Hearing loss affects nearly 400 million people worldwide, and in Australia about one in five people have difficulty hearing.  Many causes of hearing loss cannot be medically treated, but can be helped with hearing aids.

Audiologists try to identify the cause of hearing loss; quantify the amount of difficulty it’s causing, and provide advice and support in overcoming the hearing difficulty. An audiologist is a sort of cross between a hearing loss detective and remediation therapist.

One of the major roles of an audiologist is advising a client how to improve their participation in communication, by correcting the hearing loss, and advising on hearing and listening tactics. Many people who have hearing loss will withdraw from situations where they find listening difficult, such as work, family and social activities because it is too much effort to fully participate. This withdrawal may lead to symptoms associated with social isolation, including anxiety and depression.

Audiologists use a variety of tests to find out how much difficulty the hearing loss is causing you, so that they can give the most appropriate advice.  This will include listening to lots of words, and understanding how well you can hear and understand speech in quiet and in noise.  The audiologist looks for signs of different causes of the hearing loss, in order to give advice about the type of hearing loss.  This is called “differential diagnosis” and will be used by an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to help in their advice and management of the hearing problem.  The audiologist will ask you lots of questions to help understand the cause of hearing loss.  For example, the audiologist may ask you about your general health and medical history; your family’s history of hearing difficulties; medications that you may be taking; your ear health history; your previous experience of hearing aids; and whether you have ever heard loud noises, and for how long.
The audiologist will look down your ears with a special magnifying light to see if the ear canals and ear drums are healthy.   The audiologist may refer you to a medical doctor at this point, and will explain why a medical examination is advisable.   The audiologist will also carry out a test of how well the mechanical part of the ear is working.  That’s the part of the ear that is between the ear drum and the inner ear.

Often the audiologist will tell their client that there is a lot of wax in their ear.  Ear wax, more correctly called cerumen, is produced by the ear as an automatic ear cleaning process.   It’s normal in healthy ears, but some people produce more than others, and it can be a nuisance if you use hearing aids or earbuds. Having something in your ear stimulates wax generation, and also changes what you hear, as it blocks the ear.  Often people who complain of noises in the ear are experiencing excessive ear wax build up.   The audiologist will remove the ear wax in most situations, but sometimes the nature of the wax is such that the audiologist will refer the client to a wax nurse or doctor.

Audiologists advise clients on appropriate hearing aids, cochlear implants or other assistive listening devices.   If a client gets hearing aids, the audiologist also spends time with the client advising them on how to look after their hearing aids.  It’s important that one can learn to use and care for them well.  Failure to do so, will shorten the life of the hearing aids, and reduce their value to the user.

For example, many hearing impaired people find that they have trouble understanding speech in background noise or on the telephone. They may be hearing aid users and find that the hearing aids do not work well anymore. The audiologist will ensure the hearing aids are working well in background noise, advise on the best positions to sit, ensure your hearing aids have the appropriate technology. They will demonstrate how to achieve success on the phone and how to maintain the hearing aids so they continue to perform well. You may need a custom made ear plug to use in noisy places, on aircraft or for swimming. Your audiologist can do this for you.

The client will be advised when to seek help.  The audiologist’s goal is for the client to be as self-sufficient as possible, so will provide clear instructions for hearing aid use and care.  The audiologist will also spend time making sure the client understands the hearing aid controls.

It can take a while for a new user to get used to the new sounds.  Because hearing loss makes some sounds softer, then the hearing aids make those sounds loud again.. Audiologists will advise on how to make the most of your hearing aids; how to best get accustomed to the new sounds and how to integrate the new hearing into their lives.

Hearing aids whistle occasionally. Usually this is easily fixed by removing ear wax or asking your audiologist to fit better sized ear tips, using an earmold or making some adjustments to the hearing aid settings. Hearing aids vary in the degree to which they whistle, and the audiologist can advise you on what’s possible with different devices and different situations.

The audiologist will write a comprehensive report for you and your doctors, unless they are working for a medical doctor, where the doctor may write the report.

Today, some audiologists do this work over the internet, so that if you want help with hearing advice or hearing aid management, you don’t have to leave your house.  This is called tele-audiology.

Some audiologists are specialists.  For example, an audiologist may specialise in investigating hearing disorders that are accompanied with balance disorders.  Some audiologists specialise is testing the hearing of people who aren’t able to participate in standard tests, and where automated measurements are needed. Some audiologists are specialists in working with hearing aids.

At Blamey Saunders our audiologists have a range of specialities between them, but overall our goal is to help you participate as fully as you would like in the activities of your choice.  We try to understand your hearing and communication problems, and then advise.  We try to make listening easier and, if we can’t, we try to find you a way to good hearing health management.