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Original poster

10-15 decibles

8 replies

NotABanana · 08/05/2008 19:00

Ds2 has been for his hearing test and is fine. The doctor said the test showed he was on the lower level of normal but he felt he was possibly 10-15 decibles higher/more. What does that actually mean? TIA.

OP posts:
Whizzz · 08/05/2008 19:23

A decibel is a unit of sound intensity. As a rough guide, a whisper is about 10-15dB, normal conversation is about 60dB

I can't help you with the medical bits - but hope that helped a bit !

Original poster
NotABanana · 08/05/2008 21:36

It does but tbh it makes me worry a bit more. If he is on the lower end of normal and only can hear a whisper more, it isn't that much is it?

Is there anything I can do to help him?

OP posts:
Whizzz · 08/05/2008 22:18

Its a difficult scale to understand though as its logarithmic not linear, an increase in 3dB means a doubling in sound intensity

I've googled for you info here there is quite a bit of stuff on line

smartiejake · 08/05/2008 22:57

A hearing threshold (the quietest sound you can hear at different pitches) of 25db or less is considered to be within normal ranges although one might expect a child to hear at around 0-15db. I expect he was at this lower end of around 25 dB but the audiologist perhaps felt that he was actually hearing at a slightly higher level than the test showed. Young kids can be quite difficult to test and don't always respond to the quieter sounds when they are within their hearing range.

A whisper is around 40dB and conversational speech is around 65/70dB.
HTH

smartiejake · 08/05/2008 23:04

Just to add, a hearing threshold of 10/15db is at a level where you could detect a sound but not tell what someone was saying (as you would with a whisper)

10-15dB won't make much of a difference below 25dB (many adults wouldn't be able to detect sounds this quiet.) It can have an impact though above this level which is why audiologists would consider a hearing aid for someone who say had a threshold of 35/ 40dB

Original poster
NotABanana · 09/05/2008 13:03

He definitely hears that I have said something to him but not what it actually was.

OP posts:
smartiejake · 09/05/2008 17:31

SO what was the audiologists conclusion. Will there be any further investigation?

Original poster
NotABanana · 09/05/2008 20:08

No, He is going to write to the GP sying no investigation needed. I am going to keep an eye on him though.

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