Determining hearing loss is more technical than it might seem at first. If you’re suffering from hearing loss, you can most likely hear certain things clearly at a lower volume, but not others. You might confuse particular letters like “S” or “B”, but hear other letters just fine at any volume. When you learn how to read your hearing test it becomes clearer why your hearing seems “inconsistent”. Because simply turning up the volume isn’t enough.
How do I interpret the results of my audiogram?
An audiogram is a type of hearing test that hearing professionals utilize to determine how you hear. It would be terrific if it looked as basic as a scale from one to ten, but sadly, that isn’t the case.
Instead, it’s written on a graph, and that’s why many individuals find it confusing. But if you understand what you’re looking at, you too can understand the results of your audiogram.
Decoding the volume portion of your audiogram
The volume in Decibels is detailed on the left side of the graph (from 0 dB to about 120 dB). This number will define how loud a sound has to be for you to be capable of hearing it. Higher numbers signify that in order for you to hear it, you will need louder sound.
If you’re unable to hear any sound until it reaches around 30 dB then you’re dealing with mild hearing loss which is a loss of volume between 26 and 45 dB. If hearing starts at 45-65 dB then you have moderate hearing loss. Hearing loss is severe if your hearing begins at 66-85 dB. If you are unable to hear sound until it reaches 90 dB or more (louder than the volume of a running lawnmower), it means that you’re dealing with profound hearing loss.
Reading frequency on a audiogram
You hear other things besides volume too. You hear sound at varied frequencies, commonly called pitches in music. Different types of sounds, including letters of the alphabet, are distinguished by frequency or pitch.
Frequencies which a human ear can hear, from 125 (lower than a bullfrog) to 8000 (higher than a cricket), are usually listed on the bottom of the graph.
We will check how well you’re able to hear frequencies in between and can then plot them on the graph.
So, for instance, if you’re dealing with high-frequency hearing loss, in order for you to hear a high-frequency sound it might have to be at least 60 dB (which is around the volume of a raised, but not yelling, voice). The volume that the sound must reach for you to hear each frequency varies and will be plotted on the chart.
Why tracking both volume and frequency is so essential
So in the real world, what might the results of this test mean for you? Here are a few sounds that would be more difficult to hear if you have the very prevalent form of high frequency hearing loss:
- “F”, “H”, “S”
- Music
- Whispers, even if hearing volume is good
- Birds
- Beeps, dings, and timers
- Women and children who tend to have higher-pitched voices
While someone who has high-frequency hearing loss has more trouble with high-frequency sounds, some frequencies might seem easier to hear than others.
Within the inner ear tiny stereocilia (hair-like cells) vibrate in response to sound waves. If the cells that pick up a certain frequency become damaged and ultimately die, you lose your ability to hear that frequency at lower volumes. You will completely lose your ability to hear any frequencies that have lost all of the related hair cells.
Communicating with others can become very frustrating if you’re suffering from this kind of hearing loss. You might have trouble only hearing specific frequencies, but your family members may assume they need to yell to be heard at all. And higher frequency sounds, like your sister talking to you, often get drowned out by background noise for individuals who have this kind of hearing loss.
Hearing solutions can be personalized by a hearing professional by utilizing a hearing test
When we are able to understand which frequencies you don’t hear well or at all, we can fine tune a hearing aid to meet each ear’s unique hearing profile. In modern digital hearing aids, if a frequency goes into the hearing aid’s microphone, the hearing aid immediately knows if you’re able to hear that frequency. It can then raise the volume on that frequency so you’re able to hear it. Or it can make use of its frequency compression feature to change the frequency to one you can hear better. They also have functions that can make processing background sound easier.
Modern hearing aids are fine tuned to address your particular hearing needs instead of just turning up the volume on all frequencies, which creates a smoother hearing experience.
If you think you might be experiencing hearing loss, contact us and we can help.