Should You Trust Online Hearing Tests?

A simple Google search will bring up a multitude of online hearing tests. These tests claim to help diagnose your hearing problem and give you a variety of options for treating your hearing loss. Most of the time, these tests play sounds and ask you to identify them. Should you trust these online hearing tests? Yes and no.

View it as a screening

These online tests can be a good starting point for your hearing loss journey. At the same time, these tests should not be used as a diagnosis. The most dangerous thing you can do with an online hearing test is diagnosis yourself with hearing loss and head out and purchase some kind of over-the-counter fix.

You should be using an online hearing test to determine whether or not you should go see an audiologist, rather than yes I do have a hearing problem or no I don’t. Regardless of how ‘reputable’ the online hearing test provider is, there are tons of things that an online test just wouldn’t be able to measure.

The professional option

If you take an online hearing test and it indicates you may have hearing loss, schedule an appointment with an audiologist. An audiologist will be able to definitively tell you if you have a hearing problem, in much more detail than an online test would be able to tell you.

An audiologist will be able to tell you the degree of your hearing loss, what frequencies and pitches you struggle with and the possible causes. Additionally, the audiologist will also be able to recommend the proper treatment based off the results of your hearing test in the office.

While online hearing tests are a good way to get the ball rolling when it comes to evaluating your hearing health, an audiologist in your area should conduct thorough testing to expand on any results. If you’re struggling to hear as well as you once were, don’t hesitate to contact an audiologist and schedule an appointment.