A hearing test is an objective test. Checking your hearing online

The human hearing organ has a complex and at the same time unique structure. So, the ears are responsible for many important functions in the structure of man. First of all human organ hearing is necessary for the receptivity of sounds, their processing and conversion into decibels, and then sending them to the brain. In addition, the ear is responsible for human balance.

In case of dysfunction of any department, a person experiences ear pain and headaches, loss of hearing acuity, a feeling of congestion, and others. unpleasant symptoms, which can knock a person out for a long time familiar image life. In order to test the sensitivity of sounds, there are hearing testing programs.

Not all people can notice immediate hearing loss. In most cases, sound sensitivity occurs gradually. At this time, a person loses the ability to hear the lowest sounds. To determine the sensitivity of your hearing, you can take a hearing test online or contact a medical center.

However, a person pays attention to minor changes in the ear organ only after a hearing test. But truly human begins to worry only when he notices that the range of audibility has noticeably changed. Usually at this time a person cannot understand a whisper from an arm’s length distance or feels a problem understanding speech on TV or on the radio.

Cause Hearing impairment lies in dysfunction of the middle region of the hearing organ. The middle region is located after the outer part of the ear organ and in front of the inner ear. The middle region does not have a complex, but exceptional structure, and thanks to its work, a person perceives both the highest and low-frequency sounds.

In addition, this part distinguishes and enhances signals, intonations and various noises.

In general, the following elements are responsible for the operation and transmission of sounds:

1. Outdoor area. It includes the auricle and the external auditory canal. It is separated from the middle region of the hearing organ by the eardrum.
2. Middle ear. After the eardrum there is the middle ear, the Eustachian tube and the auditory ossicles.
3. Interior has one of the most unusual structures in the human body. The second name of the described area is a labyrinth. The main task of the labyrinth is to maintain human balance.

IN anatomy ear includes the following elements:

• curl;
• antihelix;
• antitragus;
• earlobe.

Due to its complex and unique structure, various bacteria and infections rarely enter the hearing organ, and external factors cannot affect human health.

Therefore, almost all ear diseases occur during periods of weak immune system or as a result of the penetration of viruses through the nasopharynx.

The structure of the middle part of the hearing organ

As we have already found out, the reason for decreased hearing acuity and other inflammations lies in a disease of the middle part of the ear. Before identifying the reasons, let’s understand the structure of this element.

Everyone knows that the middle ear is located behind the eardrum and is located near the temporal part. In the depths of the temporal region are located the following parts of the middle ear:

1. IN temporal bone the mastoid process is located. It connects the tympanic and temporal parts.
2. Between the temporal region and the external ear canal located tympanic cavity.
3. This area is connected to the nasopharynx using the Eustachian tube. Its functions include pressure regulation.

These three elements have numerous functions and additional structures.

So, the main area of ​​the middle ear is tympanic cavity. Its structure includes the following components:

1. The malleus is adjacent to the eardrum. It transmits the received sound waves further to the auditory ossicles.
2. The second component of the ossicles is the anvil. It is located after the malleus, but before the stirrup. The main function of this bone is to transmit sound vibrations further in direction.
3. The stapes covers the auditory ossicles. Its function is to transmit sound vibrations to inner ear, and then to the brain. Interestingly, this area is considered the most light bone not only in the ears, but throughout the entire body. Its size is about four millimeters and its weight is 2.5 mg.

All of the above elements convert sound waves or noise and transmit the processed sounds further to the internal part.

If one bone is damaged, dysfunction of the entire section occurs, and as a result, loss of hearing acuity.

Besides, The tasks of the auditory ossicles include:

1. Maintaining eardrum function.
2. Adjusts and reduces very high sounds.
3. Adaptation of the ear to perception different sounds in height and strength.

Must visit twice a year ear doctor. This way you can avoid many types of inflammation.

There are special sounds for hearing testing. When examined by an ENT doctor, do not forget to undergo a hearing acuity test.

It is not necessary to visit a specialist doctor for a basic hearing test. You only need a high-quality Internet connection and audio output equipment (regular headphones). However, if you suspect hearing problems, it is better to consult a specialist and do not diagnose yourself.

