Audiologists are healthcare professionals who evaluate, diagnosis, treat and manage hearing loss, tinnitus and balance disorders. An audiologist is a person who holds a minimum of a Master’s degree and audiology.

Audiologists use specialized equipment to obtain accurate results about hearing loss. These tests are typically conducted in sound-treated rooms with calibrated equipment. The audiologists is trained to inspect the eardrum with an otoscope, perform limited ear wax removal, conduct diagnostic audio logic tests, and check for medically-related hearing problems.

Audiologists are educated to recognize these medical problems and refer patients to ear, nose and throat physicians (known as Otolaryngologists). Most persons with hearing impairment can benefit from the use of hearing aids; audiologists are knowledgeable about the latest applications of hearing aid technology.

Good hearing is essential to the social and intellectual development of infants and young children. Audiologists test hearing and identify hearing loss in children of any age. This includes newborn and infant hearing screening and diagnostic hearing tests with young children. Audiologists provide hearing therapy and fit hearing aids on babies and young children with hearing loss.

Audiologists are vitally concerned that every person, regardless of age, benefit from good hearing. Audiologists provide individual counseling to help those with hearing loss function more effectively in social, educational and occupational environments. It is a fact of life that we lose hearing acuity, as we grow older, and this hearing loss has been associated with increased chance of falling, and with loss of mental acuity. Audiologists are committed to helping senior citizens to hear better.

Audiologists provide complete hearing aid services to clients with hearing problems. Audiologists are also experts with assistive listening equipment and personal alerting devices. Audiologists provide education and training so that persons with hearing impairment can benefit from amplification and communication devices.

Auditory Processing (also called Central Auditory Processing) refers to the means by which we make sense of what we hear. Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a term for the variety of disorders that affect the way the brain processes information.

Tinnitus may originate from cerumen (wax) impaction, past noise trauma, hereditary factors, middle ear fluid, Menieres inner ear symptom, a stuck stapes (otosclerosis), medications including aspirin, high blood pressure, a skin cyst of the middle ear (cholesteatoma), jaw joint pain (TMJ) and rarely an inner ear tumor: acoustic neuroma.

Dizziness is a symptom not a disease. It may be defined as a sensation of unsteadiness, imbalance, or disorientation in relation to an individual’s surroundings. In the case of positional dizziness, when testing is positive for a "crstal" loose in the inner ear, the EPLEY maneuver can be curative.

The audiologist has equipment and training to allow detection of middle ear fluid/eustachian tube dysfunction.

Well over 5 thousand children are born profoundly deaf each year in the United States alone. Another 10 to 15 percent of newborns have a partial hearing handicap.

Tinnitus is an abnormal perception of a sound which is reported by patients that is unrelated to an external source of stimulation. Tinnitus is a very common disorder.

ALDs can increase the loudness of desired sounds, such as a radio, television, or a public speaker, without increasing the loudness of the background noises.

People with all degrees and types of hearing loss — even people with normal hearing can benefit from assistive listening devices.

The term digital is used so often today, it can be confusing. When a hearing aid is termed digital, it generally means the hearing aid uses 100% digital processing. In other words, the hearing aid is indeed a complete computer.

All batteries are toxic and dangerous if swallowed. Keep all batteries (and hearing aids) away from children and pets. If anyone swallows a battery it is a medical emergency and the individual needs to see a physician immediately.

Results of the audiometric evaluation are plotted on a chart called an audiogram. Percent hearing loss can not be determined from this chart because it is "logarithmic", it does not stop at '100'.

There are many styles of hearing aids. The degree of the hearing loss, power and options required, manual dexterity abilities, cost factors, and cosmetic concerns are some of the factors that will determine the style the patient will use.

Hearing loss occurs to most people as they age. Hearing loss can be due to the aging process, exposure to loud noise, certain medications, infections, head or ear trauma, congenital (birth or prenatal) or hereditary factors, diseases, as well as a number of other causes.