Pure tone audiometry (15 mins)
Is a hearing test to find the quietest sounds that you can hear. Different sounds are presented through headphones or a headband. You are asked to respond to the sounds by pressing a button when you hear them.
Tympanometry (5 mins)
Whilst you are sitting still a soft tipped probe is placed in your ear canal and pressure changes show how the ear drum and middle ear are working.
Acoustic reflex threshold (10 mins)
Short bursts of sound are presented through a soft tipped probe placed in your ear canal to check the working of the small, middle ear muscle.
Eustachian tube function test (10 mins)
A soft tipped probe is placed in the ear canal and records the movement of the ear drum before and after swallowing a sip of water. The Eustachian tube links the middle ear to the back of the throat and serves as a vent to equalise pressure between the atmosphere and the middle ear.
Oto-acoustic emission test (10 mins)
A clicking sound is presented to your ear through a soft probe placed in the outer part of your ear. The probe then records the reflection of sound back from the inner ear .
Speech audiometry (20 mins)
To check how well you can hear speech sounds some words will be presented to each ear in turn through headphones and you will be asked to repeat what you hear. The words are presented at medium, loud and quiet levels.
Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test (20 mins)
This test examines the nerve of hearing as part of the hearing pathway to the brain. Sensors are placed on the skin behind your ears, on your forehead and on the top of your head.
You will then be asked to lie or sit on a couch with your eyes closed and be as relaxed as possible. Headphones will present a loud clicking noise to one ear and a rushing sound in the other. We will be measuring time taken for the sound to get to your brain and will this be repeated for both ears
Tinnitus match and mask (10 mins)
If you suffer from severe tinnitus we can attempt to 'match' and 'mask'. You will be asked to describe your tinnitus and identify which ear it is in, or worst if both affected. A series of sounds will then be played in the opposite ear in an attempt to match the tinnitus.
If this is successful a louder narrow band noise is played into the affected ear until the tinnitus cannot be heard. Occasionally this will result in a quietening of your tinnitus