Hearing testing sites usually suggest taking a couple of tests and listening to short sound recordings. Then, based on your answers to questions in tests or how often you turned up the volume on the site while listening to recordings, the service creates an approximate picture of your hearing. However, everywhere (even on the hearing testing sites themselves) they do not recommend trusting these tests 100%. If you suspect hearing loss and/or the service shows no top scores, then see a qualified healthcare professional.

Method 1: Phonak

This site specializes in helping people who have hearing problems, plus it distributes modern sound devices own production. In addition to tests, here you can find several useful articles that will help you solve current hearing problems or avoid them in the future.

To perform testing, use these step-by-step instructions:

Method 2: Stopotit

This is a site dedicated to hearing problems. In this case, you are asked to take two tests to choose from, but they are small and involve listening to certain signals. Their margin of error is very high due to many reasons, so you should not trust them completely.

The instructions for the first test look like this:

The second test is a little more extensive and can give the correct result. Here you will need to answer a couple of questions from the questionnaire and listen to the names of the items with background noise. The instructions look like this:

Method 3: Geers

Here you will be asked to listen to sounds of different frequencies and volumes. There are no special differences from the previous two services.

The applications that we will discuss below will help you understand how normal your hearing is. If the results are far from optimal, it makes sense to consult a doctor.

uHear

uHear measures your hearing sensitivity and how well you adapt to environmental noise. The first test takes approximately five minutes, the second - no more than a minute. For each test you will need headphones, and in the application you can choose their type - in-ear or on-ear.

The test determines the sensitivity of each ear separately. This is achieved by playing noise of different frequencies and determining the upper and lower limits of your hearing.

Hortest

Hörtest for Android works on the same principle. You need to press the button every time you hear sound in the headphones. I'll say the obvious, but don't fool yourself and don't press a button just to improve your test results. You go through it for yourself.

Mimi Hearing Test

Mimi Hearing Technologies is a company that produces equipment for deaf people. If you have an iOS device, I would recommend taking this test. The application works on a similar principle to the previous ones. Every time you hear a sound in your left or right ear, you need to press the Left or Right button, respectively. The test result is your age based on hearing sensitivity. If it matches your real age, great. If the difference is very large, then your hearing is not normal.

Bonus

If you don't have iOS or Android devices, you can use this video test on YouTube. As with all previous applications, headphones are required.

Tell us at what point you stopped hearing sounds and how old you are.

Hearing testing is carried out by 2 main groups of methods: objective and subjective. Objective methods based on the emergence of unconditioned reflexes. TO subjective methods include acoustic and audiometric methods.

Hearing Test - Assessment Methods

Objective methods of hearing research do not require the direct active participation of the patient and are more often used in pediatric practice (in newborns and children under 3 years of age).

Thus, all newborn children undergo audio screening - the study of hearing by recording otoacoustic emissions.

An objective hearing test is used:

• For diagnosis in disabled people, patients in a comatose state;
• For solutions controversial issues examination and rehabilitation.

The acoustic method includes examination of hearing using spoken and whispered speech, and examination with tuning forks. The audiometric method is a hearing test using an audiometer. In the practice of an otolaryngologist, both of these methods are used.

Indications for ear examination

Hearing is required to be checked during medical examinations for workers employed in noisy industries. The test is carried out first using the acoustic method and then using the audiometric method.

Hearing is also required to be checked by the driver's commission.

In pediatric practice, if there are no hearing complaints, the doctor checks the child’s hearing when registering for kindergarten and school. If a patient (adult or child) complains of ear pain, congestion, or hearing loss, an otolaryngologist will conduct a hearing test before and after prescribing treatment.

Diagnosis of eardrums

Let’s imagine a situation: a person came to see an ENT doctor complaining of hearing loss. The doctor collected anamnesis, identified complaints, and performed an examination.

If there are no foreign objects or wax plugs, which often cause hearing loss, the doctor begins to check the hearing analyzer.

