Hearing tests are what audiologists use to determine if the person has hearing loss. They simply measure how well you hear. There are different types of hearing tests and each test uses a special technique to categorize hearing loss. Healthcare providers usually use screenings to check if the person can hear and audiologists usually do evaluations to figure out what hearing issues the person is suffering from. It doesn’t compel any preparation and it doesn’t hurt. There are no risks mentioned.
If you undergo a hearing screening, you are testing if you have normal hearing. Once you fail a hearing screening, you should then undergo a full hearing or audiologic evaluation. This helps the audiologist determine what type of hearing loss the patient has and if the hearing loss he suffers from is mild, moderate, severe or profound. Many symptoms show whether you have hearing problems. Those include not understanding what others are saying, asking people to repeat themselves, turning the volume up when listening to music or watching TV, or when having ringing sounds in the ears.
Who usually has a hearing test?
Babies born usually undergo hearing screenings right when they are born. Children throughout their regular appointments or in school also undergo hearing screenings. If their healthcare providers doubt any trouble hearing, then they may have hearing tests. Adults in general have hearing tests when they have trouble hearing or when people around them notice that they have a hearing problem. How often they should have hearing tests depends on their situations. They can either have it if their job is in noisy environments or have it after their 50s when they start experiencing hearing loss due to age.
Types of Hearing Tests
1. Pure-tone testing, known as audiometry:
This is the most frequent and common hearing test. The person puts earphones and raises his hand whenever he hears a beep. The audiologist uses an audiometer which delivers sounds at several frequencies and levels, producing a range of beeps or pure tones. You react to what you are hearing through raising a hand, pressing the button and pointing to the ear you felt you heard the sound with, or by simply saying yes to show that you heard the sound. The audiologist notes down the responses on an audiogram. The audiogram is a graph that records the hearing loss patterns. If hearing loss is detected, the audiogram will show the degree of hearing loss. In that case, the audiologist will tell you what hearing aid machines help you to hear better. That is the different types of hearing aids you can use. They will also tell you what to really expect when using these hearing machines and which ones fit you and your condition.
2. Bone Conduction Testing:
This test allows to check if the patient has wax or fluid blocking the middle or outer ear, or if the hearing loss is found in sensory cells of the ear. This test also reveals to the audiologist how clearly you hear. The audiologist puts a small device and sends sounds through it. These sounds cause the skull to vibrate smoothly and the vibration goes to the inner ear.
3. Speech Testing:
This test shows how the person understands speech and how easily he can hear spoken language. Adults and children who undergo this type of hearing are usually asked to listen to and repeat certain words. It is performed along with the pure-tone test. The audiologist says words in either soft or loud levels and you should repeat these words. He/She might ask you to repeat words to check your word recognition. Sometimes, this test is done in noisy environments to check the ability to understand speech in loud places.
4. Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR)
Audiologists use this type to check the hearing of children and people who can’t finish the pure-tone tests. People who have brain injury affecting their hearing also use this test. This test checks the connections between the brain and the inner ear. The patient doesn’t need to respond to sounds. Using electrodes sticked to your skin and connected to the computer, the audiologist reviews the records on the computer to check the results. These records usually include the brainwave activity as the brain responds to different sounds played through earphones.
Hearing tests done by audiologists are the best way to find out if you have hearing loss and its severity. If you have concerns about your hearing, ask your healthcare provider to recommend an audiologist that would help you with your condition and give you the best hearing solutions. Many even are not aware that hey have a problem. Much like vision, hearing changes with time. This is why it is crucial to always have your ears checked, on a regular basis, even when you think you don’t need.
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