What is a hearing evaluation?
Many people can recall a time they had a hearing screening in elementary school. What we are talking about here is a much, much more thorough version; a full diagnostic hearing evaluation takes a detailed look at the mechanisms that allow us to hear speech, understand speech, recognize voices, enjoy music, localize sound, and many other things that are easy to take for granted.
When should you have your hearing tested?
Ages 6–17
Children have their hearing screened at school and at checkups with their pediatrician. If the results of a screening come back as a fail, or if you or a teacher have any concern about your child’s hearing, you should schedule a hearing evaluation.
Ages 18–49
Have your hearing screened at your annual physical with your primary care provider. If the results of a screening come back as a fail, you should schedule a hearing evaluation.
At age 50
Everyone should have a hearing evaluation, even if they aren’t experiencing any hearing difficulty.
After age 50
Plan on having a hearing evaluation every three years, or sooner if new symptoms develop.
Sudden hearing change
A sudden drop in hearing over hours or a few days, in one ear or both, should be treated as urgent. Call the office right away. Early medical treatment can matter, and the treatment window is short.
Diagnostic protocol
The evaluation moves through six steps. Plan to bring a spouse, family member, or close communication partner: their perspective is clinically useful, and they should hear the results and the reasoning with you.
History
We begin with the reason for your visit and the clinical history behind it: prior ear disease, noise exposure, medications that can affect hearing, communication demands, and the listening situations that matter most to you.
Visual examination
We examine the ear canal and eardrum for wax, irritation, fluid, perforation, scarring, or anything else that could affect testing or call for medical care. If earwax is blocking the ear canal, removal is usually available during the same visit so testing can proceed.
Middle-ear function
Middle-ear testing measures eardrum movement and the pressure behind it. The results help separate problems of the ear canal, eardrum, or middle ear from conditions of the inner ear or auditory nerve. The test takes a few seconds per ear: a soft tip rests at the opening of the ear canal, and you feel a light change in pressure, similar to an airplane beginning its descent.
Sensitivity testing
Sensitivity testing maps the softest level at which you can hear each tone, frequency by frequency. You sit in a sound-treated booth wearing earphones and respond each time you hear a tone, however faint. The result is your audiogram, which defines the degree, pattern, and symmetry of your hearing.
Word recognition
Where sensitivity testing measures what you can detect, word recognition measures what you can understand. You repeat a series of words presented at an easily audible level, and the score reflects how clearly speech comes through once it is loud enough to hear.
Speech-in-noise testing
Speech-in-noise testing measures how well you follow speech while background noise competes with it. You repeat words or sentences as the noise continues. Because difficulty in noise cannot be reliably predicted from the audiogram alone, this measure often provides the clearest link between test results and real communication.
Results and plan
The evaluation ends in conversation. We review your results in plain language, explain how the findings fit together, answer your questions, and recommend a specific next step, whether that is treatment, monitoring, medical referral, or a baseline on record for the future.
You receive a copy of your results, and with your permission we send a report to your physician.
Insurance
A diagnostic hearing evaluation is a medical service, and most plans cover at least part of it. Before your appointment, we verify your benefits and tell you what your plan pays, so you know your cost ahead of time. If you'd rather find out before you schedule, call the office and we'll check your coverage. After your appointment, we bill your insurance directly.
Common questions
How do I know if I have hearing loss?
Do you see children?
Do I need a referral?
What happens at the first appointment?
Your symptoms, medical history, and listening needs come first, followed by a look in your ears and a full hearing evaluation. We review the results with you before you leave and explain what, if anything, makes sense to do next.
That may be a routine recheck, earwax removal, a medical referral, or a recommendation for hearing aids. Whatever the recommendation, what happens afterward is entirely up to you.
What should I bring?
Bring a list of your current medications, any past hearing test results, and your hearing aids if you wear them — though none of it is required. If you don't have any of it on hand, come anyway.
The one thing worth arranging ahead of time: bring your spouse, or whoever you talk with most. Their sense of where you struggle to hear is genuinely useful during the exam, and they should be in the room to hear your results and the plan alongside you.
How long does an appointment take?
Related reading
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