Useful information about diseases on video

1. Spoken speech test. The doctor or nurse asks the patient to stand in a certain place in the office, cover one ear with a hand or cotton earplugs, turn to the wall or close his eyes. Why turn away or close your eyes? Many people, without knowing it themselves, can “read” lips.

   Therefore, for the study to be reliable, this “auxiliary” maneuver must be excluded. Once the patient is ready, the doctor comes close and speaks numbers or words in a loud and clear voice. Words and numbers containing both voiced and voiceless consonants are used: cup of tea/cat/mouse and house/girl/frog.

   When testing children's hearing, they often use phrases that children understand, and when testing adults, they use numbers. The doctor gradually steps back from the patient, continuing to speak until the distance between the doctor and the patient is 6 meters.

   Then the same procedure is repeated with the other ear. 6 meters – minimum distance, in which the healthy ear hears spoken and whispered speech.

2. Whisper speech test. After preparing the patient (the same as for the spoken language test), the doctor or nurse pronounce phrases and numbers in a loud, clear whisper, gradually moving away from the person being tested until the distance between them reaches 6 meters.

   If the person being tested has hearing colloquial speech 6:6 and in whispered speech 6:6 - he is absolutely healthy in hearing and can be hired for any job, even in noisy production. If the hearing is impaired, and at least one ear can hear at a distance of less than 3 meters, such a patient cannot be allowed to work in noisy production and at heights.

   When testing children's hearing, especially preschoolers, it is advisable to pronounce phrases that are familiar to them: names of animals, names fairy-tale heroes. You can not say a word, but ask your child a question that requires an answer, for example: “do you like candy?” etc. (joking check).

3. Tuning fork tests. Testing with tuning forks is usually used not during preventive examinations, but when dealing with complaints of unilateral or bilateral hearing loss. Tuning fork - musical instrument, producing a clear sound of a certain frequency.

   In medicine, tuning forks with a sound frequency of 128 (C128) and 2048 (C2048) per second are mainly used. 3 tuning fork tests are used: Weber, Rinne, Schwabach.

Audiometric test method

Testing on the device is carried out using an audiometer. This device generates a sound signal of different intensities (from 0 to 120 dB) at different frequencies (from 125 Hz to 8000 kHz).

First, air conduction is checked, then bone conduction. The hearing threshold is considered to be the perception of a signal with an intensity of 10 dB at a frequency of 125 Hz.

How is audiometry performed? First, air conductivity is checked - headphones are put on the person being tested and a sound signal of the same intensity at different frequencies is sent to each ear separately, then the intensity increases.

As soon as the patient hears a sound, even the quietest one, he presses the button. The signal is recorded by the audiometer operator and transferred to the audiometric form. Air conduction is recorded for each ear separately.

Then bone conductivity is measured - a special bone microphone is installed on the mastoid process (behind the ear), the principle of signal transmission is the same as when measuring air conductivity. Bone conduction is usually lower than air conduction, and there is a small interval between them on the audiogram.

In children's practice, audiometers are sometimes used that produce not just a sound signal, but a word specific for each frequency, constantly increasing the intensity of the sound.

Why does hearing decrease in diseases?

Hearing loss with various diseases can be reversible and irreversible. Reversible changes are more often associated with inflammation of the cells of the outer, middle or inner ear, as well as inflammation and narrowing of the auditory tube.

Irreversible changes are associated with the death of cells of the receptor apparatus or the auditory zone of the cerebral cortex.

The causes of hearing loss can be divided into 2 large groups:

• Violation of sound transmission;
• Impaired sound perception.

Violation of sound conduction is associated with diseases of the sound-conducting apparatus:

• external auditory canal ( otitis externa, sulfur plug, foreign bodies ear canal);
• middle ear (acute and chronic otitis media, exudative otitis media, tubootitis, myringitis);
• inner ear (labyrinthitis).

In all of these diseases, hearing is impaired because sound does not travel properly. ear canal, is not perceived by the eardrum, is not amplified by the chain of auditory ossicles, etc. Hearing changes due to sound conduction disorders are often reversible and go away after proper treatment.

Impaired sound perception is a more complex pathology, since various reasons the functioning of the receptor apparatus of the inner ear and/or the auditory zone of the cerebral cortex suffers.

