If you’ve noticed changes in your hearing, you’re not alone. Approximately 16% of American adults have hearing trouble, including nearly 50% of those over age 65.
While hearing loss may be common, many types are not only treatable but preventable. That makes finding expert care crucial when you notice changes in your hearing.
At Sharp Hearing Care Professionals, Kevin Sharim and our team take time to help people learn about problems affecting the ear and the tools available to improve, manage, and protect their hearing. Here’s how a hearing evaluation can help assess hearing loss and what to expect after your consultation.
You may remember having your hearing tested at different points during your life. This type of test often involves a pair of headphones and raising a hand when you hear a tone.
Hearing evaluations go beyond this standard test by assessing specific things, including:
Undergoing a hearing evaluation can also determine whether your condition will respond to specific forms of treatment, like hearing aids or assistive listening devices.
Hearing evaluations share many similarities with a standard medical exam.
First, our team reviews your medical and hearing history, along with any medications you may take, and asks about exposure to loud sounds. Your audiologist examines both your outer and inner ears with a device known as an otoscope.
Health care providers use this tool to perform a visual check for issues that can interfere with hearing, such as:
Finally, you undergo a hearing test itself with the help of our state-of-the-art equipment. But don’t worry: These tests are quick, easy, and painless — and there are no “wrong” answers.
Using all of the information gathered during this evaluation can help Dr. Sharim and our team determine how to move forward with addressing your hearing problems.
After your evaluation, Dr. Sharim discusses your results and explains how they affect your hearing and how they guide the best strategy moving forward. Each hearing-related issue requires a specific treatment, so our team makes recommendations on a case-by-case basis.
Once you have a clear understanding of your hearing issue, Dr. Sharim works closely with you to determine the best way to treat, manage, or improve your condition, such as:
But it doesn’t stop there. Dr. Sharim and his team become your trusted partners moving forward, ensuring your treatment strategies continue working as well as making adjustments as needed to manage and improve your hearing.
A hearing evaluation offers valuable insight if you’ve noticed changes in your hearing and helps our team develop a treatment plan. Contact the Sharp Hearing Care Professionals location nearest you in Oxnard, Santa Barbara, West Hills, and Santa Monica, California, to schedule an audiology consultation today.
