Hearing Aid Test

Hearing loss occurs to most people as they age. Hearing loss can be due to aging, exposure to loud noise, medications, infections, head or ear trauma, congenital or hereditary factors, disease processes and other causes. The vast majority of hearing problems do not require medical or surgical intervention. Some 90 to 95 percent of all cases of hearing loss can be corrected with hearing aids.

There are some 31.5 million people in the USA (as of 2005) with hearing loss. Hearing loss is the single most common birth “defect” in America. Approximately one third of all seniors aged 75 years and older have significant hearing loss. About 14 percent of all people aged 45 to 64 years have demonstrable hearing loss. Hearing loss negatively impacts quality of life, personal relationships and of course, the ability to communicate.

You may have hearing loss if…

• You hear people speaking but you strain to understand their words.
• You frequently ask people to repeat what they said.
• You don’t laugh at jokes because you miss the story or the punch line.
• You frequently complain that “people mumble.”
• You ask others about details of a meeting you just attended.
• You play the TV or radio louder than friends, spouse and relatives.
• You cannot hear the doorbell or the telephone.
• You find that when people look directly at you while they speak to you, it makes it easier to understand.

If you have any of these symptoms, you should see an audiologist to get an “audiometric evaluation.” An audiometric evaluation (AE) is the term used to describe a diagnostic hearing test, performed by a licensed audiologist. An AE is not just pressing the button when you hear a “beep.” Rather, an audiometric evaluation allows the audiologist to determine the exact type and degree of hearing loss, and it tells the audiologist how well/poorly you understand speech. Afterall, speech is the single most important sound we listen to and the ability to understand speech is extremely important. Your ability to hear and understand speech in quiet and noisy situations can be accurately tested by your audiologist. The AE also includes a thorough case history (interview) as well as visual inspection of the ear canal and eardrum. The results of the AE are also useful to the ear, nose and throat doctor, in the event the audiologist refers you for medical or surgical alternatives.

Written hearing tests, “dial a hearing test” and other online hearing tests are not 100% accurate and are not diagnostic, but they may be utilized as screening tools. Screenings are usually free and can be scored within seconds. Screenings may help validate that a hearing problem exists.

Therefore, we’ve designed a written hearing screening to provide you with general guidelines about your hearing ability. It’s free and it may offer you insight regarding the likelihood that hearing loss is present. If you would like to take the written hearing screening.