Audiogram and Other Hearing Test Results

Yes, I have severe loss in one ear. A drop from normal to 75dB starting a 6k.

Some of the tests were done as comparisons before and after oral and intratympanic steroid treatments. Some were conducted because I was referred to higher level specialists in an attempt to determine whether my hearing loss was part of a larger pattern of past autoimmune concerns. And one was done prior to a hearing aid trial.

Oops, it was eight tests in about six months. Ha, there were so many that I lost count. Oh and each one had slight variations but nothing over 20dB in terms of change.

 

Once an auditory doctor told me that measurements in UHF range are different and in that range upper than 20db response is no longer called loss! I don't know if he was kidding or not?!

 

Also it's worth looking at this reasearch:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5307623/#!po=39.0909

 

Across all frequencies it’s not really considered a loss unless you’re hearing is at or below 20dB.

For frequencies above 8k, it can dip even lower than 20dB and still be considered within a normal range.

 

No I mean he looks at 50db threshold at 16khz normal ! Also another Ent told me the same thing! They say being able to hear 16khz is great and with age( I am talking about 20 ) your threshold goes up!

I don't really know if that's correct or not.

 

Well depending on your age, 50dB at 16hz would be normal. It would be normal (or close to normal) for anyone age 20 or above.

Yes, your threshold goes up as you age. An unfortunately normal part of aging. Those high frequencies start to decline even in children.

 

Exactly, That's what I have been told by several audiologists and ENTs. I don't understand why people here look at anything above 20db as hearing loss!

 

I agree. I would be thrilled with hearing at 20dB. One of children recently had a hearing test, hearing was considered normal even though audiogram was worse than what many members post or claim is loss.

 

Is this hearing loss?



I have moderate, close to severe, hyperacusis with moderate tinnitus in both ears.

 

Mild loss at 4K in the right ear. Everything else is within normal range. Have you had a hearing test above 8k. It’s normal to have loss above 8k, even before age 20, but you could have a drastic drop or severe loss that’s more typical for anyone over age 40.

 

I did not find anyone who does a test above 8 kHz.

 

pfff........ those test only test for hearing loss in the human voice range in silence, audiologist literally causing mass deception in the tinnitus community why everyone puts Cause of tinnitus : Unknown : on the damn forum.

They should test ultra have frequencies, they should test speech in background noise, they should test complex background noise such as music, noise abuse can be so common in a society due to mp3 players headphones, noisy traffic.

All forms of SNHL are damage to the cochlea, damage to the cochlea outside of human speech ranges can lead to tinnitus, chronic ear pain and a common theme is trouble hearing in excessive background noise.

 

Guess why? Cause I was talking about UHF test( ultra-high-frequency test ) not the conventional one !

 

I have had speech in background noise tested multiple times at different audiologists. Maybe it’s only conducted if the standard tone test suggests a concern. Have you had this test or the high frequency test?

Often a teaching hospital will offer this test. I’ve also found some audiologists who sell hearing aids will offer the test.

 

Professor Liberman's research seems to imply speech in background noise goes before tonal audiograms show anything.
Ribbon synapses of the cochlea are destroyed while the hair cells can take more insult before death.

 

it's not just about ultra high frequencies, it's about background noise, and not just speech in background noise.

 

that's the problem, normie audiograms only care about human speech.

 

Yes, I’ve discussed this with audiologists. Then again, they were all audiologists who conducted both tonal audiograms and speech in background noise tests.

OAE tests can show damage before it appears in tonal and speech tests, too. I am unsure how long the time between both. My OAE tear shows significant damage at 4K, yet I can pass the standard tests.

 

I know what you mean. Some still offer those kind of tests. And that's why I call them all useless!

About background noise, how much noise? 80db perhaps? Do you think one should hear 100% of words in a place as loud as 80db? I don't think so!

 

This exactly sums up my case. I got 100 percent on an audiogram I took last month (0 dB HL on all frequencies), 0 dB Speech reception test, 100 percent word recognition, and yet I had a hard time understanding people when I was at the bowling alley last weekend, and when listening to music, some lyrics sound muffled or missing, not to mention some super ultra high frequency hearing loss. (Estimated 5-15 dB HL average from 10-16 kHz).

 

By 15db loss do you mean your hearing threshold is 35db ? If so that's not necessarily hearing loss.

 

My hearing threshold would be 35-40 dB SPL, but the human ear does not hear all frequencies equally. For example, you can hear a 3 kHz tone at 0 dB SPL, but in order to hear a 15 kHz tone at the same perception level, you would have to increase the decibel level to 20 dB SPL in order to hear it. That is what the HL scale is for, so everything would be the same perception level when doing a hearing test.

A 15 dB loss would not mean 35 dB HL, it would mean 15 dB HL, subtracted from zero. A 15 dB HL at 16 kHz would probably equal 35-40 dB SPL. So, yes, you are correct in a sense. Depending on your age, this would not be hearing loss. I abused my hearing for a couple years, so it would be ultra high frequency hearing loss for my age.

 

Yes, definitely you can't say if ones threshold at 16khz is 35-40 that's HL. The number goes up as you age. I was reading the result of a UHF research and guess what? The average HT at 16khz for the control G ( 18-29 I think ) was around 70! What I mean is that it's not the raw numbers that matter. You know some - due to aging - are not able to hear UHF but are still Ok and most probably they are not aware of not being able to hear that UH freqs. Dont obsess over the numbers.

 

look at this one:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5307623/#!po=39.0909

I don't think that chart is accurate enough. Cause there are thousands of other factors you need to consider.

 

Did you do a hearing test in higher frequencies.

 

Not officially, none of the audiologists test to 16k near me. I’m just guessing where I stand in higher frequencies.

P.S. Sorry for the delayed response, I have finals this week.

 

You need to test above 8khz and speech in noise. I will be going in again for another hearing exam in a month or two. I lost a lot of hearing (inner hair cells).

 

@Nathan @TinkerBell @Tinker Bell

 

you know this chart is centric to the human speech range and has nothing to do with the complexity of the cochlear spiral right?

tinnitus and hyperacusis were not factored in nor was complex listening environments.