Invaluable insight into your state of health is provided by a hearing test. Because ears are so sensitive, hearing tests can sometimes identify early signs of other health issues. What will a hearing test tell you about your health.

A Hearing Test, What is it?

Out of the various types of hearing exams, putting on headphones and listening to a series of sounds is the standard assessment. The hearing specialist will play these tones at different volumes and pitch levels to figure out whether you have hearing loss, and if so the depth of the loss.

Another typical hearing test includes listening to words in one ear and repeating them back to make certain you are capable of interpreting sounds correctly. In some cases, this test is deliberately done with background sound to see whether that affects your ability to hear. To be able to get a proper measurement for each side, tests are done on each ear separately.

What do Hearing Test Results Indicate?

Ultimately, a common hearing test pinpoints whether someone has hearing loss and the extent of it. Normal hearing in adults with minor loss of hearing is 25 decibels or less. At this point, hearing experts gauge hearing loss as:

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

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

What Else do Hearing Tests Measure?

There are also test which can determine the viability of structures of the middle ear such as the eardrum, how well a person 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 test such as:

• Severe headaches and pain in the joints triggered by Paget’s disease.
• And, Otosclerosis, which if diagnosed early enough, has the possibility of being reversed.
• Heart and circulation issues. The inner ear has one blood vessel, and that makes it more sensitive to alterations in blood pressure and cholesterol.
• Diabetes. It’s thought that too much sugar in the blood can damage blood vessels like the one that goes to the inner ear.
• Rheumatoid arthritis. Research reveals that people with RA are as much as 300 percent more likely to have hearing loss.
• Meniere’s disease and other problems with dizziness and vertigo.

The insight from the hearing test can be used by the specialist to figure out if you have the following:

• Injury caused by exposure to ototoxic chemicals or medications, loud noises
• Injury from trauma
• Irregular bone growths
• A different medical problem like high blood pressure causing hearing loss
• Injury from chronic disease or infections
• Age related hearing loss
• Tumors

After you discover why you have hearing loss, you can try to find ways to manage it and to protect your general health.

The hearing expert will also examine the results of the examination to identify risk factors caused by your hearing loss and create a preemptive plan to lessen those risks.

What Are The Risk Factors of Ignoring Hearing Loss?

Medical science is beginning to understand how quality of life and health are impacted by hearing loss. Researchers from Johns Hopkins kept track of 636 individuals over 12 years. They found that people with hearing loss have a greater risk of dementia. The risk gets higher with more significant hearing loss.

Based on to this study, somebody with mild hearing loss has twice the risk of dementia. A moderate loss means three times the risk, and severe hearing impairment raises the risk by five.

Also, social decline is apparent in people with loss of hearing. People will stay away from conversations if they have difficulty following them. That can lead to more alone time and less time with family and friends.

A hearing test could clarify a recent bout of exhaustion, also. In order to comprehend what you hear, the brain needs to do work. When there is hearing loss, it will have to work harder to detect sound and translate it. Your left feeling tired all the time because your other senses are robbed of energy.

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

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

A painless way to find out about your hearing and your health is an expert hearing test so schedule your appointment today.