Hearing Health in the Gold Country
Hearing Tests in California
Hearing loss is incredibly common, affecting millions of Americans of all ages. If you have any concerns about your hearing then we strongly encourage you to schedule an initial hearing assessment. The hearing assessment is quick and non-invasive. By discovering a hearing loss early means we can take the right measures to ensure it doesn’t worsen by remaining untreated.
During your hearing assessment, we will be measuring your ability to hear different words and tones at various frequencies. This will help us identify the exact degree of your hearing loss and how it may affect your speech comprehension. We will typically perform a series of tests, including:
- Otoscopy
- Pure Tone Audiometry
- Speech Audiometry
- Tympanometry
- Acoustic Reflexes
- Otoacoustic Emission
- Speech in Noise Testing
Speech in noise testing (SIN) is used to determine how well you can understand words and speech in competing noise. Background noise is a part of daily life and can be a major cause of frustration for those with hearing loss. Using speech in noise testing our team can better determine how to best help you hear clearly in any environment.
We offer hearing tests for adults, children, pediatrics, and veterans at all our office locations. If you or a loved one is experiencing difficulty with hearing, please contact us today. Better hearing will lead to more effective communication and better brain health. The first step to treating your hearing loss is with a quick and simple hearing assessment. Contact us today to schedule your appointment.
Auditory Processing
If you are experiencing difficulty understanding speech when there is background noise, often mishear spoken information, or seem unusually fatigued, you may want to visit us for an Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) test. We offer diagnostic auditory processing testing at our Rocklin office.
Auditory processing disorder may seem very similar to hearing loss. However, those with APD may experience typical signs of hearing loss, but they have relatively normal hearing. At Gold Country Hearing & Balance, our audiologists are experts in hearing disorders and can test your word recognition ability and speech comprehension.
Tinnitus
If you hear a buzzing, hissing, ringing, or whooshing sound in your ears, you are not alone. Tinnitus affects millions of people. Some experience tinnitus on a temporary basis, for only a few seconds at a time, while others may experience it constantly. Tinnitus itself is not a disease, but rather a condition of another issue.
Tinnitus can be caused by:
- Hearing loss
- Loud noise exposure
- Earwax build-up
- Stress
- Meniere’s disease
- Head or neck injury
At our hearing clinic we can perform a tinnitus test during your hearing exam to discover the cause and severity of your tinnitus. We also offer some tinnitus treatments, including special hearing aids that can help distract your brain from the ringing in your ears.
Tinnitus Support at Gold Country Hearing
If you have severe tinnitus that is interfering with your quality of life, you can experience relief. At our hearing clinic we can perform a tinnitus test during your hearing exam to discover the cause and severity of your tinnitus. Once we’ve determined the cause and severity of your tinnitus, we have proven techniques and treatment options that can help you manage the ringing in your ears. This includes the use of hearing technology such as hearing aids with a masking feature. In cases where your tinnitus is related to another medical condition, we can refer you to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor for assistance. We also provide educational resources to patients about tinnitus and provide ongoing support and encouragement needed to cope.
Tinnitus Treatment
We offer some tinnitus treatments, including special hearing aids that can help distract your brain from the ringing in your ears. Other tinnitus management options we recommend include:
- Masking or covering awareness of the sound
- Medications to reduce stress, anxiety, or to aid sleep
- Desyncra Sound Therapy to disrupt the neural signal of tinnitus
- The Listening Programming SLEEP, which retrains the brain on how it interprets sound
- The Sound Pillow Sleep System to relax the body and promote sustainable sleep
- Hearing aids with a tinnitus masking feature to distract your brain from ringing in the ears
- Alternative therapies such as counseling to help you manage stress or anxiety
You don’t have to live with constant ringing in the ears. At Gold Country Hearing, we offer support for tinnitus. Contact us today to schedule a tinnitus assessment and start experiencing relief.
Earwax Removal
If your hearing has seemed muffled recently or your tinnitus has been worse than normal, you may have a build-up of earwax. Earwax (cerumen) can build-up inside the ear canal, causing discomfort, muffled hearing, and tinnitus.
While earwax is a sign of healthy ears, it can be annoying, especially if you are prone to a build-up of wax. If you currently wear hearing aids, you may experience impacted earwax that is particularly bothersome. If earwax is bothering you, it is recommended that you visit a specialist to have it safely removed. You should never use cotton swabs to remove earwax. Cotton swabs can actually push the wax further into the ear canal and accidently damage the delicate parts of your inner ear.
Earwax Removal at Gold Country Hearing
When you come to Gold Country Hearing for earwax removal, we will first begin with a friendly chat to get to know you.
- Using an otoscope, we will look inside your ears to see what is going on. This allows us to locate the blockage and successfully remove it.
- Once we’ve looked inside your ears, then we will remove the earwax. We will use a tool called the curette to scoop out the wax from hard-to-reach spots. Then with a syringe, we will flush the earwax safely out of the ear canal.
Our specialists can safely and effectively remove impacted earwax at any of our office locations. If you have clogged ears due to earwax, contact us to schedule an ear exam.
