Conductive Hearing Loss: stemming from problems in the outer and/or middle ear.Sensorineural Hearing Loss: stemming from issues in the inner ear and/or auditory nerve.During this portion of the test, your hearing care specialist uses a bone conduction tool (oscillator) to transmit gentle vibrations, acting as sound waves, directly to your auditory nerve.īy bypassing the outer and middle ear, your bone conduction thresholds will help determine the type of hearing loss you have, which can include: During air conduction testing, a hearing specialist plays sounds of various frequencies and volumes through headphones, instructing you to indicate when you can hear them.ĭetermining your air conduction thresholds helps identify the presence and degree of hearing loss ranging from:īone conduction testing evaluates the sensitivity of your inner ear and assesses the function of your auditory nerve. Your air conduction threshold refers to how well you hear sounds moving through the air, which is the typical way we hear sounds in our daily lives. To determine your hearing thresholds, a hearing specialist uses two important tests: air conduction and bone conduction. These thresholds are measured in decibels (dB) and show the minimum sound intensity needed for you to hear a specific sound frequency. Hearing thresholds represent the softest sounds that you can hear at different frequencies. Meanwhile, higher markers along the Y-axis indicate you can hear softer sounds and have healthier hearing capabilities. In other words, the lower a marker is along the Y-axis of an audiogram, the worse your hearing ability is. Numerically higher points on the Y-axis mean sounds need to be louder for you to hear them. While this can make it seem like your audiogram graph is upside-down at first, this orientation actually aligns with the way we perceive sounds in the real world. Unlike a traditional graph, the numbers on the Y-axis (vertical) on an audiogram start larger near the bottom (louder dB) and become smaller near the top of the graph (softer dB). Different sound intensity levels are tested at specific frequencies during your hearing test to determine your overall hearing health. The X-axis (horizontal) on an audiogram displays the range of sound frequencies, typically spanning from 125 Hz (low-pitched sounds) to 8000 Hz (high-pitched sounds). High-frequency sounds, such as bird chirping, have fast vibrations, while low-frequency sounds, like a bass drum, have slower vibrations. Sound frequency refers to how rapidly a sound wave vibrates and is closely related to how we perceive the pitch of a sound. Therefore, the y-axis on and audiogram represents how loud a sound must be for you to hear it. In other words, quieter sounds have lower intensity values (e.g., a whisper), while louder sounds have higher intensity values (e.g., a music concert). The Y-axis (vertical) on the audiogram graph represents this scale, ranging from -10 dB HL (very soft sounds) to 110 dB HL (extremely loud sounds). Sound intensity is measured in decibels (dB) and indicates the loudness of a sound. It visually displays your hearing sensitivity across different sound intensity levels (loudness) and frequencies (pitches), providing a snapshot of your hearing capabilities and any potential hearing loss. You can think of an audiogram graph as a blueprint of your hearing capabilities. Understanding how to read an audiogram is vital for gaining insights into the state of your hearing health. How to Read an AudiogramĪn audiogram is a comprehensive visual representation of your hearing, presented on a graph. In this guide, we explain how to read your hearing test results and interpret an audiogram so you can continue to make informed decisions about your hearing health. Yet, understanding what all the numbers and symbols mean can feel like deciphering a cryptic code. Hearing tests are important diagnostic tools, that provide insights into your hearing health.
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