Before the test begins, the audiologist introduces themselves to the patient and explains what will happen and the order in which the different tests will be conducted. They will then want to look into the patient's ear to ensure that there is no earwax blockage or any other thing that will disrupt the test.

The audiologist will ask the patient about their hearing history when they started experiencing hearing problems, if they have experienced infection before that might have led to hearing difficulty and if the hearing problems are gradual or sudden. The specialist will be curious to know how the patient deals with the hearing difficulties.

There are various tests that the audiologist will conduct once they are satisfied with the information provided about the hearing problem.

• Pure-tone audiometry

This part of a hearing test usually takes about 30 minutes. The audiologist will use an audiometer device to play different tones of sound at varying intensity levels, one at a time. The patient is requested to raise their hand if they hear the sound.

• Otoacoustic emissions test

The pure tone part of the test can detect damage in the cochlea, but it can't see problems outside that region. For example, otoacoustic emissions give information about how well the outer ear works, which may be related to how well parts of the ear other than the cochlea work.

• Tuning fork test

A tuning fork is placed against the head to cause vibrations of various frequencies in different areas of the head. The frequency-specific vibrations are analysed by electrodes placed on either side of the head. The doctor can see differences between areas on either side of the brain and ears. This gives information about nerve-to-nerve connections between the ears and brain, which indicates subtle damage to each part that may not be recognisable when only hearing loss is examined.

• Loudness standard

This is a particular test used to determine how loud the earpiece and the patient must be for the patient to hear a tone at a specific pitch.

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