Tympanometry: Middle Ear Testing in McAllen
Tympanometry is a quick, painless test that shows how well your eardrum and middle ear are working. It takes about a minute per ear.
What is tympanometry?
Tympanometry measures eardrum mobility and middle-ear pressure using a small probe placed at the entrance of the ear canal. It takes about a minute per ear and is painless. Mid Valley Hearing Technologies runs tympanometry on a MedRx tympanometer as part of the standard hearing test.
The test puts a gentle pressure change into the sealed ear canal and measures how the eardrum moves in response. The resulting trace, called a tympanogram, has a recognizable shape when everything is normal, and different recognizable shapes when it is not.
A flat trace can mean fluid behind the drum or a perforation. A trace shifted into negative pressure suggests the Eustachian tube is not equalizing properly. An unusually mobile trace can point to a disconnected or floppy ossicular chain. None of that is visible on an audiogram, and none of it is something you would guess from a tone test.
What does this service include?
- Fluid behind the eardrumCommon after a cold or with allergies, and the Rio Grande Valley has a long allergy season. Often the whole explanation for a sudden muffled ear.
- Eustachian tube dysfunctionThe "my ear will not pop" complaint, measured rather than guessed at.
- PerforationA hole in the eardrum shows up immediately, and is a reason not to proceed with certain other procedures.
- Ossicular problemsStiffness or disarticulation in the little bones of the middle ear.
- A reason to referSeveral tympanogram results mean the right next step is a physician or ENT, not a hearing aid.
What happens during the visit?
A soft probe tip at the canal entrance
It only needs to seal the opening. Nothing goes deep into the ear.
One second of pressure change
You feel a slight fullness, like a lift changing floors, and hear a low tone.
The trace prints
One per ear. About a minute total.
We read it with you
Alongside your audiogram, because the two together tell a story neither tells alone.
Why this matters before you buy hearing aids
Fitting hearing aids to an ear with untreated middle-ear fluid is fitting to a moving target. Treat the fluid and the thresholds change. Anyone selling you devices without knowing what your middle ear is doing is guessing. It takes a minute per ear to stop guessing.
Tympanometry: questions we get asked
No. There is a brief feeling of pressure, about a second long, and a low tone. Most people describe it as the sensation of a lift changing floors. Children tolerate it fine.
Not many. It is one of the two services Jordan specifically names as something that sets this clinic apart locally, the other being ear wax removal. It uses separate equipment from a hearing test.
No. It measures how the middle ear is functioning mechanically. It does not measure how well you hear. Our hearing test includes both.
Annually as part of routine testing, and any time something changes suddenly: an ear that feels blocked, went muffled overnight, or will not equalize. Routine tympanometry is included in the care plans.
Schedule your visit with Jordan
Call (956) 576-3593 or send a request and we will get back to you the same business day. Walk-ins are welcome Monday through Friday, 9 to 5.