The ears are an extremely important part of our daily lives, contributing to many different functions of the body. Ears help with balance and without proper treatment and without seeing an audiologist, your symptoms may get worse quickly. To make sure that you have total ear health, it’s important to see an audiologist.
What is an audiologist?
An audiologist is a health care professional that can evaluate, diagnose, treat, and manage things like hearing loss, tinnitus, and balance disorders in children and adults.
What Can an Audiologist Do?
Your audiologist can help with many different issues and there are many different forms of treatment that your audiologist may prescribe for you.
An audiologist can do many things to help take care of your ears, such as:
- Prescribe and fit hearing aids
- Recommend implantable hearing devices, such as cochlear, bone-anchored, middle ear, and auditory brainstem implants
- Design and implement hearing conservation programs
- Provide rehabilitation programs such as auditory training, speech reading, and improving listening skills.
Almost all types of hearing loss are treatable by audiologists and your audiologist can help determine the best treatment plan for you. When hearing loss is caused by nerve damage, it can usually be treated by an audiologist with hearing aids, assistive listening devices, and hearing rehabilitation.
Most audiologists earn a doctor of audiology degree, and some may even earn a doctor of philosophy or doctor of science degree in the hearing and balance sciences. It is also mandatory that an audiologist is registered and licensed for practice in the state that they work in.
Make sure that you call your local audiologist to ask any questions about what your audiologist can do for you and to schedule an appointment today so that your ears stay in perfect health!