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How to Read your
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How to Read Your Hearing Test

The graph is laid out like a piano keyboard, with low to high frequencies (low to high pitches) going from left to right, . . .

. . . and the graph is laid out from soft sounds on the top to loud sounds on the bottom.

So once your graph is filled in (x represents the left ear, o the right),...

... it shows your hearing sensitivity for different frequencies at different intensities (at different pitches and different volumes).

Hearing is NOT measured in percentages. Instead, it is measured in an arbitrary unit of loudness called the DECIBEL. The decibel (dB, or dB HL) is a logrithmic scale. Physically, every 6 dB increase represents a doubling of sound pressure level. Perceptually, every 10 dB increase sounds twice as loud.
Every increase of 10 decibels (10 dB) sounds twice as loud.
20 dB sounds twice as loud as 10 dB... 40 dB sounds twice as loud as 30 dB and 8 times as loud as 10 dB (10 to 20 to 30 to 40 = 2 x 2 x 2 = 8).

Normal hearing ranges from 0 to 20 dB in all frequencies.

From here on, the assumption is that you have a sensorineural hearing loss (that you have nerve damage to the inner ear). Nerve damage, unless sudden, is permanent.

For conductive hearing losses, see your otolaryngologist (your ENT physician). For sudden hearing losses, see your otolaryngologist within a day. If you cannot, get an immediate medical evaluation elsewhere.(next)

If you have a standard audiogram, highlight the 20 dB line that crosses the graph from left to right.

If all of the X's (for the left ear) and all of the 0's (for the right ear) fall above the line you just drew, you have normal hearing. If anything is below that 20 dB line, you have a hearing loss.

Your hearing loss is classified according to how far down the graph the marks go, and in what freqencies the loss occurs. (The next page requires about 55 seconds to load at 14.4kbaud. Please open your browser to at least as wide as the row of glass beads below this paragraph.)
Here are some common hearing losses....

In a standard audiogram, the numbers across the top of the graph start at 250 Hertz ("Hz," or cycles per second) and proceed to 8k Hz (8000 cycles per second), with the following one octave intervals: 250 / 500 / 1k / 2k / 4k / 8k. Every octave -- every interval across the top -- forms a square with every 20 decibel (20 "dB") change going down.

Some other common variations include putting the left and right ears on different graphs, and using a different interval for the frequencies across the top. The most common variant uses the following frequency intervals: 250 / 500 / 1k / 2k / 3k / 4k / 6k / 8k. If you have this kind of graph, the right half of the pattern of your hearing test will be stetched out, as shown below, on the right:

You can either make a mental adjustment as you compare your test with the graphs on the next page of this site, or you can print out this standard form, transcribe your test results onto it, and then come back to this point.