A Look into Otoscopes

So, other than the audiometer, what other gadgets do Speech Language Pathologists use to screen hearing? Let's start with a more familiar gadget: the otoscope. This is the device that, when you go to the doctor, is used to look inside your ears. It is a fairly simple gadget consisting of a magnifying lens and a light. It uses a disposable tip that fits into the ear canal easily when the ear is pulled up to straighten the ear canal (which rests at an angled position). Using the otoscope, you can see the ear canal up to the tympanic me
mbrane (eardrum) and can usually tell pretty easily if there are problems such as infection or wax buildup. An otoscope alone will not give you any information about what the client can actually hear, or what they are not hearing, but provides further insight into what may be going on inside the client's ears.

I. personally, do not have a lot of experience with otoscopes, but it is one of the gadgets often available for Speech Pathologists to use.