Audiometry is an examination to evaluate hearing function. As we get older, hearing loss can affect anyone, including you. To find out if you have a hearing loss or not, one way to test it is to use audiometry.
According to data from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, there are around 360 million people who have deafness throughout the world. 180 million of them are in Southeast Asia, and Indonesia ranks 4th for the highest number of cases of deafness.
Hearing disorders
Hearing occurs when sound waves are propagated properly in your ears, where the vibrations of the sound waves are then converted into nerve signals that can be processed by the brain as sound. Under certain conditions, this hearing process can be interrupted. Hearing loss can be caused by:
- Birth defects
- Infectious diseases such as chronic ear infections, meningitis, and measles.
- Exposure to sounds that are too loud
- Broken eardrum
- Head or ear injury
- Cerumen prop or buildup of earwax
- Side effects of treatment
- Aging
Hearing loss can be temporary or permanent, and generally occurs gradually as you get older. But sometimes, hearing loss can also occur suddenly.
Symptoms that you may feel when there is hearing loss, include:
- Difficulty listening to other people's words clearly, and may misunderstand what they say, especially in noisy places.
- Ears ringing.
- Often asking others to repeat what was said.
- Watch television or music aloud.
- Have to concentrate extra to hear what others say.
If you feel the various symptoms above, maybe it's time you do an audiometric test to check your hearing function. With audiometry examination, hearing loss can be detected early.
Hearing Test with Audiometry Test
If you have a hearing loss, one way to assess your hearing function is to do an audiometric test. Audiometry is a hearing test using a machine called an audiometer, to produce sounds with different volumes and frequencies.
During this examination, the patient is presented with a variety of sounds with varying degrees of loudness and speed of sound waves. One of the audiometry tests is the pure tone test, to measure the quietest sound you can hear on different tones.
When doing the test, the audiologist or the officer who helps you do the audiometry test will play various sounds, such as sounds and speech, at different intervals to one ear at a time. It aims to determine the range of hearing ability of each ear.
When taking an audiometry test, the audiologist may give instructions such as asking you to raise your hand or repeat the examiner's words when the sound from the machine is heard. This test aims to evaluate your ability to recognize words and distinguish speech sounds from surrounding sounds.
At least, it takes about one hour for you to do this audiometry test. This test does not require any special preparation in advance and does not pose any risk. You only need to follow the instructions from the audiologist.
After undergoing the test, the audiologist will review your test results. Through these test results, the doctor can tell you about the action and also what precautions you should take.
If you or your family experience some symptoms of hearing loss, it's a good idea to do a hearing test and audiometry to find out how well your hearing functions.
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