How is hearing loss diagnosed?

Hearing loss is diagnosed through a professional hearing assessment carried out by an audiologist. The aim is not only to confirm whether a loss is present, but also to describe its type, degree and pattern, which together guide any support that may help.

What happens during a hearing assessment?

A typical assessment brings together several checks:

• History and discussion: The audiologist asks about your hearing concerns, medical history, noise exposure and the situations you find difficult.
• Ear examination (otoscopy): They look into your ear canals and at the eardrums, checking for earwax, signs of infection or other issues.
• Pure-tone audiometry: You listen to tones at different pitches and volumes through headphones and respond when you can just hear them. This finds your quietest audible level at each pitch.
• Speech testing: You may be asked to repeat words at different volumes to measure how clearly you understand speech, not just whether you detect sound.
• Middle-ear tests (tympanometry): A gentle change in air pressure checks how well the eardrum and middle ear are working.

The test is painless and usually takes under an hour. There is nothing you need to do to prepare beyond arriving with clean, dry ears where possible.

What is an audiogram?

Your results are plotted on a graph called an audiogram. Pitch runs from low to high across the graph, and loudness from soft to loud down the side. The pattern of your responses shows the degree of any loss (from mild through to profound) and its type. This visual summary makes it easier to see, for example, whether the higher pitches are more affected, which is a common finding.

How is the type of hearing loss identified?

By comparing how you hear sound through the air with how you hear it through gentle vibration on the bone behind your ear, the audiologist can tell where in the hearing system the difficulty lies. This helps distinguish conductive loss (outer or middle ear), sensorineural loss (inner ear or hearing nerve), or a mix of the two. The type matters because it points to different options and, in some cases, to a referral for medical assessment. For example, a conductive loss caused by earwax or a middle-ear problem may respond to a different approach than a sensorineural loss related to ageing or noise.

What happens after diagnosis?

Once the assessment is complete, the audiologist explains your results in plain language and discusses what they may mean for everyday listening. Depending on the findings, this could involve communication strategies, hearing aids, earwax management, or a referral to a GP or specialist. Any plan should reflect your goals and preferences.

For children and for some medical situations, additional or specialised tests may be used, and newborns in Australia are routinely screened shortly after birth. If you are an adult who has noticed a change, a standard hearing assessment is usually the starting point, and there is generally no need for a referral to arrange one.

You do not need to do anything special to prepare, and the process is designed to be relaxed. Bringing someone with you can help, both for support and because they may recall difficult listening situations you have not thought to mention.

At Hearing Help in Newport Marketplace on the Redcliffe Peninsula, you can book a hearing assessment without a referral, and the audiologist will talk you through each result and the options that follow.