Tests to diagnose hearing loss include a physical exam (ear microscopy), tuning fork tests (Weber-, Rinne-Test), tympanometry, audiometer tests and otoacoustic emmissions (a measure of inner ear health).

Physical exam

Our physicians will look in your ear for possible causes of your hearing loss, such as ear wax (cerumen) or inflammation from an infection. Our physicians will also search for any structural causes of your hearing problems.

Tuning fork test

This simple test can help detect hearing loss. A tuning fork evaluation also reveals wether hearing loss is caused by damage to the middle ear (ossicles and eardrum), damage to inner ear hair cells (cochlea) or auditory nerve, or damage to both.

Tympanometry

This test is not a hearing test but explores the middle ear function as it measures energy transmission through the middle ear. Therefore, tympanometry is a valuable addition to audiometer tests. Tympanometry permits a distinction between conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Tympanometry can be helpful in making the diagnosis of acute or chronic otitis media by demonstrating the presence of a middle ear effusion.

The test is performed by inserting the tympanometer probe in the ear canal (painless). The instrument changes the pressure in the ear, generates a pure tone, and measures the ear drum responses to the sound at different pressures. The data obtained is plotted as a tympanogram.

Audiometer tests (threshold audiometry)

You wear headphones during these more-thorough hearing test and hear sounds directed to one ear at a time. The audiologist presents a range of sounds of various tones and asks you to indicate each time you hear the sound. Each tone is repeated at faint levels to find out when you can barely hear (treshold). The data obtained is plotted as an audiogram.

Otoacoustic emmissions (OAEs)

This test is to determine the hair cell function in the inner ear (cochlea). This information can be used to screen hearing in neonates, infants or individuals with developmental disabillities. The normal cochlea does not just receive sound; it also produces low-intesity sounds called otoacoustic emmissions OAEs. You wear a little probe in the ear tested and have nothing else to do other than listening to a series of sounds and multiple responses of your ear will be averaged and further processed by the OAE-software. The reduction of physiologic and acoustic ambient noise is critical for good recordings. For a quit and cooperative patient, recordings usually require less a few minutes per ear. For an uncooperative or noisy patient, recordings may take significantly longer or may be impossible to obtain on a given visit.