We are pleased to offer house calls.
Our equipment is portable and we are able to provide most of our services in the comfort of your home. However, house calls are reserved only for patients who are not capable of coming to our office.
Frequently Aasked Questions (FAQs) about House Calls
How much does East Coast Hearing charge for house calls?
We charge $65 for this service.
Ear Wax Removal
Removal of excessive earwax can be an important and often necessary service for optimal hearing health. Our highly trained audiologists use a variety of methods to remove earwax. These techniques include: manual curettage, irrigation, and microsuction. Trust your ears to the experts at East Coast Hearing.
Our ears produce and oil called cerumen to protect the skin in the ear canal. Cerumen mixes with dead skin, dust, and other debris to form earwax. Usually, earwax works itself out of the ear without our help. However, in some cases ears get blocked by this wax. This can be due to an overproduction of cerumen, the shape of the ear canal (e.g. small diameter or sharp bend), or by putting things into our ear that pushes and packs wax in deeper (e.g. Q-tips).
Common symptoms of an ear blocked with wax include:
- Decrease in hearing (often quite sudden)
- Uncomfortable felling of fullness in the ear
- Tinnitus (ringing and buzzing in the ear)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Wax Removal
Do I need a referral to book a wax removal appointment?
No. You can self refer to any of our clinics.
How much does East Coast Hearing charge for wax removal?
We charge $80 for this service.
Is there a minimum age requirement for wax removal?
At our Bedford and Halifax clinics the minimum age is 16 years old. At our Dartmouth clinic there is no minimum age.
Will my medical insurance cover the fee?
Many plans do cover Audiology Services. However, we do not direct bill to your insurance for wax removal. We provide you with a detailed receipt so that if appropriate you can claim this yourself.
Hearing Tests
We provide hearing tests for adults and school-aged children as well as specialized auditory processing disorder (APD) testing. Our hearing tests are performed by our experienced audiologists using the latest equipment and procedures. Following the test, we explain the results in a manner that is easily understood.
A Robust and Effective Testing Process
East Coast Hearing provides its clients with a robust and effective hearing testing procedure:
- The entire process begins with an understanding of what has motivated the booking of the test (e.g. job application requirements, suspected change of hearing, need for new hearing aids, etc..).
- A detailed case history is performed (i.e. relevant medical history).
- Next we measure how your eardrums move in response to sound and changing air pressure.
- We place headphones on you in a sound treated room and measure the softest level you can detect sounds of various pitch (250-8000 Hz).
- We measure how clearly you hear words in a quiet environment.
- We measure how you hear in the presence of background noise.
- All of the results are explained to you in a clear and concise way along with our recommendations.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Hearing Tests
At what age(s) should you have your hearing tested?
We recommend anyone age 50+ obtain a baseline audiogram and to check the health of your ears. Following this, if a baseline test indicates normal hearing sensitivity, we typically recommend a repeat audiogram if patients begin to notice changes or are having concerns.
How much does a hearing test cost at East Coast Hearing?
We charge $80 for a thorough hearing evaluation.
Will my medical insurance cover the fee?
Many plans do cover Audiology Services. However, we do not direct bill to your insurance for hearing testing. We provide you with a detailed receipt so that, if appropriate, you can claim this yourself.
How long is a hearing test?
Depending upon the patient, and the requirement for the hearing test, an evaluation can take anywhere from 30-45 minutes. Typically, we book 60 minutes so that there is ample time to explain the results, provide counseling and recommendations, and to address any questions or concerns patients and their families may have.
© 2021 East Coast Hearing
East Coast Hearing Ltd. Privacy Policy
East Coast Hearing Ltd. recognizes the importance of protecting our patients’ privacy. The federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) governs how we collect, use and disclose our patients’ personal information.
What is Personal Information?
Personal information is any information about an identifiable individual, such as a person’s name, address or telephone number. It does not include the name, title, business address or business telephone number of an organization or employee of an organization.
What information do we collect?
- Name
- Date of birth
- Address
- Email address
- Telephone numbers
- Public insurance coverage details
- Case history, auditory evaluations, recommendations, hearing aid specifications and chart notes
- Transaction history for hearing aid and related accessory purchases
When you correspond with us by email, we collect your email address as well as the message included in your email in order to respond to your specific inquiry. We will use this information to provide you with further details about our business over time.
We collect information only to:
- provide our patients with professional hearing health care services and products
- meet legal and regulatory requirements
- manage and develop our business and operations
Safeguarding your information
We use security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. We will audit our procedures and security measures on a regular basis to ensure that they are appropriate and are being administered properly.
Sharing your information
We do not sell or rent our patients’ personal information. When necessary, we do disclose all or part of it to certain third parties (e.g. VAC and WCB NS) and hearing aid and accessory suppliers. We also disclose information when we are required by law or when it is necessary to facilitate the collection of overdue accounts.
Correcting and retaining your information
Please feel free to contact us at any time to update your personal information. We have retention standards that allow us to meet customer service, legal and regulatory needs. As a result, it may be necessary for us to keep some of your information on record even after the end of your relationship with us. When the information is no longer required, it is destroyed or anonymized.
Contact us
If you have any questions about how we handle your personal information, please contact us at:
info@eastcoasthearing.ca
104-81 Peakview Way, Halifax, NS, B3M 0G2
(P) 902-407-2109
(F) 902-407-0909