Hearing and vestibular function assessment

Hearing must be assessed as part of any investigation of ear pathology.

Hearing loss may be:

• conductive - resulting from failure of the conducting mechanisms of the outer and middle ear to transmit sound to the fluids of the inner ear; or
  
  
• sensorineural - due to disease of the cochlea, the organ of Corti, the VIIIth nerve or more central neural pathways and connections

Investigation of the vestibular system is carried out less often than assessment of hearing and is only indicated in the investigation of dizzy patients.