When hearing changes suddenly, time matters. A sudden drop in hearing, sometimes accompanied by ringing or a blocked sensation, can indicate sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL).
This condition requires urgent medical assessment. At Sound Audiology, we want to help our community understand the treatment options available and explore how local services could support coordinated care.
One opportunity is hyperbaric oxygen therapy through CO7 Recovery in Mount Gambier.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, involves breathing oxygen inside a chamber pressurised above normal atmospheric pressure. Medical treatment uses controlled oxygen delivery and pressure, with a treatment plan determined by the supervising clinical team.
The RACGP’s 2025 clinical update identifies HBOT as an option for specialist consideration alongside corticosteroids for selected patients with SSNHL. It discusses treatment within the first two weeks to one month after symptoms begin.
The potential benefits and risks must be assessed individually, and hearing recovery is not guaranteed.
Located at 25 Bay Road, Mount Gambier, CO7 Recovery offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy among its recovery and wellness services.
Its published treatment information describes a Halsä Royale Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber, with pressure up to 1.99 ATA, oxygen purity stated as 99%, and advertised sessions of 60 minutes. These are the facility’s published specifications; they do not, by themselves, establish suitability for treating sudden hearing loss.
Having this equipment in Mount Gambier creates an opportunity to explore whether suitable patients could access prescribed treatment closer to home.
HBOT already has a role in specialist hearing care at Australian hospitals. The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne accepts referrals for acute idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss, while the Royal Adelaide Hospital’s Hyperbaric Medicine Unit lists the same condition among those it treats.
These hospital pathways support considering HBOT for selected patients. They do not automatically establish that every local chamber or advertised session provides an equivalent treatment.
For a local pathway involving CO7 Recovery, the treating ENT or hyperbaric physician would need to confirm the required pressure, oxygen delivery, session duration, treatment frequency, medical supervision and safety arrangements.
We would welcome collaboration between CO7 Recovery, local GPs, ENT specialists, hyperbaric physicians and Sound Audiology to assess this opportunity.
An appropriate local pathway could help reduce travel for Limestone Coast patients while keeping treatment decisions under specialist medical guidance.
Sound Audiology can support this process through diagnostic hearing assessments, prompt communication of results and follow-up hearing monitoring. Any treatment at CO7 Recovery for SSNHL would depend on confirmation that the facility can deliver the medically prescribed protocol.
If your hearing drops suddenly, seek medical attention that day. Do not wait for a chamber booking or a routine hearing appointment.
The RACGP advises that hearing testing should be arranged promptly but should not delay medical treatment for suspected SSNHL.
To learn about CO7 Recovery’s facility, visit its modalities page. For sudden hearing loss, your first step is urgent medical assessment.
CO7RECOVERY | Enhance Wellness Today — Book Your Session
Sound Audiology — supporting local hearing care through collaboration.
A hearing aid fitting is about more than choosing the right technology. The way the hearing aid sits in your ear can change how well it works.
The image shows just some of the mould shapes available, from small canal styles to larger full moulds. These shapes affect two parts of a fitting: retention (how securely the hearing aid stays in place) and acoustics (how sound moves through the ear).
A hearing aid is programmed for your hearing loss, but its sound still needs to reach your eardrum. If a mould or dome lets too much amplified sound escape, the hearing aid may whistle, known as feedback. That leakage can also limit how much amplification we can use. A closer seal may help, especially when someone needs more amplification. asha.org
The most enclosed mould is not automatically the best choice, though. Some people benefit from a more open fitting or a small opening called a vent. Venting can make the ear feel less blocked and help your own voice sound more natural. The right balance depends on your hearing loss, ear shape and how much sound the hearing aid needs to deliver. asha.org
The styles pictured include canal locks, skeleton moulds and full moulds. Their different shapes give us ways to help a mould stay in place while considering comfort, ease of insertion and the seal needed for the fitting. If a hearing aid shifts when you talk or chew, it may affect both comfort and sound.
