Factors That Can Affect Hearing Test Results

Hearing tests are crucial to identifying potential hearing loss, which can significantly impact a person’s quality of life. It is recommended that everyone gets their hearing tested at least once every ten years up until the age of 50, and then every three years thereafter. Early detection and treatment of hearing loss can prevent further damage and improve overall hearing function.

There are several factors that can impact hearing tests, and it’s important to be aware of them before undergoing a test. The presence of earwax or a foreign object in the ear can affect the accuracy of the test. Certain medications, such as antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs, can also affect hearing. Loud noise exposure or recent ear infections may also impact test results. Age, genetics, and overall health can also affect hearing ability. It’s important to inform the hearing healthcare provider of any relevant factors before undergoing a hearing test to ensure accurate results.

Your Age

Of course, your age is always going to be a factor when it comes to your hearing capabilities. As we get older, our hearing capabilities decline and we’re not able to hear such a wide range of sounds as we could when we were younger, and that’s something that you just have to keep in mind when considering your hearing test results. If you see a gradual decline over time, your age might be the reason for that. That doesn’t always mean that treatments or interventions are necessary, but they might be in some cases.

Exposure to Noises

People who have been exposed to excessively loud noises, either as a one-off occurrence or over a prolonged period of time, are likely to not hear as well as people who have protected their ears from loud noises. The hearing loss that people can experience after exposure to loud noises can either be permanent or temporary. Depending on when your hearing test takes place or what kind of hearing loss you’ve sustained as a result of your exposure to loud noises, these factors might impact your hearing test results.

Earwax Buildup

Earwax buildup can be a major factor that decreases your ability to hear clearly. If you have a lot of earwax in your ear, it can become compacted and built up over time, and that often results in you not hearing as clearly as you would otherwise be able to, and that will naturally impact your hearing test results. There are procedures that you can have carried out to safely remove that wax from your ears. That’s not something that you should try to do yourself though because you might make things worse.

Medical Conditions and Medication

For some people, their medication conditions or medication can be the factors that impact their hearing test results. If you take medication that you know can cause damage to your hearing but you have to take it for more serious health conditions or reasons, then there’s not much you can do about that. You can discuss alternative medicines with your doctor and they’ll be able to let you know whether that’s a viable option for you. It might not be but that depends on your circumstances.

Psychological Factors

There are some instances in which your performance in a hearing test might be impacted not so much by your hearing but other psychological factors. For example, lots of people are very nervous about any kind of medical environment or testing situation. If that’s something that applies to you, you should keep it in mind and maybe let your audiologist know. They might be able to make some accommodations to make you feel a little more comfortable and at ease while the test is being carried out. That should fix the problem.

The Hearing Test Environment

If there are issues or external noises in the hearing test environment, these will impact how you perform in your hearing test. That’s something that shouldn’t really happen but it occasionally does. It’s the responsibility of your audiologist to make sure that the hearing test takes place in a quiet and calm environment where there aren’t any external distractions or noises. If that’s not the case, the issue should be rectified or the hearing test should be moved to another location if possible. If you have any concerns about this, raise them with your audiologist.

So, if you want to learn more about the different factors that can affect hearing test results, you can contact our team here at Hearing Professionals of Alabama. Our audiologists can answer any questions you might have and make sure you’re able to find the answers and treatments you might require. You can get in touch by calling us our Auburn office at (334) 539-5335 and (334) 557-8930 for Montgomery.