A hearing clinic is a healthcare facility that specialises in evaluating hearing ability and treating hearing loss. Hearing clinics provide a range of services to help patients with all types of hearing problems. Some of the main services offered by hearing clinics include:
Hearing Tests
One of the core services hearing clinics provide is hearing tests. These tests assess a patient’s ability to hear different sound frequencies and volumes. The most common types of hearing tests performed at clinics include:
- Pure tone audiometry – This test finds the softest levels at which a person can hear pure tone frequencies. The patient wears headphones and indicates when they hear varying tone frequencies and volumes.
- Speech audiometry – These tests use speech sounds and words to evaluate a patient’s hearing ability. The patient repeats words they hear through headphones at different volumes.
- Tympanometry – This test measures how the eardrum and middle ear bones vibrate in response to sound. It can identify fluid or pressure issues.
Hearing tests help audiologists determine the type and degree of hearing loss. This guides them in recommending appropriate treatments.
Hearing Aid Fittings
A major service hearing clinics provide is hearing aid fittings. An audiologist will recommend hearing aids if tests show significant hearing loss. They will take ear moulds and measurements to custom fit appropriate hearing aids for each patient.
The audiologist will program and adjust the hearing aids based on the individual’s hearing loss pattern. They will demonstrate how to insert, remove, and care for the hearing aids. The audiologist also provides advice on adjusting to amplified sounds with hearing aid use.
Follow-up appointments are scheduled to assess how the patient is adapting to the hearing aids. The audiologist makes any needed adjustments to ensure optimal hearing functionality.
Hearing Aid Repairs and Maintenance
Hearing clinics provide maintenance and repair services for existing hearing aid users. This includes cleaning and checking hearing aids to keep them functioning properly. For hearing aids that are malfunctioning, clinics can troubleshoot problems and make necessary repairs.
They also offer replacement batteries and ear moulds. For hearing aids that are no longer adequately helping the patient, the clinic can recommend upgraded hearing aid models and fit patients with new devices suited to their current hearing levels.
Tinnitus Treatment
Many hearing clinics help patients manage tinnitus symptoms. Tinnitus involves hearing ringing, buzzing, roaring, or other phantom noises. Treatments can include tinnitus retraining therapy using sound generators, counselling, stress management techniques, and hearing aids adjusted for tinnitus relief.
The clinic’s audiologists work to make tinnitus less bothersome and disruptive for patients.
Wax Removal
Earwax buildup can cause hearing problems by blocking sound from reaching the eardrum. Hearing clinics like hearclearni.co.uk offer ear wax removal services. One common method is microsuction, which uses a small suction tip to gently extract excess earwax. This painless procedure takes just a few minutes to clear blockages.
Hearing Protection and Prevention
Clinics advise patients on preventing further hearing damage. They recommend wearing hearing protection devices like earplugs when exposed to hazardous occupational or recreational noise. The audiologists educate patients on noise levels that can harm hearing.
For patients already experiencing some hearing loss, they provide communication strategies and assistive listening devices to prevent additional hearing deterioration. The clinic helps patients preserve as much natural hearing as possible.
Hearing clinics offer diverse services to test hearing, fit hearing aids, remove earwax, provide tinnitus treatment, protect hearing, and support patients through a number of different hearing issues. Their comprehensive services aim to optimise hearing function and communication for all patients.
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