Updated 10 October 2026
At a glance
- The MedlinePlus entry explains that in pure tone testing the minimum volume required to hear each tone is graphed, one ear at a time.
- The NIDCD says most people with tinnitus have some degree of hearing loss, which is one reason hearing is measured.
- A table of the test parts, a log, a word list, four steps and a one-page summary follow below.
- Tinnitus Journey keeps hearing test dates, loudness marks, sleep and noise context in one dated history, and its Doctor Report exports that history as a one-page summary.
A hearing test often ends with a graph and a few words, and the ringing that sent you there is rarely on the page. The graph shows what each ear picked up in a quiet booth, while the tinnitus belongs to the days before and after.
This guide sets out what NIDCD, MedlinePlus, the NHS, an ENT guideline and RNID say about hearing tests for tinnitus, then offers a table, a log, a word list, four steps and a one-page summary for an appointment. What any result means for you is a matter for your clinician.
What NIDCD, MedlinePlus, the NHS, an ENT guideline and RNID say about hearing tests and tinnitus
The NIDCD describes the link between tinnitus and hearing: "The causes of tinnitus are unclear, but most people who have it have some degree of hearing loss." It also describes a referral: "You might also be referred to an audiologist, who can measure your hearing and evaluate your tinnitus."
The MedlinePlus encyclopedia explains the test that produces an audiogram: "Pure tones of a specific frequency and volume are delivered to one ear at a time." It continues: "The minimum volume required to hear each tone is graphed." For detailed audiometry it lists the normal range: "The ability to hear tones from 250 to 8,000 Hz at 25 dB or lower in detailed audiometry."
The NHS explains how results are handed back: "The hearing specialist will discuss the results with you and advise if more tests are needed." In the NHS description, the same visit that tests your hearing is where the results are discussed.
The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery guideline says who may be involved: "Patients with tinnitus will often be evaluated by a variety of healthcare providers including primary care clinicians, specialty physicians, and non-physician providers such as audiologists and mental health professionals."
The RNID gives the general picture: "Most often, tinnitus is linked to hearing loss or other ear conditions." Taken together, the five sources describe hearing measurement as a standard part of looking at tinnitus, carried out by a trained professional who then explains the result.
A graph cannot record the sound that brought you in. A dated line made on the day of the appointment, saying how loud and how annoying the tinnitus was that week, gives the audiologist or the ENT clinician the part of the account that a quiet booth cannot show.
Loudness and annoyance marks for the week before a hearing test can be entered in the Daily check-in of Tinnitus Journey (by Health Journey Labs).
A table of the parts of a hearing test and what each one puts on the report
A hearing test has several parts, and the report may mention only some of them. The MedlinePlus description makes a useful checklist.
Table of hearing test parts, by Tinnitus Journey
| Part of the test | What the description says is done | What to copy from the report |
|---|---|---|
| Pure tone testing | Earphones deliver tones of set pitch and volume to one ear at a time; the softest tone heard is graphed | The graph's date, plus the words printed for each ear |
| Bone conduction | A bone oscillator is placed against the mastoid bone behind the ear | The line, if any, naming the result for bone conduction |
| Speech audiometry | Spoken words are heard through a headset at different volumes | Any printed score or comment about speech |
| Immittance audiometry | A probe in the ear measures how the eardrum and middle ear respond | Any printed result for the middle ear |
| Result discussion | The specialist explains the results and whether more tests are needed | The explanation in your own words, with the date |
The table is a prompt for the questions that come up afterward: which parts were done today, and which were not. A report that mentions only pure tone testing is a complete record of what was printed, and the clinician can say what else was measured. The guide to preparing for a short ENT visit with tinnitus notes covers the wider appointment.
Hearing test dates, with the words printed for each ear, can be filed in My Labs of Tinnitus Journey, beside the weeks of loudness notes.
A hearing test log to keep beside a tinnitus diary
The point of this log is to put what the booth measured and how the tinnitus felt on the same row. The rows are examples that show the layout.
