Blue Ridge Hearing and Balance Clinic
Hearing Evaluations
Our clinic is equipped with four sound treated booths to assure test accuracy. Hearing ability can be evaluated through traditional techniques such as repeating words at various loudness levels, or responding to soft tones over a range of pitches.
For those who have difficulty with traditional test techniques (such as young children or stroke patients) we can evaluate hearing through objective electrophysiological techniques such as recording brain waves in response to sound, or measuring small responses from the inner ear to soft sound.
A graph of your hearing ability, known as an Audiogram, will be explained to you by an audiologist. Once the hearing evaluation is complete, our Hearing Loss Simulator allows family members to better understand the difficulties hearing loss causes by being able to hear what various voices and enviromnents sound like to the hearing impaired patient. It is very important that a family member attend the hearing evaluation appointment.
The most common type of hearing loss results in the inability to hear high frequency sounds more so than lower pitch sounds. This results in the inability to distinguish speech clearly, particularly when there is background noise present. People with high frequency hearing loss often complain, ‘I hear you loud enough, I just don’t understand what you are saying.’
Hearing loss usually comes on slowly, and is first noticed by family and friends. The most common causes of hearing loss are age and noise exposure. Early signs of significant hearing loss include asking people to repeat or speak louder, turning the TV up louder than others like it, reduced enjoyment of group social gatherings, and accusing people of mumbling.
