Hearing loss can creep up on you. One day, you might notice that your phone alerts are quieter or struggle to understand your friends during a busy Friday night happy hour at The Fall River Taphouse. Hearing tests are a great way to identify hearing loss before it adversely affects you.
Audiologists use multiple methods to assess your hearing, with pure tone testing being one of the most common. Pure tone testing identifies the lowest volume and frequency you can hear. During the test, you will listen to a series of beeps and signal when you hear them. While pure tone testing is likely the most familiar, another critical yet lesser-known test is speech testing, which evaluates your ability to understand words or phrases.
The Three Types of Speech Testing
Three main methods are used to determine your ability to understand speech: the speech reception threshold test, word recognition test and speech in noise test.
The speech recognition test measures the softest level at which you can hear and understand speech. The audiologist will relay words through your headphones, and you will repeat them back.
The word recognition test assesses your ability to understand speech at a comfortable volume. You will be presented with a list of words to repeat, helping to evaluate the clarity of your hearing.
The speech-in-noise test measures how well you can identify and understand speech amidst background noise. During the test, you will hear simultaneous speech and background noise and be asked to repeat the speech you understand.
The results from these tests, combined with pure tone testing, help your audiologist understand your hearing and identify the best path forward.
Understanding the Results
Three standard results of pure tone and speech testing include no hearing loss, hearing loss or auditory processing disorder (APD). If you have hearing loss, your audiologist will look at your specific decibel loss and help you choose the right treatment method—whether hearing aids, cochlear implants or therapy.
If you have APD—a condition where your ears hear normally but your brain struggles to process speech, your audiologist may recommend speech therapy and coping strategies.
Approximately 20% of the global population has hearing loss. While the condition is common, it can be unnerving to test for it. Remember that regardless of the results, our experts are here to help you through every step of your treatment. Contact Audiology Associates of Redding today to schedule an appointment for a hearing test.