Such changes may be caused by:

1. Trauma: traumatic brain injury, fracture of the temporal bone, barotrauma;
2. Infectious disease, especially in children: influenza, measles, rubella, tick-borne encephalitis;
3. Taking ototoxic drugs: gentamicin, other aminoglycosides;
4. Dysmetabolic disorders: microangiopathy in diabetes mellitus;
5. Age-related changes: as a result of atherosclerotic damage to the vessels of the head and neck, the blood supply to the inner ear suffers and senile hearing loss develops.

Hearing loss due to impaired sound perception is sometimes curable, but requires longer and more persistent treatment with specific drugs:

• neuro- and angioprotectors;
• drugs that improve tissue trophism;
• histamine receptor blockers.

How to test your hearing for the effectiveness of treatment

Improving hearing as a criterion for recovery can be taken into account in the treatment of diseases of the sound-conducting apparatus (otitis media/myringitis, etc.).

In this case, the course of treatment is usually 7-10-14 days, rarely more. And in case of recovery, the patient himself notes an improvement in hearing.

In case of damage to the sound-receiving apparatus, a reliable criterion for the effectiveness of treatment is considered to be improvement in hearing (according to the results of acumetry and audiometry) with repeated studies after 3 months of taking prescribed medications.

Possible consequences of hearing loss

A disease associated with hearing impairment is medically called hearing loss. It may vary in severity and cause. Depending on this, hearing loss is temporary or permanent. It may be curable or progressive. Depending on the severity of the hearing loss and when it occurs, the impact on the patient's life will vary.

It is most difficult to determine hearing loss in a child. Most often it manifests itself in a lack of response to loud sounds. In this case, the child does not lose hearing completely, but he cannot catch part of the sound spectrum. This situation leads to slow development of speech. The child speaks poorly and has a small lexicon, often does not respond to requests from adults.

If hearing loss is not treated for a long time, then destructive processes in the cerebral cortex. Gradually, the area responsible for hearing begins to decrease in size and completely atrophies. It is no longer possible to restore brain function to its original state.

IN school age this leads to problems during training. Children with moderate and severe hearing loss are forced to study in special schools. They are less adapted to independent living. Light form hearing loss often characterizes patients as inattentive, distracted individuals. It is often said about them that they only hear what they want. At the same time, every day is an increased stress for them, since they have to listen to every word in order to get the full volume of them.

Most serious consequences has moderate to severe hearing loss that cannot be treated or progresses to running form. With moderate severity of the disease, a person tries to take a defensive position, he participates less in public life, and begins to gradually isolate himself. In conversations, the patient either dominates or tries to avoid it.

The more severe your hearing loss becomes, the more difficult it is to hide it from others. In the absence of proper treatment, the patient limits social contacts, avoids public events. Distrust and hostility towards the world around us leads to paranoia and isolation. In some cases, aggression and anger towards loved ones manifests itself.

In cases of severe hearing loss and the absence of treatment for the disease, the consequences include complete destruction social life, alcoholism, drug addiction, as an attempt to escape from the surrounding reality. Ultimately, the patient faces a transition to the “deaf” world. Therefore, if hearing problems are detected, it is necessary to promptly diagnose and begin treatment.

How much does a hearing test cost?

Diagnosis of hearing loss can be carried out in a city clinic at a medical pole or in a paid center. In the first case, the procedure will be free, but it may not meet the requirements of a particular situation.

A paid center can conduct a wider range of studies.

1. An examination by an ENT doctor is the first stage in identifying hearing problems. The doctor conducts an examination auricle, explores eardrum for damage. Conducts speech research. The cost of seeing a doctor depends on the chosen medical center ranges from 1000 to 1500 rubles.
2. Study with tuning forks. This examination is necessary to detect air and bone conduction. A set of tuning forks with different tones is used for the study. This method is more subjective, as it completely depends on the professionalism of the doctor. Its cost is about 500 rubles.
3. To determine the volume that a person hears, it is necessary to conduct speech audiometry. The study is carried out in a special soundproof room. All results are recorded on tape. The cost is about 1000 rubles.
4. In serious cases where brain dysfunction is possible, an MRI is necessary. The cost of the examination is about 2000 rubles.
5. Electrocochleography is required to diagnose cochlear activity and auditory nerve. The cost is from 1200 rubles.

