What are the Most Common Hearing Tests?

Whenever you have a problem with your hearing, the first port of call should always be your local audiologist. They will be able to help in a huge number of ways, and one of the main things that they can do for you is to test your hearing as thoroughly as possible. With the right hearing tests, it can be easily and swiftly determined exactly what the extent of your hearing loss is, what likely things might have caused it and what you can do to ensure that you are overcoming it in the future. Let’s take a look right now at some of the most common hearing tests that you might come across.

Otoscopy Examination

First, one of the most common hearing test procedures you are likely to come across is the otoscopy examination. This is when the audiologist carries out an examination with an otoscope. This tool allows the audiologist to take a very close look at your ears and to see if there are any obvious structural problems or lesions taking place there. They can also check for signs of wax buildup, foreign objects being stuck in the ear or ear infections, all of which can contribute to hearing loss.

Pure-Tone Testing

Next up, you might have to do something called pure tone testing. This test uses air conduction in order to test the full range of your hearing. During this test, you will wear headphones, and the audiologist will play sounds into them at different pitches and different volumes. Your task will be to press a button or perhaps raise a hand, whenever you detect a change in the sound. The results will then be shown on a graph so you can see your hearing in its full capacity on paper.

Bone Conduction Testing

Your audiologist will also want to know whether there is a problem with any of your bones in your skull and the way they conduct sounds, so they’ll do some testing for this too. A device will be placed behind your ear, and small vibrations sent through it, so that the audiologist can determine how your inner ear reacts. Overall, having this added to the other kinds of tests will help to provide a much fuller, rounder picture of your hearing.

Speech Testing

It is also important that you understand speech well, not just sounds, so your audiologist might test for this as well. This can be done in a number of ways, and it might mean that the test takes place in a busy environment for part of it, especially if your audiologist wants to ensure that you can easily make sense of words in such a setting. This is a very important thing, as you need to be able to understand people for your hearing to have its full value – but depending on your situation, you might not need this test.