Hearing Doctors in Durham, NC

After completing her bachelors’ degree at UNC-CH, she was granted a full graduate assistantship at The University of Memphis. There she was able to receive an excellent and in-depth education on the physiology and psychology of hearing and balance. Her interests focused on rehabilitation of hearing for individuals who lose hearing later in life. During graduate school she also spent time painting. Her specialty was large monochromatic acrylic anatomical images including the outer, middle, and inner ear structures, as well as blood cells and bones. She returned to Chapel Hill for a year-long internship to complete her training.

Known as an “otogeek” and a firm supporter of quality communication in all forms, Dr. Cristobal uses her knowledge by help individuals with hearing difficulties stay connected. She helps her patients to understand the nature, degree, and impact of their hearing loss, and to make decisions about how best to manage.

For those patients for whom hearing aids are appropriate, she utilizes gold standard fitting procedures with probe microphone based real ear measures. She also offer a wide range of assistive listening devices and auditory retraining programs.

She has twice been awarded honors from national audiology organizations for above and beyond the typical continuing education efforts. She enjoys speaking at community outreach and education events around the triangle, educating health care providers and the general public.

A North Carolina native, Dr. Cristobal lives in Hillsborough with her spouse, Christian, and their two children, Will and Benny, a rescue Lab, and a house cat. They are active parishioners at the Newman Catholic Student Center Parish in Chapel Hill. Along with her boys, Dr. C loves to be outside whenever possible. You can find them hiking, gardening, or even just eating breakfast outside at any opportunity.

Hometown: Rocky Mount, NC

Favorite Sound: Rain falling

Greatest Accomplishment: My children’s teachers describe them as kind.

• American Academy of Audiology Member
• Shelly Cristobal, Au.D. on LinkedIn
• Durham Chamber of Commerce Member
• Hearing Up Network Provider
• Better Business Bureau Rating
• Serving the Newman Center Parish in Chapel Hill, NC
• CareCredit Provider

After graduating, Dr. Wellons moved to South Florida and worked at a busy ENT clinic for 8 years. There she has the opportunity to work with patients of all ages, medical backgrounds, and degrees of hearing loss.

Working in the ENT clinic gave Dr. Wellons the experience necessary to hone her technical skills; however, her experience as an educational audiologist emphasized that at the end of the day, it does not matter how quickly a hearing test is performed or how wonderful the hearing aids sound in the office. The real test is how one hears in their day-to-day life. If the hearing aids do not help improve understanding and clarity in the patient’s own environments, then they are not worth all the time, effort, and money required!

Unfortunately, the real world is messier than we like to think it is. In addition to hearing loss, obstacles such as poor acoustics, people who mumble, and high levels of background noise impact understanding.

Missing the Tar Heel state and wanting to provide patients more personalized services, Dr. Wellons found Hearing Health Care Services and moved back home.

The extended appointment lengths at HHCS allow Dr. Wellons to focus on what she is most passionate about; patient-focused care, personalizing each appointment based on the needs of the individual and their needs to ensure success.

To maximize outcomes, the hearing aid journey must include an in-depth, diagnostic hearing evaluation to assess the function of the entire auditory system, personalized hearing aid programming using Real-Ear Measures to ensure the devices are set for the unique ear canal size, shape, and listening preference of every patient. Patient education is also key to ensure the hearing aids are well maintained at home and good communication strategies are used to supplement auditory cues. Dr. Wellons loves teaching the Aural Rehabilitation workshops offered weekly at HHCS!

Dr. Wellons also believes in the power of laughter. Hearing aids can seem very intimidating at the start, her goal is to bring the fun and joy back into hearing! A smiling, positive attitude goes a long way, so be prepared for some corny jokes!

When she’s not in the office, Dr. Wellons enjoys spending time with her husband Adam, watching Star Wars, attending UNC and Carolina Hurricanes games, rock climbing, playing with her four (yes, FOUR) cats, and working on at least 15 craft project at one time (including quilting, cross stitch, and crocheting).

Favorite Sound: Cats Purring

Why did I choose Audiology: It’s in my blood! My mom was the audiologist for Durham Public Schools for over 25 years! I picked Speech and Hearing Sciences as a major in undergrad because of her and was surprised how quickly I fell in love!

What am I obsessed with? Star Wars! Ask me anything about Star Wars and I’ll probably know it!

What do I do for fun? Spending time with her husband Adam, watching Star Wars, paddleboarding, rock climbing, playing with her four (yes, FOUR) cats, and working on at least15 craft project at one time (including quilting, cross stitch, and crocheting).What makes me weird? I frequently carrying earplugs in my purse for myself and friends and I have a working knowledge of how to make chainmail.