Understanding Your Hearing Exam Results

When you visit your audiologist, you’ll likely need to take a hearing test if you’ve been experiencing hearing difficulties. Although there are different types of tests available, most of them will result in an audiogram. At first glance, an audiogram can look confusing, with numbers, lines and circles that might not make much sense. However, understanding these test results is important for making informed decisions about your next steps. So how can you better interpret your hearing test results?

Your Hearing Exam Graph

After you have finished your hearing exam your audiologist will show you your results plotted on a graph, which is called an audiogram. Your audiologist will be able to explain this graph in detail to you and what it means for your hearing. However, many people like to make sure they understand how these graphs work and the terms they use before they go to their appointments.

The first thing to be aware of is that audiograms are plotted on a square. This means there are two axes horizontal and vertical. In the graph, the horizontal access represents the pitch of the sound you listen to during the test, while the vertical access is how loud the sound that was played to you is.

Pitch and Loudness

Your results will display the pitch of the sounds played to you during your exam, and how loud they were. Your exam needs to test both because hearing loss does not always affect all frequencies and decibels in a person. That means someone may still experience hearing loss and be able to hear sounds at specific pitches and volumes.

How to Read Your Results

The first step is to know that you should start in the top corner of the lefthand side of the graph. This is where measurements showing the lowest volume and the lowest frequency are. If you are experiencing no hearing loss, then you will be able to hear the lowest frequency at the lowest decibel level which is 25 decibels (dBs). If you can’t hear the lowest frequency, you will be experiencing some hearing loss. However, this does not mean that you will have hearing loss for every frequency, and at every decibel level.

This is why your hearing test covers each frequency level and slowly increases the decibels. The decibel level at which you can hear each frequency helps to identify any hearing loss you may have.

For instance, if you can hear a single frequency at zero to 25dBs then your hearing for that frequency is normal. However, if you can only hear the same frequency at 20-40dBs then you will likely have mild hearing loss. For moderate hearing loss on the same frequency, the figure is 40-70dBs and more severe hearing loss will be at 70-90dBs.

If you want to learn more about how to read the results of your hearing test, contact an audiologist. They will be able to help you understand your results and help you find the right solution for the severity of your hearing loss.