Table of hearing test results, by Tinnitus Journey
| Date | Where tested | Ears tested | Printed words | Tinnitus in the prior week | Who explained |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Mar | ENT clinic | Both | Wording copied as printed | Stronger at night, annoying most days | The audiologist |
| 21 Jul | Hospital hearing clinic | Left only | Wording copied as printed | About the same, one loud evening | The ENT clinician |
| 16 Oct | Pharmacy hearing check | Both | Short printed result | Milder, fewer annoying hours | The pharmacist |
Copy the wording exactly as printed, and add the tinnitus summary in your own words. If you cannot read a graph, write that the graph was handed over without explanation and ask for it to be explained next time. Mark which ear a note concerns, because left and right can differ and a mix-up costs the clinician time.
Dates matter more than detail here. A row from March and a row from October together let the clinician see whether anything shifted between them. The guide to tracking tinnitus backward and forward after a long wait helps when older tests are only half documented.
Each row can become a dated entry in the Daily Journal of Tinnitus Journey, with the printed words copied as they appear.
Plain words for describing a hearing test and tinnitus to a clinician
A small set of words keeps entries comparable between tests. Use them as they are or swap in your own.
Words for a hearing test
Tinnitus Journey offers plain words for each part of the test.
- Ear words: left, right, both, stronger on the left, same on both sides.
- Sound words: ringing, hissing, buzzing, pulsing, steady, comes and goes.
- Test words: tones through earphones, words through a headset, probe in the ear, bone oscillator behind the ear.
- Result words: copied as printed, explained in person, waiting for a letter, repeat requested.
- Question words: which parts were done, which ear differs, what happens next.
A line such as "left ear stronger than right, hissing, tones through earphones, explained at the end" states what happened and leaves the meaning to the audiologist. The list reports and interprets nothing. If a sound arrives suddenly with hearing loss, weakness in the face or a spinning feeling, local emergency or urgent care comes before any notes.
Phrases from these lists fit into the Daily Journal of Tinnitus Journey and can be reused on the next loud evening.
Four steps to prepare for an audiology or ENT clinician visit about a hearing test
An audiology or ENT visit may be brief, and the graph says little unless the diary comes with it. Four steps keep them together.
Steps before a hearing test visit, by Tinnitus Journey
- Copy the printed words for each ear and the test date.
- Write a short summary of the tinnitus for the week before the test.
- List which parts of the test were done, or write unknown.
- Write two or three questions about what the results mean and what comes next.
From Tinnitus Journey, we recommend assembling the summary the evening before (Tinnitus Journey checklist), so that nothing has to be searched for in the waiting room. Plain questions work well: whether the two ears differ, whether any more tests are needed, and who will explain the written report. The guide to sleeping with tinnitus when quiet nights are loud may help with the sleep line of the summary.
During the visit, write the answer beside each question, with the date of the next contact. If the test was done at an outside clinic, note which one, so a copy of the graph can be requested later.
Questions saved in My Care Team of Tinnitus Journey stay attached to the clinician who will answer them.
A one-page clinician summary: hearing tests, tinnitus marks and questions
One page lets the clinician see the printed test and the tinnitus pattern side by side, and the full folder stays with you.
Clinician summary list, by Tinnitus Journey
- Dates of hearing tests with the printed words for each ear.
- A line on loudness and annoyance in the weeks around each test.
- Sleep and noise exposure notes for the same weeks.
- Which parts of each test were done, or unknown.
- Questions for this visit.
Offer the page as the visit begins and suggest reading it row by row, or ask for it to be placed in the chart. Note every reply with its date. If a new test is booked, copy the date onto the page so the next version starts from it.
The page copies what you recorded. How the results are read and what follows belong to your clinician, and no page or app decides that.
With entries already logged, Tinnitus Journey produces this page from its Doctor Report on request.
How Tinnitus Journey can help
A graph from the booth and a diary of the sound make a hearing test readable later. If you want both held in one place, the best tinnitus apps guide compares the options.
Tinnitus Journey is a personal tinnitus tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. Test dates, ear notes and weekly tinnitus marks in a single history let a clinician read them together. What a test result means for any person is decided by the audiologists and doctors who examine them, and a tidy record lets them begin from facts. Below is what you can use and how each part helps.
- Daily check-in — Logs physical symptoms, emotional state, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, external factors; app-specific items: loudness, pitch or sound quality, annoyance, sleep, stress, noise exposure, concentration; read together with the rest of the logged history.
