 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Video Otoscopy is used to display the inside of your ear on a TV screen where you and the hearing aid audiologist can see your ear canal clearly. Video Otoscopy is used to check the condition of your eardrum and ear canal and will show up any wax, foreign bodies or medical conditions that could be causing a hearing loss. It will also give an indication of what style of hearing instrument would be suitable for the size and shape of your ear canal. Everyone’s ears are different: some people’s ear canals are more bendy or larger or shorter than other peoples. The shape of our ears have an effect on the way we hear sound. When a hearing instrument is set up for your hearing loss by the manufacturer they don’t have the advantage of having your ear present for them to test it ‘in-situ’. Real Ear Measurement is one of the ways round this. While the hearing instrument is in your ear a tiny probe microphone is inserted that measures sound going into the hearing instrument and sound going out of the instrument. The sound going in is the normal sound which hasn’t yet been amplified by the hearing instrument. The sound going out of the instrument is the sound that has been amplified. Real Ear Measurement can be used to make sure that your hearing instrument is doing the job it’s supposed to. If it’s not then modifications can be made accordingly. Sometimes a hearing instrument stops working properly – perhaps it seems to have lost power, perhaps the battery is draining quicker than it should do, or perhaps it’s sounding fuzzy. That’s when a test box is useful. It runs a series of tests on a hearing instrument and compares the results to the manufacturer’s specification sheet. If the results are different then it can help pinpoint where the problem lies. Although we teach our clients how to look after their hearing instruments by cleaning them regularly, occassionally the hearing instruments need a little help from our AuraCare system. It incorporates a number of tools, including a vacuum chamber for drawing out moisture, a needle-sized vacuum-cleaner for safely getting into those tight spaces, and a vibrating chamber for dislodging any debris that may have attached itself. A tympanometer is used to measure how flexible your eardrum is. Some problems with the eardrum or middle ear can cause the eardrum to become more flexible or more rigid than normal. If, for example, you have fluid behind your eardrum (e.g. an ear infection or glue ear) or if your ossicular chain (i.e. hammer, anvil and stapes) is damaged it will show up on the tympanometer. It's a helpful indication of whether we need to refer you to your GP. Each of our hearing aid audiologists is equipped with a laptop PC that is specially configured to program hearing aids. A programmable hearing aid can be linked up to the laptop while the aid is in your ear and then adjusted using the computer. Because you are listening to the new settings as they are being made you can determine whether or not the change has helped or not. The laptop PC is particularly useful in the initial stages of wearing a new hearing aid because as you wear it ‘in real life’ during those first months you will almost certainly encounter situtations where the aid needs adjusting to your lifestyle. Another time when the laptop computer may be used is if your hearing changes over the course of time, perhaps due to something temporary such as a cold or of course if your hearing is just deteriorating with age. The computer is used to tap in to the reserve power in your hearing instrument to give you that extra help.
|
||||||||
 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
Click here if you'd like to make an appointment