If you’re looking to take better care of your health, then one of the first steps should be getting in touch with an audiologist. These are doctors who are practiced to diagnose and treat all manner of conditions affecting the ear, hearing health, and balance issues. Here, a guest writer is going to take a look at some of the things they can help with, and why it’s worth making an appointment.
Hearing tests
The most frequent service the audiologist helps with is the hearing test. This is a simple test that sees you responding to sounds and speech of different volumes, frequencies, and tones, to help you get a clear idea of what the range of your hearing is. It’s the most effective way to diagnose hearing loss in most cases.
Treating hearing loss
Of course, if you are diagnosed with hearing loss, then you may well want to treat it. Audiologists can help with that, typically by helping you narrow down which types of hearing aids are best suited to your needs. This is based not only on the level of your hearing loss, but the kinds of environments you spend time in and which features might be best suited for you. For instance, people who work and live alongside many others might need hearing aids that can help them better understand voices in crowded environments.
Treating tinnitus
Tinnitus is another common hearing health complaint. Rather than being a specific condition, it’s a symptom that can have all manner of causes, resulting in the experience of hearing sounds that aren’t really there. Tinnitus can be tough to treat and may not ever have a full cure, but audiologists can help to find the source and treat it, if there is a discernible source, as well as recommending methods of treatment that can help people become used to or better drown out the sound of their tinnitus.
Treating balance issues
Another common issue that audiologists treat is balance issues, such as vertigo. After all, many balance issues are caused by changes to or conditions affecting the inner ear. Audiologists can help take a closer look, often finding the cause of balance issues, and recommend a range of ways to treat them, including head exercises that they can help you carry out.
The difference between audiologists and other hearing health professionals
There are other providers who may be called things like hearing health professionals or hearing device providers, who can provide things like hearing tests and help you choose hearing aids to help improve your hearing. However, only audiologists (aka doctors of audiology) are licensed to diagnose hearing issues. Furthermore, other providers may not be equipped to treat tinnitus or balance issues
You might not have any worries about your hearing health right now, but it’s always good to arrange for a benchmark test so that you can better see any potential changes in the future. Given how many of us can begin to experience age-related hearing loss, you want to make sure that you know where you can go for help if it happens to you.