Audiology

Communication is Key

Littleton Regional Healthcare’s Audiology and Hearing Aid Services department provides comprehensive and professional audiological care, from prevention to rehabilitation, for individuals of all ages with hearing and balance concerns. Our standards of professional patient care directed to the unique needs of each patient help ensure improved quality of life through better hearing and balance for our patients.

Audiological Services

At the Audiology Department, we provide patients with a wide variety of diagnostic and rehabilitative services including:

  • Comprehensive audiological evaluations for infants, children and adults.
  • Consultation and fittings for state-of-the-art hearing aids, which includes one year of follow-up appointments at no additional cost. All hearing aids come with a 30-day trial period.
  • Hearing aid maintenance and repairs.
  • Vestibular function testing.
  • Hearing conservation services and programs, including custom-made hearing protection.
  • Counseling for hearing loss and auditory disorders.
  • Rehabilitation services for hearing loss.

*Vestibular – Balance
*Tinnitus – Ringing in the ears

To Patients of LRH Audiology –

We strongly encourage you to schedule an appointment for hearing aid repairs, supply needs, and other adjustments as these services take time, and attending to each patient’s unique needs is important to us.

To ensure adequate time is given to each patient by our provider and staff and to avoid interruptions in patient care, we encourage you to call our office at 603-259-7692 to discuss how we can assist you prior to traveling to LRH. Thank you!

Contact Information

LRH Audiology
Littleton Regional Healthcare
580 St. Johnsbury Road
Suite 15
Littleton, NH 03561

603-259-7692
Fax 603-259-7641

Hours Monday-Friday
8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

Audiology Providers

Audiology Information

1. ONLY OLD PEOPLE WEAR HEARING AIDS.
The definition of old has definitely changed over the years. With the baby boomers reaching their prime, hearing loss is occurring sooner. The average retirement age is increasing and with that it creates a more demanding lifestyle. Hearing aids help with that demand.

Oh and one more thing: Old back then = middle age today. The average lifespan was 39 years old!!

2. CAN I SAVE MONEY IF I BUY ONLINE OR BY MAIL ORDER?
Beware of mail order/online hearing aid sales. The price might be less, but it does not come with follow-up appointments that are necessary for adjustments, cleanings, and repairs. A local Audiologist is a far better choice. By law, you have 30 days to try a hearing aid. If you are not satisfied you can return the device for your money back, minus a small audiological fitting fee.

3. MY HEARING ISN’T BAD ENOUGH FOR 2 HEARING AIDS.
How many ears do you have? Most people have 2 and hear with both. Binaural hearing helps localize sounds, assists in noisy situations, and provides a more natural sound. Something else to consider? If you only wear one hearing aid when 2 are advised your unaided ear can become lazy also called Auditory Deprivation. When this occurs, you might lose valuable hearing in your unaided ear.

4. HEARING AIDS WHISTLE SO YOU CAN’T TALK ON THE PHONE.
Digital hearing aids come with many different programs that automatically allow you to talk on the phone. Those annoying whistles are a thing of the past.

5. HEARING AIDS ARE EXPENSIVE
Actually, hearing aids have decreased over time, in comparison with inflation. Depending on the technology, hearing aids are about $1400 – $3500 each. Included in the price are several different factors like warranty, services through the department, and follow-up appointments. Stretched over the lifespan of hearing aid (4-6 years), a pair of ultimate digital hearing aids will cost you about $3 per day, about the same as a cup of coffee at your local coffee shop.

  • Do you find it difficult to follow a conversation in a crowded room or restaurant?
  • Do you frequently ask people to repeat what they have said?
  • Do you turn up the volume of the TV or radio louder than your friends and family do?
  • Do you frequently tell people that they are mumbling?
  • Do you have ringing in your ears?
  • Do you find people easier to understand if you are facing them?
  • Do you find it difficult to hear when speaking on the phone?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, please contact us at 603-259-7692 to make an appointment for a comprehensive hearing test and evaluation.

Hearing Loss may be caused by:

  • Hereditary
  • Exposure to loud or constant noise
  • Traumatic Injury
  • Natural Aging Process
  • Birth Defects
  • Infections
  • Some medications

Click here for examples of sound exposure

Hearing is sensitive and easily damaged. Sound stimulates tiny hair-like cells in the inner ear. These vibrate and send auditory messages to the brain, but when noise levels are too loud for too long, cells can be damaged. When the cells no longer send signals to the brain, hearing is lost. Damage usually occurs slowly over a number of years and may go unnoticed until it is too late.

Our Equipment for Assessment

The audiology testing area consists of several different equipment and evaluation tools.

A comprehensive hearing test is the most common test for evaluating a patients hearing loss, if any. For this test, the patient will be seated in a sound-proof booth. They will be fitted with earphones and the audiologist will send through tones at different levels which they will respond by pushing a button or waving your hand. This gives the audiologist a good understanding of the levels the patient is hearing at. The audiologist might also conduct a speech audiometry test, which will include some words to be repeated at different sound levels. This will give the provider an understanding of what the patient’s ability is to discriminate speech.

These results are charted onto an audiogram and then explained to the patient.

Another test that is frequently performed is a tympanometry test. This is done by inserting a soft tip into the patient’s ear. Air pressure is changed to make the eardrum move back and forth. The results are displayed on a graph and can be very helpful in diagnosing problems in the inner ear.

The OAE machine, also known as Oto-acoustic emission testing, is a portable screening device which does not require a patients response and is mostly used in infants and patients with poor cognitive ability. The OAE can help an audiologist see which sound yielded a response and which did not.

After the tests are complete, the audiologist will discuss the results with the patient. The patient might receive information about hearing protection, amplification or recommendations for further testing.

DID YOU KNOW: if you have a hearing loss in both ears, but only choose only to wear a hearing aid in one ear, your unaided ear can become lazy.

Share This

Contact

LRH Audiology
Littleton Regional Healthcare
580 St. Johnsbury Road
Suite 15
Littleton, NH 03561

603-259-7692
Fax 603-259-7641

Hours Monday-Friday
8 AM – 4:30 PM

Directions to LRH