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When Your Ear Draws Its Own Hearing Map: Understanding the Bekesy Test - By Acoustik Hearing

Most hearing tests require an audiologist to control the volume while you respond. The Bekesy Test flips this — the patient controls the sound themselves, automatically tracing their own hearing pattern on a graph.

What Is the Bekesy Test?

Bekesy Audiometry is a self-recording hearing test. The patient holds a switch: pressing it when a tone is heard (volume decreases) and releasing it when unheard (volume increases), creating a zig-zag tracing as frequency sweeps. A continuous tone and a pulsed tone are compared, and the pattern is classified into diagnostic types.

Test Specifications

Duration: 20–30 min
Equipment: Bekesy/self-recording audiometer with response switch
Preparation: Clear ear canal (checked via otoscopy)
Setting: Sound-treated room at the clinic
Age Group: Cooperative older children through seniors

Procedure of the Test

Otoscopy check to confirm the ear canal is clear.
Patient given a handheld response switch and instructions.
A continuous tone is played; patient presses/releases the switch as it's heard/unheard, tracing a pattern as frequency sweeps upward.
The same sweep is repeated with a pulsed (interrupted) tone.
Both tracings are plotted together for comparison.
The audiologist classifies the pattern (Type I–V) and reviews it with the patient.

Why Is the Test Done?

Helps identify site of a hearing disorder — cochlear versus retrocochlear
Detects patterns linked to specific hearing conditions
Complements tests like SISI and ABLB for a fuller diagnostic picture
Investigates symptoms not explained by standard testing
Supports decisions on further testing, such as ABR

What Will the Result Show?

A tracing pattern comparing continuous versus pulsed tone thresholds across frequencies, classified into one of five recognized types based on how closely (or how much) the two tracings separate.

Interpretation

Type I: "Continuous and pulsed tracings overlap closely — consistent with normal hearing or conductive hearing loss."
Type II: "Continuous tracing drops below the pulsed tracing at higher frequencies — consistent with cochlear (inner ear) hearing loss."
Type III/IV: "Continuous tracing separates significantly or fails to track — suggestive of possible retrocochlear involvement; further evaluation recommended."
Type V: "Continuous tracing runs above the pulsed tracing — atypical, sometimes linked to non-organic hearing loss; further assessment advised."

The Bekesy test needs specialized self-recording equipment and a sound-treated room, so it's done at our clinic. Acoustik Hearing and Speech Clinic brings pure tone audiometry and hearing aid trials to your home across @Mumbai, @Navi @Mumbai, and Thane — no travel, no waiting rooms.

#BekesyTest #BekesyAudiometry #HearingDiagnostics #CochlearHearingLoss #AudiologySpecialTests #PureToneAudiometry #HearingAidTrial #AcoustikHearingAndSpeechClinic #HomeVisitAudiometry #HearingAidsMumbai #NaviMumbaiHealthcare #ThaneHealthcare #AudiologyIndia #SeniorCareAtHome #HearYourBest #MumbaiHearingClinic

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