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Are you having trouble hearing? A hearing test can check the health of your ears and the acuity of your hearing.
It’s important not to put off having your hearing evaluated, because a hearing test can determine whether you're experiencing hearing loss or other potentially serious problems.
Here at Sharp Hearing Care Professionals, Dr. Kevin Sharim and his team have extensive experience conducting hearing tests. Read on to learn what you can expect during your visit.
A hearing test looks for various types of problems, such as age-related hearing loss. One in three Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have hearing loss, and as many as half of people over age 75 have trouble hearing, according to the National Institutes on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
Hearing tests also help with the diagnosis of other types of conditions, such as hyperacusis, misophonia, tinnitus, earwax build-up, eardrum or ear canal damage, and ear infections.
You may want to schedule a hearing test when you have trouble hearing or understanding what people say – either in person, on the phone, or on television – or if you haven’t had a hearing test in a while, especially if you’re over 60.
During your hearing test, you can expect the following:
Understanding your medical history provides helpful context about your health. We'll ask about the medications you take because medications can sometimes cause hearing-related side-effects. Dr. Sharim will also ask if there's a history of hearing problems in your family.
Hearing loss can result from injury, illness, or exposure to loud noises, so Dr. Sharime will ask about your hearing history and your current symptoms.
Using a tool known as an otoscope, Dr. Sharim will take a careful look inside your ear for signs of earwax buildup, injuries, or structural damage. If he sees excess earwax, he'll remove it.
Dr. Sharim administers several types of tests to measure patients' ability to hear various types of sounds.
Pure tone audiometry assesses how much hearing loss you have by exposing you to a series of tones and asking you to signal when you hear them.
Bone conduction tests use vibrations to look for problems in your outer or middle ear.
A test, known as a speech-reception threshold and word recognition, will check how well you can hear and understand words.
And of course, Dr. Sharim will answer any questions you may have about your hearing.
Depending on the results of your various tests, Dr. Sharim may recommend a further hearing evaluation. Or, if necessary, he'll discuss whether you should consider hearing aids, assistive listening devices, or treatments to address your hearing needs.
Let Dr. Sharim and our team at Sharp Hearing Care Professionals check your hearing and ear health. To schedule a consultation, contact one of our offices in Oxnard, Santa Barbara, West Hills, or Santa Monica, California,
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