Brant Audiology & Tinnitus has audiologists providing hearing diagnostic services in Wyoming.

Brant Audiology & Tinnitus is the largest Hearing Aid and Audiology clinic in Wyoming. Our friendly audiologists, Dr. Brant Christensen, Dr. Ruby Zubrod, Dr. Austin Poulsen, Dr. Samantha Wagner Yung, and Dr Madison Bresett, have over 50 years of combined experience helping people hear better with personalized treatment plans.

We offer diagnostic services for the following:

Tinnitus

Tinnitus is a condition where people hear noise or ringing in their ears even when there is no outside sound. This sound can be loud or soft, high or low pitch, and it might come and go or be there all the time. It can be really bothersome and make people feel upset. Understanding and checking tinnitus is important to help manage it and find relief.

Diagnosing Tinnitus

During a tinnitus evaluation, you can expect a few simple steps to help find out what’s causing the ringing in your ears.

First, the audiologist will ask you some questions about the noise you hear, like when it started and how it sounds. They will generally ask you to complete a questionnaire assessing what impact your tinnitus is having on you daily life. Then, they will check your ears to make sure there isn’t anything inside the ear canal causing the noise.

Next, will have some hearing tests where you listen to different sounds and say when you hear them. These tests help the audiologist understand how well you hear and what might be causing the tinnitus.

They will also likely complete a test to determine the pitch and loudness of your tinnitus as well as how easily the tinnitus can be masked by outside sounds.

Finally, the audiologist will talk with you about the results and suggest ways to help make the ringing/noises better. This might include special hearing aids, therapy, and/or other treatments to help you feel more comfortable.

Tinnitus Treatments

In many cases, wearing hearing aids makes the ringing quieter. Other times, special machines play soothing sounds to help cover up the ringing. Relaxation exercises and certain medicines can also help you feel better. If you have tinnitus, it’s a good idea to talk to an audiologist to find out which treatment is best for you.

Misophonia 

Misophonia is when certain sounds make you feel very upset or angry. These sounds can be everyday noises like chewing, tapping, or even breathing. People with misophonia might feel like they want to run away or cover their ears when they hear these sounds. It’s important to talk to an audiologist if you think you have misophonia.

Diagnosing Misophonia

To find out if you have misophonia, a doctor or audiologist (a hearing expert) will ask you questions about the sounds that bother you and how they make you feel. They might ask you to listen to some sounds to see how you react. By understanding your feelings about these sounds, they can figure out if you have misophonia and how to help you feel better.

Misophonia Treatment

If certain sounds really bother you and make you feel upset or angry, you might have something called misophonia. We can help with special treatments. Our friendly audiologists will work with you to find ways to make these sounds less annoying. We use simple exercises and tools to help you feel better and more relaxed. With our help, those bothersome sounds won’t bother you as much anymore.

Hyperacusis 

Hyperacusis is when normal sounds seem much too loud and can hurt your ears. It can make everyday noises, like a car horn or a phone ringing, feel really uncomfortable. If you have hyperacusis, it’s important to talk to an audiologist who can help make sounds more comfortable for you.

Diagnosing Hyperacusis

Diagnosing hyperacusis means checking how sensitive you are to sounds. An audiologist will look at your symptoms and what triggers them. Audiologists will perform hearing tests to see how different sounds affect you and how much they bother you. They will also look at your medical history, including any exposure to loud noises, ear injuries, or nerve problems.

Hyperacusis Treatment

Treatment for hyperacusis helps make sounds less loud and bothersome. One way to help is sound therapy, where you listen to soft noises like white noise to help your brain get used to sounds again. Counseling and learning about how to manage hyperacusis are also important for you and your family.

People with hyperacusis might use ear protection like earplugs or noise-canceling headphones to feel more comfortable in noisy places. Changing your lifestyle, like avoiding very loud events, can also help reduce symptoms and make life better.

Support from doctors, family, friends, and employers is very important for people with hyperacusis. By learning more about this condition and getting the right care, we can help improve the lives of those affected by hyperacusis.

