Self-diagnosing hearing loss is pretty much impossible. For example, you can’t actually put your ear up to a speaker and subjectively evaluate what you hear. That means that if you want to know what’s happening with your hearing, you need to take a test.
Now, before you start sweating or anxiously fidgeting, it’s important to mention that most hearing tests are quite easy and require nothing more difficult than wearing a pair of fancy headphones.
Okay, tests aren’t everyone’s favorite thing to do. Tests in general are no fun for anybody of any age. You will be more comfortable and more ready if you take some time to get to know these tests. There’s virtually no test easier to take than a hearing test!
How is a hearing test performed?
We often talk about making an appointment with a hearing specialist to get your hearing assessed. And we’ve probably used the phrase “hearing test” a couple of times. You may even be thinking, well, what are the 2 types of hearing tests?
Well, that’s slightly misleading. Because you may undergo a few different types of hearing tests, as it turns out. Each of them is designed to assess something different or provide you with a specific result. Here are some of the hearing tests you’re likely to experience:
- Pure-tone audiometry: Most people are probably familiar with this hearing test. You listen for a sound on a set of headphones. You just put up your right hand if you hear a tone in your right ear, and if you hear a pitch in your left ear you raise your left hand. With this, we can figure out which wavelengths and volumes of sound you’re able to hear. And if you have more profound hearing loss in one ear, this test will also determine that.
- Speech audiometry: In some cases, you can hear tones very well, but hearing speech remains somewhat of a challenge. Speech is typically a more complex audio range so it can be harder to hear with clarity. During a speech audiometry test, you’ll be led into a quiet room and will, once again, be instructed to put on some headphones. Instead of making you focus on tones, this test will be comprised of audible speech at different volumes to detect the lowest level you can hear a word and still understand it.
- Speech and Noise-in-Words Tests: Of course, real-world conversations rarely happen in a vacuum. A speech and noise-in-words test will go through the same process as speech audiometry, but the test occurs in a noisy room instead of a quiet one. This mimics real-world situations to help determine how your hearing is working in those situations.
- Bone conduction testing: This diagnostic is created to measure the performance of your inner ear. A little sensor is placed near your cochlea and another is put on your forehead. A small device then receives sounds. How efficiently sound vibrations travel through the ear is measured by this test. This test can often detect whether there is a blockage in your ear (ex: if you can’t hear, but your inner ear is working perfectly there might be some sort of obstruction hindering the sounds).
- Tympanometry: The overall health of your eardrum sometimes requires testing. This is done using a test called tympanometry. During this test, a little device will gently push air into your ear and measure just how much your eardrum moves. The results of this test can indicate whether your eardrum has a hole, fluid behind your eardrum membrane, and more.
- Acoustic Reflex Measures: A tiny device measures the muscle feedback of your inner ear after delivering sound to it. The reflexive reaction of the muscle movement of your inner ear will help us discover how well it’s functioning.
- Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR): An ABR test tries to measure how well the brain and inner ear are reacting to sound. To achieve this test, a couple of electrodes are tactically placed on your skull. This test is entirely painless so don’t worry. That’s why people from newborns to grandparents get this test.
- Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) Testing: This diagnostic is made to determine how well your cochlea and inner ear are functioning. This is achieved by measuring sound that echo’s back to your middle ear from your inner ear. This can identify whether your cochlea is working or, in some situations, if your ear is blocked.
What do the results of hearing tests tell us?
Chances are, you usually won’t undergo every single one of these hearing tests. Usually, your particular symptoms will determine which of these tests will be relevant.
What do we look for in a hearing test? Well, sometimes the tests you take will uncover the underlying cause of your hearing loss. In other cases, the test you take might simply eliminate other possible causes. Ultimately, we will get to the bottom of any hearing loss symptoms you are experiencing.
Here are a few things that your hearing test can reveal:
- Whether your hearing loss is in a specific frequency range.
- The best approach for treating your hearing loss: We will be more successfully able to address your hearing loss once we’ve established the cause.
- How much your hearing loss has progressed and how severe it is.
- Whether you’re dealing with symptoms related to hearing loss or hearing loss itself.
Is there a difference between a hearing screening and a hearing test? It’s sort of like the difference between a quiz and a test. A screening is very superficial. A test is much more in-depth and can provide usable information.
The sooner you get tested, the better
That’s why it’s important to schedule a hearing test when you first notice symptoms. Don’t worry, this test isn’t going to be very stressful, and you don’t have to study. And the tests aren’t painful or invasive. We will provide you with all of the information about what to do and not to do before your hearing test.
It’s easy, just call and schedule an appointment.
