What is an Audiologist and Why Do I Need One?

October is audiology month

October is Audiology Awareness Month, which promotes awareness of the work audiologists do to help diagnose and treat hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness and balance disorders. 

What is an Audiologist?

An audiologist is a degreed professional who specializes in the diagnosis and non-medical treatment of hearing loss, tinnitus, and balance disorders.

Audiologists can: 

  •     Test hearing and balance 
  •     Recommend, service, and adjust hearing aids 
  •     Recommend and provide assistive listening devices (products to enhance telephone conversations, television viewing, etc.)
  •     Provide tinnitus assessment and management 
  •     Provide education regarding the effects of noise on hearing and prevention of hearing loss 
  •     Deliver counseling and aural rehabilitation (counseling, education, auditory training/exercises)
  •     Assess balance, dizziness and vertigo with treatment for dizziness from BPPV

Education and Training

Audiologists receive extensive education in hearing and balance disorders. These professionals have earned postgraduate masters and/or doctoral degrees. A doctoral degree is now required for graduates practicing after 2012. You may look for the initials Au.D., (Doctor of Audiology—clinical degree); Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy—research and/or clinical research degree); or Sc.D. (Doctor of Science—usually a clinical degree) to designate doctoral training.

As part of their four-year doctoral training, audiologists spend a final year completing an externship experience supervised by a licensed audiologist. The externship provides practical, hands-on, advanced experience.

Specialization

Audiologists specialize in a variety of areas, including prescribing, fitting, and adjusting hearing aids and other hearing assistive devices. In addition, audiologists also screen the hearing of newborns, teach listening skills and strategies, assess individuals with central auditory processing disorders, diagnose and manage tinnitus and misophonia (sound sensitivity) and diagnose and treat dizziness and balance disorders.

Audiologists may be invited to provide clinical teaching and adjunct clinical supervision at universities and colleges that have audiology programs.

Hearing Aid Technology

Hearing aids are medical devices regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and must be recommended, prescribed, and fit by licensed professionals. This standard is in place to protect the individual with hearing loss, because not all individuals are candidates for hearing aids.

There are hundreds of hearing aids available with a wide variety of features. An audiologist not only uses advanced diagnostic testing to determine your type of hearing loss, but can use this information to determine the best hearing aid solution for your specific needs and budget.

Digital hearing aids utilize tiny computer processors. They can be programmed, but if they are not adjusted correctly for your specific hearing loss, you could purchase a hearing aid and not receive the full benefit. An audiologist who follows best practices and uses the correct verification equipment has the expertise to program your hearing aids for your individual hearing needs.

Associated Audiologists

The Associated Audiologists team features professionals who use advanced diagnostic and verification technology to diagnose and treat hearing loss. The practice offers digital hearing aid products from the world’s most respected manufacturers backed by unparalleled service. We also have experts who specialize in diagnosing and managing tinnitus and sound sensitivity, and dizziness and balance disorders.

Each of our associates is a doctoral-level audiologist. Our audiologists are members of the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA) and hold certificates of clinical competence in audiology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Many of our team members are also adjunct professors at the University of Kansas Medical Center. 

 

Schedule an appointment with a doctoral-level audiologist today.