Doctor’s Visit Decoded: Hearing and Sight

Guiding Questions

In this blog we’re going to be investigating what the doctor does about your hearing and sight during a check-up. A lot of people don’t know what doctors are looking for, and they have questions like:

• How does a doctor check my hearing to make sure it’s good?
• How does a doctor know if I need glasses?

 

Hearing

Most people have experienced a hearing test at the doctor’s office. The doctor will typically give you a pair of headphones connected to a machine that plays sounds at different frequencies. This test is called pure tone audiometry. Let’s see what results of the test could indicate.

• Normal Hearing: If both ears hear all tested frequencies equally, your hearing is normal. As people grow older, they naturally lose the ability to hear higher frequency sounds. For example, adults typically lose the ability to hear above 15000 Hz by the age of 25.

• Hearing Loss: If any ear cannot hear frequencies at the proper volume, hearing loss may be diagnosed. Hearing loss ranges from slight to profound, with mild loss of high or low frequencies to complete deafness.

• Remedies For Hearing Loss: Hearing loss has no cure, so any hearing damage cannot be reversed. Mild cases can be managed using lifestyle changes like lower volumes on headphones and avoiding loud sounds like heavy machinery. More profound cases of hearing loss may require hearing aids.

 

Sight

Everyone knows about the classic sight test doctors do. You’re sitting in front of a chart with rows of letters and you have to read row by row. This test is called the Snellen eye chart, invented by Dutch ophthalmologist Herman Snellen.

• Regular Vision: The normal vision for a human is 20/20 vision. This means that you can see at 20 feet what a person with normal vision can see at that same distance. This is typically represented by the 7th row on a snellen chart, but not all snellen charts are the same

• Vision Loss: If you can see at 20 feet what someone with normal vision can see at farther distance, you have vision loss. For instance, 20/40 vision is the minimum limit to drive on the road.

• Remedies for Vision Loss: Mild vision loss can be fixed using glasses. More severe vision loss may need corrective surgery to fix your sight.

 

Review

Here are some questions to review your knowledge about hearing and sight.

• What is the headphone test for hearing called? Pure Tone Audiometry
• By what age do adults typically lose the ability to hear above 15000 Hz? 25
• What is the name of the chart used to check vision? Snellen Eye Chart
• What is the minimum limit of sight to drive legally? 20/40 Vision

 

DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG POST DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE

The blog post and everything contained on it is for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.