- Daily Journal — Logs free-text notes, voice entry; app-specific items: what the sound limited, sleep context, partner or quiet-space lines, visit debriefs, leftover fear after a loud night, a look-fine mismatch line; read together with scores and other logged history (adds context).
- Flare Tracker — Logs flag a day clearly worse than the usual hard week; app-specific items: a spike in loudness or annoyance, a night of broken sleep, a day when focus collapsed; read together with history across weeks (one-off spike vs repeating pattern).
- Weekly Goals — Logs one small aim, whether it held; read together with real check-ins.
- My Meds — Logs medicine names, timing, dose; app-specific items: options your clinician already cleared for sleep, anxiety, related care; read together with weeks, sleep, the rest of the tracked history.
- AI companions — Logs Clara (general chat), specialist companions; app-specific items: knowledge, fitness, nutrition, relationships; read together with your logged history (companions already see it); used for: visit wording; a calm partner script about quiet space; a listening ear after a loud night.
- Doctor Report — Logs one-page summary exported from logged history; app-specific items: dates, loudness and annoyance marks, sleep, stress or noise context, how you functioned; read together with the history already logged.
- My Care Team — Logs clinicians, short visit notes; app-specific items: tends to ask mainly about hearing thresholds rather than sleep or annoyance; read together with logged history; used for: visit prep (what to ask and bring); notes during the visit; review afterward.
- My Labs — Logs result dates; app-specific items: hearing tests, imaging, other ENT-related workups; read together with loudness, sleep, function.
- Learn — Logs short education topics, prompts; app-specific items: sleep, stress stacks, visit prep, why annoyance still belongs in the log; read together with your own logged weeks.
- My Assessments — Logs structured check-ins beyond daily scores, onboarding life and social context; read together with ongoing history.
- Food Tracker — Logs meal or drink lines, nutrition; read together with sleep, energy, tinnitus.
- Weight Tracker — Logs scale or body notes; read together with the rest of the logged history.
- Period Tracker — Logs start and stop dates, flow, how heavy or light bleeding felt; read together with tinnitus, sleep, stress, everything else logged.
Everything you log builds one history, and insights get stronger as it grows. Custom symptoms let you add your own labels.
We make Tinnitus Journey at Health Journey Labs. This guide is educational and does not replace medical advice. Diagnosis, medication decisions, and urgent care decisions belong with your treating clinicians.
Sources
- NIDCD (US National Institutes of Health): tinnitus
- MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: hearing test (audiometry)
- NHS (UK): hearing tests
- American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery: tinnitus clinical practice guideline
- RNID (UK charity): tinnitus
FAQ
The answers below draw on the sources cited in this guide, and the app they mention is Tinnitus Journey (by Health Journey Labs).
What does an audiogram show?
In pure tone testing, tones of set pitch and volume are delivered to one ear at a time, and MedlinePlus says the minimum volume required to hear each tone is graphed. The audiologist explains what the graph means for your hearing and your history.
Loudness and annoyance marks entered in Tinnitus Journey for the same weeks give the audiologist the sound that the booth could not capture, side by side with the printed graph. Both can then be read in a single glance during the short time available.
Why is hearing tested when the problem is a sound?
NIDCD says most people with tinnitus have some degree of hearing loss, and RNID says tinnitus is most often linked to hearing loss or other ear conditions. That link is why hearing measurement is a common part of the process.
Seeing the printed test beside several weeks of dated sound notes in Tinnitus Journey lets a clinician look at hearing and tinnitus together instead of one at a time. That saves the clinician from having to ask about the history all over again.
Who carries out the test?
A hearing specialist, or audiologist, is described by the NHS as the person who does the test and then discusses the results with you. The ENT guideline says tinnitus patients may also meet primary care clinicians and mental health professionals along the way.
Naming each professional you meet in My Care Team of Tinnitus Journey, with the date, keeps the roles straight and shows which person explained which result. That record is useful when more than one office is involved over the months.
What does the 25 dB figure mean?
MedlinePlus lists the ability to hear tones from 250 to 8,000 Hz at 25 dB or lower as a normal result in detailed audiometry. How your own graph compares is for the audiologist to explain, since each report is read in context.
