Do I need to fast or prepare my ears before a hearing test?

You do not need to fast or take any special dietary preparations for a hearing test. However, you should avoid wearing earplugs or hearing aids during the appointment unless instructed otherwise. It is also helpful to arrive with clean, dry ears, as excessive earwax can temporarily block sound and lead to inaccurate conductive hearing loss results.

What is the difference between a hearing screening and a full diagnostic audiogram?

hearing screening is a quick, informal check that determines if you need further evaluation, often using a simple tone generator. A full diagnostic audiogram is a comprehensive test performed by an audiologist that measures your hearing sensitivity across various frequencies, assesses speech understanding in noise, and identifies the specific type and degree of hearing loss to guide treatment options.

Can hearing tests detect sudden hearing loss, and how urgent is it?

Yes, hearing tests can detect sudden sensorineural hearing loss, which is a medical emergency. If you experience a rapid loss of hearing in one or both ears over a few days, you should seek immediate medical attention. Prompt treatment with steroids or other therapies within the first two weeks can significantly improve the chances of recovering some or all of your hearing.

How often should adults get their hearing checked if they have no symptoms?

Most clinical guidelines recommend a baseline hearing test by age 50, followed by screenings every three to five years for those without risk factors. If you have a history of noise exposure, diabetes, or a family history of hearing loss, annual testing is often advised to catch early changes before they affect daily communication.

Hearing Tests for Adults

Hearing tests measure your ability to hear and help diagnose the severity and type of hearing loss you may be experiencing.

What are hearing tests?

Hearing tests measure how well you are able to hear. They can help diagnose hearing loss, how severe it is, and which part of your hearing isn't working properly.

Hearing depends on a series of steps that change sound waves into electrical signals that your brain understands as sounds. Hearing loss happens where there's a problem with any of these steps:

Sound waves enter your outer ear and travel to your eardrum in your middle ear.
The sound waves vibrate your eardrum, which sends the vibrations to tiny bones that make the vibrations stronger.
The vibrating bones make tiny waves in the fluid that's inside your cochlea. The cochlea is a snail-shaped structure in your inner ear. It is lined with sensory cells that have hair-like structures. When the hair cells move with the fluid waves, they create electrical signals.
Your auditory (hearing) nerve carries the electrical signals from your inner ear to your brain, which turns them into sounds you can recognize and understand.

There are three main types of hearing loss:

Conductive hearing loss happens when sound waves can't reach your inner ear. Earwax or abnormal fluid in your ear may be blocking the path, or a hole in your eardrum may prevent it from vibrating. Medical treatment or surgery can often improve hearing.
Sensorineural hearing loss (also called nerve deafness) happens when there's damage to the inner ear or the auditory nerve. This type of hearing loss ranges from mild (difficulty hearing certain sounds) to profound (not hearing any sound). The hearing loss is usually permanent, but it can improve with hearing aids or other devices.
Mixed hearing loss is a combination of both sensorineural and conductive hearing loss.

Hearing loss in older adults is common. About one-third of adults over the age of 65 have some hearing loss, usually the sensorineural type. If you are diagnosed with hearing loss, there are steps you can take that may help treat or manage the condition.

What are they used for?

Hearing tests are used to check for hearing loss. The tests are also used to find out how severe hearing loss is and what type it is.

Why do I need a hearing test?

You may need a hearing test if you have signs of hearing loss, such as:

Having trouble hearing over the phone
Having trouble understanding what other people are saying, especially in a noisy environment
Needing to turn up the TV volume so loud that others complain
Thinking that others always seem to mumble
Having trouble hearing high-pitched sounds and voices
Hearing a ringing or other unusual sound in your ears (tinnitus)

If your workplace is noisy, you may need to have your hearing checked every year. If you use a hearing aid or had surgery for your hearing, you may need a hearing test to see whether your hearing has improved.

What happens during a hearing test?

Your primary care provider may use a general screening test, such as a whisper test, to check your hearing. If the test shows you may have a hearing problem, your provider may do more tests or send you to a specialist, such as:

An audiologist, a health care professional who is trained to test your hearing, diagnose hearing loss, and provide hearing devices and services to improve hearing.
An otolaryngologist (ENT), a doctor who specializes in treating diseases of the ears, nose, throat, and head and neck.

Common Types of Hearing Tests

Audiometry tests: These check your ability to hear tones or words at different pitches and volumes.
- A pure-tone test: The most common screening test. You will listen to a series of high and low tones through headphones and signal when you hear a sound.
- Speech test (speech discrimination test): Checks how well you can hear people talking, sometimes over background noise, to see how much a hearing aid might help.
Tuning fork tests (bone conduction tests): These help distinguish between nerve problems in the inner ear and blockages like fluid or wax. A vibrating tuning fork is placed behind your ear or on your head to test if sound travels through your bones directly to the inner ear.
Tympanometry test: Checks how your eardrum and middle ear bones are working by using a small device to send air and sound into the ear.
Otoacoustic emissions test (OAE): Checks for damage in the hair cells in your cochlea by measuring the vibrations (OAEs) produced by the hair cells in response to sound.

Preparation and Risks

There are no special preparations for a hearing test, and there is no risk to having one.

What do the results mean?

Results show if your hearing is normal or if you have hearing loss, including the severity and type. With conductive hearing loss, your provider may be able to treat the cause, such as removing wax or performing surgery. With sensorineural hearing loss, the loss is permanent, but hearing aids, cochlear implants, or assistive devices can help improve hearing and daily living.

Treatment Options

Hearing aids: Devices worn behind or inside the ear to make sounds louder. These include prescription hearing aids and over-the-counter options for mild to moderate hearing loss.
Cochlear implants: Surgically implanted devices for people with severe hearing loss who do not benefit from hearing aids. They send sound directly to the hearing nerve.