Speech & Hearing

USA Health offers a full range of care for conditions affecting speech and hearing issues. Our multidisciplinary team of specialists includes speech pathologists, audiologists and an ear, nose and throat (ENT) physician. As a comprehensive speech center, we offer auditory processing evaluations, voice and swallow evaluations, and cochlear implant programming.

We treat patients of all ages for a variety of hearing and speech issues including:

Speech Conditions

Aphasia Therapy
People with aphasia have trouble both creating and understanding speech and language. A speech language pathologist works with you to create a treatment plan based on your needs and goals.

Articulation Therapy
When patients struggle to string words together properly, we perform an articulation assessment to diagnose the cause. Articulation issues can stem from mouth structure, neurological issues and hearing deficiencies. A speech language pathologist creates a treatment plan based on your particular situation and its causes.

Fluency (stuttering) Therapy
People who stutter may get stuck on certain words or sounds when they speak. The medical name for this condition is disfluency. Disfluency tends to start in childhood. We offer direct and indirect therapies including speech modification and fluency therapy.

Swallow Therapy
Swallowing problems are also called dysphagia. If swallowing is painful, or if you frequently choke or have trouble swallowing, we can help. Patients who have undergone treatment for head and neck cancers often require therapy to re-learn how to swallow properly.

Voice Evaluations
Voice issues manifest themselves in several ways, including hoarseness, voice loss, volume issues and a “scratchy” or “rough” sounding voice. These issues can be caused by muscle control disorders or nodules or polyps on tissue inside your larynx (also called your voice box). Our team performs a thorough voice evaluation and creates a treatment plan just for you.

Hearing-related Conditions

Auditory Processing
Auditory processing issues occur when the brain doesn’t correctly recognize and interpret speech and other sounds. The precise cause of auditory processing disorders isn’t known, but there are several treatment options including speech language therapy, amplification devices and environment modification. In addition, our therapists are trained to teach patients, usually children, how to listen through aural rehabilitation.

Impairment
Hearing loss or impairment can have structural causes, such as damage or malformation of the structures inside the ear. Hearing loss can also have neurological causes, such as a brain injury. Our audiologists do thorough evaluations to determine the cause and severity of your impairment. We program cochlear implants for patients who require surgery, and our audiologists also perform extensive evaluations for hearing aids and other amplification devices.

Dizziness and Balance Issues

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, or BPPV, is caused by calcium crystals in the inner ear. When they become dislodged, they tend to roll around in the inner ear. When this happens, the ear tells the brain that it’s moving, causing sudden feelings of dizziness, vertigo and nausea. To treat BPPV, your provider may guide you through a maneuver that uses gravity to get the crystals back where they belong.

Labyrinthitis
Labyrinthitis, also known as vestibular neuritis, is an infection of the inner ear usually caused by a virus or bacteria. Symptoms include dizziness, vertigo, nausea, pain and hearing loss. Our team evaluates your condition and creates a specialized treatment plan.

Meniere's Disease
Meniere’s disease is a disorder of the inner ear. Symptoms include extreme dizziness, a ringing or roaring in the ear, pressure, pain and hearing loss. Researchers have not yet identified the cause of Meniere’s disease, but our team can help manage it.

Otolaryngology Conditions

Ear, Nose and Throat
Our staff ENT specialist treats typical conditions relating to the ear, nose and throat including ear infections, sinusitis and strep or sore throat resulting from inflamed tonsils or other bacterial infections. We treat adult and pediatric patients.