Conducting hearing evaluations using advanced diagnostic tools and techniques. Providing personalized treatment plans, which may include hearing aids, assistive listening devices, and auditory rehabilitation. Performing balance assessments and offering interventions for balance disorders. Collaborating with other healthcare professionals, such as otolaryngologists and speech-language pathologists, to provide comprehensive care. Conducting research to advance the field of audiology and improve treatment outcomes.

Hearing is one of the 5 senses that help us navigate life. Reduction in our capability to listen can be debilitating. About 6.3% of Indians have partial or complete auditory impairment. This means they either face difficulties hearing clearly or lose their ability to process sound completely. Your ears do more than help you hear. The ears help the body maintain balance and control the movement of the eyes and neck when we tilt our heads or turn left or right.

The doctors at Narayana Health's Audiology Department treat the issues and disorders of hearing, balance, and eye-neck coordination. They leverage technology and conventional medicine to treat hearing and balance issues among patients. Audiology services include rehabilitation and managing hearing disorders. Audiologists treat patients of all age groups. They are also involved in multi-disciplinary teams, such as oncology or neurology, to offer expert inputs for their speciality. Narayana Health audiologists aim to support people in connecting with the world around them better by improving their communication.

Audiology: Science of Hearing and Balance

Audiologists specialise in hearing and balance disorders and procure licences to practise auditory medicine. They diagnose hearing disorders, balance problems and offer hearing conservation, hearing restoration, and audiological rehabilitation treatments. The areas of their operations include:

Balance

This includes the assessments, measurement, and treatment of all aspects of body, head, and neck balance. Doctors treat the central and peripheral vestibular systems to help the patients manage their symptoms.

Hearing

Hearing treatment includes ear function, i.e. reception and processing of sound. Audiologists treat all inner and middle ear issues, such as hyperacusis (over-stimulation and extreme sensitivity to loud noises), misophonia (irritability on exposure to certain sounds, such as chewing or dripping water), and many more. The treatment of outer and middle ear conductive hearing loss also falls under this category.

Responsibilities of an Audiologist

Help patients (newborns to senior citizens) with hearing and balance issues.
Diagnose ear health and balance conditions with advanced techniques and tools.
Carve a tailored treatment plan and involve other specialists if needed for advanced patient care.
Determine, fit, and educate about suitable listening aids, cochlear implants, and hearing device options to help you make informed decisions.
Facilitate and participate in research for the prevention, identification, and management of hearing loss, tinnitus, and balance dysfunctions.

Audiologists are Different from ENT Doctors

While ENT doctors specialise in diseases of the ear, nose, and throat, audiologists focus on the ability to hear and balance the body. They are more concerned about the health of the inner ear, which does not get affected by throat and nose problems. Your ENT specialist may refer you to an audiologist if they consider that comprehensive inner-ear, vestibular, and hearing health analysis is required.

Audiology Diagnosis

Narayana Health doctors comprehensively test your hearing condition to identify the underlying problem, the extent of hearing loss, and balance issues. They evaluate the symptoms and patient's complaints to determine the tests required. Also, they may ask you about the history of hearing disorders in your family and conduct physical exams to discover ear issues. An otoscopic examination of your ear canals and eardrums, removal of excess cerumen, and ear impressions may be recommended to diagnose ear and balance issues.

Some of the hearing tests used are:

Auditory brainstem evoked response
Otoacoustic emissions
Acoustic immittance measurements
Visual reinforcement
Audiometry plays
Vestibular testing to access balance

Audiology Treatments

Narayana Health audiologists are dedicated to improving the hearing health of their patients. They also provide education about managing and maintaining good listening and balance. Common conditions treated by audiologists are:

Hearing Loss

The most common job of audiologists is to treat hearing loss. They assess the cause of the loss. These include, long-term damage (sensorineural), age-related (presbycusis), medicinal side-effects (ototoxicity), and birth defects. Hearing health doctors at Narayana Health may prescribe medication or devices for hearing assistance.

Ringing

Tinnitus is a persistent ringing sensation in one or both ears. Audiology specialists identify the cause and help patients manage the condition to improve their quality of life. It can also be fully cured in certain cases.

Auditory Response

In auditory processing disorders, the patient can hear sounds but not interpret or understand them. Poor auditory processing is a neurological issue which may require multidisciplinary specialists. Our audiologists develop a team of neurology specialists and vestibular doctors to help their patients.

Vestibular Disorders

Vestibular disorders can happen for many reasons, including hearing loss, neurological conditions, inner ear infections or tumours, excessive acid reflux, and many more. Narayana Health specialists find the root cause of the condition to ensure that you get top-of-the-line treatment and satisfactory outcomes.

Audiologists also provide rehabilitation care for patients with long-term hearing loss, hearing aids, cochlear implants, inner-ear tumours or cancers, etc. They also work with kids and adolescents with birth-related hearing issues to improve their quality of life via speech-language, sign language, and other therapies. Rehabilitation processes include speechreading, language development, auditory skill honing, and developing basic communication skills.

Treating Methodologies for Audiology Issues

Audiology treatments rely heavily on technology. From measuring the extent of hearing loss to auditory rehabilitation, and hearing aids, our doctors use the most advanced technology tools available to provide the highest quality care to their patients. Innovative tools have enabled doctors to identify hearing issues among infants as well. This helps them start the treatment within a few weeks after being born. It improves the chances of children having better auditory experiences and reduces the chances of insufficient development of communication skills.

Primary treatments in audiology are:

Speech-language therapy
Listening and rehabilitation therapy
Vestibular therapy to manage dizziness and vertigo

Narayana Health doctors also counsel the patient's family members to adjust to hearing loss. They also advocate for the patient's psychological well-being. Our doctors assess ear health and offer hearing loss treatments in a variety of settings:

Narayana Health Audiology Department
Narayana Health clinics and out-patient facilities
Our In-patient treatment centres and nursing homes
Rehabilitation centres and residential care facilities
Educational settings and awareness initiatives

In addition, audiologists may participate in community hearing health; awareness campaigns and may gain further education to perform surgical procedures to restore hearing or treat inner-ear problems.

When Should You Consult an Audiologist?

It is a good idea to consult an audiologist if you face or observe your loved ones having any of the following problems:

Difficulties in understanding what people close to you are saying
A need to turn up the volume of your phone or television to hear properly
Continuous or repeated ringing of ears. Ear irritation, heaviness, or earaches may or may not accompany ringing.
Balance issues or frequent episodes of dizziness or feeling of spinning while walking, rotating head, or changing positions.

If you are confused about whether an audiologist can help, make an appointment with our clinic care providers. Our audiologists adopt science-backed diagnosis and treatment methodologies and clinical best practices to offer you the highest quality audiology care. They abide by national and state policies and understand cultural preferences to adequately advocate for your needs and identify the most suitable solutions to your hearing and balance problems. Additionally, they ensure the involvement of family members for paediatric patients and adults to celebrate each milestone and find joy in the faces of their loved ones. Their compassionate and competency-based practice is the pride of Narayan Health and makes us one of the best audiology centres in the country.