Hearing Services

Hearing Evaluations

The journey to better hearing can be an easy one with the proper care. The first step on that journey is a hearing evaluation. We specialize in getting to the root of your hearing concerns with our thorough and highly accurate hearing evaluations.

We begin these appointments by getting to know you. Understanding your history, current symptoms or concerns, and unique hearing needs for your lifestyle helps us determine the cause of and solution for any hearing issues we may uncover. We then examine your ear to check for any physical obstructions or abnormalities. This is a brief and painless look into your ear canal to make sure everything is clear and healthy.

Next comes a complete hearing test—designed to evaluate the thresholds (the volume and frequency limits) of sound that you’re able to hear. You’ll be asked to wear a pair of specialized headphones and indicate when you can clearly hear the various sounds emitted. These tests reveal the extent, type, and details of your unique hearing loss, if any is present at all. Since there are different types and degrees of hearing loss, each needs to be treated in a specific way. Once completed, we then review the results of these tests with you in detail.

If our hearing evaluation detects a hearing loss, rest assured that there are many treatment options available. And none of them are clunky or outdated. We’ll walk you through all of them and answer any questions you have. Our recommendations are always based on your unique hearing and lifestyle needs, and our professionals take the time to ensure that you’re loving the results.

Hearing Aid Fittings and Programming

Hearing is a complex and wondrous process. But once hearing loss occurs, it can take some time to regain the ability to hear lost sounds again. Unlike wearing glasses to help with poor eyesight, wearing hearing aids to help with hearing loss requires an acclimation phase to get used to your new instruments. At Sound Answers, we prefer to take our time with the adaptation process. All hearing aids have a 45 day trial period to ensure your success.

When you select your preferred hearing aids at our office, we’ll program them to your precise hearing requirements and adjust their settings to make them as comfortable as possible. This will likely require starting off at a lower volume to allow you to experience the additional level of sound gradually. We’ll also get you acquainted with your new devices by reviewing how to use their controls and how to best care for them, including details on proper storage and cleaning, battery replacement, and what to avoid.

You’re encouraged to begin wearing your new hearing aids as soon as you’ve purchased them. But be aware: things will sound a bit odd at first. Consider that your brain has to relearn how to process various long-lost sounds, a process that takes some time. It helps to begin slow and gradually increase the amount of time that you wear your hearing aids each day in that first week of owning them. We also schedule regular follow-up appointments during your adjustment phase to check in on your progress and slowly increase the level of sound. Once we’ve reached a prescriptive target, we’ll thoroughly test the devices to ensure the best possible fit. We’ll clean your hearing aids to keep them in good condition, and make any adjustments needed to help you hear clearly. In between these appointments, we’re just a phone call away and encourage our patients to contact us with any questions or concerns they may have.

Tinnitus Management

Tinnitus (pronounced ti-ni-tis), or “ringing in the ears,” is the perception of a sound in one or both ears, without there being an external cause for that sound. Typically experienced as a ringing, buzzing, clicking, hissing, or roaring, the sounds heard with tinnitus can be intermittent or constant, loud or soft. While the experience of tinnitus can vary widely, the effect upon sufferers is often similar: difficult and tiresome.

Tinnitus is somewhat of an enigma. Its cause can be as elusive as its cure. Tinnitus is not a disease, but instead a symptom that something is wrong in the ear, the auditory nerve, and/or the parts of the brain that process sound. Something as simple as a piece of earwax blocking the ear canal can cause tinnitus. There are several other possible causes for tinnitus, however many are actually unknown.

At Sound Answers Hearing & Speech we know how hard hearing loss can be. It’s why we’re strong advocates for preventing hearing loss from happening at all. We offer a full array of custom hearing protection to provide you with maximum protection and all-day comfort. These are ideal for:

• Air traffic controllers
• Musicians (Musician In-ear Monitors or IEMs)
• Concert fans
• Industrial & Construction personnel
• Hunters
• Sleep plug users
• Law Enforcement
• Woodworkers
• Machinists
• Swimmers
• Divers