Clinically reviewed content
Written with audiologists at the American Academy of Audiology
Your Hearing, Explained in Plain Language
Interactive guides, result translators, and care timelines — built with your audiologist, available anytime.
The 58-year-old who just failed a workplace screening
The parent parsing their toddler's ABR results at midnight
The veteran navigating VA hearing benefit paperwork
48M
Americans with hearing loss
10yr
Average wait before treatment
94%
Report better outcomes when informed
Understanding Your Audiogram
The audiogram is a graph of your hearing thresholds — the softest sounds you can hear at each pitch.ThresholdThe softest sound you can hear 50% of the time at a specific frequency. Lower thresholds (closer to the top) mean better hearing. points are plotted on a grid of frequency (left to right) versus loudness (top to bottom).
Interactive Audiogram
250 Hz
15 dB HL — Right ear
Deep vowel sounds
e.g. The "oo" in "who"
500 Hz
20 dB HL — Right ear
Vowel sounds
e.g. The "ah" in "father"
1 kHz
30 dB HL — Right ear
Consonant blends
e.g. The "n" in "no"
2 kHz
45 dB HL — Right ear
Speech clarity
e.g. The "s" in "see"
4 kHz
60 dB HL — Right ear
High consonants
e.g. The "f" in "fish"
8 kHz
70 dB HL — Right ear
High-pitched sounds
e.g. Birds singing, phone ringtones
250 Hz
20 dB HL — Left ear
Deep vowel sounds
e.g. The "oo" in "who"
500 Hz
25 dB HL — Left ear
Vowel sounds
e.g. The "ah" in "father"
1 kHz
35 dB HL — Left ear
Consonant blends
e.g. The "n" in "no"
2 kHz
50 dB HL — Left ear
Speech clarity
e.g. The "s" in "see"
4 kHz
65 dB HL — Left ear
High consonants
e.g. The "f" in "fish"
8 kHz
75 dB HL — Left ear
High-pitched sounds
e.g. Birds singing, phone ringtones
Hover over any circle (right ear) or × (left ear) to see what sound that point represents in everyday life.
Your audiogram is a map of your hearing landscape — the slope of the line tells your audiologist more about your specific type of loss than any single number can.
What the Numbers Mean
Hearing loss is measured in decibels HLdB HL stands for "decibels Hearing Level." It measures how loud a sound needs to be before you can hear it, relative to what a person with normal hearing can detect.. The higher the number, the louder a sound needs to be before you can hear it. Use the slider below to explore what different levels feel like.
Normal conversation at close range is difficult without amplification.
In everyday life:
"Restaurants feel impossible. TV volume needs to be much louder than others prefer."
The Air-Bone Gap: Why Restaurants Feel Impossible
Sound traveling through the ear canal to the eardrum and into the cochlea. This is how you normally hear. Problems here show as elevated thresholds on the audiogram.
Sound vibrating directly through the skull to the cochlea, bypassing the outer and middle ear. When bone is better than air — that gap — it tells your audiologist where the problem is.
The gap explains the restaurant problem. Background noise floods your air conduction pathway while speech relies on mid-high frequencies where your loss is steepest — your brain is working double time to decode a degraded signal in a noisy room.
A number alone doesn't capture your hearing — the shape of your loss, which ear it affects, and the gap between air and bone conduction together paint the full picture.
Treatment Options Mapped to Your Loss
Not all hearing loss is the same, and not all treatments fit every loss. Here's what the evidence says about each path, and when it applies.
Hearing Aids
For: Mild to Severe hearing lossBehind-the-ear, receiver-in-canal, and in-ear devices that amplify and process sound. Modern hearing aids connect to smartphones, stream audio directly, and learn your preferences.
What this offers
- Non-surgical
- Immediate improvement in most environments
- Bluetooth streaming
- Rechargeable options available
Clinical note
Most effective when fitted bilaterally (both ears). The fitting process includes real-ear measurement to verify performance.
What Happens at Each Appointment
The fitting appointment is not the end — it's the beginning. Most hearing aid success happens in the first three months of follow-up visits, when your audiologist fine-tunes based on your real-world experience.
Insurance & Benefit Navigation
Hearing aid costs range from $1,500 to $7,000 per pair. But coverage exists — you just have to know where to look and what to ask.
VA Benefits
Hearing aids fully covered for eligible veterans
- Service-connected hearing loss: full coverage, no copay
- Non-service-connected: coverage based on disability rating (10%+)
- VA audiologists provide evaluation, fitting, and follow-up at no cost
- Premium hearing aid brands including Phonak, Oticon, and Starkey
- Batteries and repairs included for approved devices
File a claim through VA.gov or call 1-800-827-1000. Bring your DD-214 and any previous audiogram records. The process typically takes 3–6 months but retroactive benefits may apply.
FSA & HSA Accounts Always Apply
Regardless of your insurance, hearing aids, batteries, and audiologist visits are FSA/HSA-eligible expenses. If you have a flexible spending or health savings account, you can use pre-tax dollars — effectively reducing your cost by 20–35%.
Ask your audiologist's front desk to check your insurance benefits before your appointment — most clinics do this as a courtesy, and knowing your coverage in advance removes the biggest barrier to moving forward.
When the Fog Lifts
What people say after they finally understand what their audiogram has been telling them all along.
"I'd been staring at that sloping line for three years without understanding why every dinner felt like a performance. This guide explained in ten minutes what no one had taken the time to tell me."
Robert Castellano
62, retired firefighter, Chicago
"My son's ABR results came back at 11 PM on a Tuesday. I spent two hours trying to decode a PDF. This was the first resource that explained what 'mild bilateral sensorineural loss' actually means for a four-year-old."
Priya Nambiar
Parent, Austin TX
"The VA process felt impossible until I used the insurance section here. I had my claim number within a week and my hearing aids two months later. Twelve years of struggling, and this was the thing that finally moved it."
Marcus Thibodeau
Army veteran, Fayetteville NC
Download Your Hearing Guide
A personalized PDF summary of everything on this page — your audiogram decoder, treatment checklist, insurance script, and questions to ask at your next visit. No spam. Just the guide.
Upload Your Audiogram for a Plain-Language Translation
Have a PDF, scan, or photo of your audiogram results? Upload it and tell us what type of test it is — we'll send you a plain-language explanation matched to your specific results.
Your file is analyzed privately and never stored. The translation is reviewed by a licensed audiologist before delivery, typically within one business day.
Preparing for Your Next Visit
Patients who arrive with specific questions leave with better outcomes. Use this checklist to build your question list before your appointment.
Understanding Your Results
You are not bothering your audiologist by asking questions — the 15 minutes you spend preparing for this appointment may be the most valuable 15 minutes in your hearing care journey.