Hearing loss is challenging, if not impossible, to diagnose by yourself. To illustrate, you can’t really evaluate your level of hearing by simply putting your ear next to a speaker. So getting a hearing test will be vital in figuring out what’s happening with your hearing.
Now, before you start sweating or fidgeting anxiously, it’s important to mention that most hearing tests are very easy and require nothing more difficult than putting on a pair of fancy headphones.
Alright, tests aren’t everyone’s favorite thing to do. Whether you’re a high school student or middle-aged medical patient, tests are just generally no fun. Taking some time to become familiar with these tests can help you feel more prepared and, as a result, more comfortable. There’s almost no test easier to take than a hearing test!
What is a hearing test like?
Talking about scheduling an appointment to get a hearing test is something that is not that unusual. And the phrase “hearing test” is something we’ve probably discussed from time to time. You might even be thinking, well, what are the two types of hearing tests?
Well, that’s a bit misleading. Because you might undergo a number of different kinds of hearing tests, as it turns out. Each of them is made to measure something different or give you a specific result. The hearing tests you’re most likely to encounter include the following:
- Pure-tone audiometry: This is the hearing test you’re probably most familiar with. You put on some headphones and you listen for a tone. You simply raise your right hand if you hear a pitch in your right ear, and if you hear a pitch in your left ear you raise your left hand. With this, we can establish which frequencies and volumes of sound you’re able to hear. It will also measure whether you have more significant hearing loss in one ear than the other.
- Speech audiometry: Sometimes, hearing speech is an issue for you even though you can hear tones just fine. Speech is generally a more complex audio spectrum so it can be more difficult to hear with clarity. This test also consists of a pair of headphones in a quiet room. You will listen to speech at various volumes to determine the lowest volume you can hear words and clearly understand them.
- Speech and Noise-in-Words Tests: Of course, real-world conversations almost never happen in a vacuum. A speech and noise-in-words test will go through the same procedure as speech audiometry, but the test occurs in a noisy room instead of a quiet one. This mimics real-world situations to help figure out how your hearing is working in those situations.
- Bone conduction testing: This diagnostic is made to measure the performance of your inner ear. Two little sensors are placed, one on your forehead, and one on your cochlea. Sound is then transmitted through a small device. This test tracks how well those sound vibrations travel through your inner ear. This test can usually detect whether there is an obstruction in your ear (ex: if you can’t hear, but your inner ear is working fine there may be some sort of obstruction hindering the sounds).
- Tympanometry: The general health of your eardrum sometimes needs to be tested. Tympanometry is a test that is utilized for this purpose. Air will be gently blown into your ear so that we can measure how much movement your eardrum has. If you have fluid behind your eardrum, or a hole in your eardrum, this is the test that will identify that.
- Acoustic Reflex Measures: During this test, a tiny device supplies sound to your ear and observes the muscle feedback of your inner ear. It all occurs by reflex, which means that your muscle movements can tell us a lot about how well your middle ear is functioning.
- Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR): The ability of your inner ear and brain to respond to sound is measured by an ABR test. To achieve this test, a couple of electrodes are tactically placed on your skull. Don’t worry, though! This test is completely painless. It’s one of the reasons why ABR testing is used on people from grandparents to newborns!
- Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) Testing: This type of testing will help determine if your inner ear and cochlea are working properly. This is achieved by measuring sound that echo’s back to your middle ear from your inner ear. If your cochlea isn’t working properly or there’s a blockage, this test will detect it.
What do the results of hearing tests tell us?
You most likely won’t have to get all of these hearing tests. Generally, your specific symptoms will dictate which of these tests will be appropriate.
What do we look for in a hearing test? Well, sometimes the tests you take will expose the root cause of your hearing loss. In other cases, the test you take may simply rule out other possible causes. Whatever hearing loss symptoms you’re dealing with will ultimately be determined.
In general, your hearing test will uncover:
- How much your hearing loss has advanced and how significant it is.
- Whether your hearing loss is in a specific frequency range.
- Whether you’re dealing with symptoms associated with hearing loss or hearing loss itself.
- Which treatment strategy will be best for your hearing loss: Once we’ve established the cause of your hearing loss, we’ll be able to more successfully provide treatment solutions.
What’s the difference between a hearing test and a hearing screening? It’s kind of like the difference between a quiz and a test. A screening is rather superficial. A test is a lot more in-depth and can provide usable data.
It’s best to get tested as soon as possible
That’s why it’s important to schedule a hearing test as soon as you detect symptoms. Don’t worry, this test won’t be super stressful, and you don’t need to study. Nor are hearing tests invasive or generally painful. If you’re wondering, what you shouldn’t do before a hearing test, don’t worry, we will provide you with all of that information.
Which means hearing tests are pretty easy, all you need to do is schedule them.
