There tends to be more misunderstanding when it comes to hearing care than with many 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 very often uncertain as to what we should do or which professional 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.
Here are 6 services you should be aware of.
1. Assessment of hearing and balance
Hearing specialists are specially trained in evaluating hearing and balance. If you think you have hearing loss, balance issues, or experience ringing or buzzing in the ears, the local hearing professional is the go-to expert.
By conducting professional audiological assessments, hearing specialists can expertly establish the cause of your hearing loss or balance problems. And if your hearing loss is brought on by an underlying medical problem, hearing specialists can prepare the applicable referrals.
Also, If you have continual ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus, many hearing specialists can supply focused therapies.
2. Earwax extraction
In some instances, what is believed to be hearing loss is simply excessive earwax accumulation. While it’s not the most extravagant aspect of the job, hearing specialists are skilled in professional ear cleaning. If this is the reason for your hearing loss, you could begin hearing better within minutes.
And keep in mind, it’s never safe to insert anything, most notably cotton swabs, into your ear canal at home. There are several other proper ways you can clean your ears, such as with homemade solutions or ideally by booking an appointment the hearing specialist.
3. Customized 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’re working in a loud occupation (for example as a musician) or take part in loud activities (like hunting), you should get yourself custom ear protection to avoid future hearing loss.
You could just pick up some foam earplugs at the convenience store, but they’re typically uncomfortable and create an annoying muffled sound. Custom earplugs fit comfortably in your ear and conserve the sounds you desire to hear while protecting against the sounds that lead to damage.
4. Professional hearing tests (audiometry)
Hearing loss is hidden, pain-free, and oftentimes challenging to acknowledge or accept. The only way to get an accurate diagnosis is with the aid of a professional hearing examination referred to as audiometry.
Using leading-edge equipment and procedures, the hearing specialist can accurately diagnose hearing loss. Immediately after carrying out the test, the final results are printed on a chart referred to as an audiogram. Like a fingerprint, everyone’s hearing loss is slightly different, which will be visually represented on the audiogram.
If you can reap benefits from hearing aids, the audiogram will function as the blueprint to programming and customizing the technology.
5. Hearing aid selection and fitting
Hearing aids come in many styles, from numerous manufacturers, equipped with countless features. Given that everyone’s hearing loss and preferences are a little different, this variety is necessary—but it does make things a little overwhelming when you need to make a decision.
That’s where hearing specialists can help. They’ll help you find the hearing aid that corresponds to your hearing loss while making sure that you don’t waste money on functions you simply don’t care about or need.
Once you discover the right hearing aid, your hearing specialist will use your audiogram as the blueprint for customization. That way, you’ll be sure that your hearing aid optimizes your hearing according to the sounds you primarily have difficulty hearing.
6. A lifetime of healthy hearing
The health of your hearing should be maintained as intensely as any other component of your health. We have primary care physicians, dentists, and optometrists that help maintain several aspects of our health on a continuous basis.
Similarly, we should have a dedicated professional watching out for the health of our hearing. Your relationship with your hearing specialist shouldn’t conclude after your hearing test; it should be ongoing. Hearing specialists provide a range of important life-long services, including hearing aid cleaning, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair, together with advice and guidance on the latest technology.
So even though your hearing will inevitably change over time, your hearing specialist should not. If you commit to finding a local professional who cares about helping people over everything else, you’ll enjoy the benefits of healthy hearing for life.