A hearing test, known as audiometry, assesses your ability to hear. It helps identify if you have any hearing loss, determines its type (mild, moderate, or severe), and guides recommendations for treatment such as hearing aids or cochlear implants.
What are the Types of Hearing Tests?
There are several types of audiometry tests used for different age groups:
Pure-tone Audiometry: This test determines the softest sounds you can hear at various pitches. This is the most common hearing test. Here’s how it works:
You sit in a sound-treated room. You wear headphones or insert earphones. Your audiologist uses a machine called an audiometer, which delivers sounds at different frequencies (pitches) and loudness. You raise a hand, press a button or say “yes” when you hear sounds. Your audiologist records your responses on an audiogram. Audiograms chart your hearing loss patterns. If you have hearing loss, the audiogram shows the degree and type of hearing loss you have.
Speech Audiometry: This evaluates how well you understand speech at different levels. Your audiologist may do a speech test along with a pure-tone test:
Like the pure-tone test, you wear headphones or insert earphones or a bone vibrator. Your audiologist will say words in softer and louder sound levels. You’ll repeat the words your audiologist says. Your audiologist will record the softest speech you can repeat. They may also ask you to repeat words spoken at a louder level to test your word recognition.
Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR): This is the test to assess the function of the auditory nerve and helps in identifying the degree and type of hearing loss.
You wear earphones or bone vibrator for this test. Your audiologist puts electrodes on your head. The electrodes records your responses from the nerve and brain stem. The electrodes stick to your skin and connect to a computer. The computer displays your responses and your audiologist reviews to diagnose the hearing problem. brainwave activity.
Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE): It checks the function of the outer hair cells of the inner ear. If you have hearing loss, your inner ear won’t produce OAEs:
Your audiologist places a small earphone or probe in your ear. The probe puts sound into your ear and measures the sounds that come back. Your test results show up on a monitor.
Immittance Testing (Tympanometry and acoustic reflexes): This evaluates eardrum movement to detect issues like fluid or wax blockages. Your eardrum is a flexible barrier that separates your outer ear from your middle ear. When sound from your outer ear hits your eardrum, your eardrum vibrates. Those vibrations travel through your middle and inner ear, triggering signals that go to your brain. Your brain translates those signals into sound. Tympanometry shows if your eardrum responds to air pushed into your ear:
Your audiologist puts a small probe in your ear. The probe may look like an earphone or earbud. A small device attached to the probe pushes air into your ear. The device has a graph called a tympanogram that registers eardrum movement. The graph shows your audiologist how your eardrum moves.
How Do Hearing Tests Work?
During a hearing test, you’ll sit in our state-of-the-art noise-proof room at Tarabichi Hearing Technologies and listen to sounds or words through headphones. The audiologist will record your responses, often plotting them on an audiogram to show your hearing sensitivity.
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Results and Follow-Up
Typically, you receive your test results immediately. If hearing issues are identified, the audiologist will explain them and recommend appropriate steps. This could include referral to an ENT specialist for further investigation or fitting with hearing aids.
What happens if there are issues with my hearing?
If tests show issues with your hearing, your audiologist will explain the specific issue and recommend next steps. For example, if a hearing test (audiometry) or tympanometry result shows there’s wax or fluid blocking your middle ear, your audiologist may refer you to an otolaryngologist (ENT) to remove the wax or fluid. Or, if your pure-tone hearing test shows you have hearing loss, your audiologist will tell you:
If you have mild, moderate or severe hearing loss. What hearing devices may help you hear. For example, they may tell you about different kinds of hearing aids. They may talk about hearing assistance like cochlear implants. They’ll tell you what you can expect when you use specific hearing devices. If you choose hearing aids, your audiologist will select and fit them. If your audiologist recommends you consider cochlear implants, they’ll schedule you for further testing and evaluation.
Hearing tests are crucial for detecting and managing hearing loss. If you suspect any issues with your or your loved ones’ hearing, reach out to our team here or connect through the numbers below.
Call: +971 4 4131000
Whatsapp: + 971 52 7067114
