Hearing Audiogram: How to Read the Results

The result of a hearing test often looks more complicated than the test itself. The page is filled with a grid, numbers, coloured symbols, and lines moving up or down. Without an explanation, it can easily seem like a technical medical document. In reality, an audiogram is quite visual: it shows which sounds a person can hear easily and which ones become audible only at a higher volume.

Understanding the basic elements of an audiogram is useful because it helps you follow the specialist’s explanation and see your test results as more than just a collection of unfamiliar numbers.

What Does an Audiogram Show?

During pure-tone audiometry, a person hears short tones of different pitches through headphones or special earphones. The task is simple: indicate the moment when the sound becomes audible.

For each tested frequency, the specialist determines the quietest sound the person can still detect. These points are placed on a graph and then connected with lines.

As a result, the audiogram shows not just that hearing is reduced, but gives a more detailed picture:

• how different sound frequencies are perceived;
• whether hearing differs between the right and left ear;
• whether there are frequency ranges where sensitivity is noticeably lower;
• how loud a sound must be before it becomes audible;
• whether further examination may be needed.

It is important to remember that the graph describes hearing sensitivity, but it does not automatically explain the cause of any hearing changes.

Why Are There Two Scales on the Graph?

An audiogram is easier to read if you first look at its two axes.

The horizontal axis shows frequency. Lower-pitched sounds are on the left, while higher-pitched sounds are on the right. In everyday life, low frequencies may resemble the hum of machinery or a deep male voice, while high frequencies include clearer consonants, children’s voices, or birdsong.

The vertical axis shows the hearing level in decibels.

This part can seem slightly counterintuitive: the lower a point appears on the graph, the louder the sound had to be before the person could hear it.

So, a line moving downward does not mean hearing is improving. It means that more sound intensity was required for the signal to become audible.

How Are the Right and Left Ears Shown?

Each ear is usually tested separately, which is why an audiogram normally contains two sets of symbols.

The right ear is commonly marked with one colour and symbol, while the left ear is shown with another. For example, circles and crosses are often used. The exact notation may vary depending on the clinic, equipment, or software, so it is useful to check the legend on the audiogram itself.

If the two lines are close together, hearing in both ears is relatively similar. If there is a noticeable gap between them, one ear may be hearing differently from the other.

A sudden difference between the ears deserves particular attention, especially if it appears together with tinnitus, a feeling of blockage, or dizziness. In this situation, the result should be discussed with a doctor rather than interpreted independently.

What Do Decibels Mean on an Audiogram?

The decibel values on an audiogram represent the hearing threshold for a particular person.

The lower the sound level needed for a person to detect a tone, the better the hearing sensitivity at that frequency.

As a general reference, specialists use ranges that correspond to different degrees of hearing loss. Values around 20–25 dB are often considered close to the normal hearing threshold for adults, while higher values may indicate varying degrees of hearing impairment.

However, it is not useful to take a single number and try to diagnose yourself. The overall shape of the hearing curve matters much more than one isolated point.

Why Can You Hear a Voice but Not Understand the Words?

One of the most common complaints is: “I can hear that someone is speaking, but I cannot always understand what they are saying.”

This may happen when hearing is reduced mainly in the higher-frequency range. Speech contains sounds from different frequency areas. Some contribute more to overall loudness, while others make individual words clear and distinguishable.

If high-frequency hearing is reduced, speech may still sound loud enough, but lose clarity. This is why a person may confuse similar words, ask others to repeat themselves, or understand speech better when they can see the speaker’s face.

On an audiogram, this pattern may appear as relatively better hearing in the lower frequencies with a more noticeable drop toward the right side of the graph.

Why Hearing Cannot Be Measured as a Percentage

The phrase “I hear at 60%” may sound convenient in everyday conversation, but it gives a hearing specialist very little useful information.

Hearing is not a single value. A person may hear some frequencies almost normally while having significant difficulty with others. As a result, two people with the same average hearing level may have very different audiograms.

The shape of the curve helps explain why one person hears well at home but struggles in a noisy room, while another finds even quiet speech difficult to understand.

An audiogram gives a much more accurate picture than a simple percentage.

How Does an Audiogram Help with Hearing Aid Fitting?

When hearing aids are selected and programmed, the audiogram acts as an important starting point.

If certain frequencies are harder to hear, they may require more amplification. Frequencies that are already heard relatively well should not simply be amplified to the same degree.

This is why a modern hearing aid does not work like a basic volume control. It is programmed according to the individual pattern of hearing loss.

Before choosing a device, it is important to undergo a complete hearing assessment. The more accurate the initial test results are, the easier it is to achieve clear speech and comfortable sound after fitting.

What Else Does the Specialist Consider?

The audiogram is only one part of the assessment.

A person may have certain hearing thresholds on a pure-tone test but experience very specific difficulties in daily life: trouble understanding speech over the phone, missing words in group conversations, or needing the television louder than other family members.

That is why a specialist compares the audiogram with the person’s complaints, age, history of hearing changes, and, when necessary, the results of additional tests.

Taken together, this information helps determine whether further diagnostics, monitoring, or hearing correction is appropriate.

How Should You Look at Your Audiogram?

An audiogram is not a score and does not divide hearing into simply “good” or “bad.” It translates the subjective feeling of “I do not hear as well as before” into a clear visual pattern.

The graph can show where hearing sensitivity has changed, whether both ears perform similarly, and why certain sounds are more difficult to perceive.

If the graph still looks confusing after the test, ask the specialist to go through it with you. A good hearing assessment should end not with a sheet of numbers, but with a clear understanding of what is happening with your hearing, which changes matter, and what steps may be useful next.