Readers Respond: Hearing Test - Most Disliked Aspect of Hearing Test

Read more about hearing tests.

We hear you re claustrophobia, Rhonda C!

@Rhonda Channing: In fact, your issue with claustrophobia is legitimate. Of course, audiologists would love to have room-sized sound rooms, where she can sit in there with you (and in fact, some do). However, big sound booths cost a lot of money, plus there's the extra rent for the floor space for it... And guess who pays for it? YOU do, as it's added into the price of your hearing aids. Dan Schwartz, Editor, The Hearing Blog http://www.TheHearingBlog.com

—TheHearingBlog

Ringing In My Ears

I have cochlear hearing loss, and have been losing my hearing since I was nine. I have constant ringing in both my ears, and so when I'm having a hearing test, I'm wondering if the beeps I do hear are from the audiologist, or if it's just the regular ringing in my ears. Confusing!

—Guest Marie

HOH in Toronto

My most disliked aspect of a hearing test is being closed in the testing room as I am claustrophobic. It is very hard to fight off a panic attack while attempting to participate. I do not understand why tests must be conducted in absolute silence to find out exactly how much we can hear. This alone can be very stressful. I strongly believe to get a true reading they should be undertaken in an environment where there are the sounds we live with, not those that are muffled by the tester nor the buzzing noise that is introduced. Deafness will always be part of my life, but I know for a fact when I am in a relaxed state, I hear more than when I am sitting in that little room wondering how much I have missed or misheard, which brings me back to the conclusion that the current method of testing needs to be updated. This means that hearing devices will be prescribed based on the natural sounds we can or can't hear, i.e. voices, traffic, etc.

—Guest Rhoda Channing

Facing Reality

I went from having normal hearing to being profoundly deaf in one ear in a space of a couple of months. I could feel the vibrations during the test but I could not hear it. I knew that I my hearing loss had progressed and I had no control over it. I cried during the test because I realized that all of my hearing was gone in that ear.

—Guest Marg

Doubting Myself

I feel the same way. I always wonder, "Was that a sound?" And then I wait for the dreaded, "Are you ready to start?" because the audiologist has already started and I didn't hear the first few tones. Ugh! How embarrassing, so I always walk in with dread!

—Guest ASLReBecca

Getting Results

When I had my first hearing tests a couple of years ago I was terribly nervous so I kind of disliked the whole experience. I think the nervousness was caused by my knowing I had a hearing loss but I didn't want the audiologist to tell me for sure that I had or worse that I need hearing aids. I have had a few tests since then and each time it's the waiting to be told the results and whether I've lost anymore hearing (which I have) that fills me with dread, even though now the actual experience of the tests themselves are not unpleasant. Now ear impressions for ear molds are the really weird experience!

—ians1958

Doubting Myself

Whenever I go to a hearing test, I always feel like I'm doubting myself. It feels like I know there a sound there and feel like I could of heard it but I'm not really hearing it. It starts to play mind games to me, this also happens when I don't hear a single beep/noise for 2-3 times in a row. then a sudden sound pops out of no where, leaving a shred of doubt after you hear the follow up because you feel it could be just low or the sound from before is replying again in my thought. It feels like there a void screaming in the silence waiting for you to give false information. (Guide comment: exactly. I know what it feels like to be unsure if you are hearing a sound during the hearing test. Did I really hear it, or was it just a vibration?)

—Guest Adam