The cost of paid services for diagnosing hearing loss will vary depending on the chosen medical center. Most low prices V government institutions providing paid services.

Where can you quickly and accurately check your hearing?

The very first hearing test is carried out on a newborn in the postpartum ward. If the first test was successful, but parents have doubts about the baby’s hearing, you need to contact an ENT doctor at a city clinic. The doctor will conduct an examination and carry out the necessary studies.

If there are suspicions of serious abnormalities, he can issue a referral to specialized research institutes. There are 2 centers in Moscow.

1. NCC of Otorhinolaryngology. Located on Volokolamsk highway. The center turns out to be all kinds medical care for ENT diseases. The structure of the complex includes laboratories, research centers, and a clinic. We employ specialists of a wide range of profiles. At the NCC you can not only get advice, but also carry out full examination, implement surgical intervention.
2. Research Institute of Pediatrics. Science Center Children's Health RAMS is a broad-spectrum structure. It includes a clinic, a hospital, and a scientific department. The main task of the research institute is to provide medical care in all main areas.

All studies related to hearing loss can be carried out in paid diagnostic centers. There are these in every city. The main role is played not by the name of the clinic, but by the training and professionalism of the doctor who will perform the procedure.

What does a hearing test tell you?

Hearing testing may be required at different ages.

Timely execution diagnostic studies gives its results.

1. When acute hearing loss Diagnosis is carried out in a hospital setting. There's an emergency there too complex treatment. More often it is antihistamines, antibiotics, ear drops. Treatment is aimed not only at restoring hearing, but also at eliminating the inflammatory focus.
2. At frequent illnesses in children, especially if they are associated with the growth of adenoids, diagnosis is necessary in order to detect hearing impairment in a timely manner. The appearance of hearing loss is a direct indicator for surgical intervention.
3. Diagnosis of hearing loss caused by infectious diseases, allows you to completely eliminate the source of infection, carry out adequate treatment. Timely help prevents progression of the disease. Hearing is restored completely.
4. For abnormalities in the development of hearing organs timely diagnosis allows you to take action in a timely manner. In some situations, surgical intervention or installation is possible hearing aids. Such an adjustment will allow the child to hear the entire spectrum of sounds, therefore, his speech and all parts of the brain will develop harmoniously.

Without diagnosis, hearing loss will gradually progress, which will lead to irreparable consequences in the patient’s life.

I accidentally came across an interesting and useful test on the Internet - online hearing test.

It’s sad, but it’s a fact - we are all not getting any younger, but quite the opposite. As we age, our hearing deteriorates—for some, more, and for others, just a little. For some, this sad process happens quickly, but for most people it is very slow and completely unnoticeable.

This is why periodic hearing testing is imperative. You can (and should) go to the doctor every year, but which of us, feeling healthy, goes to him?

I really hope it’s simple and quick test the hearing test, which is located at the end of the article, will make you worry about your health before it’s too late.

This test consists of five stages. The first is just an introduction, at which you need to click on the “Continue” button, and the last (fifth stage) is the verdict itself.

The second stage of the online hearing test is calibration. You need to use the slider to set what will be on the right, the sound level you can barely hear...

During the test itself, you will no longer be able to change it.

The third stage is again practically useless - short instructions for people with very low level intelligence. It tells you that when you hear a sound, you need to press the “I hear” button, and when you don’t hear it, you need to press “No”...

And finally, the fourth stage - the test itself or an online hearing test...

...after completing it you will be shown the result...

I also changed the size of the window, which caused the font to be slightly distorted - I apologize wildly, but otherwise the test simply would not have fit on the page.

It seems like he told and explained everything - proceed to the online hearing test...

Online hearing test

This test must be taken in complete silence, or even better - in good headphones.

Get started...

That's all online hearing testing is all about. I really hope that your test result is the same as mine. Until new useful ones computer programs and advice.