Patient Guide
Never had a hearing assessment as an adult? Here's exactly what happens during your first visit, step by step, with no surprises. The whole appointment takes about an hour, requires no referral, and is completely painless.
The Appointment
Your audiologist will start by getting to know you: your hearing concerns, medical history, any noise exposure, medications you take, and how hearing difficulty (if any) is affecting your daily life. This conversation shapes everything that follows.
What to know
Using a small handheld otoscope, your audiologist will examine your ear canals and eardrums. This rules out simple physical causes of hearing difficulty, like earwax buildup, before the listening tests begin. It's quick and completely painless.
What to know
You'll sit in a quiet, sound-treated booth wearing headphones. Each time you hear a tone, played at different pitches and volumes, you press a button. This maps the softest sounds you can detect across the full frequency range. The result is your audiogram.
What to know
Pure tones tell us your thresholds, while speech tests tell us how clearly you understand what you hear. You'll repeat back words and sentences at different volumes, sometimes in quiet and sometimes with background noise. This is often the most revealing part of the assessment.
What to know
A brief, painless test that checks how your eardrum and middle ear are functioning. A small probe gently varies air pressure in the ear canal and measures the eardrum's response. The whole thing takes about 30 seconds per ear.
What to know
Once all testing is complete, your audiologist walks you through your results in plain language, no jargon. If hearing loss is present, they'll explain the type, degree, and what it means for daily life. If hearing aids or other strategies are appropriate, you'll discuss those options without pressure.
What to know
Be Prepared
Nothing on this list is strictly required, but having these items helps your audiologist give you the most complete picture possible.
After Your Visit
If your hearing is within normal limits, you'll leave with a copy of your audiogram as a baseline for future comparison. We'll recommend when to return for your next check-up.
If hearing loss is present, your audiologist will explain the results clearly: the type, the degree, and what it means for your day-to-day life. If hearing aids are appropriate, you'll discuss options at your own pace. There's no obligation and no pressure to decide anything on the day.
If further investigation is needed, for example if something suggests a medical cause, we'll coordinate a referral to your family physician or an ENT specialist and explain exactly why.
No referral needed. Call us or book online, we'll take care of everything from there.