After you have a hearing screening or in-depth hearing assessment your results will be displayed on an audiogram. An audiogram is a visual way to see how well you hear, or put simply, it shows the softest sounds you can hear.
How is an audiogram created?
To measure your level of hearing, your Specsavers audiology professional will conduct a hearing test where they ask you to respond to a series of tones.
Testing starts on 1000Hz at a volume you can hear. The volume (measured in decibels) is then decreased until you can no longer hear it, identifying your threshold; the softest sound you can hear. This process is repeated for both ears across the entire frequency range.
The thresholds are plotted for both of your ears as two separate lines on your audiogram. Red with round circles indicates your right ear thresholds and blue with crosses for your left ear.
How to read your audiogram
On the audiogram shown here you can see the vertical lines represent the frequency (tone) measured and the horizontal lines display the volume (loudness) required. The higher up the chart the better the hearing, with normal being 0dB to 20dB.
Decibels (dB) and frequencies (Hz) are terms used to describe the level and pitch of a sound.
The pictures on the audiogram represent common everyday noises and the letters on the audiogram represent different speech sounds. The position they are placed on the audiogram show their pitch and loudness.
Levels of hearing loss
An audiogram is used to determine the extent of your hearing loss. Levels of hearing loss are generally classified as mild, moderate, severe or profound.
| Degrees of hearing loss | Hearing threshold in decibels (dB) | Hearing loss |
|---|---|---|
| Normal hearing | 0-20 dB | No perceived hearing loss symptoms |
| Mild hearing loss | 20-40 dB | Difficulty hearing and understanding quiet conversations, especially with background noise |
| Moderate hearing loss | 40-70 dB | Difficulty understanding speech, need to turn up the TV or radio |
| Severe hearing loss | 70-90 dB | Speech has to be louder than normal and group conversations are difficult |
| Profound hearing loss | 90 dB and greater | Speech and other sounds are very difficult or impossible to hear and understand without the assistance of hearing aids |
We understand how important your hearing is and we want to make sure that you continue to enjoy it for as long as possible.
For most people, hearing deteriorates slowly over time meaning hearing loss can be hard to detect and once you lose it, there is no getting it back.
If your audiogram shows signs of hearing loss, your local Specsavers audiology professional will discuss your results with you. And, if you can be helped by hearing aids, your Specsavers audiology professional is qualified to recommend the right solution to suit your lifestyle, needs and budget.
