Hearing is a sense that allows to detect mechanical waves, known as vibrations. Hearing is vital for us to fully enjoy life. Problems with this sense can lead to isolation and even depression.
The loss of hearing can be sudden, but usually it deteriorates slowly and is unnoticeable for the person concerned until significant hearing impairment. In children the most common causes of hearing loss are ear infections or ear ventilation dysfunction, both of which can lead to glue ear.
This is why it is important to test your hearing, which is safe, takes just a few minutes and gives confirmation of diagnosis.
In our clinic the hearing test is performed by an ENT specialist, using Amplivox 240 audiometer.
The test is painless and non-invasive. The doctor presents sounds of increasing frequencies from the audiometer. Patient has to press a hand-held button every time they hear a sound in the headphones provided. An additional test which gives a full diagnostic picture of hearing loss is tympanometry.
Tympanometry is an objective, non-invasive ENT examination, assessing hearing impairment. It tests the condition of the middle ear and mobility of the eardrum (tympanic membrane) and the conduction bones by creating variations of air pressure in the ear canal.
Tympanometry helps with middle ear evaluation, in particular:
- fluid in tympanic cavity
- impaired ventilation of middle ear
- ossicles stiffness in middle ear (in otosclerosis and tympanosclerosis)
Tympanometry in children is useful for diagnosis of:
- glue ear
- tympanic membrane perforation
- Eustachian tube dysfunction
The test:
The tympanometry test takes just a few minutes. It is non-invasive, painless and doesn’t require any preparation from the patient.
The test is performed by inserting the tympanometer probe into the ear canal. The instrument changes the pressure in the ear and measures how the eardrum responds to it. The results are put into graphs. In our clinic tympanometry is performed using one of the latest tympanometers on the market – Amplvox Otowave 102.
Prior to tympanometry it is necessary to undergo an otoscopic examination.
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