How to Understand the Results of Your Recent Hearing Test

When you visit a hearing health professional with concerns for your hearing health, they’ll most likely do a hearing test. The precise nature of this test will vary depending on your symptoms, but you’ll receive your results in an audiogram. Audiogram results aren’t always easier to decipher, and it’s always best to speak through your results with a trained hearing health professional. However, you can also begin to understand an audiogram yourself, and here are a few ways to understand your results.

What is An Audiogram?

Once your hearing tests are complete, your hearing health professional will show you a graph. This is an audiogram, and it displays your hearing levels. An audiogram graph will typically display results from both ears and will display each ear using a different symbol. This will help you to understand whether you have symmetrical hearing loss or asymmetric hearing loss. The numbers displayed on an audiogram graph represent both sound frequency and decibels, which refer to the pitches and volumes you’re able to hear. This provides hearing health professionals with a complete picture of hearing functionality.

Understanding Symbols on an Audiogram

The symbols you’ll see on your audiogram results might look confusing, but they’re actually quite simple to understand as follow:

• Lines and crosses: Lines and crosses on an audiogram represent different ears. For instance, red circles are used to represent the right ear, and blue crosses represent the left.
• Arrows and brackets: If you notice arrows or brackets on your audiogram, these show that your hearing health professional has tested inner ear hearing and hearing nerves.
• Boomerangs: Boomerang shapes on an audiogram represent the speech range you’re able to hear.

Decibels and Frequency

Audiograms measure hearing loss based on two key numeric values – decibels and frequency. These two terms effectively refer to the loudness and pitch of sounds. Frequency is typically displayed on the top of your audiogram, while high frequencies are shown on the right-hand side. A lot of marks on the right-hand side could, therefore, indicate difficulty hearing higher frequencies.

Decibels (dBs) are displayed on the other side of the audiogram. These show you how well you can hear in each ear, meaning that, if you get a mark of 70dBs, you’re unable to hear any louder than that. The greater the drop on this side of the graph, the more severe your hearing loss is. You will also receive a score for word recognition alongside your audiogram. This is important for understanding whether hearing aids are the right treatment option for you.

Taking the Next Steps

It’s important to prepare for the results of an audiogram and the potential news that you have hearing loss. But, whatever happens, your hearing health professional is the best possible person to talk you through your results. They’re on hand to explain what you’re looking at and recommend the most suitable next step based on your test findings. If you have any worries or queries, you can also talk them through with your hearing health professional. If you want to learn more about hearing tests or if you have hearing loss, schedule an appointment with a hearing health professional.