YOUR HEARING HEALTH PROFILE

It’s not just about numbers—it’s about you.

Your hearing health isn’t just a chart or a score. It’s about how you experience sound in the real world—what’s working, what’s changed, and what matters most to you.

When we review your hearing assessment results, we’ll do it through the lens of your day-to-day life. Whether you're navigating work meetings, catching up with friends, or simply wanting to enjoy music again, we take the time to connect the data to your lived experiences.

This is your time to ask questions, share what you’ve noticed, and reflect on what’s been challenging—or what you’ve been adapting to without even realizing it.

HOW TO READ A HEARING TEST

Your hearing test (also called an audiogram) is a visual snapshot of how your ears respond to different sounds. It shows the softest sounds you can hear across a range of pitches—from low, deep tones to high, crisp ones.

Each ear is tested separately, and results are plotted on a graph:

  • Pitch (frequency) runs from low to high along the bottom (250 to 8000 Hz).

  • Loudness (intensity) runs from top to bottom, measured in decibels (dB).

  • The symbols (O for the right ear, X for the left) mark the quietest level where you could detect a tone at each pitch.

WORD RECOGNITION TESTING

Testing tones tell us how well your ears detect sound—but they don’t tell us how well your brain understands it. That’s where word recognition testing comes in.

During this test, you’ll hear a list of words at a comfortable volume and repeat what you hear. The goal isn’t just to measure loudness—it’s to understand how clearly you can make sense of words when the signal is as clear as possible.

Your word recognition score (WRS) is the percentage of words you repeated correctly. This number helps us understand how well your auditory system processes speech once it’s audible.

For example:

  • A high score (90–100%) suggests that clarity should improve with amplification (like hearing aids).

  • A lower score may indicate that even when sound is made louder, clarity remains reduced, reflecting more significant inner ear or neural involvement.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Together, your audiogram and word recognition score give a complete picture of your hearing health:

The audiogram shows what you can hear.

Word recognition testing shows how well you understand what you hear.

The information from these and other tests helps your audiologist tailor treatment recommendations—whether that’s hearing aids, communication strategies, or other therapies—so you can reconnect with the sounds and conversations that matter most.