You’ve Booked a Hearing Assessment. Now What?
Posted by Living Sounds
Once you have booked your hearing assessment at Living Sounds Hearing Centre, you may start to wonder what will happen at that appointment. During the initial phone call, our friendly customer care representative may have asked you a few questions in order to make the most effective use of your appointment time. These questions may have pertained to your age, possible insurance coverage, and whether you will have a loved one join you for the appointment. Everyone is different, but the following list will take you through our common appointment structure:
- You can expect to be at Living Sounds for 1 – 1 ½ hours. We ask that you arrive a few minutes early for your appointment, so that you can enjoy a hot cup of coffee, a cookie, and also fill out a hearing questionnaire. This questionnaire asks about your hearing health history, such as ear infections and ear surgeries. We also encourage you to take a brief moment and jot down the areas where you may be having communication difficulties, such as hearing your spouse or missing conversations in meetings.
- The clinician will then take you into their office and review the hearing questionnaire with you and ask you a few more in-depth questions about your hearing health and possible hearing difficulties. After a look into your ear canals to determine any possibilities of wax build-up or other medical concerns, you will be taken into a sound booth where the hearing evaluation will begin.
- During the evaluation, you will be responding to a series of beeps and tones, so that a hearing threshold can be established. The test battery may also consist of speech testing, where you will be asked to repeat words as well as middle ear testing.
- After these results are gathered and reviewed by the clinician, you will have the results explained to you in as little or as much detail as you are comfortable with. Then, the appropriate recommendations will be given.
- Depending on your test results and hearing health history, the clinician may recommend that your results be sent on to your family physician in order to make an appointment for a consultation with an ear, nose and throat specialist.
- More often than not, however, hearing loss can be helped with hearing aids. If your results indicate that you are a candidate for hearing aids, the clinician can discuss the various styles and technologies available and provide you with all the information you need in order to make an informed decision. The clinician can also provide you with hearing aid funding options available through different agencies such as Alberta Aids to Daily Living or Workers’ Compensation Board of Alberta.
As you can see, a lot will happen during this first appointment. At Living Sounds Hearing Centre, we are here to provide you with the best in care, service, and products. Take the step today and book a no-obligation hearing assessment at one of our locations near you.
