ENT & Audiology Services
Audiometry
Hearing connects you to the world around you, to the people you love, to the conversations that matter. When hearing begins to fade, it can affect every aspect of daily life, from communication and relationships to work performance and emotional wellbeing. Yet hearing loss is one of the most underdiagnosed conditions in the world, often progressing silently over years before it is noticed.
Audiometry, also known as a hearing assessment or hearing test, is a safe, painless and non-invasive evaluation that measures precisely how well you can hear, identifies the type and degree of any hearing loss, and guides the most appropriate treatment pathway.
At Royal Eye & Ear Hospital, our audiometry service uses advanced diagnostic equipment to deliver accurate, detailed hearing assessments for patients of all ages, from newborns to older adults.
How It Works
Tests Performed During an Audiometric Assessment:
Pure Tone Audiometry (PTA) — The foundation of every hearing assessment; you respond to tones through headphones and results are mapped on an audiogram that instantly shows the presence, degree and pattern of any hearing loss.
Bone Conduction Testing — By vibrating the cochlea directly, this test separates conductive from sensorineural hearing loss — the critical distinction that determines whether your hearing loss is medically treatable.
Speech Audiometry — Measures how clearly you understand spoken words, not just whether you can hear them, reflecting how your hearing actually performs in everyday life.
Tympanometry — Objectively assesses the eardrum and middle ear in seconds, identifying conditions such as glue ear, perforation and Eustachian tube dysfunction that are particularly common in children.
Acoustic Reflex Testing — Evaluates the ear’s own protective reflex to pinpoint whether hearing loss originates in the middle ear, the cochlea or the auditory nerve.
Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs) — A fast, objective test that requires no response from the patient, making it the gold standard for newborn hearing screening and hearing assessment in young children.
Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) — Records the auditory nerve and brainstem’s electrical response to sound, providing a complete objective assessment of the hearing pathway from the cochlea to the brain.
Why Choose Royal Eye & Ear Hospital for Cataract Surgery?
An accurate hearing assessment requires the right equipment, the right environment and the right expertise. Here are why patients across Nairobi trust Royal Eye & Ear Hospital for their hearing assessments.
- 🏥 Dedicated Eye & Ear Specialists: We are a specialist eye and ear hospital. Hearing assessment and ear health are not a side service, they are a core part of what we do. Our entire clinical environment is designed around delivering excellent ear and hearing care.
- 👁️ Child-Friendly Assessment: We offer specialised paediatric audiometry techniques including Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA) and Conditioned Play Audiometry (CPA) for infants and young children, ensuring accurate results in a calm, reassuring environment.
- 📍 Conveniently Located in Nairobi Based on 3rd Parklands Avenue, we serve patients from Westlands, Parklands, Gigiri, Muthaiga, and across the greater Nairobi region.
- 💊 Full Range of Tests: We offer the complete spectrum of audiometric assessment including pure-tone audiometry, bone conduction testing, speech audiometry, tympanometry, impedance audiometry and paediatric audiometry, all under one roof.
- 🔬 Advanced Audiometry Equipment: We offer professional hearing evaluations using advanced audiometry equipment capable of detecting hearing loss, tinnitus, balance-related disorders and other hearing conditions with diagnostic precision.
Benefits of SICS Cataract Surgery
Safe, Painless and Non-Invasive
Audiometry requires no preparation, causes no discomfort and involves no radiation or injections. It is one of the safest diagnostic procedures available and suitable for patients of any age including newborns.
Early Detection Protects Hearing
Many hearing conditions are progressive. The earlier hearing loss is detected and treated, the better the outcome. Audiometry identifies even mild or early-stage hearing loss before it significantly affects daily life.
Identifies the Type of Hearing Loss
Not all hearing loss is the same. Audiometry distinguishes conductive hearing loss (treatable with surgery or medical intervention) from sensorineural hearing loss (managed with hearing aids or cochlear implants), directing you toward the correct treatment pathway.
Guides Treatment Decisions
Audiometry results directly inform whether you need medical treatment, surgery, hearing aids, cochlear implant assessment or simply monitoring. Without an accurate hearing assessment, treatment cannot be appropriately tailored to your specific hearing profile.
Monitors Hearing Over Time
For patients with known hearing conditions, repeated audiometry tracks whether hearing is stable, improving with treatment or deteriorating over time, allowing timely adjustments to the management plan.
