hearing care

Hearing Care & Hearing Aids in Richmond, vA

Comprehensive Hearing Care For All Ages

At Virginia ENT, we’re dedicated to helping our patients hear better. Our ENT specialists and audiologists work together to provide excellent hearing care services to patients with hearing loss. What does this mean for you? You can look forward to convenient and expert care for all of your hearing needs!

Virginia Ear, Nose and Throat’s audiologists have extensive education and specialized training in the prevention, assessment and treatment of hearing disorders. They are the most qualified professionals to:

  • Conduct specialized hearing assessments for infants, children and adults

  • Refer patients for hearing medical treatment

  • Perform balance evaluations

  • Recommend hearing aids, assistive listening devices, and personal alerting devices

  • Make custom ear molds and protection

  • Provide hearing rehabilitation for patients and loved ones

  • Educate patients on prevention of hearing loss

Our Hearing Loss Services

From screenings to hearing aid care, our audiology team streamlines the diagnosing and treatment process by offering a full suite of hearing care services—all under one roof. These services include:

Hearing Evaluations

This is the first step in assessing patients who suspect hearing loss. Our audiologists test the hearing through pure tone or other testing. Once hearing loss has been identified, your audiologist will perform a variety of diagnostic tests to determine the extent of the hearing loss, including examining the anatomy of the inner ear and testing speech.

Pediatric Hearing Evaluations

We treat children with temporary, permanent, sudden and noise-induced hearing loss with customized treatment plans. No matter the cause of the hearing loss, our patients and their families receive the high-quality and education-based care they deserve.

Noise and Hearing Loss

A preventable form of hearing loss, noise-induced hearing problems caused by exposure to loud, damaging or sudden sounds. Exposure to harmful noise is startlingly common, and our audiologists specialize in the prevention and treatment of this kind of hearing loss.

Tinnitus Assessment & Treatment

Tinnitus is a common but often overlooked condition that causes roaring and ringing in the ears. Although it is unknown if tinnitus contributes to hearing loss, patients with symptoms should still seek professional treatment. We treat tinnitus with ear wax removal, hearing aids or by treating the condition causing the tinnitus.

Hearing Aids & Devices

Many people with hearing loss choose hearing aids due to their many benefits—these devices can help improve communication, decrease stress and restore quality of life. At Virginia Ear, Nose and Throat, we offer a range of assistive hearing devices and hearing aid styles. No patient is exactly alike, and our audiologists help patients choose from our many options to find the best-fit hearing aid or device for their specific needs.

Earlens

Virginia Ear, Nose and Throat is proud to offer Earlens, a hearing device that uses groundbreaking hearing technology. Earlens devices are the world’s only nonsurgical lens that works with your body’s natural hearing system. Traditional hearing devices rely on speakers to amplify sound. Earlens, however, uses a lens that is placed on the eardrum, which radically improves the user’s range of sound frequency and leads to high-quality, rich and overall better sound.

Have more hearing care questions?

FAQs About Hearing Aids

A hearing aid has a microphone that turns sound waves into electrical signals. These signals are then amplified and processed to compensate for your specific hearing needs. The amplified sound is sent to your ear through a receiver or speaker, allowing you to perceive the sounds more clearly.

We know that things may sound a little different when you first begin wearing your aids, and it may take a little while for you to get used to them. On average, it should take two to three weeks for you to get used to them, but sometimes, it may take up to four months.

In order for you to get used to them, it would be best to wear them during all the hours you are awake. However, when you first receive them, you can start with two to three hours and then work your way up from there.

These devices require regular maintenance to make sure they work and last as long as possible. Some common maintenance tasks include cleaning them, replacing the batteries and keeping them dry. We will make sure to provide you with detailed instructions on how to care for your specific type.

Their lifespan will vary depending on their quality, how well you take care of them and how often you use them. On average, you can expect them to last between three to seven years before they need replacing or any major repairs.

While you can only wear one, we recommend wearing two. Wearing two will help you adjust better and faster and will greatly help your ability to hear the world around you.

If you are struggling to hear or suspect that you may not be hearing as well as you used to, we recommend you schedule a visit with us so we can perform a hearing screening. A hearing screening is a quick test that provides our audiologists with basic information about your hearing. If you wish to schedule a consultation, don’t hesitate to call us at (804) 484-3700 or request an appointment.

Check out our Total Hearing Patient Information page to answer your questions, clear up any misconceptions and look through our patient education resources about hearing care.

Get Started Today

If you or your family members notice that you are not hearing as well as you should be, it may be time to book a hearing evaluation. Our audiologists will help you determine if hearing loss is present, and if so, what next steps to take. To make an appointment with our hearing loss team, call (804) 484-3700.

Our Audiologists

VA ENT Albright

Melissa Albright,
AuD

Virginia ENT Connatser, Audiologist

Michelle Connatser,
MS

Virginia ENT Durtschi, Audiologist

Anna Durtschi,
AuD

Erika Kopinski,
AuD

VA-ENT-Morley

Michelle Mori,
AuD

VA-ENT-Nixon

Jacob Nixon,
AuD

Jessica Poe,
AuD

VA-ENT-Sanders

Mandy Sanders,
AuD

VA-ENT-Schenkein

Terri Schenkein,
AuD

VA-ENT-Severs

Sarah Severs,
AuD

VA-ENT-VInchinsky

Alexandra Vichinsky,
AuD

Heather Wilson,
MS, CCC-A