Your Hearing Test: Step by Step
A professional hearing test at SoundClear is a straightforward, comfortable experience. Our audiologists guide you through every step, ensuring you feel informed and at ease throughout your appointment. The entire process typically takes between 45 and 60 minutes.
Step 1: Welcome and Consultation
When you arrive at our clinic, you will be greeted by our friendly reception team and asked to complete a brief questionnaire about your hearing health, medical history, and any concerns you may have. This typically takes about five minutes.
Your audiologist will then bring you into the consultation room to discuss your hearing in more detail. They will ask about:
- Any specific hearing difficulties you have noticed
- Your medical history, including current medications
- Your exposure to loud noise at work or during leisure activities
- Any family history of hearing loss
- Any experiences with ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Your lifestyle and communication needs
This conversation helps your audiologist tailor the assessment to your individual situation and ensures we address your specific concerns.
Step 2: Ear Examination (Otoscopy)
Before testing your hearing, your audiologist will examine your ears using an otoscope, a handheld instrument with a light and magnifying lens. This quick, painless examination checks for:
- Earwax blockages that could be affecting your hearing
- Signs of infection or inflammation in the ear canal
- The condition of your eardrum (tympanic membrane)
- Any structural abnormalities
If wax blockage is found, your audiologist will discuss whether removal is needed before proceeding with the hearing test. In many cases, hearing tests can still be conducted accurately, with wax removal scheduled for a separate visit if necessary.
Step 3: Pure Tone Audiometry (The Audiogram)
This is the core component of your hearing test. You will be seated in a sound-treated booth or room, which blocks out background noise to ensure accurate results. You will wear a pair of headphones (or sometimes insert earphones).
Your audiologist will play a series of tones at different pitches (frequencies) and volumes (intensities) through the headphones. Each time you hear a tone, even if it is very faint, you press a button or raise your hand. The audiologist gradually reduces the volume at each pitch to find the softest sound you can hear, known as your hearing threshold.
This process is repeated for both ears across a range of frequencies from low (250 Hz, like a deep bass note) to high (8000 Hz, like a high-pitched bird call). The results are plotted on a graph called an audiogram, which provides a visual map of your hearing ability.
In some cases, a bone conduction test may also be conducted. A small vibrator is placed behind your ear, which transmits sound through the bones of your skull directly to the inner ear. This helps determine whether any hearing loss is due to a problem in the outer or middle ear (conductive) or in the inner ear or hearing nerve (sensorineural).
Step 4: Speech Testing
Hearing tones is important, but understanding speech is what matters most in daily life. Speech testing evaluates your ability to hear and understand spoken words.
Your audiologist will play recorded words or sentences through the headphones at different volume levels. You will be asked to repeat the words you hear. Two key measures are obtained:
- Speech Reception Threshold (SRT): The softest volume at which you can correctly repeat words approximately 50 per cent of the time. This should closely match your pure tone results, confirming the accuracy of your audiogram.
- Word Recognition Score: The percentage of words you can correctly repeat at a comfortable volume level. This measures the clarity of your hearing and is particularly important for understanding how well you can follow conversations.
Step 5: Middle Ear Assessment (Tympanometry)
This quick test assesses the function of your middle ear, including your eardrum and the tiny bones that transmit sound. A small, soft probe is placed at the opening of your ear canal. You will feel a slight pressure change and hear a low tone, which lasts just a few seconds per ear.
Tympanometry can detect:
- Fluid in the middle ear (common in children and sometimes adults)
- Eustachian tube dysfunction
- Perforated eardrums
- Stiffness or disconnection of the middle ear bones
Step 6: Results Discussion
This is the most important part of your appointment. Your audiologist will show you your audiogram and explain what it means in clear, everyday language. They will cover:
- Whether your hearing is within the normal range or if there is any hearing loss
- The type and degree of any hearing loss detected (mild, moderate, severe, or profound)
- Which frequencies and ears are affected
- How your hearing results relate to your everyday experiences and difficulties
- What may be causing any hearing changes
- Recommended next steps, which may include monitoring, hearing aids, medical referral, or simply reassurance
You will receive a written report summarising your results, and your audiologist can send a copy to your GP if you wish. There is no pressure to make any decisions on the spot. We want you to feel fully informed and comfortable with any next steps.
How Long Does a Hearing Test Take?
What to Bring to Your Appointment
To make the most of your hearing test, we recommend bringing the following:
- Your Medicare card (if you wish to claim a rebate)
- A GP referral letter (required for Medicare claims)
- Any relevant medical referral letters
- Pensioner Concession Card or DVA card (if applicable)
- A list of any medications you are currently taking
- Any previous hearing test results you may have
- A family member or friend (optional, but many people find it helpful to have someone else hear the results)
Book Your Hearing Test
Now that you know what to expect, why not take the first step? Our experienced audiologists provide thorough, comfortable assessments with clear, personalised recommendations.