Do you have an audiogram but don’t know how to read it? Well, in this video I’m
talking about how to read a hearing test. Coming up!
Hi, I’m Dr. Derek, audiologist with Pro Fit Hearing.com bringing you the best insight
into today’s latest hearing aids and audio technology to improve your life. If you
have concerns about your hearing, always consult with your local physician or audiologist.
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jump into the video.
Today, I’m talking about how to read your audiogram. Understanding your audiogram
is the first step to knowing if you have hearing loss, how hearing loss may impact you, and
what kind of treatment you might benefit from.
A hearing test is completed while wearing headphones and shows how well you hear sounds
ranging from low to high pitches. The sounds start off soft and are gradually increased
to determine the level where you can just barely hear the sound. This is called your threshold
level and it's recorded on the audiogram.
In addition to using regular headphones for testing, there is also a headphone that rests
behind your ear on the bone. It’s called a bone conductor, and it measures how well
you hear sounds through your skull.
You will also be asked to repeat back words to see how well you understand speech in quiet
with no visual cues (no lip reading). Testing will be completed in a sound treated booth so that
an accurate result can be obtained.
The soft sounds (or beeps) that you hear during the hearing test are called pure tones.
Your responses are arranged on the audiogram according to the pitch (which is measured
in frequency in Hertz or Hz, along the top) and volume (which is measured in decibels
or dB, on the side).
Pitch is arranged from low (on the lefthand side) to high (on the righthand side) just
like a piano. A volume of 0 dB at the top is very soft while 110 dB at the bottom is
extremely loud like a jet engine. The red “O” indicates right ear results, and the
blue “X” indicates the left ear results.
The O and Xs are your responses to the hearing test and indicate the softest level where you hear
each sound. The O and Xs mark your hearing threshold levels for air conduction (or regular
headphones). You should also have a small, blue or red bracket near to or above the O
and Xs which indicates how well you heard the tones with bone conduction.
This audiogram indicates normal hearing thresholds in both ears at a very soft volume of 0 dB
for all the low and high pitch sounds.
This audiogram shows the different degrees of hearing loss that may exist. Your hearing
is within normal range if all the O and Xs are at 25 dB or less (for adults).
Any results that are outside the normal range is considered hearing loss that can potentially have an
impact on daily communication. The severity and configuration of the hearing loss is important
when deciding whether to proceed with hearing aids.
Hearing aids can improve speech understanding and communication anytime your results fall
outside of the normal range, but make sure to consult with your audiologist (or Doctor
of Audiology) to determine if a hearing aid is right for you.
I’m now going to have a sample audiogram so that you can have a better understanding
of how to read your own audiogram results.
This audiogram indicates a hearing loss in both ears. You can see that the position
of the O and Xs are exactly the same meaning that there's no difference in hearing between
the right and left ears for all of the sounds from low to high pitches. This person experiences
decreased hearing sensitivity mostly in the high pitches which is very common.
The audiogram shows that this person’s thresholds for the low pitch tones are in the 30-40 dB
range while their thresholds for the high pitch tones are mostly in the 55-70 dB range.
Hearing loss with this configuration is often caused by loud noise exposure and gradual
hearing loss associated with aging. All of the sounds below the blue & red lines are
audible to this person, while all sounds that are above the blue & red lines are not audible. Without
hearing aids, this person will not hear a large percentage of sounds that an otherwise
normal hearing listener would experience. Hearing aids adjusted to this audiogram would
amplify the high pitch sounds more than the low pitch sounds so that this person could
have improved speech understanding and clarity of words.
Hearing loss in the high pitch tones can significantly impact the ability to understand words, especially
in background noise. High pitch sounds correspond to the consonants in speech, and these sounds
provide the fine detail and understanding of words. Hearing loss in the high pitch
range makes it difficult to understand what people are saying. The other person may
be speaking loud enough but their words just aren’t clear.
Understanding speech is especially difficult for hearing impaired people when they're seated
a far distance away from the speaker, in the presence of background noise, and when the speaker’s
mouth can not be visualized while speaking. So if you have hearing loss and want to improve
your ability to understand what's being said, make sure you minimize distance, reduce background
noise, and face the person speaking for better visual cues.
In addition to measuring the soft tones that we hear, word recognition ability is also
recorded on the audiogram. Words are presented at a comfortable volume in quiet to determine
whether you have any difficulty understanding words. If you have hearing loss, word recognition
scores are also an estimate of how well you will understand words while wearing hearing
aids in a quiet environment.
If you have good word recognition scores, you should adapt well to hearing aids.
People with more severe hearing loss may have poor word recognition even when listening
to words at a loud volume. In these cases, a hearing aid may not make words clear enough
to understand so a cochlear implant surgery may be considered by an Ear, Nose, and Throat
doctor. Your audiologist and ENT doctor can conduct a cochlear implant evaluation
to determine if you are a candidate.
In addition to soft sound and word testing, a few other screening tests may appear on
the audiogram. These include tympanograms, acoustic reflexes, and otoacoustic emissions
(or OAEs).
A tympanogram applies some pressure inside the ear canal to see if there's normal eardrum
movement. Abnormal eardrum movement may indicate an ear infection, middle ear fluid,
or something abnormal with the ear bone function.
Acoustic reflexes are a measure of how the eardrum moves in response to loud sounds.
Normally, an acoustic reflex should be present in both ears. An absence of acoustic reflexes
may be caused by various types of hearing loss or other medical issues.
Otoacoustic emissions (or OAEs) are recorded from the ear’s outer hair cells in response
to soft tones. Hair cells are located inside the inner ear and are responsible for transmission
of auditory signals up to the brain. This test does not require any response from the
patient, and it results in a PASS or FAIL. A FAIL result is expected if the patient has
hearing loss and/or abnormal middle ear function. This test is especially helpful to estimate
a patient’s hearing sensitivity when they can not reliably respond to other behavioral
testing.
So for today’s question, do you feel more comfortable reading your own audiogram?
Was this video helpful? I’d love to know your thoughts, so please comment below.
What other videos do you want to see? Let’s connect in the comments.
Make sure to check out my other videos where I'll discuss the different types of hearing loss
that may be identified on an audiogram. These include conductive, sensorineural, and
mixed hearing loss. I’ll leave a link in the suggested videos above or at the end
of this video once those are available. Your audiologist can advise you on specific
treatment options for your hearing loss.
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dispenser so that your hearing aids are easy to use and have all the features you’re
looking for.
Remember, Pro Fit Hearing brings you the best insight into today’s latest hearing aids
and audio technology to improve your life. If you have concerns about your hearing, always
consult with your local physician or audiologist. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in
the next video.