There tends to be more confusion when it concerns hearing care than with most other medical specialties. We don’t need to ask, for example, what a dentist or eye doctor can do for us. But when it comes to our hearing, we’re many times uncertain as to what action we should take or who we should see.
So what exactly can a local hearing care professional do for you? Several things, in fact—things that could end up making your life better and easier.
The following are 6 services you should know about.
1. Examination of hearing and balance
Hearing professionals are specially trained in examining hearing and balance. If you think you have hearing loss, balance issues, or experience ringing in the ears, the local hearing specialist is the go-to expert.
By conducting professional audiological assessments, hearing specialists can skillfully diagnose the cause of your hearing loss or balance problems. And if your hearing loss is induced by an underlying medical condition, hearing specialists can prepare the relevant referrals.
Also, If you have continual ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus, many hearing specialists can provide targeted therapies.
2. Earwax removal
In certain cases, what is believed to be hearing loss is nothing more than excessive earwax buildup. While it’s not the most glamorous facet of the job, hearing specialists are trained in professional ear cleaning. If this is the cause of your hearing loss, you could start hearing better within a matter of minutes.
And always remember, it’s never safe to insert anything, most notably cotton swabs, into your ear canal at home. There are other proper ways you can clean your ears, such as with homemade solutions or ideally by visiting the hearing specialist.
3. Personalized hearing protection
Many people make the error of first visiting the hearing specialist after they acquire hearing loss. Don’t make the same mistake. If you work in a loud industry (for example as a musician) or take part in loud activities (like hunting), you should pick up custom made ear protection to protect against future hearing loss.
You could just pick up some foam earplugs at the convenience store, but they’re commonly uncomfortable and produce an annoying muffled sound. Custom earplugs fit comfortably in your ear and conserve the sounds you want to hear while protecting against the sounds that bring about damage.
4. Expert hearing tests (audiometry)
Hearing loss is hidden, painless, and oftentimes challenging to recognize or accept. The only method to attain an accurate diagnosis is through a professional hearing assessment referred to as audiometry.
Making use of state-of-the-art equipment and procedures, the hearing specialist can precisely diagnose hearing loss. Immediately after carrying out the testing, the final results are printed on a diagram called an audiogram. Like a fingerprint, everyone’s hearing loss is somewhat different, which will be visually represented on the audiogram.
If you can benefit from hearing aids, the audiogram will serve as the blueprint to programming and personalizing the technology.
5. Hearing aid selection and adjustment
Hearing aids are available in several styles, from multiple manufacturers, equipped with countless features. Since everyone’s hearing loss and preferences are a little different, this wide variety is required—but it does make things a little overwhelming when you need to make a decision.
That’s where hearing professionals can help. They’ll help you find the hearing aid that matches your hearing loss while making sure that you don’t waste money on functions you simply don’t care about or require.
As soon as you come across the right hearing aid, your hearing specialist will use your audiogram as the blueprint for customization. That way, you’ll be certain that your hearing aid maximizes your hearing based on the sounds you primarily have trouble hearing.
6. A lifetime of healthy hearing
The health of your hearing should be preserved as intensely as any other component of your health. We have primary care physicians, dentists, and optometrists that help maintain various aspects of our health on a continuous basis.
Likewise, we ought to have a dedicated professional looking out for the health of our hearing. Your relationship with your hearing specialist shouldn’t conclude following your hearing test; it should be ongoing. Hearing specialists offer a variety of worthwhile life-long services, including hearing aid cleaning, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair, together with advice and guidance on the latest technology.
So while your hearing will undoubtedly change over time, your hearing specialist should not. If you commit to finding a local professional who cares about helping people above everything else, you’ll enjoy the advantages of healthy hearing for life.