021 6010223 | info@kinsalehearing.ie | 71 Lower O’Connell Street, Kinsale, Co. Cork, P17 XN79, IE
Ruth Hadley MISHAA
Clinical Audiologist & Hearing Therapist
Hearing Assessments
All hearing assessments will be individually tailored on a personal needs basis with the goal to complete a standardised test battery to get as much information on the auditory/vestibular system as possible and hopefully, make a diagnosis on the same day. Depending on the client's developmental, attention and fatigue levels sometimes the assessment has to be split across two appointments. Full assessment reports can be provided at an extra cost for educational needs. Recommendations for onward referrals to other health care professionals i.e. GPs, ENT and Speech and Language Therapy, to aid a diagnosis and treatment will also be provided, if needed.
****If you suspect any ear wax blockage prior to any appointment at Kinsale Hearing please have this checked by your Nurse Practitioner at your registered GP and make sure this has been removed completely****
Adult Hearing Assessments
During a 1 hour adult hearing assessment, all areas of the hearing system are examined, this includes:
- Full History
- Otoscopy is the examination of the ear canal and ear drum identifying potential physical abnormalities related to a hearing loss
- Tympanometryis used to evaluate the movement of the eardrum and status of the middle ear.
- Pure-Tone Audiometry tests air and bone conduction to determine the type of hearing loss.
- Speech Audiometry (optional)
- Uncomfortable Loudness Level Measurements (optional)
Types of Hearing Loss:
- A conductive hearing loss results from potential problems in the outer and/or middle ear.
- A sensori-neural hearing loss is caused by problems in the inner ear- cochlea and auditory nerve.
- A mixed hearing loss is a combination of both conductive and sensorineural.
Paediatric Hearing Assessments
During a 1 hour paediatric hearing assessment, all areas of the hearing system are examined, this includes:
- Full History
Otoscopy
An examination of the ear canal and ear drum identifying potential physical abnormalities related to a hearing loss.Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (>9 months old)
While assessing your child’s hearing he/she will sit on the parent or caregivers lap. Your child will be conditioned to respond to a sound stimuli by turning his or her head. The child is rewarded accordingly with pictures on reinforcement screens. The most repeatable softest hearing levels will be recorded and plotted onto an Audiogram.Play Audiometry (2-5 years old)
Your child can either sit with you or on his own. The aim is to condition your child via playing a game with the tester, for example by putting a ball in a basket every time when a sound is heard. The repeatable softest hearing levels are recorded.Puretone Audiometry (>5 years old)
This test uses headphones or insert eartips. Your child responds by pressing a button when a sound is heard. The repeatable softest hearing levels are recorded.Tympanometry (All ages)
This test is used to assess middle ear function. It is useful in determining if the middle ear has abnormal air pressure and helps detect the presence of fluid.Acoustic Reflexes (> 9 months old) (optional)
This is an objective hearing test. Sounds are presented in one or both ears to determine the status of middle ear function.Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs) (from birth)
This is an objective test which is used to determine cochlear (inner ear) function by placing a soft ear plug in your child’s ear. The stimulus is presented and an echo is recorded simultaneously using the same soft plug.Speech discrimination test (> 9 months old) (optional)
This age- and development appropriate speech discrimination test can be performed to cross-check children’s behavioural hearing thresholds.
Impression Taking
Please contact us at Kinsale Hearing - we provide custom-made moulds, swim plugs, noise protection and musicians’ ear plugs.
Swimming plugs and ear moulds (All ages)
Ear impressions can be taken for ordering custom-made swimming plugs, ideal for preventing recurrent ear infections and post middle ear surgeries. Various ear-moulds for hearing aid users and custom-made musician earplugs are also available.