Hearing problems typically develop with age, but they can affect anyone. Around 25 percent of people over the age of 50 struggle with hearing problems and hearing loss, and 50 percent of those over 80 experience this issue. One of the ways to diagnose this problem is through an audiogram test, also known as audiometry. Audiometry, or Audiogram Test, is a well-known test that measures hearing ability. The process of this test includes examining mechanical sound transmission (middle ear function), neural sound transmission (cochlear function), and speech recognition ability (central processing). There are various methods for testing ear health, and if you stay with us until the end of this article, you will learn about all of them and understand how they work and their processes.
What Does an Audiogram Test Do?
An audiogram test is a series of exams that evaluate the function of your ears. These tests assess both the intensity and tone of sounds you hear, as well as identify balance problems and other issues related to your inner ear.
Hearing Test
An audiologist is the specialist who diagnoses and treats these hearing-related issues. As you know, the unit of measurement for sound intensity is decibels, and a healthy human ear can hear a range between 20 and 180 decibels.
Sound frequency is measured in hertz, which is the standard unit, and a healthy human ear can detect sounds in the range of 20 to 20,000 Hz.
What Are the Two Types of Audiogram?
There are two main types of audiograms that doctors use to check hearing. The first type is known as an air conduction audiogram, which measures how well sounds travel through the air and reach the inner parts of the ear. It is used to detect any issues that might exist in the outer ear, the ear canal, or the middle ear.
The second type is referred to as a bone conduction audiogram. During this interesting and detailed test, a small device transmits sound directly through the bones of the skull to the inner ear.
This helps doctors see if the hearing problem is coming from the deeper parts of the ear instead of the outer or middle parts. By comparing the results of both tests, doctors can figure out where the hearing problem is happening and how serious it is.
How Is an Audiogram Test or Audiometry Performed?
There are several methods for conducting audiometry, one of the most popular being PTA (Pure Tone Audiometry). In this method, an audiologist or their assistant sits behind an audiometric device, and you sit across the room wearing headphones.
Audiometry Test
Very soft sounds are played through the headphones, and after hearing each beep, you raise your hand according to the doctor’s instructions. This test helps evaluate how well a person can hear sounds with very low frequencies. There are also speech tests, where the doctor plays words through the headphones, and you must identify them.
How Often Should You Get a Hearing Test?
You should get a hearing test whenever you notice any problems with your hearing, but experts also recommend regular checks based on age. Newborns should have one or two screenings in their first six months.
If no problems are found, hearing tests are not usually needed again until eighteen years old. From eighteen to forty-five years old, a test every five years is advised.
Between forty-five and sixty years old, hearing should be checked every three years, and after sixty, every two years. Regular hearing tests in later years will help detect problems early and maintain your hearing health, and will also save you from unnecessary worries.
Audiogram Test Symbols
Doctors use distinct symbols on an audiogram to represent the range of sounds a person can hear. Typically, a red circle marks the hearing level of the right ear, whereas a blue X denotes the hearing level of the left ear. Be sure not to mix them up.
Audiogram Test Symbols
Sometimes, there are triangles, brackets, or arrows that tell more about how the test was done. These symbols help doctors easily understand and compare the hearing in both ears.
Audiogram Test Interpretation
Reading an audiogram means looking at the lines and symbols on the chart to understand a person’s hearing ability. When the symbols appear near the top of the chart, it indicates that the person is able to hear soft sounds clearly.
If the symbols are lower on the chart, it means the person needs sounds to be louder to hear them. Doctors look at the shape of the line, the differences between ears, and how different pitches are heard to decide if there is any hearing loss and how serious it is.
What are Normal Audiogram Results?
Normal audiogram results mean that a person can hear all the tested sounds at very soft levels. On the chart, this usually looks like a line close to the top, between zero and twenty decibels.
A normal audiogram shows that the person does not have any hearing loss and can hear sounds clearly across low, middle, and high pitches.
Audiogram Test Normal Range
The normal range for an audiogram test is from zero to twenty decibels of hearing level across all pitches. If a person hears sounds within this range, it means their hearing is considered normal.
Audiogram Test
If the hearing level is higher than twenty decibels at any pitch, it might mean there is some hearing loss that should be looked at more closely by a doctor.
Audiogram Test Cost
The cost of an audiogram test can be different depending on where you go. In some clinics, it might be free if it is part of a regular check-up. In other places, it could cost between fifty to two hundred dollars.
Health insurance sometimes covers the cost, especially if a doctor has recommended the test. It is a good idea to ask the clinic about the price before making an appointment.
Online Hearing Tests
You might be one of those people who do not have time to visit a clinic or a doctor’s office to check your hearing. Online hearing tests can give you a general idea about your hearing health. However, they cannot fully diagnose any problems. For complete and accurate treatment, it is still very important to visit a hearing specialist in person. Here, we introduce a few online hearing tests that you can try:
Global Widex Online Hearing Test
This website has been created by experts in the field of hearing to help you get a quick understanding of your hearing situation. It can guide you to know whether you should visit a specialist or not.
Audiogram Test Online
The Global Widex hearing test is an easy-to-use online tool that takes just around five minutes to finish. It tests your hearing through different listening scenarios and gives you quick results.
It is very important to do the test in a very quiet environment without any background noise and, if possible, to use high-quality headphones for the best accuracy.
Phonak Online Hearing Test
Phonak offers a free tool that helps you easily check for possible hearing problems. After a few steps of setting up and adjusting the volume, the test begins.
The Phonak test has three stages: testing low-frequency sounds, mid-frequency sounds, and high-frequency sounds. The final result, just like Global Widex, is brief and easy to understand.
Resound Online Hearing Test
The Resound test has a few small differences compared to the others. For example, similar to the Widex test, a series of numbers are played, and you are asked to listen and type them in.
Audiometry Test
Additionally, the names of different objects are read aloud, and you are asked to click on the matching pictures. Unlike the other tests, the Resound hearing test does not include any extra questions. After completing the tone hearing test, the results are shown to you immediately.
Final Word
It is a common misconception that hearing loss is simply a natural consequence of aging, which leads young people to be careless about the health of their ears. People of all ages who notice any problems with hearing surrounding sounds should consult a specialist and not allow this incorrect belief to harm their health in later years. Always take care of your ears because one of the greatest divine gifts is the ability to hear sounds. So, for the sake of preserving this important gift, we must take care of our health and visit a specialist every few years.
