Audiometry
Audiometry
Audiometry
An audiometry exam tests your ability to hear sounds. Sounds vary based on their loudness
(intensity) and the speed of sound wave vibrations (tone).
Hearing occurs when sound waves stimulates the nerves of the inner ear. Eventually the
sound travels along nerve pathways to the brain.
Sound waves can travel to the inner ear through the ear canal, eardrum, and bones of the
middle ear (air conduction), or through the bones around and behind the ear (bone
conduction).
• A whisper is about 20 dB
• Loud music (some concerts) is around 80 - 120 dB
• A jet engine is about 140 - 180 dB
Sounds greater than 85 dB can cause hearing loss after a few hours. Louder sounds can cause
immediate pain, and hearing loss can develop in a very short time.
The normal range of human hearing is about 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz. Some animals can hear up to
50,000 Hz. Human speech is usually 500 - 3,000 Hz.
A tuning fork may be used. The tuning fork is tapped and held in the air on each side of the
head to test the ability to hear by air conduction. It is tapped and placed against the mastoid
bone behind each ear to test bone conduction.
Audiometry provides a more precise measurement of hearing. To test air conduction, you
wear earphones attached to the audiometer. Pure tones of controlled intensity are delivered to
one ear at a time. You are asked to raise a hand, press a button, or otherwise indicate when
you hear a sound.
The minimum intensity (volume) required to hear each tone is graphed. An attachment called
a bone oscillator is placed against the bone behind each ear (mastoid bone) to test bone
conduction.
• Acoustic trauma
• Chronic ear infections
• Diseases of the inner ear
• Head injury
• Inherited conditions
• Medications that can harm the inner ear, including certain antibiotics (such as
neomycin or gentamycin), diuretics, and large doses of salicylates (such as aspirin)
• Occupational hearing loss
• Ruptured eardrum
Normal Results
• The ability to hear a whisper, normal speech, and a ticking watch is normal.
• The ability to hear a tuning fork through air and bone is normal.
• In detailed audiometry, hearing is normal if you can hear tones from 250 Hz - 8,000
Hz at 25 dB or lower.
The amount and type of hearing loss may give clues to the cause and outlook.
Risks
There is no risk.
Considerations
There are many different hearing function tests. In simple screenings, the health care provider
will make a loud noise and watch to see if it startles you. Detailed screenings include
brainstem auditory evoked response testing (BAER). This test uses an electroencephalogram
to detect brain wave activity when sounds are made.
Another hearing test called otoacoustic emission testing (OAE) can be used in very young
children (such as newborns) or when standard tests do not produce reliable results.
Alternative Names
Audiometry; Hearing test; Audiography (audiogram)