Ears are very vital organs for hearing and receiving sounds, including good body balance, thus, they are life essential. Any malfunctioning of the ears can seriously impair hearing capability. These malfunctions are, for instance, hearing strange noises inside the ear canal; tinnitus and, or dysfunctional body balance, causing headache, loss of balance, inability to lead a normal routine life. If these malfunctions occur in children, they could produce a tremendous impact on their oral and linguistic development, including many other learning abilities necessary for their future lives.

Fully aware of the magnitude of this problem, the Ratchaphruek Hospital has set up the Audiology and Balance Centre to help diagnose, cure, and rehabilitate the patients’ hearing ability in a holistic way. Presently, the Hospital is the first and only private hospital in the northeast of Thailand which is well-equipped by a team of specialized otolaryngologists i.e., otoneurologists, pediatric audiologists and audiologists, with modern technology to help diagnose more accurately the actual causes of hearing troubles, hearing loss and loss of balance in both children, adults and the elderly as well as to provide effective treatment and proper rehabilitation to each individual patient.

1. Diagnostic Examination i.e.,

• Ear infection
• Chronic otitis media
• Cholesteatoma
• Hearing loss
• Sudden hearing loss
• Tinnitus
• Meniere’s disease
• Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo
• Otosclerosis
• Ear canal stenosis
• Acoustic injection

2. Surgery, such as,

• Intratympanic injection
• Myringotomy with ventilation tube
• Tympanoplasty
• Mastoidectomy
• Ossiculoplasty; Stapedectomy/Stapedotomy
• Canaloplasty with split thickness skin graft
• Benign and malignant tumor removal
• Cochlear implantation

3. Special Investigation (Auditory diagnostic examination)

1. Audio screening test as done by OAE (Otoacoustic emissions screening) technology to examine flexive waves of the hair cell in the inner ear canal to gauge the hearing ability of newborn babies. At present all newborns’ hearing ability at the Ratchaphruek Hospital will be tested by this method. Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) are sounds generated by the action of the outer hair cells that can be recorded in the ear canal that provide a direct measure of cochlear function.

2. Diagnostic test for possible hearing anomalies.

Diagnostic Test for Children

• Behavioral audiometry/Visual Reinforcement Audiometry
• Acoustic Immittance Audiometry; Tympanometry, Acoustic reflex
  threshold, Acoustic reflex decay test
• Auditory brainstem response (ABR)
  Auditory steady state response (ASSR) to check remaining hearing ability
  in children with hearing loss.
  Diagnostic Test for Adults
• Conventional audiometry/Ultrahigh frequency audiometry
• Acoustic immittance audiometry; tympanometry, acoustic reflex
  threshold, acoustic reflex decay test
• Acoustic brainstem response (ABR)
• Electrocochleography; EcochG to diagnose Meniere disease

4.Rehabilitation of Hearing and Balancing Ability

• Hearing aid fitting in both children and adults
• Hearing rehabilitation after the fitting or after cochlear implant
• Counseling and hearing aid checkup
• Canalith repositioning procedure