This is why we ask how your hearing aids feel during an ordinary day, not just while you are sitting in the clinic.
At Sound Audiology, we consider your hearing results alongside the shape of your ears, comfort, dexterity and listening needs when choosing a dome or mould. We then check the physical fit and can measure the sound delivered in your ear to help verify that the hearing aid is meeting its fitting targets. asha.org
If your hearing aid whistles, slips out, feels uncomfortable or makes your own voice sound strange, tell us. Sometimes a change to the mould or vent can make a meaningful difference.
Great hearing care is not just about the hearing aid you choose. It is about fitting it to you.
A shopping centre can sound very different to a child who is sensitive to noise. Music plays overhead, trolleys rattle, people talk from every direction and the checkout suddenly beeps. For some autistic children, these sounds can become overwhelming.
Holly recently attended a conference where audiologist Philippa James spoke about sound intolerance in autistic children and ways to support them in shopping centres and other noisy places. Philippa discussed how options such as sound-filtering earplugs, earbuds, and wearable bone conduction headphones may help some children manage difficult sound environments.
There is no single device that suits every child. Options to explore include:
Wearable bone conduction headphones are different from bone-anchored hearing devices, which are used to treat certain types of hearing loss.
“Creating calm in a busy crowd”
Comfort matters as much as sound. One child may like earbuds, while another finds anything in their ears uncomfortable. Trying an option at home first can help families learn what their child prefers before heading somewhere busy. Music and masking sound should be kept at a comfortable, safe volume.
A device is only one part of the plan. Visiting at a quieter time, preparing a child for what to expect, taking breaks and having an easy way to leave can also help. Most of all, pay attention to what the child tells you—or shows you—about how they are feeling.
Holly brought this discussion back to Sound Audiology because families deserve practical, individual support. If sound intolerance is affecting your child’s daily life, we can help explore their hearing and discuss strategies that suit their needs.
A blocked ear can make conversations sound muffled, leave you feeling uncomfortable, or stop us from getting a clear view of your eardrum. At Sound Audiology, we use microsuction to remove troublesome wax while viewing the ear canal.
Ear wax, also called cerumen, has an important job. It coats and lubricates the delicate skin of the ear canal, traps dust and other debris, and helps protect the ear from infection. Your ears also have a natural cleaning process that gradually moves wax outwards.
So wax itself isn’t a problem, and having it doesn’t mean your ears are dirty. Most ear wax comes out on its own. It needs attention when it builds up, causes symptoms, or prevents us from examining or testing your ears.
Microsuction uses a small suction device to lift wax out of the ear. We can see what we’re doing throughout the appointment and work around the shape of your individual ear canal. It doesn’t involve putting water into the ear.
That’s different from ear irrigation, which uses a controlled flow of water to loosen wax and carry it back out of the canal. Irrigation can be appropriate for some people, but it isn’t suitable for every ear. An eardrum perforation is one possible complication.
While working throughout Melbourne, Holly saw many patients who had experienced perforated eardrums following ear irrigation. Those experiences stayed with her. She wanted to offer her patients another way to manage wax, particularly when water in the ear was a concern.
In 2018, Holly completed the Crystal Clear Ears wax removal course. She introduced microsuction at Sound Audiology in 2019, and it has been part of our ear care ever since.
We begin by looking in your ears and asking about your symptoms and ear history. If wax needs removing and microsuction is suitable, we’ll explain the process and work carefully while viewing the ear canal. Some wax may need softening first, and occasionally more than one appointment is needed.
If your ear feels blocked, we can take a look and talk you through the right next step.
Our first micro suction set up in 2019
When you visit Sound Audiology, you’re seeing a locally owned, independent clinic. But what does independent actually mean for your hearing care?
It means our recommendations are guided by your hearing, your goals and your preferences. We can consider hearing aids from different manufacturers and talk through the options that suit you, including the option to take more time before making a decision.
