Understanding Audiograms: Decoding Your Hearing Test Results

Have you ever wondered what those squiggly lines and symbols are on your hearing test and what they really mean? If you’ve recently visited an audiologist for a hearing test, chances are you were shown an audiogram, which is a visual representation of your hearing abilities. Don’t worry if the audiogram looks confusing and almost like a riddle at first glance – it can be decoded. Read on to find out more about audiograms and what they can reveal about your hearing health.

What is an Audiogram

An audiogram is a graph that displays the softest sounds you can hear across different frequencies. Those frequencies are measured in hertz (Hz), with low frequencies on the left side of the graph and high frequencies on the right. The vertical axis shows the volume of the sound, which is measured in decibels (dBs), with softer sounds at the top and louder sounds at the bottom.

Symbols and Lines

When you look at an audiogram, you’ll see a series of X’s and O’s connected by lines. These symbols represent the threshold of audibility for different frequencies. Plus, an X shows the results for the left ear, while O represents the right ear. The lines that connect the symbols show your hearing thresholds at each frequency.

Degrees of Hearing Loss

Audiologists use the audiogram to classify your hearing loss into normal, mild, moderate, severe and profound categories. If the symbols fall within the top half of the graph, your hearing loss is considered to be normal, and as the symbols move lower, your hearing loss becomes more significant.

Types of Hearing Loss

There are three main types of hearing loss, known as sensorineural, conductive and mixed. Conductive hearing loss is linked to problems that mean sound can’t reach the inner ear, whereas sensorineural loss comes from damage to inner ear itself, or sometimes the auditory nerve. By looking closely at your audiogram, an audiologist can determine which type of hearing loss you might be experiencing.

Understanding the Results

Audiograms provide crucial information about your hearing health, and the frequencies at which you have difficulty hearing can offer insights into the possible causes of your hearing loss. For example:

• High-frequency loss: If you struggle to hear high-pitched sounds like birds chirping or female voices, you might be experiencing high-frequency hearing loss, which can be caused by things like noise exposure, aging or some medical conditions.
• Low-frequency loss: Difficulty with low-frequency sounds, such as deep male voices or bass notes in music, could show a specific type of hearing loss known as low-frequency hearing loss. The cause for this is more difficult to determine, so it’s best to speak to your audiologist about it.
• Flat loss: If the symbols and lines on your audiogram are consistently low across all frequencies, you might have flat hearing loss, which is caused by issues like genetics, medication or health problems.
• Sloping loss: A sloping audiogram, where the symbols and lines descend from left to right, shows that you have more difficulty hearing higher frequencies, and it’s a common thing to see when it comes to age-related hearing loss.