Ear / July 28, 2021
By: Kelly Warf, Au.D.
While a hearing test completed in the convenience of your own home may be attractive as an alternative to making an appointment to see an audiologist, the tests and equipment currently available has never been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the federal agency that is responsible for ensuring medical equipment and devices are approved for their stated usage). The accuracy of online hearing testing for purposes of diagnosing a medical hearing loss is highly suspicious and unlikely to be accurate or reliably identify the extent of your hearing problem.
A face-to-face examination of you and your hearing is the best practice and the following sections are components of such an examination:
Medical History and Current Conditions
The audiologist will ask you many questions about your current and past medical and physical history, especially as it related to your hearing abilities. There are many physical conditions that can impact your hearing status or your hearing problems can make other medical conditions worse. Also, there are many medications that can affect your hearing and your audiologist will ask about these as well. Additionally, if you are experiencing ear noise (tinnitus), balance, problems such as dizziness or vertigo, are exposed to hazardous loud sounds recreationally or through your work, or have any other hearing- and balance-related issues, the audiologist will address these with you in the appointment. This cannot happen through your computer by an online hearing test that will focus on a small component of your overall hearing health.
As part of the overall hearing evaluation, it is mandatory that the audiologist assess your ears (with an otoscope-a lighted, magnifying device) to determine if obstructions like occluding ear wax are present in the ear canal. This important part of the examination is not possible in a self-administered examination in your own home. Further, the audiologist can help to identify other potential medical problems through this external ear examination such as drainage or bleeding in the canal or even identification of abnormal skin rashes or bumps in or around the ear that may require further medical examination. Sound Hearing Solution is housed in the Ear, Nose, and Throat Center so we can easily refer to an ENT specialist.
Equipment Used to Test Hearing
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has published guidelines that specify the acceptable level of ambient (local and ongoing) room noise allowed for an accurate hearing test. It is rarely possible to meet these standards without a uniquely constructed, sound-treated room. It is imperative to control for background noise when evaluating an individual’s hearing thresholds as background noises in your home including roadside traffic, computer monitors, and ventilation systems (just to name a few) may produce noise that will artificially increase your hearing levels when completing a hearing test online at your computer. Clearly, having ones hearing tested in a sound-treated room is not a realistic environment in which to identify the problems a person with hearing loss has in everyday listening situations, but in a sound-treated room, the baseline hearing (or best possible hearing) can be identified. This baseline hearing then helps the audiologist understand the extent of the loss.
Additionally, there are strict standards for headphone or earphone calibration in the audiologist’s practice that do not exist for home computer systems. Varying test results from the same individual on the same home computer using different kinds of headsets/earphones have been made. So there is simply no way to know the specifications or capabilities of the in-home earphones.
Now that you understand the importance of calibrated equipment and environmental considerations for accurate hearing measures, part 2 will describe the different types of hearing loss and testing considerations.
To schedule your hearing assessment, call our office at 847-685-1000.
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About Ear, Nose, and Throat Center
The Ear, Nose, and Throat Center (ENT) is the premier Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery group in the northern Chicago suburbs. Our skilled and compassionate doctors can provide you with the latest advancements in total care for diseases, cancer, and disorders affecting the ears (including hearing), nose, mouth, allergy, sinuses, throat, head, and neck. We offer the highest level of specialty care for all ages from pediatric to geriatric.
We have two offices located in Park Ridge and Buffalo Grove, enabling us to conveniently serve patients in the surrounding Chicago suburbs including Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Niles, Palatine, Rosemont, Wheeling, and more in Cook and Lake counties.
