Tuning fork tests

Tuning fork tests can help with lateralising deafness and with deciding which type of hearing loss is present.

TIPS FOR TUNING FORK TESTS

• Use a 512-KHz fork with a good heavy base.
• If the hearing is equal in both ears, the Weber test will not lateralise to one side (i.e. the patient will hear the sound in the middle).
• If the Weber is to one side, this can indicate that the other side has little or no hearing, or that there is a conductive deafness on the side the patient identifies as better. Try it yourself – put your finger firmly in the external canal of your own ear and place the tuning fork on your head; you should hear it louder on the side you have blocked as you have given yourself a mild conductive hearing loss.
• The Rinne test is negative if the patient hears the sound better by bone conduction. Usually this means there is a conductive loss on that side.
• Be careful interpreting the Rinne test if the patient has profound hearing loss on one side. A Rinne negative may be because he/ she hears sound transmitted across the head from a good ear – false negative Rinne. Masking of the good ear with a noise box helps overcome this problem.
• Tuning fork tests are quick and easy but skilled audiometry is essential to assess and classify deafness.