Your First Visit

What to Expect During Your First Visit

We want your initial visit to our office to be as pleasant as possible. Knowing what to expect will help you feel more at ease about coming in and having your hearing checked.

Step One – Patient Background

We will ask you a series of questions in order to get to know your current communication needs and health history as it relates to your hearing. This will help us determine the extent of your hearing loss and uncover any specific areas that may require further attention. Identifying whether a medical condition is contributing to hearing loss is a first step in finding the right solution to meet your individual needs. In some cases, medical treatment may be more appropriate than amplification.

Some Typical Questions

• Has anyone else in your family been diagnosed with hearing loss?
• Have you had any illnesses or injuries which may have affected your hearing?
• Have you taken any medications known to affect your hearing health?
• Have you been exposed to any loud noises on your job or through any of your leisure activities (motorcycle use, drum playing, etc.)?
• Have you been having trouble understanding speech in certain environments like restaurants or movies?

Step Two – Hearing Assessment

In order to determine the nature of your specific hearing loss, we will perform several painless and non-invasive tests, and we will document your results on an audiogram. This assessment typically takes a total of 15-30 minutes.

The Hearing Assessment May Include:

• 
  Otoscopy: Visualization of your outer ear with a special light called an otoscope, or a video otoscope.
• Audiometric Pure Tone Evaluation: Measurement of your hearing for tones at different frequencies.
• Speech Evaluation: Measurement of how well you hear and understand ordinary conversation at different levels.
• Immittance Middle Ear Evaluation: Measurement of how your eardrum functions in response to varying degrees of air pressure.

Step Three – Treatment Options

Once all tests have been completed, we will explain your particular results so that you fully understand how these results relate to the hearing issues you may be noticing. We will then discuss the various treatment options which may best fit your unique situation. Our overall goal and objective is to help you enjoy a better quality of life by providing better hearing. Whatever our tests reveal about your hearing, we are here to help you find the proper solution, custom-tailored to your individual needs.