Hearing Test

There are various types of hearing tests available, including:

• Pure tone audiometry – a machine called an audiometer produces a range of beeps and whistles (pure tones). You press a button or otherwise indicate when you hear the sounds. If you listen to the pure tones through headphones, your air conduction hearing is being tested. This tests your outer hearing pathway as well as your inner ear. If you listen to the sounds through a bone conductor – a vibrator held against the mastoid bone (located behind the ear) – the sounds your inner hearing pathways can hear are measured.

• Speech discrimination tests – this is a test of how clearly you hear speech. Speech discrimination tests require you to repeat words said to you. Age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) typically begins with the loss of higher frequencies, so that certain speech sounds (such as ‘p’, ‘f’ and ‘t’) end up sounding very similar.

Hearing tests for children:

Some babies are at increased risk of hearing problems. Risk factors include premature birth, low birth weight and jaundice. The type of hearing tests used depends on the age of the child, but can include:

• Play audiometry – Younger children are taught to respond to sounds by playing a game, such as dropping a marble or placing a block into a box when they hear the sound.

Objective tests:

Objective tests include: Tympanometry – a rubber tip is inserted into the ear and air is pumped into the ear canal. This is not a test of hearing, but checks if the eardrum can move normally.

Audiogram explained

Our Hearing specialist/audiologist charts the results of your hearing tests on a graph called an audiogram. Graphed results usually include your hearing threshold (the softest sounds you can hear) for a range of frequencies for both ears.

By comparing the figures, the Hearing specialist/audiologist can assess your degree of hearing loss and find clues to its origin. For example, if the air and bone conduction results are the same, then the we know that the hearing loss is caused by problems of the inner ear, and not the outer or middle ear.