How to Check Your Hearing One Ear at a Time: What to Do When Your Ears Sound Different

Why test one ear at a time

When you listen with both ears, the better ear picks up the sound, so it’s hard to notice if the other ear’s hearing has dropped. To compare your ears, you have to play sound into only one ear at a time.

Sound from a speaker travels round to the other ear as well. When testing one ear at a time, use earphones or headphones that can play different sound on each side. The Ear Age Test’s “Left ear only” and “Right ear only” play the tone with no sound at all on the other side.

How to test one ear at a time

1. 1

   Check your earphones’ left and right

   First, make sure left and right are connected correctly. If they’re swapped, you’ll mistake your left ear’s result for your right ear’s. For the steps, see how to check if your earphones are swapped left and right.

2. 2

   Set the volume with both ears

   Play an easy-to-hear tone such as 1,000Hz and set the volume so it’s comfortably audible. Don’t change this volume until you’ve finished testing both ears.

3. 3

   Run the step test with “Left ear only”

   Set the ear selection to “Left ear only” and answer the tones, which play in order starting from 8,000Hz. Keep both earphones in so the conditions are the same.

4. 4

   Test with “Right ear only” in the same way

   Then test your right ear. Once you have results for both sides, the latest results are shown side by side.

5. 5

   Swap the earphones and test again

   If there’s a difference, put the earphones in the other way round, leave the device’s left/right setting as it is, and test again. Whether the difference follows your ear or the earphone tells you which is the cause.

Reading the results: how big a difference matters?

Your upper limit for high tones won’t necessarily be exactly the same in both ears. A difference of around 1,000Hz often appears just from measurement variation. The Ear Age Test shows a caution when the left and right upper limits differ by 2,000Hz or more.

There are many reasons for a left–right difference. Besides causes in the ear itself, such as built-up earwax or after-effects of a middle ear infection, everyday habits can play a part, such as always holding your phone to the same ear or being exposed to loud noise from one side, as with shooting or construction work. Hearing loss from earwax can improve once it’s cleared, but pushing it deeper with a cotton bud makes things worse, so if you’re concerned it’s safest to have an ENT doctor remove it.

This test mainly checks hearing for high tones above 8 kHz. It can’t measure hearing in the 500Hz–4,000Hz range that matters most for conversation, or how quiet a sound you can hear (your hearing level). Typical upper limits by age are summarised in the ear age chart.

How it differs from a workplace hearing test

In Japan, the hearing test in a workplace health check usually checks, for each ear separately, whether you can hear two pitches, 1,000Hz and 4,000Hz, at a set quiet volume (30dB for 1,000Hz and 40dB for 4,000Hz). 1,000Hz stands for conversational hearing, and 4,000Hz is the pitch where changes caused by noise or ageing tend to show up first.

The two cover completely different ranges, so neither can stand in for the other. Use the Ear Age Test between check-ups as a way to notice changes in high-frequency hearing or a left–right difference.

Signs you should see an ENT doctor

• One ear suddenly became hard to hear
• A blocked or muffled feeling in the ear that doesn’t go away
• Ringing in the ears that persists, or comes with dizziness
• Sound on the phone is clearly different depending on which ear you use
• Your family has started saying the TV is too loud

If your results look different from usual, also check that the test conditions were the same. Why equipment and how you answer can throw results off is explained in how to get accurate hearing range test results.

FAQ

How do I check my hearing one ear at a time?

Use earphones or headphones that can play different sound on each side, and play the tone into one ear only. In the Ear Age Test, set the ear selection to “Left ear only” or “Right ear only” and run the step test to compare the results for each ear.

Is it abnormal for my ears to hear different frequencies?

A difference of around 1,000Hz often comes from measurement variation. If a difference of 2,000Hz or more keeps appearing, or you notice one ear is harder to hear with in daily life, getting checked by an ENT doctor will put your mind at rest.

Can I test one ear at a time with speakers?

Sound from speakers travels round to the other ear too, so you can’t compare accurately. Always use earphones or headphones when testing one ear at a time.

What frequencies does a workplace hearing test check?

Many workplace health checks in Japan play 1,000Hz at 30dB and 4,000Hz at 40dB and check whether you can hear them, one ear at a time. Its purpose is different from the Ear Age Test, which looks for your upper limit for high tones.

What should I do if one ear suddenly becomes hard to hear?

It could be sudden sensorineural hearing loss or a similar condition, and recovery is considered more likely the sooner treatment starts. Don’t rely on a self-check; see an ENT doctor as soon as possible.