The Importance of Hearing Tests

Hearing loss can happen gradually and both children and adults can be affected. Having trouble hearing high-pitched noises and sounds is usually one of the first signs. However there other common indicators as well like occasional ringing in the ears, difficulty understanding speech when there is noise in the background, headaches, ringing in the ears, and each of these can be associated with different type of hearing loss. Hearing tests are the best solution to all of these problems and can be used to quickly and easily identify your ability to hear various sounds.

These tests offer both prevention and effective treatment. It is a common misconception that only babies and older people should have routine screening. While in fact what hearing test Melbourne experts recommend is that regular examinations are essential for everyone especially for children as the best way to prevent as well as detect any possible issues. Hearing tests are completely painless and are done in various stages by a qualified audiologist. He will first examine your ears using an auriscope which is a special tool that features a magnifying glass. Next he will do different tests that can measure the ability of your hearing nerves to receive sounds at different volumes. Renowned hearing test Melbourne clinks make use of advanced methods and tools to perform different kinds of examinations.

• Whispered voice test– your audiologist will examine the heating ability of each ear separately by whispering different words and sounds.

• Pure tone audiometry– for this type of screening the audiologist can measure your ability to hear sounds at various frequencies with a special device called an audiometer.

• Speech perception– with this test the audiologist can identify how well you can hear and understand everyday speech and conversation. Speech perception can also detect whether you can hear various sound volumes when there is a certain amount of background noise.

Extremely loud noises can damage the hearing and for this reason people who are regularly exposed to loud sounds due to work, entertainment or any other activity should be examined. For infants hearing tests are a must and can early identify whether there are any hearing problems so that the infant can get the proper treatment. The treatments for both children and adults will depend on the specific type of hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss happens when the inner ear can’t detect any kind of sounds as a result of some kind of blockage that prevents the sounds from reaching the inner ear. This can be the result of a blockage inside the ear canal, some sort of infection of the outer ear, damaged eardrum, infected middle ear, etc. In the case of sensory-neural hearing loss on the other hand despite the fact that different sounds can reach the inner ear they are still not heard or registered by the hearing nerves. Old age is usually the main reason behind this type of hearing loss which is very difficult to cure and in most cases it is permanent.