Hearing is one of 5 basic senses and is important to allow us to have effective communication with our family, friends and work colleagues.  Around 14% of people ages 45 to 64 have some degree of hearing loss but that increases to more than 30% among people who are 65 or older.

Here are 6 reasons why you should go for a hearing test:

• Loss of hearing often goes unnoticed until it may be too late and may be permanent if left untreated
• Hearing loss can result in communication breakdown which can cause misunderstanding or friction between you and your family members or friends.
• People with hearing loss may become paranoid and suspicious thinking that people are talking bad behind their back
• Hearing loss may worsen symptoms in people with dementia because they become withdrawn and introverted due to the difficulty to interact with people around them
• Hearing loss is associated with an increase the risk of falls because of the loss of the protective nature of auditory warning sounds
• Hearing loss can often be masked by ringing noises in the ear or tinnitus

Click to view L’audition en beef video on Hearing tests in 6 steps

What to expect during a Hearing Test

Don’t worry because it is a simple test and does not hurt.  These are some of the steps you may go through during your test which may take between 45-60 minutes. (please note some audiologists may perform different steps from those described here).

Step 1. Fill in a questionnaire to help your audiologist understand your hearing issues

Step 2. Have an examination of your external ear

Step 3. Middle ear check uses an instrument to assess the function of the tympanic membrane (or the ear drum)

Step 4. Sound detection is performed using a pure-tone audiometry in a customised sound-proof room to measure your hearing for all frequencies of sound

Step 5. Speech and uncomfortable loudness measurement

Step 6. Detailed analysis and consultation of the results with solutions recommendation

Results

Your results will to quantify the amount and type of hearing loss in each ear.  The unit of measure for sound intensity (volume) is Decibels (dB) while the measurement of tone/pitch is Hertz (Hz).  A sound of a whisper is around 20 dB while a loud sound like a jet engine is around 150 dB.  The human voice range is from 500 (low pitch) to 2,000 Hz (high pitch) with vowels in the low pitch range and consonants in the high pitch range.  Our hearing range is from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz with the most sensitive range being 2,000 to 4,000 Hz.

Hearing loss (decibels)	Classification
0-25 dB	Normal
26-40 dB	Mild hearing loss
41-55 dB	Moderate hearing loss
56-70 dB	Moderate-to-severe hearing loss
71-90 dB	Severe hearing loss
91-100 dB	Profound hearing loss

Treatment

Medical Treatment

Your audiologist may refer you to an ENT surgeon if the causes of your hearing loss can be treated such as;

• Impacted wax
• Infection
• Ruptured ear drum
• Auditory nerve inflammation or disorder
• Tumours

Hearing Devices

There are a wide variety of sophisticated hearing devices which your audiologist can help recommend for your condition.  Discuss with your audiologist which is most suitable for your type of hearing loss.

See your audiologist to get a hearing test done

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Disclaimer. TELEME blog posts contains general information about health conditions and treatments. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The information is not advice and should not be treated as such. 

If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition, you should seek immediate medical attention from your doctor or other professional healthcare providers. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this website.