What to Expect at Your Hearing Test

Hearing loss can occur for various reasons and while it is most common in 60 to 75-year-olds, it can begin to happen at any time in your life. Working with loud tools, in a busy and noisy environment or even performing in a band are common things that can contribute to hearing loss. 

If you are experiencing a hearing loss it doesn’t necessarily mean anything serious and, in many cases, there is a wax blockage or an infection, both of which can be easily remedied. However, in order to ensure that there is nothing serious happening and to assess for the right treatment, you should consult an audiologist for a hearing test. 

A hearing test is completely painless, unintrusive and will last for around 30 minutes.

Examination

As with any medical scenario, a preliminary examination before testing is necessary for an audiologist to get an understanding of what might be happening in your particular case. Following an introduction, your hearing professional should explain what they are going to do during the test and that you have nothing to be worried about.

Initially, your audiologist will examine your ears in order to make sure that there are no blockages from wax or infection followed by some questions regarding what has been happening with your hearing and why you are there to see them. It is best advised to be honest when answering questions for an accurate assessment to be performed.

Testing

Following an initial assessment and provided there is no reason that a hearing test cannot commence, your audiologist will begin what is known as an audiogram. A 30-minute test, an audiogram is the means by which the audiologist can measure your response to various sounds and speech across a spectrum of pitches and volumes.

The test itself requires you to wear a pair of stereo headphones through which the sounds will be played. Upon a sound being played, you will be asked to indicate whether you heard it or not and the audiologist will note your response. In order to test for wider issues, it is necessary that the tests be performed in both ears separately and further tests may be necessary.

Your audiologist will inform you of the results of your test. The test is conducted by measuring two variables: volume in decibels (dB) and pitch in hertz (Hz). The normal range for both measurements is zero to 180 and 250 to 8,000 respectively and therefore, a hearing test is conducted between these boundaries.

If you are unable to hear sounds above 20dB then you are experiencing some hearing loss from mild at 21dB to 40dB, moderate between 41dB and 70dB and severe hearing loss occurs when you cannot hear between 71dB and 90dB. Should you be unable to hear above 91dB then you could be considered profoundly deaf. 

Following testing and results, your audiologist will recommend hearing loss treatments based upon what they discovered such as the use of a hearing aid and one-sided hearing loss could indicate another issue and might require that you be referred to a physician.