Cognivue: Cognitive Screening
Hearing ability is the number one modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline. People with untreated hearing loss experience a 30%-40% greater decline in cognitive abilities and an increased risk of developing dementia. Because your hearing ability is so deeply connected to your brain health, we offer Cognivue screening.
Cognivue screening is a five-minute, self-administered test that evaluates three cognitive functions: memory, visuospatial, and executive function as well as reaction time and speed processing. This screening is a major step toward identifying cognitive decline caused by depression, anxiety, and hearing loss. To learn more about Cognivue, please contact us.
Balance
At Gold Country Hearing, our Sacramento office is a Center of Specialty Care affiliated with the American Institute of Balance. We provide comprehensive vestibular testing to determine if dizziness or balance issues are present due to vestibular pathology.
We offer the following testing for balance disorders:
- Electrocochleography (EcochG): Tests for Meniere’s disease.
- Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential (VEMP): Assists our specialists in determining if there is a dysfunction of the saccule or inferior vestibular nerve.
- Videonystagmography Testing (VNG): Assists our specialists in determining if the patient’s dizziness is caused by inner ear dysfunction, BPPV, or central pathology.
- Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR): Identifies abnormalities of the auditory neural pathways through the level of the brainstem such as an acoustic neuroma.
Hearing Aid Services
Gold Country Hearing offers a wide range of hearing aid services to keep your devices performing their best.
Hearing Aid Evaluations
We work with many different manufacturers to offer a wide range of hearing aids. After we've evaluated your hearing, we can recommend hearing aids that will be most helpful for your individual hearing loss and your needs. During your hearing aid evaluation, we will have a conversation to determine what your activity level and lifestyle are like and how a hearing aid can help you.
Hearing Aid Fitting and Programming
After your hearing aid evaluation, will expertly fit your new devices to your ears. Our hearing care providers are experts in the latest hearing aid technology and the different programs needed for each hearing aid brand. We will fit the hearing aid to your unique ear shape and program them to provide you with the correct amplification.
Hearing aid fittings are crucial to ensure your hearing aids sit comfortably in your ears and provide you with just the right amount of volume. We can adjust the programming on your hearing aids even after your initial fitting, to ensure they continuously provide you with better hearing.
Hearing Aid Repairs
Your hearing aids should feel comfortable and be fine-tuned to your unique hearing needs. If your hearing aids aren’t working right for you, please contact us. Sometimes the programming on your hearing aids may need to be adjusted. If your hearing aids are broken then we can do some repairs in office, but for more serious issues, we will have to send them to the manufacturer to be repaired. Our experts can repair or fine tune any brand of hearing aid, even if you bought your devices somewhere else.
Hearing Aid Cleanings
Keeping your hearing aids clean and well maintained is a key way to lengthen the longevity of your devices. We provide deep cleanings of your hearing aids to ensure they are performing their best for you. Dust, dirt, dead skin cells, and earwax can build up in the tiny components of your hearing aids, affecting their performance. We recommend bringing your hearing aids in to our hearing clinic every six months for a professional cleaning.
Hearing Aid Accessories
We carry a large range of hearing aid accessories and supplies, such as wax guards, domes, and batteries. Hearing aid batteries are crucial for your devices to work and provide you with better hearing. We carry a wide selection of hearing aid battery sizes, so you don’t have to worry about your hearing aids dying.
5 Keys Communication Program
As a patient of Gold Country Hearing your hearing is our primary concern. Effective communication skills are crucial to improving your quality of life. We are happy to offer an excellent program called 5 Keys Communication. It is designed to help you overcome the frustrations associated with hearing loss and has produced positive results for thousands of people.
5 Keys Communication is an aural rehabilitation program for people with hearing loss and their communication partners. It teaches comprehensive communication strategies using methods that are easy to understand and can be incorporated into your daily life.
You will learn the 5 keys to Communication Success:
- Speaker
- Listener
- Environment
- Technology
- Practice
There are three parts to this program:
- An educational handbook provides you with information tips and strategies.
- Worksheets focus on activities to help you apply what you have learned.
- Weekly follow-up emails help reinforce the skills you have developed and ensure you remain actively engaged in the aural rehab process.
5 Keys Communication is a critically acclaimed program designed to educate and empower people affected by hearing loss. To get started with the 5 Keys Program, contact our office today!
Custom Hearing Protection
Your hearing is one of you most important senses. You need your hearing to effectively communicate and to hear all the sounds in life you love. Loud noise exposure is one of the most common causes of hearing loss in individuals of all ages. It’s important to protect your ears from loud sounds in order to be proactive about your hearing health.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), approximately 22 million U.S. workers are exposed to hazardous noise levels at work. If you work in a factory, with power tools, or in an environment where the noise levels regularly exceed 85 decibels, then you should be wearing hearing protection. When properly fitted, earplugs can significantly reduce loud noise, preventing hearing damage and loss.
At Gold Country Hearing, we carry a large selection of earplugs and earmolds for optimal hearing protection. We also carry musician’s earplugs and in-ear monitors that allow you to hear your music while protecting your hearing.
Types of Hearing Protection
We carry earplugs and earmolds for all types of activities and occupations, including
- Musicians
- Sound crews
- Concertgoers
- Athletes
- Industrial workers
- Referees
- Motorcyclists
- Medical professionals
- Construction workers