How to Prepare for Your Upcoming Hearing Test

A hearing test, administered by an audiologist, is a straightforward procedure aimed at identifying potential issues with your hearing. It offers an opportunity to assess your auditory health and detect any problems that may be present. To ensure the test is effective, it’s important to understand the need for minimal preparation beforehand. So, what can you do to prepare for your upcoming hearing test?

Get Your Medical Information Ready

Your medical information and history can be very relevant to your hearing test. First of all, you want to make sure that you have accurate contact information to hand in at the reception. Certain aspects of your medical history can affect your hearing. For instance, blood pressure medicine is known to affect hearing, so be sure to provide as complete a medical history as possible. By providing your medical history, an audiologist can check to see if your hearing loss is genetic or related to other medical conditions you may be experiencing.

Consider Getting Your Ears Cleaned

If you suspect you have excess earwax, it could potentially interfere with your hearing test. Prior to the test, you may consider having your ears cleaned. Fortunately, your audiologist can perform this task for you. Simply contact them at your earliest convenience, and they can arrange a cleaning either before or at the beginning of your appointment, if scheduling permits. Avoid attempting to clean your ears at home using cotton buds or similar items, as this can cause the wax to be pushed further into your ear canal.

Write Any Questions You Might Have

It’s only natural that you might have questions, whether it’s about your hearing health, symptoms, the hearing test itself or any concerns that you may have for your audiologist. If you want to make sure that you don’t forget these questions before you get to ask them, it can always be a good idea to write them down ahead of time. Otherwise, you might want to consider bringing someone with you, who can ask those questions and note down any information on your behalf. Bringing a friend or family member can help you as well, in case you miss out on some information.

What to Do If You Have a Cold

If you have a cold, the flu or any other sickness that might be affecting your sinuses, then you want to get in touch with your audiologist to reschedule your visit. More specific to your hearing test, however, is the fact that the fluid and pressure buildup in your sinuses can affect your hearing, which can throw off the results of your test, so it’s likely better to simply reschedule it.

If you want to make sure that you’re not missing anything, at all, then you can always call your audiologist for advice, they will be able to answer any questions you have regarding your hearing health. If you want to learn more about hearing test, or a specific hearing aid schedule an appointment with an audiologist.