If you experience hearing loss, it’s good to schedule an appointment to see an audiologist. An audiologist is a medical professional specializing in hearing loss and hearing health. They are the ideal people to see when you have hearing loss, and you need advice or treatment. Read on for some more information about what an audiologist does and why they are an essential resource that you may choose to use. 

Assessing a Hearing Health Issue 

One of the main components of an audiologist’s day-to-day work involves assessing the hearing health of their patients to see if there is an issue in that regard. Once an assessment like this is carried out, the audiologist can determine exactly what the degree of hearing loss is, and therefore can work out what the next steps are. A qualified audiologist will use many different types of tests to get the right results, including pure-tone testing, bone conduction, tuning fork tests and word recognition tests. 

Identifying the Types of Hearing Loss 

Every test that an audiologist performs will give them something to look more closely at and offer an assessment about. All added up, the results of these different tests should help them to determine what type of hearing loss you might be experiencing. There are three main types of hearing loss to look for: conductive, sensorineural or mixed.

Conductive hearing loss means that sound is not conducted through the outer ear canal to the eardrum. Sensorineural hearing loss indicates a problem with the inner ear. Mixed hearing loss is a combination of the two. Knowing which type of hearing loss you have will help to determine what treatment is carried out for you and what kind of hearing aid device will help you the most. 

Treating Hearing Loss 

Once the type of hearing loss has been found as well as the degree of hearing loss, it is the job of the audiologist to work out the right treatment plan for the patient. This could include hearing aids, cochlear implants or assisted listening devices.

On top of simply offering a range of treatments for hearing loss, the audiologist will educate the patient on the best ways to use their hearing aids and how to deal with their diagnosis in different situations. 

Follow-Up Care 

Any good audiologist will want to take the very best care of their patients, no matter what kind of hearing loss they have or how severe it might be. This is why they will offer a high level of follow-up aftercare for each patient to ensure that they are happening with the treatment they have received, they are coping well with their diagnosis and their hearing aids or implants. 

An audiologist is the best person to speak to when you develop hearing loss and need advice or a diagnosis. However, the best audiologists do more than this; they will be with you every step of the way, happy to help in any way they can.