doctorofaudiology
16 Years Experience
Marlboro, NJ
Male, 40
I've been an audiologist for 16 years. I work with all types of patients, focusing on balance disorders, tinnitus, and hearing aids. As I have worked in an Ear, Nose, Throat setting much of my career, I am also exposed to much of the medical side of audiology. ASK ME ANYTHING about being an audiologist.
DISCLAIMER: If you feel that you have a hearing or balance issue, please be sure to see your local ENT or audiologist. This Q&A is not designed to treat or diagnose your problems.
Loaded question, my friend! Auditory Processing Disorders, in short, are related to how the brain processes auditory information and cues. Some will have difficulty understanding certain sounds, while others have difficulty hearing under specific listening conditions. Central Auditory Processing Disorders (CAPD) can be diagnosed through a battery of tests, generally lasting around 2 hours in duration. These tests focus on different listening conditions and different stimuli and how the ears and brain work to process it. An audiologist performs and interprets the results. Personally, it is hard to say "how common" it is, as many who suffer with CAPD do not have tests and "live with it" through adulthood. Testing is more common today, as parents test their kids for everything. As a result, more children are being discovered as opposed to being called dyslexic or Attention Defecit Disorders. Processing, as a rule, declines over the years...and TBI contributes. TBI can affect certain areas of the brain dealing with auditory stimuli and processing of that data.
I am not sure of your question, but I will answer in a few different ways. I am currently part of an ENT practice and utilize its software for my patient database. I personally do not like it, thus will not recommend it on here. As for other software, audiologists utiliize a program called NOAH for hearing aid programming. This is a database gateway that is pretty universal...we don't really know of any other. Each manufacturer has its own programming software as well. Some are more user friendly than others. I own a computer based audiology system by a brand called Interacoustics. It's not that user friendly, but once you get the hang of it, it's great to run. For my balance testing, I utilize Micromedical software. It's simple and easy to run.
I am not sure what you are referring to. Please clarify, especially if you have a website.
You may utilize alternate forms of response. Generally, if the person is verbal but has good receptive language, you can utilize button pressing for pure tones. If they are cognitively incapable, you may utilize child methods, such as play audiometry or visual reinforcement. Instead of an SRT, you may utilize an SDT, Speech detection threshold. This would be a cross check to pure tones. As for speech stimuli, there are also picture boards that the patient may be able to point to. More than one way to skin a cat!
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When do your policies allow you to hang up on a rude caller?Perhaps. It can vary case by case. Sometimes we can have delayed reponses...or rather, it may simply be something else that trips the problem into existence.
Sorry I did not get to you earlier as I didn't see this. The long and the short of it is that it depends on the type of clinic and what region of the country they are. I currently work in a large ENT practice with multiple doctors and audiologists. As a result, our hearing aid sales are in the hundreds. A small ENT practice may sell 150-250, depending on how hearing aids are promoted. Private practices will sell more as that is how the clinic stays in business. As for prices, the cost will vary. It varies by technology, as each manufacturer of hearing aids will put out 3-6 levels of sophistication. Additionally, each practice will set their prices, which may or may not include service, batteries, and specific warranties. At the end of the day, I've seen hearing aids sold for as little as $500 to as high as $4000 per unit.
While this page is not used to diagnose, I am a little confused about the story as written. If you have sudden loss, there is a specific time frame to improve your hearing via steroids. If steroids were not successful, your hearing may be your hearing. However, you claim that your hearing has worsened. Most certainly go to another ENT, have a CT scan, blood work, etc.. As I always say, there has to be a reason why something is happening. I don't understand the relevance of the headsets to your story.
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