Hearing test
A hearing test, or audiometric assessment, is painless and takes about half an hour. You listen to tones through headphones and repeat words back. At the end you get your audiogram, the chart that shows which frequencies you hear well and which you do not, and we explain what it means in plain language.
In plain language
A hearing test measures the quietest sound you can hear at each frequency, from the low rumble of 125 Hz up to the high hiss of 8 kHz. The result is your audiogram: a chart that shows exactly which sounds you are getting and which you are missing.
It matters because hearing loss is almost never even. Most people lose the high frequencies first, which is where the consonants live. That is why the most common complaint is not 'I cannot hear you' but 'I can hear you, I just cannot make out the words'.
How long
About 30 minutes for the test. Allow an hour for a first visit.
What it costs
Call or send a WhatsApp to 0300-9359652 to ask about the current charge for a hearing assessment.
The hearing test
A full hearing assessment is not one test but several, and none of them hurt. Here is each one, what it measures, and how long it takes.
Finds the quietest sound you can hear at each pitch, from 125 Hz up to 8 kHz. This is the test that produces your audiogram.
Headphones on in a quiet room. You press a button whenever you think you hear a beep, even if you are not sure.
15 to 20 minutes
Measures how many words you can correctly repeat back, which is a different question from whether you can detect a beep.
We say words at different volumes and you repeat them. Some will be easy, some will be guesswork. Both tell us something.
5 to 10 minutes
Checks that the eardrum and middle ear move as they should, which separates a blockage from a nerve problem.
A soft tip rests in the ear and changes the air pressure slightly for a few seconds. It feels like the pressure change on a plane.
About 2 minutes
A camera look inside the ear canal and at the eardrum, shown on a screen you can see too.
Nothing goes deep and nothing touches the eardrum. Often this is where a problem turns out to be wax rather than hearing loss.
2 to 3 minutes
A quick pass or refer check rather than a full measurement. Used for children, and for anyone who just wants to know whether to worry.
Short and simple. For younger children it is turned into a game so they respond without realising they are being tested.
About 10 minutes
Finds the frequency and rough loudness of the ringing you hear, so any sound therapy can be aimed at the right place.
We play tones until you tell us one sounds like the sound in your ears. There is no right answer, only your answer.
10 to 15 minutes
You will not need all six. Which we use depends on your ears, your age and what you have come in about. The whole visit is usually about an hour.
Nothing in a hearing test is inserted deep into the ear and nothing touches the eardrum. If you have been putting it off because you expected it to be uncomfortable, it is not.
Questions
Allow about an hour for a first visit. The hearing test itself is around 30 minutes and the rest is going through your results and, if you want, trying a hearing aid on.
No. You sit in a quiet room wearing headphones, listen for very soft tones, and press a button or raise your hand when you hear one. Then you repeat some words back. Nothing is inserted into your ear and nothing touches the eardrum.
Pure-tone audiometry, which measures the quietest sound you can hear at each frequency and produces your audiogram. Speech audiometry, which measures how well you understand words rather than just detect sounds. And tympanometry, which checks that the eardrum and middle ear are moving properly. We use whichever of these your case needs.
The same day, before you leave. We print your audiogram, show you which frequencies are affected, and explain what that means for the sounds you have been missing.
Yes. For older children the test is much the same as for an adult, turned into a game. For younger children and babies we use methods that do not need the child to respond on purpose. If you are worried about a child's hearing, do not wait to see if they grow out of it, because the early years are when language is being built.
A baby who does not startle at loud sounds. A one-year-old who is not babbling or does not turn towards your voice. A two-year-old with very few words. An older child who has the television loud, does not answer when called from another room, is struggling at school, or asks you to repeat things often. Any of these is worth a test.
Call, message, or send the form and we will confirm a time that suits you.