Measuring hearing loss is more complex than it might seem at first. You can most likely hear certain things clearly at lower volumes but not others. Most letters may sound clear at any volume but others, like “s” and “b” may get lost. It will become more apparent why you have inconsistencies with your hearing when you learn how to read your hearing test. That’s because there’s more to hearing than simply cranking up the volume.
When I get my audiogram, how do I decipher it?
Hearing professionals will be able to determine the condition of your hearing by utilizing this type of hearing test. It would be great if it looked as basic as a scale from one to ten, but regrettably, that isn’t the situation.
Many people find the graph format confusing at first. But if you understand what you’re looking at, you too can interpret the results of your audiogram.
Reading volume on a hearing test
Along the left side of the graph is the volume in Decibels (dB) from 0 (silent) to around 120 (thunder). The higher the number, the louder the sound must be for you to hear it.
A loss of volume between 26 dB and 45 dB indicates mild hearing loss. You’re dealing with moderate hearing loss if your hearing starts at 45-65 dB. Hearing loss is severe if your hearing starts at 66-85 dB. Profound hearing loss means that you can’t hear until the volume reaches 90 dB or more, which is louder than a lawnmower.
The frequency section of your audiogram
You hear other things besides volume too. You can also hear a range of frequencies or pitches of sound. Frequencies help you distinguish between types of sounds, and this includes the letters of the alphabet.
Frequencies that a human ear can hear, from 125 (lower than a bullfrog) to 8000 (higher than a cricket), are typically listed along the bottom of the chart.
This test will let us figure out how well you can hear within a range of frequencies.
So if you’re dealing with hearing loss in the higher frequencies, you may need the volume of high frequency sounds to be as high as 60 dB (the volume of someone talking at an elevated volume). The graph will plot the volumes that the different frequencies will have to reach before you’re able to hear them.
Why measuring both volume and frequency is so significant
Now that you understand how to read your audiogram, let’s look at what those results might mean for you in real life. High-frequency hearing loss, which is a quite common type of loss would make it harder to hear or comprehend:
- Birds
- Music
- Women and children who tend to have higher-pitched voices
- Beeps, dings, and timers
- “F”, “H”, “S”
- Whispers, even if hearing volume is good
Some particular frequencies may be more challenging for a person with high frequency hearing loss to hear, even within the higher frequency range.
Inside your inner ear you have very small hair-like nerve cells that vibrate along with sounds. You lose the ability to hear in whatever frequencies which the corresponding hair cells that detect those frequencies have become damaged and died. You will totally lose your ability to hear any frequencies that have lost all of the corresponding hair cells.
This kind of hearing loss can make some interactions with friends and family extremely aggravating. Your family members might think they have to yell at you in order to be heard even though you only have difficulty hearing certain frequencies. On top of that, those who have this type of hearing loss find background sound overpowers louder, higher-frequency sounds like your sister talking to you in a restaurant.
We can use the hearing test to personalize hearing solutions
When we can understand which frequencies you don’t hear well or at all, we can program a hearing aid to meet each ear’s distinct hearing profile. In contemporary digital hearing aids, if a frequency goes into the hearing aid’s microphone, the hearing aid automatically knows whether you’re able to hear that frequency. It can then make that frequency louder so you can hear it. Or it can make use of its frequency compression feature to change the frequency to one you can hear better. Additionally, they can improve your ability to process background noise.
Modern hearing aids are programmed to target your particular hearing needs instead of just turning up the volume on all frequencies, which creates a smoother hearing experience.
Schedule an appointment for a hearing test today if you think you may be suffering from hearing loss. We can help.