Types of Audiologic Testing

 Florida Ear Nose Throat

Facial Plastic Surgery Center

877-EAR-NOSE

www.FloridaENT.com

Patients who suffer from hearing loss or suspect they might have another hearing and balance-related condition may benefit from audiologic testing. At Florida ENT, we offer many different types of audiologic testing for any type of hearing or imbalance a patient might be dealing with. The follow are three of the tests we commonly use:

Audiogram
How it works: Uses sounds of specific frequencies and intensity levels to determine what a person can hear in each ear.
This is your typical physician check-up, where a patient hears sounds through headphones. The patient is then asked to identify each sound and in which hear it was heard. The sounds become fainter and farther as the test progresses and the goal is to determine the lowest level at which the patient can hear.

Tympanometry
How it works: Examines and diagnoses the middle ear by varying air pressure in the ear canal to see how the ear responds.   
Tympanometry measures the functionality of the year drum. To avoid affecting ear pressure, patients may not move, speak, or swallow during the test. Any abnormal findings could be fluid in the middle ear or impacted ear wax.

Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response Test
How it works: Examines brain waves that have been stimulated by a clicking sound in order to evaluate the auditory pathways in the brain.
As the patient listens to a clicking noise through headphones, electrodes are placed on the scalp and earlobes. The electrodes record the brain’s reaction and the audiologist will test for diagnose nervous-system abnormalities and hearing loss. The BAER test is commonly used with infants and children.

To learn about other types of audiologic testing, click here.

The doctors at Florida ENT specialize in hearing loss and offer many different resources to you. For more information about hearing aids or hearing loss in general, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE today!

Top Signs of Hearing Loss

Florida Ear Nose Throat

Facial Plastic Surgery Center

877-EAR-NOSE

www.FloridaENT.com

 

Hearing loss can occur for many reasons. This health concern involves damage to the inner ear. It might be tied to aging or exposure to loud noise, ultimately tearing the nerve cells in the cochlea, which send signals to the brain.

For family and friends, it can be a challenge, and sometimes it isn’t recognized right off the bat. However, if you or someone you know ponders the possibility of hearing loss, ask these questions:

• Often ask people to repeat what they say?
• Have trouble hearing in groups?
• Think others are mumbling?
• Turn up the volume on the TV or car radio?
• Difficulty hearing on the phone?
• Fail to hear someone talking behind them?
• Have difficulty hearing at the movies?
• Dread going to noisy parties and restaurants?

Other points to consider if you think you or someone you know suffers from hearing loss are:

• Friends and family are likely the first to recognize the problem, long before the person does.
• Typically in the early stage, the individual might deny a problem. This is understandable, considering he/she might be doing fairly well regardless.
• A major complaint of people with hearing loss is the difficulty they experience in comprehending speech in any kind of noisy place, such as a restaurant or in the car.

At Florida ENT, we are committed to helping patients who suffer from hearing loss at all levels of severity and at any stage. Utilizing the latest advances in medicine combined with the state-of-the-art techniques, our goal is to treat our patients with comfort and compassion. Our general and specialized services include:To learn more about the services we provide, please call us today at 407-944-3340 to schedule an appointment.

The Real Reason Your Sinuses Hurt

 Florida Ear Nose Throat

Facial Plastic Surgery Center

877-EAR-NOSE

www.FloridaENT.com

 

37 million people suffer from sinus infections each year, and if you’re reading this chances are you’re one of the millions. It also means you know the horrible, overwhelming ickiness you feel when your sinuses start acting up. While you deal with the pain, do you know the true cause of it? Here are three of the most common symptoms and why they hurt so much:

Headache
That awful pressure and swelling you feel in your sinuses can give you symptoms of a headache. Sinus pressure can also cause earaches, toothaches, and pain in your cheeks, which all directly connect to the nerves in your head, causing your discomfort.

Sore Throat
Postnasal drip can leave you with a cringe worthy ache. While it may start off as a slight tickle, as your sinus infection worsens, the mucus in your throat can irritate and inflame your throat as it drips down, resulting in your basic (yet painful) sore throat.

Muscle Aches
If your sinus infection becomes chronic, you’re likely to have more bodily pain than the average person. You can blame this on possible fever and fatigue.

If you're suffering from sinus pain or chronic sinusitis, give Florida Ear Nose Throat and Facial Plastic Surgery a call for more information on how our doctors can help. Our team is here to help treat you and have you feeling healthy and happy once again. We can be reached by calling 877-EAR-NOSE. For more information on sinus infections, visit www.floridaent.com.

How You're Making Allergies Worse

 Florida Ear Nose Throat

Facial Plastic Surgery Center

877-EAR-NOSE

www.FloridaENT.com

Are you one of the 60 million Americans whose allergies are acting up? Fight back with these not-so-obvious mistakes you might be making on the daily.

Overworking
Allergy sufferers have been proven to experience more symptoms under anxiety-inducing activities or tests. You can blame this on stress hormones, which stimulate the production of IgE, blood proteins. These proteins cause allergic reactions if under too much stress and little sleep. So be sure you’re getting a good amount of sleep and not overworking yourself on the job or in your daily life. 

Not using hot enough water while washing clothes
A recent South Korean study shows that not washing your clothes on the hottest setting can affect your allergies. In the study, laundering cotton sheets at 140 degrees Fahrenheit killed 100 percent of dust mites, as opposed to 104 degrees, which only killed 6.5 percent.

Growing houseplants
If you’re prone to seasonal sniffles, avoid growing houseplants like orchid. While there are many plants that can cause problems for your health, ficus, ivy, palm, and fern, and orchid have been proven to irritate allergy-prone people more.

Showering only in the morning
Allergy sufferers can benefit from a quick rinse in the evening after hours of being outdoors and in a dusty office building. Remember: just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean pollen particles aren’t getting trapped in your hair and on your clothes. Do yourself a favor and shower both in the AM and PM during peak allergy season.

If you're suffering from allergies this summer no matter how hard you try to fight the symptoms, we encourage you to make an appointment at Florida Ear Nose Throat right away. We offer allergy screening, allergy management and immunotherapy. To schedule an appoint, give us a call at (877) EAR-NOSE. For more information about our office, visit www.floridaent.com.