A hearing loss may be a symptom of another medical problem that needs a doctor's attention. Also, the cause and severity of hearing loss varies widely from person to person. If a hearing loss is suspected, an appointment with a hearing health care professional should be made for the purposes of testing and evaluation. After the age of 50, a regular hearing test should be considered as important as one's yearly physical checkup. Many individuals remind themselves to have these important checkups by scheduling them around their birthday, an easy way to remember.
Testing is painless, comfortable and safe.
Basically, it consists of answering questions about your hearing health, recognizing everyday words at different volume levels, and identifying different sounds. Your ability to hear each tone, or frequency produces a unique hearing pattern which is recorded on a audiogram. The hearing health professional then uses the audiogram to determine the type and severity of the hearing loss. These tests should help determine whether a hearing loss is best treated medically, or with hearing aids. Audiology Nature of the Work - Audiologists are specialists involved in the study of normal and impaired hearing, prevention of hearing loss, identification and assessment of hearing problems, and the rehabilitation of persons with hearing impairment.