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"Juma la 28 Julai, 2021: ""Kelly Warf, AuD.""" Ingawa mtihani wa kusikia uliofanywa nyumbani kwako unaweza kuwa na kuvutia kama mbadala wa kuweka miadi ya kuona daktari wa sauti, vipimo na vifaa vinavyopatikana kwa sasa havijawahi kuidhinishwa na Utawala wa Chakula na Dawa wa Marekani (shirika la shirikisho linalowajibika kuhakikisha vifaa vya matibabu na vifaa vinakubaliwa kwa matumizi yao. Uhalali wa vipimo vya kusikia vya mtandaoni kwa madhumuni ya kugundua upotezaji wa kusikia wa matibabu ni wa kushangaza sana na haiwezekani kuwa sahihi au kugundua kwa kuaminika kiwango cha shida yako ya kusikia. Uchunguzi wa uso kwa uso wa kusikia kwako ni mazoezi bora na sehemu zifuatazo ni sehemu za uchunguzi kama huo: Historia ya matibabu na hali ya sasa: Daktari wa sauti atakuuliza maswali mengi kuhusu historia yako ya sasa na ya zamani ya matibabu na ya mwili, haswa kwa sababu inahusiana na uwezo wako wa kusikia. Kuna hali nyingi za mwili ambazo zinaweza kuathiri hali yako ya kusikia au matatizo yako ya kusikia yanaweza kufanya hali zingine za matibabu ziongeze. Kuna dawa nyingi ambazo zinaweza kuathiri kusikia kwako, na mtaalamu wako wa kusikia atauliza juu ya hizi pia. Ikiwa una matatizo ya masikio (tinnitus), usawa, matatizo kama vile kizunguzungu au vertigo, umewekwa kwenye sauti kubwa za hatari kwa burudani au kupitia kazi yako, au una maswala mengine yanayohusiana na kusikia na usawa, mtaalamu wa sauti atazungumza na wewe wakati wa uteuzi. Hii haiwezi kutokea kupitia kompyuta yako na mtihani wa kusikia mtandaoni ambao utazingatia sehemu ndogo ya afya yako ya jumla ya kusikia. Katika uchunguzi wa kusikia, daktari wa masikio hupima masikio yako kwa kutumia otoscope, kifaa cha kupanua, ili kujua ikiwa kuna vizuizi katika mfereji wa sikio. Sehemu hii muhimu ya uchunguzi haiwezekani katika uchunguzi wa kujitegemea nyumbani kwako. Kwa kuongezea, mtaalamu wa sauti anaweza kusaidia kutambua matatizo mengine ya matibabu kupitia uchunguzi huu wa sikio la nje kama vile kutokwa na maji au kutokwa na damu katika mfereji au hata utambulisho wa mlipuko wa ngozi isiyo ya kawaida au bumps ndani au karibu na sikio ambayo inaweza kuhitaji uchunguzi zaidi wa matibabu. Kwa sababu ya kuonekana kwa sauti, sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti ya sauti. Kwa mfano, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) imetoa miongozo inayoonyesha kiwango cha kelele cha chumba cha karibu (kwa kawaida na kwa muda mrefu) kinachoruhusiwa kwa mtihani sahihi wa kusikia. Ni nadra sana kutimiza viwango hivyo bila chumba kilichojengwa kwa njia ya pekee na kilicho na sauti. Ni muhimu kudhibiti kelele za nyuma wakati wa kutathmini mipaka ya kusikia ya mtu binafsi, kwani kelele za nyuma nyumbani kwako, pamoja na trafiki ya kando ya barabara, skrini za kompyuta, na mifumo ya uingizaji hewa (ili kutaja chache tu) zinaweza kutokeza kelele ambayo itaongeza viwango vya kusikia kwa njia ya bandia wakati wa kukamilisha mtihani wa kusikia mtandaoni kwenye kompyuta yako. Kwa kweli, kuwa na kusikia kwa mtu katika chumba cha sauti sio mazingira halisi ambayo mtu mwenye upotezaji wa kusikia ana matatizo katika hali za kila siku za kusikiliza, lakini katika chumba cha sauti, kusikia kwa msingi (au kusikia bora iwezekanavyo) kunaweza kutambuliwa. Kisha, kusikia kwa njia hiyo husaidia mtaalamu wa kusikia kuelewa kiwango cha upotezaji huo. Kwa kuongezea, kuna viwango vikali vya kusawazisha vichwa vya sauti au vichwa vya sauti katika mazoezi ya mtaalamu wa sauti ambayo hayapo kwa mifumo ya kompyuta ya nyumbani. Matokeo tofauti ya mtihani kutoka kwa mtu mmoja kwenye kompyuta moja ya nyumbani kwa kutumia aina tofauti za vichwa vya sauti au vichwa vya sauti vimetengenezwa. Kwa hiyo hakuna njia ya kujua vipimo au uwezo wa vichwa vya sauti vya nyumbani. Sasa kwamba unaelewa umuhimu wa vifaa vya kusawazisha na kuzingatia mazingira kwa vipimo sahihi vya kusikia, sehemu ya 2 itaelezea aina tofauti za upotezaji wa kusikia na kuzingatia vipimo. Ili kuamua wakati wa kusikiliza, piga simu kwenye ofisi yetu kwa namba 847-685-1000. Wafanyakazi wa ofisi na daktari wa ajabu. Ufundi sana na accommodating. Kwa kweli kumjali mgonjwa. Daktari na wafanyakazi wote walikuwa wazuri na wa kitaaluma. Nilionekana ndani ya dakika tano za kwanza za kuonekana. Nilipata utunzaji wa hali ya juu na ukaguzi wa wasiwasi wangu. Kwa kweli inachukua muda wa kuzungumza na wewe na kujua wasiwasi wako. Kituo cha Masikio, Pua na koo (ENT) ni kituo cha kwanza cha Otolaryngology <unk> Kikundi cha Upasuaji wa Kichwa na Shingo katika vitongoji vya kaskazini vya Chicago. Madaktari wetu wenye ujuzi na huruma wanaweza kukupa maendeleo ya hivi karibuni katika huduma ya jumla ya magonjwa, kansa, na matatizo yanayoathiri masikio (ikiwa ni pamoja na kusikia), pua, mdomo, mzio, sinuses, koo, kichwa, na shingo. Tunatoa kiwango cha juu zaidi cha huduma maalum kwa umri wote kutoka kwa watoto hadi wazee. Kwa kuwa ofisi zetu ziko katika Park Ridge na Buffalo Grove, tunaweza kuwa na huduma nzuri kwa wagonjwa katika vitongoji vya Chicago, pamoja na Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Mount Prospect, Niles, Palatine, Rosemont, Wheeling, na zaidi katika kaunti za Cook na Lake. Wasiliana nasi