The Role of Hearing Health Professionals in Hearing Assessments

Hearing assessments should be a key part of anyone’s health and wellness. Although hearing loss is more common in older individuals, you don’t have to be a certain age to benefit from a hearing test. Everyone should have a picture of their hearing health and some groups should be especially careful to care for their hearing. If you are often around loud or continuous noise, such as in your job, your hearing could be at risk. Anyone with a family history of hearing loss should schedule for a hearing test.

Hearing health professionals play an important role in hearing assessments and helping individuals care for their hearing health. They can carry out hearing tests, provide advice on hearing care, recommend and fit hearing aids and more. Making an appointment with a hearing health professional is an excellent first step if you want to look after your hearing.

Hearing Tests

One of the main ways a hearing health professional can help you is by providing hearing tests. Hearing tests are used to determine whether someone has any hearing loss and, if they do, how severe it is. They can also help to reveal what type of hearing loss someone has.

A hearing test is usually several tests, which all provide different information about an individual’s hearing. An evaluation might include a physical examination of the person’s ears, a pure-tone test that uses sounds of different pitches and volumes, and a speech test that checks the ability to hear speech. Other tests could be included too, like a bone conduction test, which passes sounds through the bone and straight to the inner ear. This test can be used to check the type of hearing loss.

Hearing Health Advice

Hearing care professionals can also provide advice, support and counselling regarding hearing matters. If an individual has a hearing test that reveals hearing loss, their hearing health professional can discuss their next steps with them. Options might include hearing aids or other devices and adjustments to improve hearing and quality of life.

Hearing health professionals can also provide advice on caring for hearing health and preventing hearing loss. This advice can be useful for anyone but might be especially helpful for anyone who works in a noisy environment or who has hobbies that could damage their hearing.

Fitting Hearing Aids

Many hearing health professionals can fit hearing aids and help to maintain them too. They might offer services such as hearing aid fittings and adjustments, as well as hearing aid cleaning or repair. Expert hearing health professionals can help individuals understand their hearing aid options and how to get the most from them.

Other Hearing Care Services

Hearing health professionals might also provide services to help with hearing care in other ways. These services could include earwax removal or selling products that help protect the hearing, such as earplugs or ear defenders.

Your local hearing health professional can provide a range of services to help you care for your hearing health. Regular hearing tests are important if you want to keep your hearing healthy.