What is real ear verification?

Maureen Salinas

Au.D.

Hearing Doctors of Iowa in Fort Dodge

Real ear verification is a measurement procedure used by audiologists to ensure that hearing aids are providing the correct amount of amplification for each individual patient's hearing loss. During this process, a thin probe microphone is placed in the ear canal near the eardrum to measure the actual sound levels being delivered by the hearing aid, comparing them against prescriptive targets based on the person's specific audiogram. This verification step is crucial because it accounts for individual ear canal acoustics and ensures optimal hearing aid performance, as the same hearing aid settings can produce different results in different ears.