Physician Referral

         We are proud to work closely with so many prominent primary care physicians, pediatricians, and otolaryngologists in all five boroughs of New York City to ensure that your patients get the best quality hearing care. Nearly 30 million American adults have some degree of hearing loss. The primary care physicians are the first ones to notice when a patient may need a comprehensive hearing evaluation.

Signs and symptoms of hearing loss may include:

• Muffling of speech and other sounds
• Difficulty understanding words, especially against background noise or in a crowd
• Trouble hearing consonants
• Frequently asking others to speak more slowly, clearly, and loudly
• Needing to turn up the volume of the television or radio
• Withdrawal from conversations
• Avoidance of some social settings

Some risk factors for hearing loss in adults include:

• Diabetes
• Smoking
• Hypertension
• Heart/vascular conditions
• Degeneration of inner ear structures occurs over time.
• Loud noise. Exposure to loud sounds can damage the cells of your inner ear. Damage can occur with long-term exposure to loud noises, or from a short blast of noise, such as from a gunshot.
• Head trauma.
• Occupational noise exposure.
• Recreational noise exposure.
• Some medications. Drugs such as the antibiotic gentamicin, sildenafil (Viagra) and certain chemotherapy drugs, can damage the inner ear. Temporary effects on your hearing — ringing in the ear (tinnitus) or hearing loss — can occur if you take very high doses of aspirin, other pain relievers, antimalarial drugs or loop diuretics.
• Some illnesses. Diseases or illnesses that result in high fever, such as meningitis, may damage the cochlea.
• Cognitive decline.
• Symptoms of tinnitus, dizziness, aural fullness, otalgia.
• Sinus issues.
• Autoimmune disease.

Some risk factors for hearing loss in children include: 

• Intrauterine infections including rubella (German measles), cytomegalovirus, and herpes simplex virus
• Complications associated with the Rh factor in the blood
• Prematurity
• Maternal diabetes
• Toxemia during pregnancy
• Lack of oxygen (anoxia)
• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit stay after birth
• History of familial hearing loss
• History of otitis media
• Certain syndromes
• Ototoxic (damaging to the auditory system) drugs
• Meningitis
• Measles
• Encephalitis
• Chicken pox
• Influenza
• Mumps
• Head injury
• Noise exposure
• Speech and language delays
• Lyme Disease

         All children who are receiving speech therapy should have a hearing test to rule out hearing loss as a possible contributing factor to speech-language delays or articulation concerns.

         Please contact our team of audiologists with any questions relating to hearing evaluations, hearing aids, auditory processing evaluations, or any other concerns you may have.