Looking for an Adult or Pediatric Audiologist Near Harrisburg, PA? Let’s Help You
Do you or your child have trouble following what someone is saying? If so, you might be surprised to find out that you hear fine. Instead, your communication challenges could be related to an auditory processing disorder (APD). Many people with APD liken it to listening to someone talk on a mobile phone as the signal cuts in and out.
Does that sound familiar? If so, an experienced audiologist at Hearing Smile Professionals can determine the underlying cause of your communication issues. We offer diagnostic audiology services for adults and children, including audiology testing and comprehensive evaluations for auditory processing disorders, near Harrisburg, PA. We also offer hearing loss treatment, including cochlear implants and hearing aids from all manufacturers.
What Is an APD?
After entering your ears, the sounds you hear don’t go any farther than your eardrums. At that point, the sounds are transformed into electrical impulses that are processed by your brain. An APD interferes with the processing of those electrical impulses.
In a nutshell, here’s what happens when you listen to someone speak:
- The speaker’s vocal cords produce sounds that travel through the air to reach your eardrums.
- Your eardrums vibrate with the incoming sounds, causing three tiny bones in your middle ear to move, amplify the sounds, and stimulate your cochlear nerve.
- The fluid inside your cochlear nerve ripples and forms a wave. As sensory cells ride the wave, their tiny hair-like projections bump against the overlying structure, causing pore-like channels to open and release chemicals. The chemicals then rush into the cells and create electrical signals.
So, what you think you hear is actually a sequence of silent electrical impulses that your brain processes into sounds, words, and meaningful sentences and concepts. An APD interferes with the last step of the process, resulting in a garbled message.
How Is an APD Treated?
Although an auditory processing disorder cannot be cured, it can be effectively treated with environmental modifications, speech therapy, compensation strategies, and/or auditory training.
After confirming your diagnosis, your audiologist at Hearing Smile Professionals can work with you to develop a personalized auditory trainingv therapy plan to help you communicate to the best of your ability. Audiology testing can help us better serve you.
How We Can Help You
At Hearing Smile Professionals, we offer a friendly, comprehensive approach to hearing loss treatment and other hearing challenges. Here’s how we can support you:
- Hearing Aids: We provide advanced hearing aids tailored to each patient’s hearing needs and lifestyle. Options range from discreet in-the-ear styles to powerful behind-the-ear models, all carefully fitted and adjusted for optimal clarity and comfort.
- Cochlear Implants: For severe hearing loss cases where hearing aids aren’t enough, cochlear implants offer a transformative solution. These implants directly stimulate the auditory nerve, enabling patients to understand speech better and sounds in their daily lives.
- Lenire Tinnitus Treatment: We are proud to offer Lenire. This innovative tinnitus treatment device combines gentle tongue stimulation with sound therapy to reduce the perception of ringing and improve quality of life.
Whether it’s fine-tuning your hearing aids, guiding you through a cochlear implant journey, or helping you find relief from tinnitus, we’re here to help you reconnect with the sounds you love.
Innovative and Compassionate Solutions Await
If you would like to schedule an appointment with an audiologist near Harrisburg, PA, for adults or children, contact Hearing Smile Professionals today.
