hearing evaluations

Hearing Evaluations

Diagnosing Hearing Loss in Metro Richmond, Virginia

If you are struggling to hear or suspect that you may not be hearing as well as you used to, Virginia Ear, Nose and Throat is here to help with our hearing evaluations. Our in-office audiologists diagnose and treat hearing problems in children and adults of all ages. We know that any kind of hearing loss can be scary and frustrating, which is why we prioritize patient support before hearing evaluations and after diagnosis.

Hearing Evaluations – Screening For Hearing Loss

A hearing screening is a quick test that provides our audiologist with basic information about your hearing. Afterward, patients receive a pass/fail score—a passing score indicates hearing is within normal limits and a failing score indicates hearing is outside of the normal range. While a screening will determine whether or not you have hearing loss, it will not provide detailed information such as the degree to which you are not able to hear. At Virginia, Ear, Nose and Throat we perform screenings in the following ways:

  • Pure tone screening. Your audiologist places headphones over your ears and presents a series of audio tones that sound like beeps. The tones extend across the normal range of hearing, from a very quiet pitch to a louder one. Patients raise one hand whenever they hear a tone. Patients who do not hear the beeps receive a failing score, indicating some degree of hearing loss.

  • Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs). While the patient is relaxed, your audiologist places a small probe in the ear. The audiologist then measures the inner ear’s response to sound. If the patient’s hearing loss is more than 30 decibels, the inner ear will not produce any emissions. The test requires no participation on the patient’s part, which is why this kind of testing is often used in newborn hearing screenings.

Diagnostic Testing
For Hearing Loss

As opposed to screenings, diagnostic testing provides detailed information to your audiologist about the extent of your hearing loss. Our audiologists use the following to diagnose problems with hearing:

During an otoscopy, the audiologist examines the ear canal using a device called an otoscope. Through the use of light and a microscope, the otoscope helps the audiologist check for abnormalities in the ear.

A tympanometry shows the audiologist information about the eardrum, including how it moves. To do so, the audiologist pushes air into the ears with a small probe. The results will determine if there is an issue with the middle ear and eardrum.

Your audiologist presents beeps across a wide range of pitches to identify the threshold (the lowest volume) at which you can hear the beeps at each pitch.

Speech testing assesses the patient’s ability to correctly hear speech. At Virginia Ear, Nose and Throat Associates, our audiologists test for the speech reception threshold, or the lowest volume at which you can correctly repeat the words you hear. We also perform word discrimination testing, which tells your audiologist how many words you can correctly understand and repeat that are spoken at a comfortable level.