While hearing screenings provide an accurate snapshot of whether or not one may have hearing loss, comprehensive exams go one step further: they reveal both its cause and extent.

At its core, pure-tone testing will consist of comprehensive hearing test Adelaide, such as speech mapping, tympanometry and stapedial reflexes. 

Types of Tests

Pure-tone audiometry is a behavioural test designed to measure the softest sounds that you can hear. You’ll sit in a sound booth while listening to beeps and tones at different pitches before being asked to raise your hand or press a button for each tone heard – results of this audiogram-plotting will allow us to determine your type and degree of hearing loss.

Auditory Function Tests

Your ears gather sound and convert it to messages your brain can interpret, sometimes mistranslating or becoming misplaced in translation. Audiologists employ several tests to assess how effectively your inner ear functions.

These comprehensive hearing test Adelaide include pure-tone testing, which involves listening to sounds at various pitches and volumes in a soundproof room. Your audiologist will record your responses and create an audiogram of you.

An audiologist may conduct bone conduction testing, which involves placing a small device behind or on your forehead and playing short clicking sounds to detect wax or fluid build-up in your outer or middle ear, hearing loss in sensory cells of your inner ear, and hearing impairment present in sensory cells of your inner ear. They might also conduct an auditory brainstem response evaluation test to measure your hearing ability in quiet and noisy environments.

Speech Tests

Comprehensive hearing test Adelaide also includes speech tests to assess your ability to understand spoken words in a quiet or noisy setting, which will then be compared with pure-tone results to ascertain your level of hearing loss.

Your audiologist will play you a series of tones and measure how easily each ear hears them. Once completed, earphones will be put on and signalled when hearing different sounds by raising your hand or pressing a button when hearing certain tones.

Bone conduction tests use an easy, painless device that sends tones directly into your inner ear, bypassing both outer and middle ears, to help determine whether conductive hearing loss or sensorineural hearing loss is at play in your case.

Tympanometry

Tympanometry measures the mobility and air pressure in your middle ear using an air probe that pushes air into your ear canal to observe your eardrum’s movement, creating a graph called a tympanogram for results. People often compare it to taking an aeroplane ride; most find the experience enjoyable without experiencing pain during tympanometry testing.

This test lasts no more than two minutes per ear and can be conducted in your doctor’s office. No movement or swallowing is allowed during this procedure, which would give an inaccurate reading. Although safe for people of all ages, young children may find it challenging to remain still during this procedure; to help prepare them beforehand by showing them with dolls what will happen and helping them practice remaining still during testing sessions.

Otoacoustic Emissions Test

Otoacoustic emissions or low-intensity sound signals emitted by the cochlea naturally or after being stimulated acoustically provide information about outer hair cell function within the cochlea and are frequently utilized during newborn hearing screening programs.

C-OAE testing helps doctors assess how well your baby’s ear canal and inner ears work by measuring whether outer hair cells respond to clicking sounds by echoing them back to a microphone in the screener device. It is a quick, noninvasive test that forms part of newborn hearing screening programs.

OAE measurements depend upon accurate probe placement. A low stimulus stability percentage suggests that the probe was moving around during testing, potentially leading to inaccurate results.

Some adults and older children are also given speech testing to see how they understand speech. It is an important part of a comprehensive hearing exam and can be a good indicator of how well you understand speech in everyday situations, such as at work or when talking with family and friends. It can also be a great way to gauge the progress of your current treatment plan. In addition, for those with more severe hearing loss, your audiologist may conduct an auditory brainstem response test. This test involves listening to a series of tones and then using a computer to analyze the responses. It can be difficult to do for children, but it is very effective in assessing the connections between the inner ear and your brain.