Full Hearing Tests & Assessment
At Harmony Hearing & Audiology hearing tests are conducted by university qualified Audiologists that are members of the Audiological Society of Australia ASA. We pride ourselves on using the latest diagnostic equipment to test your hearing sensitivity and ear health. We explain the outcome of the tests and forward a comprehensive report to your Doctor. You can then make an informed decision as how to best manage your hearing health.
It is recommended that anyone over the age of 50 should have regular hearing assessments. As hearing is one of our primary senses it is vital for our overall level of health, well-being and our relationships with family and friends.
A Free Hearing Screening:
People of any age are welcome to attend for a free hearing screening check. This hearing check consists of an external examination of the ear canal and ear drum and Audiometry to check the hearing sensitivity at the frequencies of 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz and 4000 Hz in each ear. These frequencies are most essential for speech understanding. You will be provided with an explanation of your results and whether a further full diagnostic hearing test is recommended.
Full Hearing Test:
Using state of the art diagnostic equipment, we examine the external ear, ear canal and ear drum to ensure it isn’t blocked with ear wax (cerumen).
Tympanometry is performed to show how efficiently the ear drum and middle ear system is conveying the sound vibration to the inner ear. Acoustic reflex and Eustachian tube function tests are also included where the additional information can add value to the assessment.
We then complete an Audiometric assessments for a a full range of frequencies from 250 Hz right through to 12,500Hz. A much greater range then most of our competitors which we understand provides valuable additional information about the health of the auditory system. We perform a bone conduction assessment to ascertain how effectively the inner ear hearing nerves are converting the mechanical vibration into a neural impulse.
Speech Testing is an important part of the test battery to show how well the individual can follow speech at different levels.
Functional Speech in Noise Tests
We routinely include functional speech in noise tests to show how well an individual can follow speech in the presence of competing background noise.
These tests effectively simulate real-world listening environments. Several sentence type speech in noise tests can be used to objectively measure how well the individual is able to follow speech in these typical competing noise environments. They are also very useful in measuring how much benefit the individual receives when using a hearing aid or other type of assistive listening device under the same conditions. The type of functional speech test selected is dependant on the individuals age and level of hearing difficulty.
Typically we use fixed signal to n oise ratio tests which measure the percentage correct at a specific signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In typical face-to-face communication the SNR becomes more adverse as the background noise increases. By approximating real world SNR conditions we measure how well the individual follows speech in these conditions.
Hearing Test for Children:
At Harmony Hearing & Audiology we also place great importance in the progressive assessment of the hearing health of children. Healthy hearing is important in cognitive, social and emotional development. Through our collaborative approach with your Physician we are able to assess children from two years of age and up. The test battery selected will depend on the age and developmental level of the individual child.
Speech in noise sentence tests are integrated into our test battery to help determine how well a child can follow speech in challenging listening environments. Such tests help simulate the classroom environment where ambient noise competes with the teachers speech. Functional speech tests are therefore an important indicator of how well a child follows speech in the learning environment.
Central Auditory Processing Tests:
TBA