Any audiologists around?

[ohtowinthelottery]

I have a question about hearing tests.

Referred for hearing test by GP as i don't feel my hearing has recovered following a perforated eardrum, even though that has healed.
Had hearing test at local hospital and was told hearing was fine. The test i had, I assume was standard - series of beeps at different pitches and volumes played and I had to press a button if I heard a sound. Was told some of the beeps would be quite quiet.

After I'd left the hospital, I was reflecting on the test results. Part of my hearing problem is that I don't always hear the correct start of words so mistake it for another word - which can lead to misunderstandings. But how did the test I did test for this? How does the audiologist know how clearly i heard a sound rather than that i just heard something? They might have played a loud sound but I may only have heard a quiet sound.
I was comparing this to an eyesight test which I've also had recently. Obviously I'm tested line by line, each getting smaller, but there comes a point where although I can't see something very clearly, I can see a rough shape - so might think I've seen a 'C' when it's actually a 'G' for example. So the ophthalmologist gets and idea that I can see an outline rather than clearly or nothing at all.
So I wondered why a hearing test didn't have some sort of test where you hear a word and you have to say what you heard to show how clearly you can hear rather than just that you heard something - which is surely quite an important aspect of having a conversation?

So anyone with any expertise in this area who can clarify how the test actually works.

I'm left feeling that I don't always hear some conversation clearly but have been told i won't benefit from hearing aids as my hearing isn't that bad.

I’m not an audiologist. But it might be useful to know that anyone can go to Boots and get a hearing aid privately if you think you will benefit. And I believe they will refund you if you’re not interested after a trial period.

I can answer the eye test bit (I'm an optometrist), we re-check things a few times and the test charts are geared up for mis-naming so there are a lot of letter which look similar and we also note speed of recognition.

I have no idea of audiology though.

@jetlag92I understand the eye test bit. I was just wondering why a hearing test didn't have a similar method eg playing similar sounding words and seeing what the patient actually heard to see how accurate their hearing is, rather than just that they heard something (but not necessarily at the right volume).

(But not necessarily at the right volume).

I had a hearing test recently and as well as listening to the beeps you mention I also had different words played through the same headphones and from this they mapped out where my hearing loss was affected. It is worth mentioning that before this I had a free hearing check with Boots which was not as thorough as this one that I paid for privately.

@Happytohelp66that's interesting about the Boots test. I did a bit of Googling and discovered that there are 3 types of testing they can do - the beeps, the words/speech and the pressure test. I had the beeps and the pressure but not the speech bit (which probably would have been the most relevant to my hearing issues). I also looked at Boots whose advert says they do the speech bit - but maybe it depends where you go.

I have extensive hearing loss, particularly higher frequencies. I hadn’t realised how bad it was until I got hearing aids!

My understanding is that different letters have different frequencies which is why it might be hard for you to differentiate the ending of some words, I have this problem as well.

The beep test is useful to work out which frequencies you can’t hear as well, although at the last private hearing test I had they also tested similar words which was an eye-opener.

On an unrelated note, I struggle with the beep tests anyway as I can only hear the “absence” of the sound once it’s gone. It’s all very annoying!

I'm m not an audiologist though DC is profoundly Deaf. The tests will tell you which frequencies you can hear at. What you describe is possibly more to do with processing as you can technically hear the sound but don't pick it up as part of speech. Look up 'auditory processing disorder ' and see if any of the description is familiar.

My understanding is that different letters have different frequencies. “S” and “TH” are higher. If you have higher frequency loss you may miss words beginning with those sounds for example.

I have also heard that people are just buying hearing aids online, but I think that getting them set up right without the proper help might be hard. My relative had a hearing aid and he had lost the upper register of his hearing entirely and half of the lower register. The hearing aid was set up to correct that and he hears me flawlessly now. It's so nice to be able to talk to him again.

I ought to get my own hearing tested really.

If your hearing was good across the full range of frequencies maybe it's more of an auditory processing thing? But did you see the graph or get your results to take away? Sometimes they say hearing is 'satisfactory' which means it's considered good enough but it may not be as good as your hearing was before.

Editing to add I'm not an audiologist but I have a child with hearing loss.

Did they explain why you wouldn’t benefit from hearing aids? Is there any hearing loss, or just not enough for you to benefit from hearing aids (in their view)?

Sorry if it’s obvious, but hearing aids don’t “correct” hearing loss in the way that glasses can correct vision - hearing aids can be configured to help amplify the frequencies someone might struggle to hear, but this comes with its own issues in my experience as they can amplify a lot of “unwanted” sounds in busy environments, so for some people they aren’t that beneficial.

You could try a private audiology clinic for a second opinion - I’ve found that they explain the test results well.

Otherwise, could it be an auditory processing issue rather than a hearing issue?