Testing and Evaluation
Dr. Mimi's Audiology Clinic follows all of the CDC's and Contra Costa County's protocols for Covid protection. Sorry we do not serve unvaccinated patients.
Hearing impairment affects more than just your ability to hear — it affects your quality of life. Dr. Mimi stresses the importance of an accurate and timely hearing test. The hearing evaluation is just the beginning of your treatment, and it's essential to setting your unique care plan in motion and taking action on hearing loss. Your in-depth
hearing evaluation will help us craft a treatment plan that renews your ability to hear, allowing you to truly hear your best and live life on your terms. Our services have the following steps:
STEP ONE: THE INTERVIEW
The interview process helps our practice determine the extent of your hearing impairment and aids us in uncovering any specific areas requiring further attention. Some typical questions you’ll want to prepare for are:
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Has anyone else in your family had hearing problems?
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Have you had any illnesses or injuries that might have affected your hearing?
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Have you taken any medications that might have contributed to hearing impairment?
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Have you been exposed to loud noises in your workplace or while participating in leisure activities?
STEP TWO: THE EXAMINATION
Dr. Mimi take a close look inside your ear and figure out whether the hearing difficulty you are experiencing could be caused by an obstruction or damage to the ear canal or eardrum. We use a special instrument called an otoscope.
STEP THREE: HEARING TESTS
Next we’ll need to figure out the nature of your hearing loss. There’s a chance we will include hearing tests such as the following:
1) Evaluating your hearing sensitivity at different frequencies and intensities.
2) A speech assessment to measure how well you hear very soft sounds, conversation at a comfortable level, sensitivity to loud sounds & understanding in noisy situations.
3) If needed, a middle-ear evaluation to measure how your eardrum react to varying degrees of air pressure. If needed, we also evaluate your ipsilateral & contralateral reflexes.
Upon completion of your hearing evaluation, your results will be documented on an AUDIOGRAM. An audiogram is created after you take a pure-tone hearing test, to map out the type, degree, and configuration of your hearing loss. The audiogram shows your hearing loss by frequencies and intensities, as pitch and loudness of sounds change. Frequencies are measured in hertz (Hz), and the loudness or intensities are measured in decibels (dB). We will help determine whether you have trouble hearing low or high pitches and its effect on your speech understanding, and what level of technology would be appropriate for your degree of hearing loss.
STEP FOUR: TREATMENT OPTIONS
HEARING AIDS
We will work with you to match your lifestyle needs with the most advanced technology, specifically designed to treat your unique hearing loss. The exceptional effectiveness of your devices is the result of a powerful combination of professional expertise (programming and adjusting), software and hardware of the devices.
Hearing aids come in a variety of styles, technology level, sizes and colors. Your audiologist will help determine which is the best style and level of technology of hearing aid to fit your needs. It is not "one size fits all". TV and media advertising are done without any information about your type, degree of hearing loss and speech understanding, as well as your lifestyle and dexterity.
See our Products Page for a sample of different styles of hearing aids and other technologies we use at our clinic.
