A Brief Guide to Hearing Tests

If you’re unsure of how hearing tests work and what you can expect from yours, this quick guide will give you an idea of the basics. Hearing tests are essential and should be taken regularly so appropriate action can be taken to treat hearing loss. But it’s understandable that you might want to find out more before going ahead with your next hearing test, especially if you haven’t had one carried out for a long time. With that in mind, read on now and find out more.

The Importance of Regular Testing

Hearing tests are non-invasive and painless. If that’s one of the things that’s concerning you, you shouldn’t let it hold you back. Hearing tests allow you to stay on top of your hearing health and deal with challenges relating to your hearing better. After all, you can’t take action to treat problems unless you know about that and the nature of the hearing loss you’re experiencing.

Pure-Tone Audiometry

One part of the hearing test you’ll likely experience is called pure-tone audiometry. This involves listening to different audio tones that are delivered at a range of frequencies and volumes. As you might have guessed, the point here is to determine which you can and can’t hear, and from there, your range of hearing can begin to be determined.

Speech Audiometry

Another important part of the hearing test is the speech audiometry test. Either recorded or live speech is used in a quiet setting to evaluate how your hearing deals with speech at varying intensity and volume levels. Hearing and understanding speech is often different to hearing simple sounds. Many people with hearing loss find speech harder to hear and understand than audio tones. 

Speech in Noise

You might also have your ability to hear and understand speech in noise tested. When there’s lots of background noise going on, it’s often a little more difficult to understand what people are saying, especially so if you have hearing loss. The speech that you listen to during this part of the test is combined with a background track that partially covers the speech, and the test sees how easy or difficult you find it to focus on the speech amid the background noise.

Testing for Hidden Hearing Loss

In some cases, it’s not the ears that are responsible for the symptoms of hearing loss that a person is experiencing. If your hearing test finds no hearing issues, but you’re still experiencing symptoms, it might be necessary to have a test for hidden hearing loss carried out. You can talk to the relevant professional about this and get the help you need.

Hearing tests are a vital tool in your efforts to protect your hearing for as long as possible. When you understand the current situation regarding your hearing and its quality, you can ensure the right actions are taken to maintain it and treat any hearing loss that might be present before it gets worse.