Real Ear Measurements (REM) Verification and validation is a procedure that ensures hearing aids are precisely tailored to the hearing prescription
Oh, if only getting a hearing aid was as easy as slipping it in your ear and stepping out of the audiologist’s office.
Typically, there’s a few more steps involved: Your audiologist will want to confirm you understand how to use your new hearing aids, and that they’re properly calibrated and programmed for your needs.

As part of the hearing aid fitting process, many  audiologists will also perform a real ear measurement (sometimes also referred to as “real ear verification”).
What is real ear measurement? 
Real Ear Measurements (REM) are exactly what they sound like – measurements taken in a patient’s ear in real-time. Real ear testing is used to assess hearing aid function in the ear canal. Essentially, what we’re trying to find out is when we play a sound into the ear canal, what sound is being received at the eardrum?
Simply put, this test confirms that the settings on your hearing aid are providing soft and loud sounds at the correct amplification. That is, instead of solely relying on your report of how things sound with the hearing aid on, real ear measurement provides a report on the sound levels you’re receiving.
Often, REM is used during a hearing aid fitting to ensure appropriate and individualized hearing aid programming. It increases customer satisfaction and clinic efficiency by removing the guesswork out of hearing aid fittings, providing each individual client optimal gain and frequency response when programming new hearing aids ensures a more comfortable listening experience, improved speech quality, and overall intelligibility.
Importance of real ear measurements in hearing aid fittings
All that information—combined with the objective information on how the hearing aid works in your ear—can help your audiologist make sure the hearing aid is performing as it should.

That sets you up for a positive relationship with the devices. When people aren’t successful with hearing aids, it’s a sign they weren’t programmed properly at the get-go, and that there wasn’t validation to ensure they were working.
What happens during real ear measurement?
Step 1: Before you even get there, the audiologist will calibrate the machine.

Once that’s all set, you’ll enter the room with the machine used for the measurement process. The audiologist will perform an otoscopy—that is, they’ll take a peek in your ears with a special viewing device, to make sure there isn’t a ton of earwax or any debris in there If the probe tip (more on that in a second) is in wax, it won’t measure accurately.

Step 2: Then, the audiologist will place the probe in your ear, about six millimeters (roughly a quarter of an inch) from your eardrum. Getting the probe tube in the right spot is key to accurate measurements.

This may feel like it tickles when you have a hair in your ear. But it’s not painful or even very uncomfortable.

Step 3: With the probe in place, the audiologist will next place your hearing aids in. You’ll have both the probe and your new hearing aids in your ears.
Step 4: Now it’s time to listen.
During this step, expect that the audiologist may make some adjustments. They’ll be using the machine to confirm the amplification in your ear hits the targets. If it’s not, the hearing aids can be adjusted.
Step 5: You provide feedback. For this final step, the audiologist will remove the probe tip and just confirm with the patient that it sounds okay to them.
This whole process, from start to finish, on both ears, typically takes around 10-15 minutes
The real ear measurement can take a bit longer if many adjustments are required.
Benefits of getting real ear measurement 
Every ear is unique, the size of your ear and the shape of the ear canal is different from the size and shape of your parents or sibling’s. Through real ear measurement, audiologists can confirm that sounds in all pitches are properly amplified for your specific hearing needs.
Are there any drawbacks? 
Not really: Sometimes people feel a bit nervous when they see the probe tip. A little explanation and brief practice session—so the person can get comfortable with the feeling of having a probe in the ear—can typically ease concerns