More Than Hearing Loss Can be Discovered by a Hearing Test

Hearing tests offer invaluable insights into your health. Hearing tests can potentially detect other health concerns because the ears are so sensitive. What will you discover from a hearing assessment?

What is a Hearing Exam?

Out of the many kinds of hearing tests, putting on earphones and listening to a series of tones is the basic exam. In order to discover the depth of your hearing loss, the hearing specialist will play the tones at different pitches and volumes.

So that you can make sure you hear sounds correctly, another hearing test plays words in one ear and you will repeat them back. To find out what kind of sounds impact your hearing, background noise is often added to this test. Tests are commonly done in each ear individually to get a proper measurement for each side.

What do Hearing Test Results Indicate?

Whether a person has loss of hearing, and the extent of it, is what the normal hearing test identifies. Adults with minor hearing loss, 25 decibels or less, are considered to have normal hearing. Using this test specialist can determine if the loss of hearing is:

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

The amount of impairment is based on the decibel level of the hearing loss.

What Else do Hearing Tests Evaluate?

There are also test which can determine the viability of structures of the middle ear like the eardrum, how clearly a person hears with background noise, the threshold of air and bone conduction, and the kind of hearing loss.

But hearing assessments can also uncover other health problems like:

• Otosclerosis, which if caught early can possibly be reversed.
• Rheumatoid arthritis. Studies show that people with RA are as much as 300 percent more likely to have hearing loss.
• Diabetes. Injured blood vessels, such as the ones in the inner ear, can theoretically be damaged by high levels of sugar in the blood.
• 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 alterations in blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Dizziness, vertigo, and other problems related to Meniere's disease.

The insight from the hearing exam can be used by the expert to determine if you suffer from the following:

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

You can look for ways to protect your health and take care of your hearing loss once you recognize why you have it.

The hearing expert will also examine the results of the test to determine risk factors caused by your hearing loss and create a preemptive strategy to decrease those risks.

If You Ignore Hearing Loss, What Are The Risks?

Medical science is beginning to recognize how quality of life and health are affected by loss of hearing. 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 gets higher 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 hearing loss and five times the risk with severe hearing loss.

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

A recent bout of exhaustion could also be explained by a hearing test. In order to understand what you hear, the brain has to do work. It needs to work harder to perceive and interpret sound when there is hearing loss. That robs your other senses of energy and leaves you feeling tired all the time.

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

Treating hearing loss, with hearing aids or other hearing technology, can get rid of or minimize these risks, and the first step for proper treatment is a hearing test.

A pain free way to learn about your hearing and your health is an expert hearing test so schedule your appointment today.