Our Auditory Health is one of the most necessary components which we tend to neglect. How would you like to still hear some beautiful music being played by a live orchestra, even when you’re already 90 years old? Or perhaps, it would be extra special to have meaningful conversations with your great grandchildren. If you need to know the status of your Auditory Health, it would be practical to take a Hearing Test.
Here are just some of the Hearing Tests you’ll need to be more familiar with:
Pure Tone Testing
This type of Hearing Test involves various types of tones with different frequencies. A person being tested for his or her Auditory Health will be wearing earphones, and will determine which faintest tones can be heard. A response to specific sounds will be asked via gestures. This includes raising a hand or finger, pressing a button whenever a tone is heard, or confirming that a sound has indeed been heard.
Speech Audiometry
Instead of tones, this Hearing Test in Singapore will be using the faintest speeches to see whether they can be heard by the person undergoing the test. The Speech Audiometry also involves recognizing specific words and to check whether a person can repeat some words which have already been said. There are two scenarios by which this test is done. The first involves quiet surroundings, while the second is done at a noisy environment.
Middle Ear Testing
Aside from conducting a test via each person’s hearing abilities in practical situations, there are also tests which involve the ear’s actual functioning. Each of the person’s ears will be looked into, while measurements will be done in specific parts of the ear. Middle Ear Testing normally includes Tympanometry, Acoustic Reflex Measurement, and Static Acoustic Impedance. These simply involve testing whether there are fluids inside the ear, and measuring the ear canal’s physical volume.
Auditory Brainstem Response
This type of test usually includes wired electrodes being pasted on the head. This way, the person’s brainwave activity will be measured in reference to the sounds he or she would be hearing throughout the test. In the ABR, no tangible response will be required of the person. This means he does not need to push buttons or do any hand gestures upon hearing a sound. The brainwave’s activities will be recorded, and these will be enough for the specialists to gauge a person’s auditory health. Interestingly, this test may also be done for babies.
Otoacoustic Emissions or OAEs
The test has its own way of measuring a person’s hearing capacity. This is made possible by tracking the cochlea’s response upon being stimulated by sound. As its outer hair cells vibrate, the clinically inserted probe will be able to measure the decibels by which the cochlea has given off, in response to the sounds which triggered it to vibrate.
These are just four of the basic Hearing Tests which can guide you in gauging the status of your Auditory Health. If you’d like to have your hearing problems treated, going for a test would be an effective step you can take.