Writing the printed numbers into My Labs of Tinnitus Journey exactly as they appear leaves the comparison to the audiologist and keeps your own copy accurate for later tests. Later tests can then be compared against a copy you trust.
What are the other parts of a hearing test?
MedlinePlus describes speech audiometry, where spoken words are heard at different volumes, and immittance audiometry, where a probe measures how the eardrum and middle ear respond. Which parts were done depends on your appointment.
Listing in the Daily Journal of Tinnitus Journey which parts were done on the day makes it easy to see later which parts of the picture are still missing. Gaps in the record are then visible long before the next appointment arrives.
Is a hearing test the same as a tinnitus assessment?
A hearing test measures how well each ear detects sound, and the ENT guideline describes evaluation as something many kinds of clinician take part in. The clinician decides which other assessments apply to you.
Keeping test results and your weekly sound marks in the same history of Tinnitus Journey lets you show both parts of the picture without switching between papers. The clinician sees the whole sequence on one page, in date order, without sorting papers.
What if I cannot read the graph?
Many people find graphs hard to read. The NHS says the specialist discusses the results with you, so a graph with no explanation is a reason to ask for one. Write down the answer in your own words and add the date.
A plain-language line saved in Tinnitus Journey under the test date means the next appointment starts from your understanding of the last one rather than from the paper graph. The graph itself can stay in the folder and be copied when someone asks for it.
Should both ears be recorded separately?
Yes, because pure tone testing sends tones to one ear at a time, and the printed result may differ between left and right. Your clinician explains which ear differs and what that means in your case.
Naming the ear in every line of your Tinnitus Journey entries prevents a left and right mix-up months later, when the details of the booth have faded from memory. A clinician reading the rows later can tell at once which ear each note describes.
How does the tinnitus diary help at a hearing test?
The test measures what the ears pick up in a quiet booth, while the diary records the sound across ordinary days. Together they give the clinician a fuller picture than either alone, and the clinician decides what to make of it.
Scores and notes for loudness, annoyance and sleep that are already logged in Tinnitus Journey turn into a one-page summary before the appointment instead of an effort at the front desk. The clinician receives a tidy page, and the waiting room moment is spent on questions rather than searching.
What if the test was done at a pharmacy or a hearing shop?
Pharmacies and opticians, the NHS says, often have hearing specialists who do tests for adults aged 18 and over. Bring the printed result along to your clinician, who can say whether further tests are needed.
Adding the place of each test to the log in Tinnitus Journey makes it easier to ask the right office for a copy later, and to compare results from different places. A pharmacy result and a hospital result can then be set side by side with a date on each.
Can a hearing test explain every kind of tinnitus?
RNID says most often tinnitus is linked to hearing loss or other ear conditions, which leaves space for other causes. Which tests suit your case is a decision for the clinician, and a diary adds context for that decision.
Context lines such as noise exposure or poor sleep kept in Tinnitus Journey with each test give a clinician more to work with when other causes are considered. Those lines are quick to read aloud, and they stay attached to the date they belong to.
Can an AI chat read my audiogram?
Reading it properly takes a clinician who knows your history and examines you. An AI chat can help tidy notes and word questions for the visit, and sudden hearing loss calls for urgent care before any notes.
Once filed in Tinnitus Journey, the entries give a companion material for shaping questions, while the reading of the graph stays with your audiologist or ENT clinician. Questions prepared this way are shorter and easier to answer within a brief appointment.
How far back should the log go?
Start from the earliest hearing test you can date with confidence. The sources set no look-back period, so the clinic decides, and approximate dates marked with a question mark are fine to record.
Older tests can be added to Tinnitus Journey with approximate dates, which helps a clinician more than a blank space where an earlier result should be. The year alone is a useful entry, and the clinician can ask for the exact date from the clinic that holds it.
How do I keep privacy in check with my health log?
Notes on ringing, sleep and mood can be sensitive, especially when hearing affects work or noise exposure claims. Use a screen lock, keep the log on your own device, and share the dated summary only with the hearing clinician or the office that requested it.
Entries you make in Tinnitus Journey are your own health notes, and the app's privacy policy describes how data is stored and handled. This article offers general information and is not medical advice.