1000Hz and above).  Most speech tones are lower than this, however missing out on high pitches makes it particularly difficult when sound localization is required.  Bustling busy restaurants with high ceilings are notorious for creating a lot of acoustic “noise”.  Many times you will be trying to hold a conversation with more than one individual, who may not be immediately in front of you, while their voice is competing with dozens of others in an acoustically-challenging room.

Hearing loss in restaurants is usually the first sign of age-related hearing loss (or any other sort of progressive high frequency loss).  The same is true for difficulty in conference rooms, conference calls, or airplanes – making it particularly difficult for busy businesspeople.  All of these environments have a lot of acoustical competition.  It is ironic that we evaluate your hearing in a quiet sound-proof booth, so many times your degree of listening difficulty is underestimated by a routine hearing test.  Usually in a 1-on-1 quiet environment there is much less hearing trouble.

A real world test of hearing aid function is critical, which is why we stand behind our money-back policy if your hearing cannot be satisfactorily improved.