When you visit a hearing care professional you will go through an audiological examination. Hearing care professionals can determine if your auditory system is damaged or if there are other possible causes for your hearing troubles. For instance, speech-in-noise tests assess how well you can hear in different levels of background noise.
Hearing Care Professionals may refer you to an Ear-Nose and Throat (ENT) or a Physician for a medical investigation. A magnetic resonance image (MRI) may be recommended by an ENT to rule out the possibility of more serious causes, such as an acoustic neuroma or other organic cause of tinnitus.