A hearing test evaluates a person’s ability to hear sounds, assessing loudness and pitch. It determines if hearing loss is present, its extent, and potential causes.
Preparing for Your Hearing Evaluation
Before a hearing evaluation, avoid loud noises for at least 24 hours. This helps ensure accurate results by preventing temporary hearing changes.
Gather your medical history, including past ear infections, surgeries, injuries, and a list of current medications. Certain medications can impact hearing, and your history of noise exposure provides valuable context for the audiologist.
Common Hearing Test Procedures
A comprehensive hearing evaluation involves several procedures. Pure-Tone Audiometry measures the softest sounds an individual can hear at various pitches or frequencies. You sit in a sound-treated booth, wear headphones, and listen for tones. You indicate when you hear a sound, and the audiologist records your responses.
Pure-Tone Audiometry includes air and bone conduction testing. Air conduction assesses sound travel through the outer, middle, and inner ear using headphones. Bone conduction uses a device behind the ear to transmit vibrations directly to the inner ear, bypassing the outer and middle ear. Comparing these results helps determine if hearing loss relates to outer/middle ear issues or the inner ear/auditory nerve.
Speech Audiometry evaluates how well you hear and understand spoken words. You listen to and repeat words or sentences at different volumes, sometimes with background noise. This test determines your speech reception threshold (the softest level you can hear and recognize speech) and your word recognition score (how clearly you understand words).
Tympanometry assesses middle ear function by measuring eardrum movement in response to air pressure changes. A small probe is placed in the ear canal, introducing pressure variations. This test does not measure hearing but helps identify problems like fluid behind the eardrum, perforations, or issues with middle ear bones.
Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs) check inner ear function, specifically the cochlear hair cells. During this non-invasive test, a probe in the ear canal emits soft sounds and measures faint echoes produced by healthy hair cells. Absent emissions can indicate an inner ear problem or a blockage in the outer or middle ear. This test is useful for screening newborns or individuals unable to participate in behavioral hearing tests.
The Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test measures how sound signals travel from the ear to the brainstem. Small electrodes are placed on the head to record brainwave activity in response to sounds presented through earphones. This test is often used for infants or to assess auditory nerve pathways when behavioral responses are not possible.
Understanding Your Hearing Test Results
Your hearing test results are plotted on an audiogram. This chart displays your hearing sensitivity across different frequencies (pitch) and intensities (loudness) for each ear. The horizontal axis represents frequency in Hertz (Hz), from low to high pitches. The vertical axis represents loudness in decibels (dB), with quieter sounds at the top.
Symbols on the audiogram indicate the softest sounds you can hear at each frequency for both ears, and for air and bone conduction. For instance, a red circle often represents the right ear’s air conduction, while a blue ‘X’ signifies the left ear’s. The audiogram classifies hearing loss as conductive (outer or middle ear issues), sensorineural (inner ear or auditory nerve damage), or mixed (a combination).
The audiogram also determines the degree of hearing loss, categorized by the loudness required to hear sounds. Categories range from normal hearing (-10 to 15 dB) to slight (16-25 dB), mild (26-40 dB), moderate (41-55 dB), moderately severe (56-70 dB), severe (71-90 dB), and profound (91 dB or greater). Each degree signifies different challenges in hearing soft sounds or understanding speech.
What Happens After Your Hearing Test?
After the tests, the audiologist reviews results and explains their meaning for your hearing health, covering the type and degree of any identified hearing loss. The audiologist answers questions and clarifies uncertainties about the audiogram and its implications.
Based on the findings, the audiologist offers recommendations tailored to your needs. These might include communication strategies, hearing aid options if amplification is appropriate, or assistive listening devices. If an underlying medical condition is suspected, a referral to an ENT specialist may be recommended for further evaluation. Regular follow-up appointments are often advised to monitor hearing changes and ensure ongoing support.