If you experience hearing problems and seek medical attention, what tests might your doctor perform? *Living Well* asks an ENT specialist to explain.
Dr. Liang Guo, ENT Consultant and Medical Director at Aglow ENT Clinic, part of Beyond Medical Group, says the most common hearing test is an audiogram. This is a simple and painless test that measures a patient's auditory response to different pitches and volumes.
Depending on the symptoms, doctors may also recommend a tympanometry test to assess middle ear function, or schedule specialized tests targeting the inner ear and auditory nerve pathways.
Dr. Guo says that noise-induced hearing loss is irreversible. Once the delicate hair cells in the inner ear are damaged, they cannot regenerate. This is why proper testing and early assessment are crucial, helping to detect problems before hearing deteriorates further. However, Dr. Guo emphasizes that preventative measures are always the best strategy for maintaining long-term hearing health.
She suggested that people should keep the volume within a safe range and allow their ears to rest appropriately. In noisy environments, they should wear earmuffs and choose noise-canceling headphones to reduce external noise interference.
Dr. Guo explained that earmuffs are protective devices that cover the entire ear, physically blocking external noise. They are mainly used in noisy environments to protect hearing. Headphones are primarily used for listening to audio, and some also have noise-canceling functions, reducing background noise electronically. However, when facing very high levels of noise, their sound isolation is usually not as good as earmuffs.