Detects Conditions Beyond Hearing Loss
Audiometric testing can identify middle ear disease, Eustachian tube dysfunction, acoustic neuroma, and other conditions that present with hearing symptoms but require specific investigation and treatment.
What to Expect After Audiometry
Timeline:
Same Day — Results are reviewed with you in full before you leave. Your audiogram is explained clearly, a written report is provided and next steps are confirmed — whether that is a follow-up appointment, onward referral or hearing aid assessment.
Days 1–7 — If you have been referred for medical or surgical review, that appointment is typically arranged within this window. If hearing aids have been recommended, a fitting appointment is scheduled. For patients with sudden hearing loss, treatment begins immediately and follow-up is arranged within days to monitor response.
Weeks 2–4 — Hearing aid fittings take place during this period. Programming is based directly on your audiogram for a precise match to your hearing loss. Fine-tuning adjustments are made at a follow-up appointment once you have had time to acclimatise.
1–3 Months — For patients undergoing medical or surgical treatment for a treatable cause of hearing loss — such as glue ear drainage, myringoplasty or stapedectomy — a post-treatment audiogram is performed to objectively measure the improvement in hearing achieved.
Recovery Do's and Dont's:
✅ Inform your audiologist of all medications you are taking. Some drugs are toxic to the cochlea and this is clinically relevant.
✅ Bring a family member or carer if your child is being tested. A familiar presence helps young children cooperate during testing.
✅ Bring any previous audiograms or hearing test results. Comparison with prior results is invaluable for tracking change over time.
❌ Do not insert cotton buds or anything else into your ear canals before the test.
❌ Do not attend with an active ear infection or significant ear discharge without first calling us. Testing may need to be rescheduled.
❌ Do not expose yourself to loud noise (concerts, power tools, heavy machinery) immediately before your assessment.
❌ Do not assume a previous normal hearing test means your hearing is still fine. Hearing can change, and regular monitoring is important.
RESULTS
What Results Can You Expect?
1
Accurate Identification of Hearing Loss
Pure tone audiometry reliably detects hearing loss across the full speech frequency range and accurately classifies its type and degree.
2
High Diagnostic Precision
The combination of air conduction, bone conduction, tympanometry and speech testing distinguishes conductive from sensorineural causes with a high degree of accuracy, directing patients towards the correct treatment pathway.
3
Early Intervention Outcomes
For children, early audiometric identification of hearing loss and prompt intervention — whether medical, surgical or with hearing devices — is strongly associated with significantly improved speech, language and developmental outcomes.
4
Hearing Aid Success
Hearing aids fitted using precise audiometric data achieve measurably better speech understanding and user satisfaction than those fitted without comprehensive audiometric assessment.
Risks & Considerations of Audiometry⚠️
Like all surgical procedures, SICS cataract surgery carries a small risk of complications. At Royal Eye & Ear Hospital, our surgeons take every precaution to minimise these risks — and serious complications are rare.
1
Ear wax can affect results
Significant ear wax build-up can muffle sound and affect the accuracy of pure-tone results. If wax is present, it will be identified at the ear examination before testing begins and removed if necessary.
2
Noise exposure before testing
Exposure to very loud noise in the hours before a hearing test can cause a temporary shift in hearing thresholds, giving falsely low results. Avoid loud noise environments on the day of your assessment where possible.
3
Results require clinical interpretation
An audiogram is a clinical document requiring professional interpretation. Please do not attempt to self-diagnose based on audiogram results without discussing them with your audiologist or ENT specialist.
Patient outcome note: Every patient possesses a unique anatomical structure and healing capacity. Consequently, specific improvements in hearing thresholds, word recognition, or overall auditory clarity cannot be guaranteed.
Frequently Asked Questions About Audiometry
No. At Royal Eye & Ear Hospital, you can book an audiometry assessment directly without a referral from a doctor. If your results indicate a condition requiring ENT management or medical treatment, your audiologist will guide the appropriate next steps.
No. Audiometry is completely painless and non-invasive. There are no instruments inserted into the ear canal during testing, no injections and no discomfort at any stage.
A comprehensive audiometry assessment takes less than one hour. Simple pure-tone screening can be completed in 15-20 minutes. Please allow up to one hour for your first appointment to include history taking and discussion of results.
No preparation is required. You do not need to fast, stop medications or do anything special before your appointment. Simply arrive on time and avoid loud noise environments on the day of your test where possible.
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