Audiometry consists of a series of individual diagnostic tests that measure different aspects of your hearing.
Pure Tone Air
Pure tone testing uses air conduction to measure your ability to hear sounds of various pitches and volumes. Wearing headphones, you will be asked to identify a series of tones by raising a hand, pressing a button, or responding verbally.
The results are charted on an audiogram, a graph that shows the type, degree, and configuration of your hearing loss by comparing pitch (frequency) with loudness (intensity). The pattern recorded will help your audiologist determine your hearing threshold.
Pure Tone Bone
Pure tone bone testing measures the inner ear’s response to sound. Instead of sending the tones through the ear, this type of testing is able to bypass the outer and middle ear and send the tone directly to the inner ear. A small device is placed behind the ear. The device sends out a vibration that passes through the skull bone to reach the inner ear.
If the results of this test are different than the air test, your audiologist can use this information to determine whether you have a conductive or sensorineural hearing loss.
Speech Testing
Speech (or word recognition) testing is used to measure your speech reception threshold (SRT), or the faintest speech you can understand 50 percent of the time. This is compared with your pure-tone test results to confirm the diagnosis.
Speech testing may be administered in either a quiet or noisy environment; results are recorded on the audiogram for easy visual reference.
Speech Discrimination
This test involves your audiologist reading a series of words aloud; you are either asked if you heard the words or to repeat the words back to the tester. This test may be performed in different environments.
Uncomfortable Loudness Level
This test measures the level you report noises are too loud, your loudness discomfort level. The results of this test are used to determine your dynamic range of hearing, which is the range of the softest sounds you can hear to the loudest sounds you can tolerate.
You will be presented with tones or noise stimuli and asked to rate the loudness. The tones are presented in ascending order and the test is stopped when you indicate the tone is uncomfortably loud. The results are graphed on an audiogram.
Call Hearing Focused at (262) 679-8888 for more information or to schedule an appointment.