Audiologist Services Los Alamos
Hear New Mexico offers diagnostic and specialty audiology that rarely exists together in a single practice: comprehensive hearing evaluations, BPPV treatment, balance disorder evaluation, auditory processing testing, post-concussion hearing care for traumatic brain injuries and more. Dr. Coltisor is the only audiologist in New Mexico who holds a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Vestibular Sciences from Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
For patients whose balance or hearing symptoms have been referred out to other cities or dismissed entirely, we're here to help. Los Alamos Medical Center has no vestibular evaluation program. Hear New Mexico does, and you don't need a specialist referral. Most patients leave their first appointment with a diagnosis and a clear path forward.
Comprehensive Hearing Evaluation
General hearing tests check whether you can detect tones, but they don't measure how well you understand speech in a noisy room, which is what most people actually come in struggling with. A comprehensive hearing evaluation tests both, and you leave the same day with plain-language results and a clear next step in your treatment.
BPPV Diagnosis and Treatment
Most positional vertigo resolves in a single in-office visit. As opposed to taking medication or doing imaging, it can often be resolved with a repositioning maneuver that guides displaced inner-ear crystals back where they belong. We can identify the affected canal and treat the issue in the same visit.
Balance Disorder Evaluation
When dizziness lingers and no one can give you a real answer, the problem is usually that most providers aren't equipped to find the source. A vestibular evaluation maps how your inner ear, eyes, and brain work together, then pinpoints whether the issue is in the inner ear or how the brain processes its signals. Patients across Northern New Mexico have historically needed a referral to Albuquerque or Santa Fe for this level of care, but we can give you more options.
Central Auditory Processing Disorder Testing
Your ears may pass every hearing test, but how your brain makes sense of what it hears is a separate question. A Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) evaluation uses specific listening challenges to identify where the breakdown is happening, separating a processing problem from a hearing problem that can seem the same from the outside. Only a handful of audiologists in New Mexico offer this test, and Hear New Mexico can test in your home or office in Central or Northern New Mexico.
Post-Traumatic Brain Injury Evaluation
Noise sensitivity, sound distortion, and difficulty following conversations after a head injury can persist for years. A standard hearing test typically comes back normal because it checks whether you detect tones, not how your brain processes them. LANL and Sandia employees carry elevated concussion risk from high-noise work environments, and this neurocognitive evaluation is more than just a hearing test. Available without a specialist referral.