Ahhh… health exams. They don’t make them very enticing, do they? The ice-cold stethoscope. The pinch of needle. And we certainly can’t forget the strained small talk while wearing a paper gown.
With things like that to face, it’s no wonder many of us dread or postpone medical evaluations for as long as we can… or until something goes wrong.
Now, try to imagine an important medical evaluation that doesn’t involve any icy instruments, unsettling syringes, or disposable dresses.
Open your eyes, it indeed exists—the hearing exam.
Hearing exams are simple, straightforward, and don’t hurt: They’re your opportunity to test for and treat any hearing loss you may have, so you remain closely connected to your world as you age. And by doing so, you’re taking preventative measures against social isolation, depression, falls and dementia.
(Did you know hearing loss is the single most modifiable risk factor for dementia? So, the little effort involved in this clear-cut exam can go a long way.)
To help prepare you for how straightforward it really is—here are the 5 steps typically involved in a hearing exam:
1. Health and hearing chat
To begin, your hearing care professional will conduct a case history. They will ask you questions about your hearing and your day-to-day needs and routines to help accurately assess your hearing loss and how it most affects you.
2. Ear meet-and-greet
Your professional will look inside your ears using an otoscope. While checking the health of your ear canals and eardrums, they will ensure there is no debris that may affect your hearing test results. If your ear(s) have excess earwax or other debris, they may remove it or refer you to a physician who will. (Heads up—removing earwax may be uncomfortable but shouldn’t hurt.)
3. Hearing test
You will be seated in a sound-treated test booth or quiet room. Here, your professional will either place earphones on your ears or inserts into your ears.
They will first examine how well you hear tones. Your professional will play a series of them at different frequencies (or “pitches”) in each ear, separately. Your job is to simply respond to the tones you hear by raising your hand or pushing a button.
Next, your professional will look at your ability to hear speech. They will ask you to repeat words spoken into your earphones or ear inserts.
4. Further testing (if needed)
Depending on how things go, your professional may need to conduct further testing, like tympanometry. This examines your middle ear health by placing an insert into your ear. The insert then releases a puff of air to measure the movement of your eardrum. From this test, your professional can determine if there is fluid behind your eardrum and/or other issues.
5. Results, recommendations, relief
After all testing is complete, your professional will walk you through your test results (typically charted on an audiogram), discuss any next steps, and provide recommendations for your hearing health. And if hearing aids are a suggested solution, know you are in great hands with the latest hearing technology: sleek, discreet, and so smart that it can keep you connected to your world through clear, authentic sound—automatically.
That’s it. (Yes, you just did that.)
Simply reach out to a hearing care professional—that’s easy, too
Now that you know how straightforward hearing exams actually are, realize it’s just as easy to group it in with your routine wellness checks. Experts recommend hearing screenings every 5 years for adults aged 50–64, and every 1–3 years for adults aged 65 and older. So, depending on your age and condition, it needn’t cramp your schedule at all.
If that sounds like a plan, scheduling a hearing test is as simple as reaching out to a licensed hearing care professional. Just type your zip code in here to find a local provider near you.