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Getting a baseline hearing test may not always rank at the top of your to-do list, but it offers you the opportunity to take control of your hearing. A baseline hearing test (audiogram) is designed to provide a reference point for future hearing tests. This essential test will be what all future tests can be compared — allowing your audiologist to determine if your hearing has changed since the baseline hearing test was performed.
Although most people are proactive about scheduling their annual dental checkup and annual eye exam, most of us do not approach the baseline hearing test with the same vigor. However, we should, and the following information explains why the baseline hearing test is important.
A Baseline Test Can Reveal Ear Issues Apart From Hearing Loss
Hearing abnormalities can signify dangers to your health that might otherwise go unnoticed. Three of the most potentially concerning are:
- Cardiovascular issues
- Risk of falling
- Cognitive issues
How Are Your Ears and Heart Connected?
Similar to your heart — your ears are made up of many tiny, sensitive blood vessels. When a hearing exam shows hearing loss without other obvious explanations, it may be the sign of a blood flow issue.
According to a study published in the American Journal of Audiology, authors Stacy R. Kerschen and Raymond H. Hull explored research conducted over a 60 year period on heart health and its influence on hearing. Their findings confirmed impaired heart health had a negative effect on both central auditory symptoms and peripheral symptoms.
How Is Dementia and Hearing Connected?
While the reasons behind it are still not entirely clear, there is a connection between hearing loss and dementia. If you have even moderate hearing loss, there is a potential tripled risk of developing dementia. Studies have also suggested hearing aids might somehow slow or even reverse the associated cognitive decline.
Other ear issues that may come to light during a baseline exam include:
- The discovery of a previously unknown foreign object in the ear
- The revealing of skin cancer or other dermatological abnormalities during the examination of the ear
How is Falling and Hearing connected?
Joseph Sakumura, AuD, and Richard Gans, PhD, recently published a study in the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology that shows those with decreased auditory function have a higher risk of falling.
This is of critical importance because falls are responsible for over 800,000 hospitalizations and 27,000 deaths annually in the United States, according to CDC statistics.
In the study, cognitive, vestibular, and auditory functions were evaluated in connection with fall risk management. How much do they affect your fall risk? According to the data:
- Those with reduced auditory function or hearing loss have a 3x higher risk of falling than those with normal hearing.
- Individuals struggling with vestibular dysfunctions have a 12x greater fall risk.
- Those with just mild cognitive impairment could have a 14x higher risk of falling due to deteriorating postural stability.
Any Future Hearing Loss Can be Compared to the Baseline Results
You wouldn’t go into a dentist office and struggle to answer questions about how many teeth you had or when you lost them. If you have regular dental exams, they will have X-Rays and a history of any tooth loss.
However, if you don’t have a baseline hearing test, you won’t be able to accurately inform an audiologist about when or how much hearing loss you have experienced. The audiogram produced by a hearing test covers not only general auditory performance, but it can help point to the specific type of problem causing the hearing loss.
The most common causes of hearing loss are:
- Auditory processing disorders in which the brain is unable to process or becomes confused when attempting to process sounds.
- Conductive hearing loss, which occurs due to a structural problem like earwax or bone deformity that prevents sound from properly being conducted through the ear canal.
- Sensorineural hearing loss, which results from damage to auditory nerves from diseases, loud noises, or aging processes
- Mixed hearing loss, in which both conductive and sensorineural types are present
Being able to compare audiograms from a baseline hearing test throughout the years can show patterns of hearing loss that can lead to more focused and effective treatment.
Contact Audiology with a Heart for Baseline Hearing Tests
The baseline hearing test will make it possible for us to know how much — if any — your hearing has changed. And if you’ve experienced hearing loss, it can affect much more than how you hear. Hearing loss has been repeatedly linked to:
- Depression
- Social Isolation
- Anxiety
- Frustration
- Dementia
- Fatigue
- And more
Instead of leaving it to chance, it’s best to establish a standard with a baseline hearing test, so you can easily know when and how much your hearing has changed.
Call Audiology with a Heart at 561-366-7219 or visit our website at www.audiologywithaheart.com for more information and to make an appointment.
(561) 366-7219
www.audiologywithaheart.com
2324 S. Congress Ave.
Suite 2G Palm Springs, FL 33406