Hearing Loss 

Hearing loss means you can’t hear sounds as well as you should. It can happen to anyone, young or old. Sometimes, it happens because of loud noises, like music or machinery. Other times, it happens because of ear problems or when your family members have hearing loss too. 

If you have hearing loss, audiologists can help you hear better through hearing aids or other treatments.

Types of Hearing Loss

There are three types of hearing loss: conductive, sensorineural, and mixed.

  • Conductive hearing loss happens when there are problems in the outer or middle ear that stop sound from reaching the inner ear.
  • Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when the inner ear or auditory nerve is damaged, making it hard for sound signals to get to the brain.
  • Mixed hearing loss is a combination of both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

Hearing Loss Diagnosis

Our diagnostic services include different types of hearing tests to check your hearing health. We offer hearing screenings, which measure how well you can hear and understand speech.

We also have diagnostic tests that look at all parts of your hearing, how your brain processes sounds, and what might be causing hearing problems.

We use the latest tools to give accurate and personalized results for each person.

Vertigo

Vertigo is a feeling of spinning or dizziness that often comes with nausea, vomiting, and trouble keeping your balance. It is usually caused by problems in the vestibular system, which helps control balance, but it can also be related to hearing problems.

Hearing Test for Vertigo

Hearing and balance are connected because both use parts of your inner ear. Your inner ear has tiny parts that help you hear sounds and other parts that help you keep your balance. When these parts work well, you can hear clearly and stand up without falling. If there is a problem in your inner ear, it can affect both your hearing and your balance, making it harder to hear or making you feel dizzy.

A hearing test for vertigo helps doctors find out if vertigo is linked to hearing loss.

Auditory Processing Disorder 

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is a condition that makes it hard for the brain to understand and make sense of sounds, even if a person’s hearing is normal. People with APD might have trouble understanding speech, especially when it’s noisy. They may find it hard to follow directions, remember information they hear, or tell the difference between similar sounds.

Diagnosing Auditory Processing Disorder

Finding out if someone has Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) involves some special tests. These tests check how well a person hears and understands sounds. An audiologist will ask the person to listen to different sounds and words.

They will check how well the person can tell the sounds apart and follow instructions. These tests help the audiologist understand if the person has trouble processing sounds, which means their brain doesn’t always understand the sounds their ears hear.

With these tests, the audiologist can figure out the best way to help the person hear and understand better.

Auditory Processing Disorder Treatment

Treatment for auditory processing disorder usually involves help from different experts, like audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and teachers.

In school, students with APD might need extra help, like sitting at the front of the class, getting written instructions along with spoken ones, and using technology like captioned videos or speech-to-text software.

By learning more about APD and providing the right diagnosis and treatment, we can help people with this condition overcome communication problems and succeed in school, social situations, and work.

Meniere’s Disease 

Meniere’s disease is a long-term problem with the inner ear. It often causes episodes of dizziness (vertigo), hearing loss that comes and goes or changes, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and a feeling of fullness or pressure in the affected ear. These symptoms usually happen together and can be different in how bad they are and how long they last for each person.

Cause of Meniere’s Disease

The exact cause of Meniere’s disease is not fully known, but it is often thought to happen because of too much fluid in the inner ear. This can mess with your balance and hearing. Things that might cause this include genetics, immune system problems, allergies, viral infections, and issues with how the inner ear manages fluids.

Diagnosis Meniere’s Disease

Diagnosing Meniere’s disease involves looking at your medical history, your symptoms, and doing some tests. These tests might include hearing tests to check for hearing loss, balance tests to see how well you keep your balance, and MRI scans to make sure there are no other causes for your symptoms.

Meniere’s Disease Treatment

Treatment for Meniere’s disease aims to manage symptoms and reduce how often and how bad vertigo attacks are. This might include changes in lifestyle, like eating less salt, avoiding triggers like caffeine and alcohol, and using stress management techniques. Medicines such as diuretics, anti-nausea drugs, and vestibular suppressants may be given to help during attacks.

