Every now and then, your doctor may ask you to get a hearing test. Don’t assume that something is wrong. Hearing tests are how doctors use to make sure that your ears work well.
With age, hearing loss becomes more likely. About 14% of people ages 45 to 64 have some degree of hearing loss, but that rises to more than 30% among people who are 65 or older. This is why your doctor will want to test your hearing every few years, rather than just once as an adult.
Experts recommend that adults get their hearing tested every 10 years until age 50, and then every 3 years after that.
Some people may suspect that they have hearing loss. They have trouble hearing people talk to them when they’re in a crowded room, or they’ve been told they raise the volume on the TV way too high.
But not all people know that they have a problem. You may not realize that you have hearing loss, because it’s often a gradual process. That’s why it’s important to have your ears checked when your doctor says you should, even if you think you’re fine.
There are many causes of hearing loss in adults:
This type of test, also known as pure tone audiometry, uses air conduction to measure your ability to hear sounds at various pitches and volumes. You will be asked to wear headphones and sit in a specially designed booth. A series of sounds will be broadcast through the headphones. Every time you hear a tone you will be instructed to raise your hand or press a button. The results will then be charted on an audiogram.
This is another type of pure-tone test that measures your inner ear’s response to sound. A conductor will be placed behind your ear; it will send tiny vibrations through the bone directly to the inner ear. This is different than the traditional version, which uses air to send audible sounds. If the results of this test are different than the pure-tone audiometry, your Green Valley audiologist can use this information to determine your type of hearing loss.
This type of testing is used to measure your speech reception threshold (SRT), or the faintest speech you can understand 50 percent of the time. It is administered in either a quiet or noisy environment and measures your ability to separate speech from background noise.
This test measures the movement of your eardrum in response to air pressure. It can determine if there is a buildup of fluid, wax buildup, eardrum perforations or tumors.
This test measures involuntary muscle contractions of the middle ear and is used to determine the location of your hearing problem (the ossicles, cochlea, auditory nerve, etc.) as well as the type of hearing loss.
This type of testing is used to determine whether a specific type of hearing loss—sensorineural—exists. It is also frequently used to screen newborns for hearing problems. In an ABR test, electrodes are attached to your head, scalp or earlobes, and you are given headphones to wear. Your brainwave activity is measured in response to sounds of varying intensities.
Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are sounds given off by the inner ear when the cochlea is stimulated by a sound. When sound stimulates the cochlea, the outer hair cells vibrate. The vibration produces a nearly inaudible sound that echoes back into the middle ear. The sound can be measured with a small probe inserted into the ear canal. People with normal hearing produce emissions. Those with hearing loss greater than 25–30 decibels (dB) do not produce these very soft sounds. The OAE test is often part of a newborn hearing screening program. This test can detect blockage in the outer ear canal, as well as the presence of middle ear fluid and damage to the outer hair cells in the cochlea.
Any combinations of these tests may be ordered by your audiologist. Once they are complete, your Green Valley audiologist will be able to create an individualized treatment plan. Contact our office to schedule a hearing test today.