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Our Services 
Our Diagnostic Services
The St. John’s Mercy Audiology and Hearing Aid Center offers a full range of diagnostic services to help detect hearing impairment and loss in both children and adults. Testing helps to determine the type and severity of loss. Several types of testing are offered.
- Pure Tone Audiometry
This test determines the threshold at which a person can hear by evaluating the softest sounds a person can detect.
- Speech Discrimination Testing
This testing involves repetition of single-syllable, phonetically balanced words. The speech discrimination scores for each ear provide diagnostic information that is used to help determine the need for additional testing or referral. The test also is used to determine if amplification may be helpful for some patients and to evaluate the success of hearing aid fittings.
- Testing of Middle Ear Function (Tympanogram and Acoustic Reflex Testing)
This procedure evaluates the middle ear function by measuring response to air pressure variations and acoustic signals.
- Otoacoustic Emission Testing
This test evaluates cochlear or inner ear function in infants, children or adults by measuring the ear’s response to sound.
- Vestibular Function Testing
This test evaluates the balance system of patients experiencing dizziness. Videonystagmography (VNG) is an advanced technology that uses infrared goggles to detect and measure movements of the eyes. This helps determine the cause of dizziness.
- Auditory Brainstem Response Testing (ABR) and Auditory Steady-State Response (ASSR)
These are objective tests that can estimate hearing sensitivity in difficult to test patients such as infants. ABR can also assess neural integrity of the auditory pathway to aid in differential diagnosis.
- Electroneuronography (ENOG) Testing
ENOG is a test of facial nerve function. In cases of facial paralysis it can be used as a means of obtaining prognostic information and the results can help your physician determine an appropriate treatment plan.
- Visual Evoked Potentials (VEP)
- Auditory Processing Disorder Evaluation
This battery of tests assesses various levels of auditory functioning to determine "What the brain does with what the ears hear."
Our Hearing Services
Hearing Aids:
The St. John’s Mercy Audiology and Hearing Aid Center provides a comprehensive program for the evaluation, selection and fitting of hearing aids. We offer a wide variety of styles and models to meet your individual needs, including fully digital programmable hearing aids. Each hearing aid includes a 30-day trial period. The center also offers on-site service and repair.
Cochlear Implants:
The Implant program at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center is designed to provide comprehensive diagnostic and programming services to children and adults with hearing loss whom do not benefit from traditional amplification. In a joint effort with area Ear, Nose and Throat surgeons, and the area oral schools for the deaf, the implant program offers evaluations to determine candidacy and provides programming of cochlear implant devices. All services are rendered by audiologists who are licensed by the State of Missouri and maintain the Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Bone Anchored Hearing Aids (BAHA):
St. John’s Mercy Audiology and Hearing Aid Center also supports the BAHA implant. This device is implanted by an Ear-Nose-Throat physician behind the ear for patients with permanent conductive hearing loss or single-sided hearing loss. Trials, fitting and check-ups are provided by department Audiologists.
Hearing Protection Services
The St. John’s Mercy Audiology and Hearing Aid Center provides a variety of hearing protection devices to help guard your hearing health.
- Earplugs
We offer custom-made earplugs designed with filters to decrease noise. Musician’s earplugs are designed to decrease high- and low-frequency sounds equally. Electronic earmuffs decrease damaging sounds yet allow you to hear conversation.
- Swim Plugs
We offer custom-made swim plugs for children and adults to keep the ear canal dry and prevent problems from developing. These plugs are used by individuals recovering from an ear infection or ear surgery, as well as those with chronic problems or PE tubes. Swim plugs are available in a variety of colors.
Most hearing problems can be helped with properly selected and fitted hearing aids. Audiologists at the St. John’s Mercy Audiology and Hearing Aid Center are certified by the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association and are licensed by the State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts in Missouri. That means you can be assured of receiving quality audiology care.
Talk with your doctor for more information or call the St. John’s Mercy Audiology and Hearing Aid Center at 314-251-5850.
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