Regular hearing tests are important for detecting problems with your hearing, and stabilising and compensating for any decline. But you may not realise that hearing tests can also help diagnose other diseases which may be affecting your hearing.

Meniere's disease

Meniere's disease is a condition in the inner ear, caused by an imbalance in the ear's fluids. It can cause dizziness and a ringing in the ears, and can also lead to bouts of hearing loss. Although these symptoms usually come and go (and you should tell your audiologist if you have experienced them), a full hearing screening will detect fluctuations in your hearing loss and will help diagnose the disease.

Heart disease

Hearing loss can sometimes be caused by problems with the blood flow to the ear or brain. This can be a sign of some chronic disease such as heart disease, but it can also be caused by strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure or rheumatoid arthritis. These diseases are easiest to treat when they are detected early, so an inspection by your audiologist can help with a diagnosis of a serious underlying problem that will need to be managed effectively.

Tumours

Small tumours, called acoustic neuromas, can grow in the ear. These tumours are non-cancerous but can lead to symptoms including dizziness and hearing loss, and in rare cases can press on the brain or facial nerves. A hearing test is part of the diagnosis procedure, and they are usually easy to remove with surgery or radiotherapy.

Paget's disease of bone

This is a bone disorder in which the regeneration of the bone does not work properly. This leads to more fragile and misshapen bones. If the disease affects the skull, one of the symptoms can be hearing loss.

Alzheimer's disease

Although this research is in its early stages, several recent studies have suggested that there is a link between hearing loss and Alzheimer's disease and that treating the loss can halt and even reverse the decline. Researchers are not sure what might cause the link, but it provides one more reason for taking proactive steps to preserve your hearing.

Hearing tests are a vital way to ensure that your hearing stays at its peak, and to treat any problems that may occur. But a regular trip to your audiologist can help to detect far more serious problems and can put you on the road to overcoming them.