How a Hearing Test Works

A hearing test is a method of evaluating the sensitivity and accuracy of one's hearing. This is usually done by an audiologist using an audiometer. Audiometers are standard equipment for ENT clinics. They consist of embedded hardware with ear phones or ear plugs and are sometimes controlled by a computer to measure one's hearing. Audiologists are the only professionals allowed to conduct such a test.

Before the actual test proceeds, the audiologist will ask the person that will be undergoing the test about his or her history with hearing impairment. The questions would center on what type of typical noises the person is exposed to regularly, including how loud and how often they occur. The audiologist would aim to find possible causes of the damaged hearing. Questions about past illness should also be expected, as there are a lot of physical disorders that affect hearing loss. Some diseases or illnesses indirectly cause hearing impairment. The audiologist needs to know about these things to come up with a solution that is as accurate as possible.

Next, the audiologist would proceed to actually look inside the person's ear. The ocular inspection involves the use of a device called the otoscope. This is a cone shaped little scope with a light at the end. It helps see into a person's ear and check if there are anything that's damaged.

A hearing test is conducted by having the test taker sit in a soundproof booth wearing ear phones or ear plugs that are connected to the audiometer. The audiometer then produces tones and sounds of different levels and frequencies. These sounds are transmitted to each individual ear.

The audiologist charts the loudness on his audiogram. An audiogram is the graphical representation of how well each ear responds to the frequencies played by the audiologist. The patient, or the person being tested, who is inside the soundproof booth will raise his or her hand or press a button when he or she hears the sound being sent to his ears. The audiologist plots all the information and analyzes which frequencies the test taker could actually here, determining the extent of the hearing loss if there is any.

These hearing tests are required if one wishes to have a hearing aid done. The test is the most important of the hearing aid fitting because this is the part in which measuring the level of one's hearing impairment would determine what type of adjustments the hearing said should have.


Your Popup Blocker Must Be Off