Determining Hearing Damage With A Hearing Test
A tell-tale sign that a hearing test is needed is asking people to repeat themselves. Voices sound muffled or as if the other person were whispering or speaking unintelligibly. Hearing tests can help determine if you are suffering from certain types of hearing loss, such as conductive hearing loss or sensorineural hearing loss. They can also determine the severity of damage to your hearing and decide what type of hearing devices would be best for you.
Hearing tests are simple, but many people choose to avoid them because of their busy lifestyle. If you are often around loud noises a hearing test done by an audiologist is the ideal way to determine if your hearing is being damaged. Your genetics and family history can play a role in your hearing loss as well. After discussing this with you, your audiologist will move on and check to see if there is anything abnormal inside your ear.
A sound proof booth or room is where you will be placed to conduct the next part of your hearing test. This room provides a buffer from outside noises and sounds that allows you to pick up only what the audiologist wants you to hear. Not all hearing tests will involve a sound booth because not every hearing professional will have one in their office. While in the booth, you will have earphones over your ears and the audiologist plays a sequence of tones at various pitches for you to identify. This is called the pure tone test. You will raise your hand for the ear you hear the sound in during this portion of the examination.
The next type of hearing test that is performed is with a bone conductor placed directly behind your ear. Pure tones bypass the outer and middle ear to directly reach the cochlea. This will help your audiologist see the type of damage done to the inner ear. If you suffer conductive hearing loss, then damage is done to the outer or middle ear, possibly from a build-up of wax, an ear infection, busted eardrum, or some type of birth defect. Conductive hearing loss is reversible with surgery or other medical treatments.
If you suffer from sensorineural hearing loss, your damage is a nerve-related condition. This is caused by long exposure to loud noises, birth defects or problems, age, infections, trauma, use of certain medications or heredity. Sensorineural hearing loss is usually treated with hearing aids, or in some cases, with cochlear implants. How you are treated will depend on the severity of your case.
Whether you have damage to your hearing because of conductive hearing loss or sensorineural hearing loss, your audiologist can perform a test to find the extent of the hearing damage. If you need more tests, your audiologist will conduct those as well. Your hearing test results will be shown on an audiogram, and you will see which of your ears has less damage. If there is no damage at all, you can take the proper precautions to be sure your ears stay at their optimum health.
Published by Health Editor
