Health encyclopaedia

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Diagnosis of Hearing impairment

In the UK, the NHS is dedicated to screening every newborn baby for hearing impairment, within the first two days of life. Newborn hearing screening (also known as universal neonatal hearing screening), provides the opportunity for children with hearing impairments to be diagnosed as early as possible, increasing their chances of good communication and language development.

The tests itself involves inserting a tiny probe inside the child’s ear. This is not uncomfortable and is carried out while the child is asleep if possible. The probe emits small sounds and checks for a response from the child’s cochlea. If the cochlea does not respond to the test, further tests are carried to determine the cause.

In areas of the country where newborn hearing screening is not yet available, your health visitor is able to carry out the distraction test, a simple set of exercises that monitor the child’s response to sound.

Adult diagnosis

If you think you may have some hearing loss you should visit your GP as soon as possible. Your GP may refer you to a specialist called an otolaryngologist or an audiologist, who will test you further to determine the cause of your hearing loss and work with you to find the best possible treatment.

A simple way to find out whether you need to visit your GP is by answering the following questions. If you answer yes to most of them you may need to investigate the matter further with your GP:

• Do you have difficulty hearing over the telephone?
• Do have difficulty listening when more than one person in the room is talking?
• Do other people complain about the volume of your music or television?
• Do you have to concentrate quite hard to understand the other person when you are having a conversation?
• Do you often miss the sound of the doorbell or the phone ringing?
• Do you often get confused about the direction a sound is coming from?
• Do you regularly have to ask people to repeat themselves?
• Do the voices of women and children seem harder to understand?
• Do you work in a noisy environment?
• Does it seem as though everyone is mumbling?
• Do you often misunderstand what people are saying?
• Can you sometimes hear a hissing, rushing or ringing sound?
• Has someone close to you suggested that you may have a hearing impairment?

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