If you’ve had a hearing test recently, you should have received your results on a page called an audiogram. The audiogram is a chart that creates a visual representation of your hearing thresholds (i.e., the softest volume at which you can hear a certain pitch). There’s a zone of the chart that we call the “speech banana.” Let’s explore this silly term, why it’s important for understanding your hearing test results and what our specialists do with the information.
Understanding the Audiogram
Before we talk about the speech banana zone of the audiogram, let’s first describe how to read an audiogram. An audiogram is a grid with an x-axis (horizontal) and a y-axis (vertical). The x-axis is for frequency, or how high- or low-pitched a sound is, and the y-axis is for volume. All sounds that humans can reasonably hear can be plotted on this chart: loud, low-pitched sounds, such as a semi-truck driving by, would be plotted in the lower left corner of the graph, while quiet, high-pitched sounds, such as birds chirping, would be plotted in the upper right.
During your hearing test, you heard several sounds at various pitches and volumes. As you indicated what you could hear, the machine collected data, determined your hearing threshold for each pitch and plotted those thresholds on the chart. For example, if you heard a 1000 Hz pitch at 40 decibels but didn’t hear it at 30 decibels, your hearing threshold for 1000 Hz is 40 decibels.
The Speech Banana
Now that you can envision the audiogram and how it plots sound, let’s discuss the speech banana. The speech banana encompasses where typical human speech sounds are plotted. It is, as you may have guessed, shaped like a banana. It spans the top third of the graph, from about 125–5,000 Hz across the x-axis and about 10–70 decibels down the y-axis. Every vowel and consonant sound used in human speech is in this zone.
What the Speech Banana Means for Your Hearing Loss
As you review your results, some of your hearing threshold plot points for some pitches may fall below the speech banana. This suggests that you may struggle to hear speech sounds at that pitch. For example, the sounds ‘f,’ ‘s’ and ‘th’ are high-frequency sounds, at about 4,000–5,000 Hz, and they fall between 30–40 decibels. If your hearing threshold for 4,000 Hz is above 40 decibels, you may find it challenging to hear ‘f,’ ‘s’ and ‘th’ when you’re listening to someone speak.
How Your Audiologist Uses Your Audiogram
Your audiologist will use your audiogram to determine whether your hearing loss requires treatment and which treatment will be most effective. Most often, this involves hearing aids, especially if your hearing thresholds fall below the speech banana, as this indicates that communication is challenging for you to hear.
Hearing aids are highly customizable, and your audiologist will program the settings on your devices to meet your needs as indicated on the audiogram. Your hearing thresholds for each pitch will inform your audiologist on what pitches you need amplified, and they will adjust the settings on your hearing aids accordingly.
To learn more about how to read an audiogram or to schedule a hearing examination, call Southwestern Hearing & Balance today.