If these measures don’t work, more serious treatments like injections of corticosteroids or gentamicin into the middle ear, or surgeries to reduce or drain excess fluid from the inner ear, might be needed.

Even though there is no cure for Meniere’s disease, proper management and support can help many people control their symptoms and live a good life. Regular check-ups with healthcare providers are important to adjust treatment as needed and lessen the impact of this condition.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Sensorineural hearing loss is a type of hearing problem that happens when there is damage to the inner ear or the nerve pathways from the ear to the brain. It makes it hard to hear soft sounds and can also make loud sounds unclear or fuzzy. This kind of hearing loss can be caused by aging, exposure to loud noises, certain illnesses, or injuries. It often can’t be fixed with medicine or surgery, but hearing aids or other devices can help people hear better.

Causes of Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Common causes of sensorineural hearing loss include getting older, being around loud noises a lot, genetic factors, certain medicines that can harm hearing, infections, head injuries, and medical conditions like Ménière’s disease, & diabetes, and autoimmune disorders.

Diagnosing Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Diagnosing sensorineural hearing loss means finding out if you have a specific type of hearing problem. This type of hearing loss happens when there is damage to the inner ear or the nerve pathways from the ear to the brain.

An audiologist will perform a hearing test to diagnose this type of hearing loss. You’ll wear headphones and listen to different sounds and tones, raising your hand or pressing a button when you hear them.

An audiologist might also check how well you understand speech. These tests help audiologists understand how much hearing loss you have and what can be done to help you hear better.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss Treatment

Treatment options for sensorineural hearing loss depend on the cause and how bad the condition is. If the hearing loss is mild to severe, hearing aids might be recommended to make sounds louder and help with communication. For more severe cases,  when hearing aids aren’t enough, cochlear implants might be recommended. These implants bypass damaged parts of the inner ear and directly stimulate the hearing nerve.

Sensorineural hearing loss is often permanent, but early diagnosis and treatment can help people manage it and have a good quality of life. Regular hearing tests and check-ups with audiologists are important for keeping track of changes in hearing and adjusting treatment. Using hearing protection, like wearing earplugs in noisy places, can help prevent more damage and keep your hearing healthy.

Cochlear Implants

Cochlear implants are special devices that help people who have trouble hearing. They are different from regular hearing aids. A cochlear implant has two parts: one goes inside your inner ear through surgery, and the other part sits behind your ear like a hearing aid or on your head. The implant helps send sound signals to your brain, allowing you to hear better.

Cochlear Implants for Children

Cochlear implants can help children who have severe  to profound hearing loss. These devices are small and are placed inside the ear through surgery. They help children hear by sending sound signals directly to the brain. Unlike regular hearing aids that make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the job of the damaged parts of the inner ear.

Children with cochlear implants can hear sounds they couldn’t before, which helps them learn to talk and understand speech better. After getting the implant, kids will work with doctors and therapists to learn how to use it and improve their listening skills. With time and practice, cochlear implants can help children with severe or profound hearing loss enjoy a world of sound.

Cochlear Implants for Adults

Cochlear implants are special devices that can help adults who have severe to profound hearing loss. They work by sending sound signals directly to the brain. Doctors put a small device inside the inner ear during a surgery. This device picks up sounds and turns them into signals that the brain can understand. After getting a cochlear implant, adults usually need to work with an audiologist to learn how to use it and get the best results. Many people find that cochlear implants help them hear better and improve their quality of life.

Brant Audiology & Tinnitus: Hearing Diagnostic Service Provider in Wyoming

At Brant Audiology & Tinnitus, we are dedicated to providing full hearing check-ups, including personalized care for people with ringing in their ears (tinnitus). Our team of skilled audiologists is here to help you understand your hearing health and find solutions that fit your needs.

Your hearing health is important to us. Contact us now to learn more about our services and how we can help you enjoy better hearing.