Audiology is the branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Audiologists treat those with hearing loss and proactively prevent related damage. Audiologists aim to determine whether someone has normal sensitivity to sounds by various testing strategies. If hearing loss is identified, audiologists determine which portions of hearing (high, middle, or low frequencies) are affected, to what degree, and where the lesion causing the hearing loss is found. If an audiologist determines that a hearing loss or vestibular abnormality is present he or she will provide recommendations for interventions or rehabilitation (eg., hearing aids, cochlear implants, appropriate medical referrals).
In addition to diagnosing audiology and vestibular pathologies, audiologists help in rehabilitation. Audiologists can provide hearing health care from birth to end-of-life. They counsel families through a new diagnosis of hearing loss in infants and help teach coping and compensation skills to late-deafened adults. They also help design and implement personal and industrial hearing safety programs, newborn hearing and screening and school hearing screening programs, and provide special or custom-fitted earplugs and other hearing protection devices to help prevent hearing loss.