Liam’s Tips On Hearing Tests

The thought of a hearing test and the unknown can sometimes put people off having one. It really is such a simple procedure, and to be honest, the sooner a hearing loss is picked up, the sooner a solution can be found and measures put in place to minimise further hearing loss.

What a hearing test actually does is measure how much sound we can hear, and there are different types of tests which are used, but all the results are compiled on a chart called an audiogram.

How the health professionals measure hearing loss, is in something known as decibels hearing level (or dBHL). This refers to how much louder a sound has to be for you to hear it compared to someone who can hear normally. Hearing levels also measure both pure tone and speech sounds. These can also be reported for both ears (bilateral) and just one ear (unilateral).


There are five levels of hearing loss, which are ranked as:

Normal: You are able to hear quiet sounds down to 20 dBHL.

Mild: You are having difficulty following conversations in noisy situations, with hearing loss in the better ear being between 25 - 39 dBHL

Moderate: You are having difficulty following conversations without a hearing aid, with hearing loss in the better ear being between 40 - 69 dBHL

Severe: You require powerful hearing aids or an implant, with hearing loss in the better ear being between 70 - 89 dBHL.

Profound: You need to rely mainly on lip-reading and/or sign language, or an implant, with hearing loss in the better ear being from 90 dBHL..


The type and level of hearing loss depends on which parts of the ear don't work and how badly they are damaged.

I would strongly encourage you to have a hearing test done if you feel your hearing is not as good as it once was. The test is simple and it is much better to know, than be living in fear of the unknown. Once you know for sure, measures can be taken to help. That’s why we are here; to help!