How an ENT Can Help Better Your Hearing
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May is Better Speech and Hearing Month. Campbell County Health offers a myriad of services to help better the speech and hearing of our patients. To learn about speech therapy, check out “What is Speech Therapy,” written by our very own Wendy Echols.
And when it comes to hearing loss, our ENT Dr. Ryan Black has several treatment options to improve hearing. With the help of Mayo Clinic, here is how we can diagnose and treat hearing loss in our patients.
Diagnosing
Tests to diagnose hearing loss may include:
Physical exam. A healthcare provider looks in your ear for possible causes of your hearing loss, such as earwax or an infection. The way your ear is formed might cause hearing problems as well.
Screening tests. A whisper test, which involves covering one ear at a time while listening to words spoken at many volumes, can show how you react to other sounds.
App-based hearing tests. You can use a mobile app on your tablet to screen yourself for hearing loss.
Tuning fork tests. Tuning forks are two-pronged, metal instruments that make sounds when hit. Simple tests with tuning forks can help find hearing loss. They may also show where the ear damage is.
Treatment
Treatment depends on the cause of the hearing loss and how bad it is.
Options include:
Removing earwax. Earwax blockage is a cause of hearing loss that can be fixed. A health care provider might remove earwax using suction or a small tool with a loop on the end.
Surgery. Some types of hearing loss can be treated with surgery. For repeated infections that cause fluid in the ear, Campbell County Medical Group ENT Clinic might put in small tubes that help ears drain.
Hearing aids. If hearing loss is from damage to the inner ear, a hearing aid can be helpful. Dr. Black can help patients by providing a consultation for bone-anchored hearing aids and alternatives to traditional hearing aids.
Our ENT Clinic can also screen patients for Cochlear implants. When a regular hearing aid isn't likely to help much, a cochlear implant might be an option. A cochlear implant isn't like a hearing aid that makes sound stronger and directs it into the ear canal. Instead, a cochlear implant goes around the parts of the inner ear that don't work to spur the hearing nerve.
If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulty with their hearing, call Campbell County Medical Group ENT Clinic and schedule an appointment to get you on track to better hearing!
Campbell County Medical Group ENTClinic
- Main Clinic -
501 S. Burma Ave.
Gillette, WY 82718
307.688.0110
