The Total Hearing Care Difference

Beyond the Beeps: Understanding Your Complete Hearing Assessment

• Dr. Jill Copley • Episode 2

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What Should I Expect During A Hearing Evaluation?

Nervous about getting your hearing checked? Dr. Jill Copley demystifies the entire process in this reassuring conversation about what really happens during a comprehensive hearing evaluation. You might be surprised to learn that modern hearing assessments involve much more than just raising your hand when you hear beeps!

The journey begins with a thorough case history where we explore your specific concerns, medical background, and daily listening challenges. We examine your ears for wax buildup and check for fluid that might indicate an ear infection. The diagnostic testing includes both the familiar tone testing and—more importantly—speech testing that mimics real-world listening situations. We'll assess how well you understand speech in quiet conditions and then challenge your hearing with background noise, simulating those difficult restaurant conversations that many patients struggle with.

Whether you've been putting off getting your hearing checked due to anxiety or simply want to understand what's involved, this episode provides a clear, friendly roadmap to better hearing. Remember, there are no wrong answers in a hearing test—we're simply looking to find the best you can perform so we can help you hear your best in all life situations.

To learn more about Total Hearing Care visit:
https://www.TotalHearingCare.com
Total Hearing Care
Multiple Locations Across the DFW Metroplex
469-218-4853

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Total Hearing Care Difference where we help you experience life through better hearing. Hosted by the experts at Total Hearing Care, a leading private audiology practice serving the DFW Metroplex, we're here to provide guidance on hearing loss, tinnitus and the latest advancements in audiology. Transform your life through better hearing. Let's get started.

Speaker 2:

Nervous about your first hearing evaluation? Don't be. It's not a pop quiz and there are definitely no wrong answers. We're walking you through what happens during a hearing test, from the cozy headphones to the little button. You through what happens during a hearing test, from the cozy headphones to the little button. You'll be pressing like a game show contestant. Tune in to why this simple evaluation is the first step towards better hearing. Welcome back everyone. I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host, slash producer, back in the studio with Dr Jill Copley. Dr Copley, how's it going today? I'm great, sophia. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

It's good to be back. It's good to have you back. So, dr Copley, what should?

Speaker 3:

I expect, during a hearing evaluation. So that's a great question and we try to be very thorough in our evaluations. Like Sophia mentioned, people kind of think of a hearing test where we play beeps and you push that button to let us know you hear it, and of course we're going to do that. But most people are not worried about hearing beeps in real life. They're worried about things like do I have an ear infection? Do I have wax? I don't hear well in background noise. I'm having trouble hearing in a restaurant, so we want to look at all of those things. So when you come in, one of the first things we'll do is talk about your what we call a case history and we'll look at items that affect your hearing and we'll look at your medications to make sure nothing might be interfering with your hearing and the symptoms you're giving us. As far as the actual testing, we're going to look in your ears and check for wax, because we want to rule that out as causing your issues with either hearing loss or tinnitus. Then we're going to do a test to check for any fluid in your ears, behind your ear, which may be indicative of an ear infection. If that test comes out positive for fluid or an ear infection, we are going to have you see your physician or an ear, nose and throat doctor to address that first, because that can interfere with your hearing.

Speaker 3:

Then we're going to do the testing with all those beeps and then what we want to start to look at is how are you hearing speech and how are you understanding people? So we're going to do some speech testing in quiet and then we're going to do some speech testing in quiet and then we're going to do some testing when there's background noise, Because most people will say I can hear fine when it's in quiet. I can hear you right here as we're talking, but it's when I get into background noise. So that's a very important test. We'll also do a cognitive screening. So we found that when you have hearing loss or when you have cognitive issues, you're more likely to have a hearing loss. So we want to do a cognitive screening just to see where you're at. Then, if we do see issues there, we can either address them with how we address your hearing loss or we can send you to your physician or a neurologist to do a diagnostic evaluation for you.

Speaker 2:

So, Dr Copley, how long does a typical hearing evaluation take?

Speaker 3:

So our appointments which sound really long but we do a lot during the actual appointment are anywhere from about two to two and a half hours long. So we want to spend lots of time with you, getting to know you and making sure we're addressing all of your needs. That appointment will include that case history, as I mentioned, the hearing testing and, as you asked, the hearing testing itself probably takes about 20 to 30 minutes and then, if you do have hearing loss loss and you probably have something going on, if you've come to see us, we want to address that and we'll talk about treatment options and you can actually start treatment that day in our office, and so then we would go through stuff like paperwork and things like that.

Speaker 2:

Dr Copley getting into the tests a bit more. What kind of tests are performed during the evaluation?

Speaker 3:

So I'm going to focus on the speech, because that's what most people are concerned about is how they're processing speech and how they're going to do in background noise, for instance. We are going to say a series of words in quiet and we'll have you repeat them and we'll do that at a comfortable level for you. So we're going to look at your hearing test results when you push that button for the beep and then we're going to increase it to where you can hear us well and we'll see what your understanding is, what your maximum understanding is for quiet. And then the way the speech and noise testing works is we're going to have a lady say a sentence and you'll repeat that sentence and as you go along, that noise is going to get louder and the speech is going to get softer. So we're trying to find out what is the softest you can hear the lady saying in the background noise.

Speaker 3:

Now, if you're having some trouble with that, which most people do, but we want to look at the severity of that. So there are certain categories for that that tell us what difficulty you're having and that can help us with determining your treatment. As far as the cognitive screening which I really enjoy because that gives me more information about your processing. We're going to look at short-term memory how quickly you can respond and how difficult it might be in background noise. However, this is an actual visual test so it takes hearing out of it, but it can give us lots of information about how you're processing the information.

Speaker 2:

Dr Copley, will I receive my results immediately or is therea waiting period?

Speaker 3:

No, you would receive them immediately. So as soon as we're done with the testing, we will review your results and talk about how your hearing results affect how your brain is processing that information. You'll find that I talk a lot about the brain, because that's what does our hearing for us the sound goes into the ear, but our brain actually does the processing. So we try to focus on how those results are going to affect how your brain is processing, as well as how those results are impacting the concerns that you've brought to the appointment.

Speaker 2:

So, dr Copley, one final question for you today what if I fall asleep during the test? Does that mean I officially can't hear my spouse?

Speaker 3:

Well, if you're doing that at home, that might be a problem. But seriously, if you do seem to doze off during the appointment sometimes people are on medications or they're just older and it is hard to stay awake we can split that appointment up into a couple of appointments for you, just to make sure that we're getting accurate results, because certainly if you're fatigued you may not be able to give us the best results, because we're looking to find the best you can perform and the best you can hear, so we can best treat you.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you for sharing those important insights with us today. Dr Copley, we'll catch you in the next episode. Have a fantastic rest of your day, my pleasure.

Speaker 3:

Have a great day yourself.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Total Hearing Care Difference. If you're in the DFW Metroplex and ready to take the next step toward better hearing, call 469-218-4853 to book an appointment or visit TotalHearingCarecom, because when you hear better, you live better. See you next time.