GP referrals for the West Cheshire PCT area only - The Hearing Assessment Appointment

Please note that Arrowe Park Hospital Audiology are no longer receiving GP referrals from the Wirral PCT area

This appointment will last approximately 45 minutes. The audiologist will ask you about your hearing, explain the procedure to you and you will have an opportunity to ask questions. The procedures carried out during your appointment may feel slightly strange on occasion but they are entirely safe and do not cause any discomfort.

The audiologist will look in your ears using an otoscope.

The hearing test is administered in a soundproof booth with a set of headphones over the ears. These are connected to an audiometer. The audiometer produces tones at specific frequencies and set levels to each ear independently.

The audiologist plots the loudness (in decibels) on an audiogram (graph). The person having their hearing tested will show that they have heard the tone by pressing a button. As the test progresses, the audiologist plots these responses on the audiogram.

In order to determine what kind of hearing loss is present, a bone conduction hearing test is performed. In this test, a small bone conductor is placed behind the ear. The bone conductor vibrates at specific frequencies, and the person being tested hears tones or beeps just like in the test with headphones.

Information from the tests can used to programme your hearing aids.

As soon as the tests are completed, the audiologist will talk to you about the results and discuss with you the options available. You may be offered two behind the ear hearing aids if these are likely to be of more help to you. If you decide to try hearing aids, impressions may be taken of your ears to make ear moulds that are custom-made to fit your ears.