Mitcham guide
What to bring to a hearing test
Send an enquiry about a hearing test and find out what the audiologist needs from you before the appointment. Asking costs nothing and takes a minute.
What to bring to a hearing test in Mitcham
A written list of your current medicines
The audiologist will ask about any medicines you take. Some prescription drugs, and even common painkillers taken regularly over long periods, can affect how the inner ear works. Writing them down at home means you will not forget one in the clinic.
Include the name, the dose and how often you take each one. If you use drops for your ears or eyes, add those too. The specialist uses this information to understand whether a change in your hearing might have a chemical cause rather than a physical one.
You do not need to stop taking anything before the appointment. The audiologist simply reads the list alongside the test results. If a medicine looks relevant, they will suggest you discuss it with your GP rather than changing anything themselves.
Your previous hearing test results
If you have had a hearing test before, bring the paperwork. Even results from several years ago give the audiologist a baseline. They can see whether your hearing has stayed the same, improved or dropped since that last check.
Without old records, the specialist only has a single snapshot. With them, they can plot a line across time. That matters if you are deciding whether to try hearing aids or simply keep monitoring things.
If another clinic did the test, ask them for a copy before your appointment in Mitcham. Most practices will post or email results if you request them. Bring whatever format you receive. The audiologist can read standard audiograms regardless of where they were printed.
Someone who hears you every day
Bring a partner, a relative or a friend who spends a lot of time with you. Hearing loss rarely happens all at once, so the people closest to you notice changes first. They hear you asking someone to repeat themselves. They see you turning up the television volume.
During the appointment, the audiologist will ask how you manage conversations at home and in busy places. Your companion can fill in details you might not think to mention. They might point out that you hear fine in a quiet room but struggle in a pub, which tells the specialist something specific about the type of loss.
Having another person there also helps when options are discussed later. If hearing aids are recommended, two people remember more of the conversation than one. You can compare notes on the drive home and decide together what makes sense.
Any hearing aids you already own
If you wear hearing aids, bring them to the appointment even if you think they have stopped working properly. The audiologist will want to examine the devices, check the settings and see how much benefit they still provide.
Sometimes a problem is as simple as a blocked filter or a dying battery. Other times the aids no longer match your current level of hearing and need reprogramming or replacing. The specialist cannot make that judgement without seeing what you currently use.
Bring the charging case or spare batteries too. If the audiologist wants to run a quick test with the aids in place, dead batteries will slow things down. Any paperwork from the original fitting is worth carrying along, since it shows the model and the settings chosen at the time.
Notes on the situations where you struggle
Think about the moments in your week where hearing feels hardest. Is it the morning news on the radio, group chats at work or trying to follow a film? Write down three or four examples before you leave home.
Vague descriptions like finding things difficult do not give the audiologist much to work with. Specific ones do. Saying you lose track of conversations when the washing machine is running tells the specialist exactly which frequencies to pay attention to during the test.
These notes also help if the conversation moves toward hearing aids. Different styles handle background noise in different ways. Knowing where you struggle most allows the audiologist to recommend a device suited to your actual routine rather than a general model. You can read more about the signs that suggest a test is needed in guides on [why you cannot hear in restaurants](/noticing/cant-hear-in-restaurants) or [television volume complaints](/noticing/television-volume-complaints).
Arrange a hearing test in Mitcham
Send your details and an audiologist will respond with available dates. There is no charge for the enquiry and no obligation to book.
- No obligation to book
- Local Mitcham clinics
- Enquiries taken daily