Glossary of Ear and Hearing Loss Terms

The average of your hearing loss at the following test frequencies. There are two methods.

4-tone method: The first (traditional) method is to average your hearing loss at 500, 1,000, 2,000 & 4,000 Hz using pure tones. The PTA is expressed in decibels (dB).

3-tone method: The current method is to average your hearing loss at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz. For people with a ski-slope loss, this indicates a smaller hearing loss that what the person really has.

Measurement of hearing thresholds to pure tones presented from a small vibrator placed against the skull.

Test used to determine hearing sensitivity to pure tones at a fixed hearing level, typically 20 decibels (dB) HL.

This test using pure tones, measures the softest level a person can hear at a number of different pitches.

Determining the softest level a pure tone can be heard about 50% of the time.

A testing technique used to measure the sound levels produced by a hearing aid while in the ear canal. A tiny probe microphone is placed in the ear canal ahead of the hearing aid. Real ear measurement evaluates how well a hearing aid is producing the amplification and quality of sound it should when it is actually working in the ear canal.

The process of producing and projecting onto a screen verbatim dialogue as typed by a captionist. It provides clear, accurate print that is easily visible to people in large audiences. Commonly called CART.

The name for the tiny speaker inside the hearing aid, or in the ear mold. (Logically it should be called the transmitter as it transmits sound to the ear. It got its odd name because they focused on the fact that it receives sound from the hearing aid, rather than focusing on the fact that it transmits sound to the ear.)

Understanding language. This includes memory and understanding what is heard (or seen in the case of sign language). Therefore, receptive language relies on hearing or seeing.

Inherited condition in which both parents carry an abnormal recessive gene. More technically, where both genes of a gene pair are required to produce a physical characteristic (such as hearing loss). Recessive characteristics are passed only if both parents have the same recessive gene. Thus each child born to a parent with the same recessive genes for hearing loss will have a 25% chance of being hard of hearing; a 50% chance of carrying the gene without having any hearing loss, and a 25% chance of not having a hearing loss and not carrying the recessive gene.

(re-KROOT-ment) The abnormally greater increase in the sensation of loudness in response to increased sound intensity as compared with a normal ear. In practical terms, if you have recruitment, you perceive certain louder sounds as much louder than normal, and they often hurt. Recruitment is one result of the greatly-reduced dynamic range found in people with sensorineural hearing losses. For a more in-depth understanding of recruitment, read this article.

Service that enables text telephone (TTY) users to communicate with non-text telephone users by way of a relay service communications assistant.

The amount of measurable, usable hearing left to a person with a hearing loss.

An effect that can occur in which tinnitus is reduced or suppressed for a period of time following hearing aid or tinnitus masker use. This inhibition may last from a few seconds to a few hours and sometimes even longer.

(REZ-oh-nance) The vibration of an object or a body of air where certain pitches are made louder. This is the effect noted when blowing over the top of a bottle.

The prolonging of a sound after the sound source has ceased. An echo within a room. Reverberation is caused by a lack of sound absorption materials on the walls, floor and ceiling.

A rare kind of hearing loss where the hearing loss is the reverse of most sensorineural hearing losses. With a reverse-slope loss, the hearing loss is greater in the low frequencies and the person may have normal or near normal hearing in the very high frequencies. People with severe reverse-slope losses have normal or near-normal speech in spite of their degree of hearing loss because they hear the high-frequency consonants so well. To learn more about reverse-slope hearing losses, click here to read this article.

A test that monitors your eye movements in relation to your body rotation.

One of the two membranes between the middle and inner ear. The other membrane is the oval window. Since the cochlea is a closed system, filled with perilymph, when the stapes pushes the oval window in, the round window bulges out. This is necessary since fluid is not compressible. If the oval window did not exist, it would blow out the cochlea and create a perilymphatic fistula.

A viral infection characterized by fever and a skin rash resembling measles. If a pregnant woman gets Rubella (German measles), it may result in sensorineural hearing loss in the unborn child.

A chamber in the vestibular labyrinth that helps monitor the position of your head in relation to the ground. The saccule is responsible for detection of vertical movement.

See Simultaneous Analog Stimulation.

See Speech Awareness Threshold.

Sudden Deafness. (See Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.)

See Speech Detection Threshold. (Same as Speech Awareness Threshold.)