The Audiogram: Your Hearing Thresholds
An audiogram is a graph that helps us understand your hearing thresholds and determine the severity of your hearing loss.
Frequencies/Pitches: The top of the graph shows different frequencies (or pitches) that we test.
Loudness (Decibels): The side of the graph indicates the loudness of the tones presented to you.
We find your personal hearing thresholds by identifying the softest sounds you can hear at each frequency.
Why We Test Specific Frequencies
We test a range of frequencies because many speech sounds fall within this spectrum. On the audiogram, these speech sounds are illustrated by the "speech banana" (the yellow area). This range is crucial for understanding speech.
Impact of Hearing Loss on Speech Understanding
Hearing loss reduces sensitivity to certain sounds, which affects more than just overall volume. It particularly limits access to speech sounds, leading to common difficulties such as:
- "I can hear people speaking, but I can't understand what they're saying."
This occurs because hearing loss reduces access to a range of speech sounds, making conversations challenging.
How Hearing Aids Can Help
The solution to these difficulties, depending on the severity of your hearing loss, is often hearing aids. By programming hearing aids to match your specific hearing loss, we can help you regain access to essential speech sounds, making conversations easier over time.
At Chantal Kassuto Audiology we use specialised equipment called Real Ear Measurements to accurately program your hearing aids. To read more about this please click the link below:
Contact Us
If you're experiencing these issues, please don't hesitate to contact us for a no-pressure assessment and discussion. We look forward to guiding you on your journey to better hearing.