Our audiologists do not earn commissions for selling hearing aids, and we do not work to hearing aid sales KPIs. You should feel comfortable asking questions, discussing your budget and telling us when something does not feel right.
When you visit Sound Audiology, you’re seeing a locally owned, independent clinic. But what does independent actually mean for your hearing care?
It means our recommendations are guided by your hearing, your goals and your preferences. We can consider hearing aids from different manufacturers and talk through the options that suit you, including the option to take more time before making a decision.
Care without sales targets
Our audiologists do not earn commissions for selling hearing aids, and we do not work to hearing aid sales KPIs. You should feel comfortable asking questions, discussing your budget and telling us when something does not feel right.
A hearing aid is only one possible part of hearing care. Sometimes the next step is further testing, a medical referral, communication advice or simply a conversation about what you have been experiencing.
Time to get it right
Hearing care does not always fit neatly into a short appointment. You may need time to explain the situations you struggle with, try a device, adjust to new sounds or return for fine-tuning.
We do not put an arbitrary cut-off on your care after a fitting. We’ll work with you through the adjustment process and arrange follow-up appointments when they’re needed. Good hearing care continues beyond the day you receive your hearing aids.
Your choices matter
Two people with similar hearing test results can have very different needs. One might want to hear their grandchildren more clearly. Another might need support in meetings, at work or in a busy restaurant.
More choice. More time. Care shaped around you.
A hearing aid is only one possible part of hearing care. Sometimes the next step is further testing, a medical referral, communication advice or simply a conversation about what you have been experiencing.
Hearing care does not always fit neatly into a short appointment. You may need time to explain the situations you struggle with, try a device, adjust to new sounds or return for fine-tuning.
We do not put an arbitrary cut-off on your care after a fitting. We’ll work with you through the adjustment process and arrange follow-up appointments when they’re needed. Good hearing care continues beyond the day you receive your hearing aids.
Two people with similar hearing test results can have very different needs. One might want to hear their grandchildren more clearly. Another might need support in meetings, at work or in a busy restaurant.
We start by listening to what matters to you. Then we explain your results, discuss suitable options and build a plan together. You can ask questions, weigh up your choices and move forward at a pace that feels right.
A hearing test can sound like a serious appointment for a little person. At Sound Audiology, it often involves colourful shapes, a game and plenty of conversation.
The toys in this photo are part of play audiometry. We teach a child to do a simple action each time they hear a sound, such as placing a shape in a board or dropping a toy into a container. By presenting different sounds and watching their responses, we can learn more about what they can hear.
That is where Chantel shines. She has the gift of the gab and a wonderful way of chatting with children, making them feel comfortable and turning the task into a game. She takes time to build trust, explain things in words they understand and keep them engaged throughout the appointment.
“Play audiometry turns listening for sounds into a simple, engaging game.”
You might notice that your child often asks “what?”, turns up the television, seems to miss instructions or has difficulty hearing at childcare or school. Speech and language concerns, recurring ear infections or a teacher’s observation can also be reasons to check their hearing.
Sometimes hearing difficulties are temporary, such as when fluid is sitting behind the eardrum. A hearing assessment helps us understand what is happening and whether any follow-up is needed.
We choose the tests that suit your child’s age and development. Alongside play audiometry where appropriate, we may look in their ears and assess how their middle ears are working. We explain the results clearly and talk through the next step with you.
Children do not need to get everything “right” or sit perfectly still for us to start learning about their hearing. Our aim is to make the experience positive while gathering the most useful information we can.
Have a question about your child’s hearing? Contact Sound Audiology to discuss the right appointment for them.
A sudden change in hearing can be a medical emergency. Seek urgent assessment, even if your ear just feels blocked.
A ringing sound when the room is quiet. A hum, hiss, whistle or buzz that no one else seems to hear. These are all ways people describe tinnitus.
Hearing care is personal. You are never just a number at Sound Audiology.
Have you ever rolled over in bed and felt as though the room was spinning? Or had a sudden sensation that you were moving while standing still? That feeling is called vertigo.
