What is an Audiogram?

When you attend a hearing test, you agree to have your results plotted on something called an audiogram. This is a graph that allows your audiologist to tell how bad your hearing has declined, as it displays the softest sounds that you are able to hear and at which pitches and frequencies. The way that the audiologist reads your audiogram is very straightforward. The closer the marks on your test are to the top of the graph, the softer sounds you can hear. The results will be able to show your audiologist your personal degree of hearing loss.

Symbols on an audiogram

The way that your hearing test is read depends on the symbols on the graph. The “O” is used to represent your right ear and the “X” the left ear. Pitch is the most important thing on the graph, as this shows your hearing level and how much you understand conversation. Every sound that you can hear has a different pitch and a different level of loudness. The ‘S’ sound, for example, is high in pitch and quiet, which opposes the low and loud pitch of the ‘O’ sound.

But how does it measure hearing?

Sounds in everyday life are presented in different ways, and the same is said for your audiogram. Sound travels via the headphones, through the ear canal and through to the middle ear before it reaches the inner ear. An audiologist will use air conduction testing to check how the ear responds to sound as a whole. Your audiologist will discuss with you whether air conduction testing has shown hearing loss, and what this will mean for you next.

Mostly, an air conduction test showing hearing loss means that the next step is bone conduction testing. A bone vibrator is placed behind the ear, sending sounds directly into the inner ear. This avoids the structure of the ear canal and middle ear, sending the sounds directly through the bones of the head. Bone conduction hearing levels can be better than air conduction hearing levels and when there is an issue that stops sound from moving through the inner and middle ear, bone conduction can help. It will mean that your further tests have shown that a conductive hearing loss is present.

If sound is moving through the outer and middle ear, but doesn’t travel properly through the inner ear, the levels of hearing with both bone conduction and air conduction will show as the same. This means that a sensorineural hearing loss is shown.

An audiogram isn’t something to be frightened of; it’s the way that your audiologist will be able to determine what the issue is and can help you to move forward with a discussed treatment plan. If you suspect any hearing loss at all, book an appointment with a trusted audiologist and get the results that will lead you to treatment.