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Understanding
& Reading Your Audiogram |
by:
Stan
Boston |
After you have a hearing test, your hearing
professional should show you a graph of
how your hearing tested. This graph is called
an Audiogram.
While many individual hearing offices make
up a form of their own to use in marking
your test results, there are some basics
that are used quite frequently. Name and
contact information are just a few of the
things you will find on the form. However,
probably the most important thing you will
find on the form is the audiogram graph.
This graph has most of the information you
will need to be fitted for a hearing aid
properly.
There are two measurements used on an audiogram
to gauge how you currently hear. These measurements
are called Sound Frequency & Hearing Level:
The Sound Frequency is measured in
Hertz, otherwise referred to as Hz. This
measurement is across the top and is generally
tested in the range of 250Hz to 8000Hz.
Humans have been known to hear from 20Hz
to 20,000Hz. The lower the number, the lower
the sound. Example: A man's voice is going
to be found farther to the left than a woman's
voice. Generally, consonants are found further
to the right than vowels.
The Hearing Level, or HL, is measured
in Decibels, or db. The important thing
to know about decibels is that if a sound
increases by 10 decibels, it doubles in
loudness as we perceive it. A 0 (Zero) is
considered to be the optimum (or normal)
level of hearing. Most people suffer some
form of hearing loss though, even if it
hasn't reached a point where a hearing aid
or other device is needed. Sounds on the
chart down to about 35db are considered
soft sounds. From there to about 70db are
considered to be moderate sounds. Above
70db is considered a loud sound.
The rest of this article, along with sample
audiograms can found in the Hearing
Information section of Discount
Valley.
About the Author
Stan Boston is the general manager of
Discount
Valley Hearing Aid Supply. |
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