Zounds Hearing believes in the mission of maintaining and sustaining good hearing health through education, protection and early examination and treatment. Like an annual Physical, Eye Exam and Teeth Cleaning, regular hearing evaluations are an essential and important part of maintaining overall health.

Most importantly, is to understand the difference between a basic Hearing Screening and a complete Hearing Evaluation for efficiency, convenience and, sometimes, cost.

A Hearing Screening is a quick way to learn if you have any level of hearing loss; if you ‘pass’ the most basic levels of hearing function, then no additional evaluation would be needed. If the Screening indicates any level of hearing loss than you must schedule a more in-depth evaluation by an Audiologist or expert Hearing Aid Dispenser that determines the degree of hearing loss, the kind of hearing loss and the treatment options available and that are most personally relevant to you.

In our opinion, a thorough and complete Hearing Evaluation is the most optimal use of your time – and only benefits your understanding as to how your hearing thrives, relates to and often, determines your experience to your environment. Zounds Hearing offers free hearing evaluations at all of our Hearing Centers to eliminate the possibility of cost being an obstacle to learning the status of your hearing health.

When you meet with our Audiologist for the first time, we walk you through a Personalized Hearing Health Assessment form to help understand your personal lifestyle, habits and favorite activities, described in your own words and in your own story, which ultimately helps us recommend and fit you with the best Hearing Aid, if necessary, for your individual needs.

We also explore together your personal Health and Hearing Health History. From a history of high blood pressure, diabetes to kidney function, sleeping issues and even the medications you’ve taken through the years or are currently prescribed, can illuminate the results of your evaluation.

We recommend bringing a spouse, loved one or a friend when you’re being tested or fitted for hearing aids because, not only do they know you best, there’s a personal level of comfort as well as a literal, physical ‘familiarity’ with the sound of their voice. We want you to ‘test out’ your improved hearing with the voices that are most familiar and regular in your everyday life.

There are several ways to measure your hearing function – from the levels of sounds to different types, pitch, tone and speech. But we begin with the most basic exam, a visual look of your ear with an Otoscope, making it possible to see inside the ear canal to the outer and middle ear.

Keep in mind that a good Audiologist or Licensed Hearing Dispenser will (and should) explain every step of the evaluation process – the procedure, the purpose and the results you could anticipate and their significance in context of the whole exam. For instance, the role and consequences of ear wax. Ear wax, also known as cerumen, serves to protect the skin of the inner ear canal – from outside dirt, particles, water and insects – and helps provide natural cleaning and lubricating. But, an excess or compacted amount, beyond an ordinary, naturally produced level, can press against the eardrum, becoming an obstacle to clear hearing. If this is witnessed within the initial Visual Exam, a thorough ear wax removal should address your initial hearing loss concerns.

The next step is the Pure Tone Hearing Test. We conduct this in a soundproof booth, where we place headphones on your ears and our Audiologist, facing you through a window, will transmit a range of beeps, at different levels, and as you hear each one you raise your hand or, in some cases, press a button in response. The Pure Tone test measures the ‘threshold’ of your ability to hear frequencies of sound as well as actual loudness.

We then evaluate your ability to hear Speech. Interestingly, our hearing health is comprised of the ability to not only hear at a range of volume, but also to discern and comprehend specific speech sounds. How many times have you heard the sound of someone’s voice, but could not understand their words?

You’ll hear a variety of words and phrases, each at different volume levels, which we ask you to repeat out loud. This identifies specific speech pronunciation and word combinations which may be more challenging to hear than others.

Finally, a Bone Conduction Test is performed which assesses the quality of hearing from your inner ear. Unlike the Pure Tone Test, which sends sounds through your outer ear, the Bone Conduction Test transmits tones directly to your inner ear with a device that fits on your head behind your ears, literally bypassing your outer and middle ear.

We will compile all the results from the three tests into a single graph called an Audiogram. This visually depicts the type, the extent and pattern of hearing loss across a range of sounds and frequencies. Whether one ear is more or less impacted, specific volumes of sound or higher vs. lower frequencies of sound, the Audiogram illustrates the entire picture of your hearing health. This allows us to customize the type of Hearing Aid or recommended treatment based on your own individual needs if any hearing loss exists.

The key component to understanding your results and your options for support is the detailed explanation, education and personal guidance that can only be provided by an experienced Audiologist or Hearing Professional. A complete Hearing and Lifestyle Evaluation serves to see each person as an individual in the context of their unique environment, daily behavior and personal needs.

We encourage you to call us at 212-879-2329 to meet with our Hearing Professionals for a free assessment of your hearing health and learn more about the ways you can protect and sustain the health you have and the sounds you love.