Make Preparations For Your Hearing Test

Depending on the reasons that you are having a hearing test performed, it can be somewhat scary since you are not sure of what the outcome will be. There are several ways that you can get ready for the test so that your concerns can be alleviated and being properly prepared gives you the most accurate outcome.

Before the doctor can perform your hearing test, there is some important information that he will need to get from you. One of the first things that he will ask you about is your proximity to loud noises that may have left your ears ringing, since this should not happen with in 16 hours of having your test. You will also need to let him know if you are on any antibiotics as those can sometimes cause hearing damage. He will also need to know if you have been ill or have had an ear infection in the past few days. Your audiologist will then do an examination of your ears so that he can see if there is anything plugging your ear canals that would hinder your hearing.

If you need to wear headphones to take your hearing test, the audiologist will ask you to remove any facial jewelry and glasses. Most tests also will require you to take out your hearing aid as well, if you usually wear one. Then he will adjust the headphones so that they fit properly so that you can get accurate results.

There are many places that a hearing test can be performed and they are most often done at a doctor visit or at your child's school. These tests can be performed differently, depending on what kind of hearing loss that you are experiencing.

One way that the tests can be performed is by whispering where the patient is asked several questions in a quiet voice and then asked to repeat what he was told and the questions will be gradually louder so that you will eventually hear it. This is done separately for each ear.

Another way to perform a hearing test is by using pure tone audiometry, where the patient will listen for different sounds through headphones. The sounds will be at different speeds, volume, and pitch. It will be regulated, depending on how well you are hearing it. You will make a sign when you are hearing the sound.

You can also have your hearing tested by using a tuning fork that creates sounds by vibrating the forks. This tests the way the sounds are passing through the different parts of the ear.

Finally the auditory brain stem response testing checks your sensorinerural hearing loss. A small electrode is placed on each ear and your head so that the audiologist can measure the different responses of the brain to each sound that the test is producing.