Important information about your state of health is provided by a hearing test. Hearing tests can potentially detect other health concerns because the ears are so sensitive. What will a hearing exam tell you about your health.

What is a Hearing Exam?

Out of the various types of hearing tests, putting on headphones and listening to a series of sounds is the basic examination. In order to detect the depth of your hearing loss, the hearing expert will play the tones at various pitches and volumes.

Another typical hearing test includes listening to words in one ear and repeating them back to make certain you are able to interpret sounds accurately. To identify what kind of sounds affect your hearing, background noise is sometimes added to this test. In order to get an accurate measurement for each side, tests are performed on each ear separately.

What is The Meaning of Hearing Test Results?

Whether a person has loss of hearing, and the extent of it, is what the standard hearing test identifies. Normal hearing in adults with minor hearing loss is 25 decibels or less. From there, hearing experts gauge hearing loss as:

• Profound
• Severe
• Moderate
• Mild
• Moderate to severe

The decibel level of the hearing loss defines the level of impairment.

What Else do Hearing Tests Evaluate?

There are also test which can evaluate the viability of structures of the middle ear such as the eardrum, how well someone hears with background noise, the threshold of air and bone conduction, and the kind of hearing loss.

Other health problems can also be revealed by a hearing examination such as:

• And, Otosclerosis, which if diagnosed early enough, has the possibility of being reversed.
• Severe headaches and pain in the joints caused by Paget’s disease.
• Heart and circulation issues. The inner ear has one blood vessel, which makes it more susceptible to changes in blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Meniere’s disease and other problems with dizziness and vertigo.
• Diabetes. Damaged blood vessels, such as the ones in the inner ear, can theoretically be harmed by too much sugar in the blood.
• Rheumatoid arthritis. Hearing loss is 300% percent more likely in people with RA..

The hearing specialist will take all the insight revealed by hearing tests and use it to determine whether you are suffering from:

• Hearing loss associated with aging
• Unusual bone growths
• Tumors
• Injury from chronic disease or infections
• A different medical issue causing the hearing loss like high blood pressure
• Damage from exposure to loud noises, ototoxic chemicals or medications
• Injury from trauma

After you recognize why you have loss of hearing, you can try to find ways to deal with it and to take care of your general health.

The hearing expert will also look at the results of the examination to identify risk factors caused by your loss of hearing and come up with a preemptive plan to lessen those risks.

If You Ignore Hearing Loss, What Are The Risks?

Medical science is starting to understand how quality of life and health are impacted by hearing loss. Researchers from Johns Hopkins examined 636 individuals over 12 years. They found that those with loss of hearing have a greater risk of dementia. The risk increases with more substantial hearing loss.

Double the risk of dementia comes with moderate loss of hearing, according to this study. Three times the risk comes with moderate loss of hearing and five times the risk with severe loss of hearing.

Also, social decline is apparent in people with hearing loss. People who have trouble following conversations will avoid engaging in them. Less time with family and friends and more time alone can be the outcome.

A recent bout of fatigue might also be explained by a hearing test. In order to understand what you hear, the brain has to do work. When there is loss of hearing, it will have to work harder to perceive sound and translate it. Your left always feeling tired as your other senses are robbed of energy.

Finally, the National Council on Aging states there is a clear correlation between depression and loss of hearing, specifically, when left untreated, age related hearing loss.

Treating hearing loss, with hearing aids or other hearing technology, can minimize or even eliminate these risks, and the initial step for proper treatment is a hearing test.

A professional hearing test is a painless and comfortable way to determine a lot about your hearing and your health, so why are you waiting to schedule your appointment?