What Are the Different Hearing Test Types

Have you noticed that sounds are getting more difficult to hear or decipher? Are you constantly turning up the volume on the television? If you’re tired of asking your friends and family to repeat themselves, it may be time to schedule a hearing test with a qualified hearing specialist.

El Dorado Hearing will have you undergo a series of hearing tests to determine what is causing your hearing loss and what level of hearing loss you have. Running these tests will allow our team to confirm your type and degree of hearing loss — helping us to provide a customized treatment plan that is specific to your needs.

There are multiple types of hearing tests to be completed, all of which are safe and painless. To ease your worries as you head to your appointment with El Dorado Hearing, we’ve put together a guide to the different types of hearing tests.

Pure Tone Testing

Pure tone testing is one of the first tests an individual will undergo — and is the one that most patients are familiar with since many schools have their students do this every so often. This test requires the patient to wear headphones and use air conduction to measure their ability to decipher sounds at various pitch and volume levels.

Each time you hear a tone coming through the headphones, you’ll be instructed to raise your hand and press a button on the side where you hear the sound.

Bone Conduction Testing

If you have fluid or a wax blockage in your ear, your audiologist may opt for a bone conduction test instead of a pure tone test. A cone conduction test measures your inner ear’s response to sound by placing a conductor behind your ear that sends small vibrations through the bone.

Similar to a pure tone test, the patient’s results are displayed on an audiogram to show how their inner ear is responding to different tones.

Speech Testing

Sometimes used in place of pure tone testing, speech testing measures the individual’s ability to hear and repeat spoken words. The test evaluates you in a noisy or quiet environment, allowing your hearing specialist to determine your ability to separate the sounds you’re trying to hear from background noise.

During the test, you will listen to words at various sound levels to determine the softest noises you can hear, comprehend, and repeat back.

Tympanometry

If your audiologist determines that they need to test your middle ear function, they may opt for a tympanometry that evaluates the movement of your eardrum in response to air pressure. This test will help the hearing specialist rule out fluid or wax buildup and eardrum perforations or tumors.

Acoustic Reflex Testing

Another way to test the function of your middle ear is through acoustic reflex testing. This test will help the audiologist determine which part of the ear is causing your hearing loss so they can provide the best treatment plan to restore your hearing.

Schedule a Hearing Test with El Dorado Hearing of Tucson

To assist in managing your hearing loss, we provide complete hearing evaluations at El Dorado Hearing. Our hearing specialists are highly experienced and offer an in-depth hearing assessment to evaluate whether you have hearing loss and the extent to which the loss affects you. Get started by taking our hearing quiz.

We strive to make our hearing offices comfortable where everyone feels welcome. Following your hearing evaluation, we’ll help you find the proper hearing aids to restore your hearing. For personalized hearing testing in Tucson, AZ, make El Dorado Hearing of Tucson first on your list.

If you are ready to regain control of your hearing, visit us at one of our hearing clinics. Contact us today to set up an appointment with one of our caring and expert hearing specialists!