Tinnitus Assessment

The Certified Tinnitus Specialists at Hearing Evaluation Services are uniquely equipped to evaluate your tinnitus and certified by the Tinnitus Practitioners Association (TPA). In addition to the standard comprehensive hearing evaluation, our Audiologists provide specialized testing specifically to help patients better understand their customized tinnitus and guide the course of their tinnitus management program.

 

Standard Comprehensive Audiometry

A standard hearing test is the starting point for each of our patients. It allows the audiologist to examine the current status of the patient’s hearing in the range that is most important for speech understanding (0.25-8 kHz) and assists in identifying any underlying hearing loss, which is highly correlated with tinnitus.

 

Ultra High-Frequency Audiometry

Ultra-high frequency audiometry is an extension of the standard audiometric evaluation that allows the audiologist to further examine the patient’s hearing beyond the range that is tested on a standard hearing test. This can help identify patients with ultra-high frequency hearing loss that may not be identified on a standard audiogram, which is highly correlated with tinnitus.

 

Tinnitus Pitch/Loudness Matching and Tinnitus Masking Level

For patients who are significantly bothered by their tinnitus, the audiologist may recommend this testing to better understand the qualities of the patient’s tinnitus, specifically the pitch, and loudness. The audiologist will also assess if the patient’s tinnitus can be masked using various forms of low-level noise. This testing guides the audiologist in creating a customized tinnitus management program.

 

Loudness Discomfort Levels (LDL)

Some patients with tinnitus also experience sound sensitivity or hyperacusis. LDL testing helps the audiologist establish the level of sound patients find truly uncomfortable and identifies patients who may have sound sensitivity issues that would need to be addressed as part of their tinnitus management program.

 

Otoacoustic Emissions

Otoacoustic emissions further evaluate the status of the inner ear, specifically the outer hair cells in the cochlea. This is an objective test used to identify outer hair cell damage that can result in hearing loss and tinnitus.

 

Contact any of our locations to schedule a Tinnitus Assessment. With the proper assessment, educational counseling, sound therapies, and hearing technologies, we can work to decrease your perception of tinnitus or the impact of hyperacusis and improve your quality of life.