Hearing Testing

Consulting a Hearing Professional

If you think that you have a hearing problem, the first step is to schedule an appointment with your primary care physician. If he or she detects a hearing problem, you will be referred to a specialist.

Otolaryngologist: This is a doctor who has special training in problems of the ear, nose, throat, head and neck. The otolaryngologist can examine you to find out why you have a hearing loss and offer treatment options. He or she will ask you for your medical history, ask if other family members have hearing problems, do a thorough exam and prescribe tests.

Audiologist: An audiologist is a health professional who can identify and measure hearing loss. The audiologist may use several diagnostic hearing evaluations to determine the nature and severity of your hearing loss. The audiologist also may determine if hearing aids are an appropriate solution to your hearing needs.

What You Need to Know

Optimal hearing is important for everyone: children, adults and older adults.
Untreated hearing loss can get worse.
There are a lot of treatment options for hearing loss.
Your options for hearing loss treatment improve with early detection.

Choosing a Solution to Help Your Hearing

After carefully evaluating you and your hearing, the specialist may recommend solutions such as hearing health strategies. Scientists are studying ways to develop new, more effective methods to treat and prevent hearing loss. New hearing technologies have advanced far beyond what was available even a few years ago. Your doctor can recommend strategies to help improve your hearing health, including alternatives to hearing aids.

Hearing aids

Unfortunately, only 20 percent of people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wear one. They risk missing out on improved hearing that can benefit their lives professionally, socially and emotionally.

A hearing aid is an electronic, battery-operated device that makes sounds louder to the wearer, and today they come in many shapes, sizes and styles. Some hearing aids fit inside the ear canal, while others fit behind the ear.

If your professional has recommended a hearing aid for you, you should know that the audiologists at Johns Hopkins have the experience and expertise to help find the right device for your needs and lifestyle.

We work with the companies that make and develop hearing technologies and have a wide array of hearing aids for you to choose from. Your audiologist will work closely with you on testing, fitting and fine-tuning your hearing device so that it works as well as possible for you.