Hearing Test
The first step to your hearing health is getting your hearing tested. We recommend that people over the age of 50 have an annual hearing test that is performed in a noise-free sound booth. A hearing ‘screening’ is not the same and we believe a ‘screening’ does not accurately measure your hearing. Our audiologist will assess your hearing in a controlled setting –a sound booth. Your job is simply to listen and offer responses.
You will be fitted with a set of earphones, and then asked to listen to various quiet sounds and push a button or raise your hand when you hear each sound. The audiologist may also speak words that you will be asked to repeat.
Each sound that you listen to will be in the everyday range of sounds and speech. After each response, the audiologist will adjust the volume, in order to find out the softest sounds that you are able to hear. This determines your hearing threshold, which is then charted on an audiogram, which is a graph showing pitches and frequencies.
Hearing Aid Evaluation
During your Hearing Aid Evaluation, your audiologist will talk with you about your hearing history, the ways in which your hearing ability (or lack thereof) is affecting your life, and the ways in which your life will improve if you are able to hear better. Then, she will recommend a course of action and will provide details about the different types of hearing aids and their benefits. There are many to choose from, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Our audiologist will help you choose the style, color, level of technology and accessories. Once your choices are made, you will pay half of the total amount due, our audiologist will order your custom hearing aids, and will schedule an appointment to deliver and “fit” the hearing aids to your ears and specific hearing loss.
Delivery and “Fitting” Your Hearing Aids
Your custom hearing aids have arrived from the manufacturer and our Patient Care Coordinator has confirmed your delivery appointment. Fitting your hearing aids is truly the most important appointment and will take up to one hour to complete. Our audiologist will place the hearing aids in your ears and will use the computer and software to fine tune the settings on your hearing aids. You will receive training on how to place the hearing aids in your ears, how to use manual controls, how to change batteries, and how to clean and maintain your hearing aids. At the end of this “fitting” appointment you will either pay the balance due or we will bill your insurance and the Patient Care Coordinator will schedule a follow-up appointment within two weeks. You will leave with your hearing aids, accessories, copy of your contract and receipt. Most importantly, you will leave happy and ready to hear the sounds of life.
2 Week Follow Up & 4 Week Follow Up
Follow up appointments allow your audiologist to make sure everything is going smoothly with your hearing aid pairing and allows them to answer any new questions you have come across since we last saw you.
During your follow up office visits, adjustments can be made to your hearing aids, and it’s a good time to refresh your memory on how to clean your hearing aids.
We believe that consistent communications with our patients is the key to their success with hearing aids and improving their hearing health.
Verifit Real Ear
Verifit Real Ear is done within the first 45-days of your hearing aid trial period. This “test” allows us to fit your hearing aids to exactly match your degree of hearing loss is key to maximizing the device’s performance.
Real-ear verification doesn’t just focus on the type and degree of hearing loss, it takes into account your ear’s unique anatomy as well. Real-ear verification allows for superior accuracy and provides a true measurement of the hearing aids’ effectiveness in relation to your specific hearing loss
6 Month Check and Clean
During your 6-month visit to our office, our Audiologist Coordinator or one of our Audiologists, will clean your hearing aids and send you off with more hearing aid batteries and cleaning supplies. This appointment allows us to make sure that everything is running smoothly with your hearing aids.
Maintenance Appointments
Adjustment Appointments
If you ever feel like your hearing aids need to have the volume turned up or down, your Audiologist will make adjustments as necessary to ensure you are getting the full benefit from your hearing aids. While the app function that is programmed to your hearing aids allows you to turn up and down the volume, it doesn’t quite allow you to raise the specific volume frequencies; which is why adjustment appointments are necessary at times.
Hearing Aid Checks and Repairs
Like most technology, hearing aids can have problems from time to time. Through hearing aid checks and repairs, your Audiologist or our Audiologist Coordinator will inspect your hearing aids and try to resolve any ongoing issue. If needed your hearing aids will be sent out to the manufacturer for further repair.
