FREE Hearing Test
Medicare Rebates for Audiology Services – FREE Hearing Test
From 1 March 2023, hearing tests at HEARING SAVERS are BULK BILLED under Medicare when you have a referral from your doctor.
FREE Hearing Checks
If you're concerned about your hearing, contact us for a FREE, no obligation Hearing Check at our Bentleigh, Malvern and Essendon hearing clinics.
Allow 15-minutes for your hearing check appointment.
As an alternative, a comprehensive hearing assessment will take approximately 1-hour (for details, please see audiology fee schedule)
A FREE hearing check is a 15-minute appointment with one of our Audiologists which covers:
- Otoscopy, which includes viewing of the ear canal to identify any wax occlusions; and
- A test of 4 frequency (or pitch) levels to identify the presence or absence of a hearing loss.
Why do you need a comprehensive hearing test?
Hearing is an important part of your health and quality of life, and checking and then monitoring any hearing and ear concerns should be a priority.
If untreated, hearing loss often results in broken and frustrating communication with family and friends, increased safety risk (for example, not hearing traffic when crossing the road), social withdrawal and isolation, and in severe cases, depression.
A hearing test will determine the type (conductive, sensorineural, or both) and magnitude of any hearing loss. It's important to have a hearing test if you:
- experience problems in one or both ears, such as infections, blocked feeling;
- find it difficult understanding words in conversation, particularly with background noise, such as at restaurants and family gatherings;
- been exposed to loud noise; or
- take certain antibiotics, such as gentamicin.
How are hearing tests conducted?
Your hearing test will be conducted in a quiet noise-tested room or sound booth by a hearing specialist (Audiologist).
A comprehensive hearing test and evaluation covers:
- Hearing history
- Communication difficulties
- Otoscopy
- Pure tone audiometry that includes:
- Air conduction testing
- Bone conduction testing
- Speech Audiometry
- Tympanometry
- Discussion of results, options for rehabilitation and a report to managing doctor
Otoscopy is when an Audiologist looks into your ear canal with an Otoscope (light). Inspection of the ear canal and eardrum can provide a lot of information about the physical circumstances of your ear and hearing. Abnormal findings of an ear canal can include:
- Wax occlusions / blockages
- Inflamed, swollen and discharge in ear canals during acute infections
- Foreign objects in the ear
- Perforations to the ear drum
Pure tone audiometry consists of two parts, air conduction and bone conduction testing.
Air conduction testing uses a machine called an audiometer to play a series of whistles or beeps known as pure tones through headphones. The tones vary in pitch (frequency, measured in hertz) and loudness (intensity, measured in decibels). Air conduction testing will test the pathway of sounds through the outer ear (ear canal), middle ear (eardrum and small bones) and into the inner ear (cochlea).
The Audiologist conducting the test will control the volume of a tone. He or she will reduce its loudness until you can no longer hear it. Then the tone will get louder until you can hear it again. You signal by pressing a button every time you hear a tone, even if the tone you hear is very faint. The Audiologist will often repeat the test several times, using a higher-pitched tone each time. Each ear is tested separately. The results of the air conduction testing are marked on a graph called an audiogram. The softest sounds at each pitch known as thresholds are marked with an 'x' for left and an 'o' for right.
The headphones will then be removed. A special vibrating device (bone conductor) will be placed on the bone behind your ear. Again, you will signal each time you hear a tone. Bone conduction testing bypasses the outer and middle ear and tests the functioning of the cochlea.
The results of air and bone conduction testing will allow the Audiologist to diagnose the nature and degree of hearing loss. The nature is whether the hearing loss is sensorineural, conductive or mixed loss and whether the degree is normal, mild, moderate, severe or profound hearing loss levels.
Speech Audiometry is the last hearing test wearing headphones and uses a range of speech perception and work recognition tests to measure how well you can hear and understand normal speech. In these tests, you are asked to repeat a series of simple words spoken at different volumes.
Tympanometry is a test of how well your ear drum is moving and how well the middle ear is functioning. A rubber tip is placed into the ear and some air is pumped into the ear canal. Tympanometry helps to conform the nature of the hearing loss.
How does it feel?
A hearing test is not painful and you do not experience any discomfort.
What are the risks?
None.
What are the results of a hearing test?
Majority of people will have hearing within normal limits. This means you can:
- hear tones at equal loudness in both ears played at 20 dB or less; and
- repeat 90% to 95% of the words in a word recognition test.
If you have a hearing loss or hearing related problem, you can:
- hear the tone more loudly in one ear than in the other ear;
- only hear certain sounds at high decibel levels; or
- hear sounds, but you can't understand the words.
What can impact your results?
Your hearing test results can be impacted if you:
- are not able to follow directions or understand speech well enough to respond during the tests;
- have had a recent cold or ear infection;
- have significant amount of impacted ear wax blocking your ear canal, which cannot be removed by the Audiologist; or
- have been exposed to loud noises within 16 hours before the test.
Schedule an appointment
Melbourne hearing clinic locations:
- 494 Centre Rd, BENTLEIGH VIC 3204
- 134 Glenferrie Rd, MALVERN VIC 3144
- 1055 Mt Alexander Rd, ESSENDON VIC 3040
Contact us on ☎ 1800 00 4327 to make an appointment.
HEARING SAVERS Bentleigh is conveniently located in the main shopping centre in Bentleigh, at 494 Centre Rd, on the corner of Robert St. There is plenty of free parking, and clinic is surrounded by all major supermarkets, banks and a wide variety of specialty shops and cafes.
HEARING SAVERS Malvern is centrally located at 134 Glenferrie Rd, near Wattletree Rd at the pedestrian crossing. There is ample free parking at and behind the clinic, and the clinic is surrounded by many renowned cafes, specialty shops, Coles and Woolworths, the major banks and Malvern Central Shopping Centre.
HEARING SAVERS Essendon is conveniently located in the North Essendon Village at 1055 Mt Alexander Rd, on the corner of Leake St. There is plenty of free parking, and clinic is surrounded by a wide variety of specialty shops and trendy cafes.
