Description
If you’re scheduled for a hearing evaluation, knowing what to expect can help make the process more comfortable.
In this video, our UAMS Health audiology team walks you through a typical hearing test from start to finish. Patients are seen in a sound booth designed to block outside noise for accurate testing. The evaluation begins with a physical ear exam to check for wax buildup, infection or other issues that may affect hearing.
Next, patients complete a series of hearing tests that may include listening for tones and repeating words. Speech testing is also performed in both quiet and background noise, helping us better understand how well you hear in real-world environments.
At UAMS Health, our goal is to provide a thorough, comfortable evaluation that helps identify hearing concerns and guide the best treatment options for each patient.
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Transcript
A typical hearing evaluation looks like this: the patient comes into our clinic and checks in. We bring them back into the room, where they will see a structure called a sound booth — a room with padding designed to block outside sounds and ensure an accurate test.
We begin by looking in the patient’s ears to make sure there is no wax buildup, ear infection, or other issue that may be impacting hearing. We also perform an ear health check, where we place a small probe in the ear to see how the eardrum is moving and responding to sound.
After that, we conduct the hearing test. This involves playing a series of beeps, and the patient raises their hand each time they hear one. We also perform speech testing, where we say a word and the patient repeats it back to us. We test this in two ways — once in quiet conditions and once with background noise — because hearing in noisy environments is one of the most common complaints we hear from patients.
