Weber Test

A Weber test is a type of hearing test. Healthcare providers use a tuning fork to diagnose conductive or sensorineural hearing loss. A tuning fork is a two-pronged instrument that makes a tone when you tap it.

Conductive hearing loss means sound doesn’t move through your ear to your inner ear. This can happen if you have lots of earwax, chronic ear infections or a ruptured eardrum.

Sensorineural hearing loss happens when something damages hair cells in your inner ear. You may have this hearing loss if there’s damage to your vestibulocochlear nerve.

You may have this test as part of a routine hearing screening or if a healthcare provider suspects you have hearing loss in one ear.

How does this test work?

The test uses sound and vibration from a tuning fork, usually 512 Hz, to check how sound travels to your inner ear.

Hearing is a complicated process. It starts when sound waves become vibrations that move from your eardrum to tiny bones in your middle ear. From there, the vibrations go to tiny hair cells deep in your inner ear. The hair cells vibrate, sending messages to your auditory nerve and then onto your brain.

A primary care provider or otolaryngologist may do this test. It involves the following steps:

• You sit in a chair in a quiet room.
• Your provider taps the tuning fork on their knee. The fork makes a sound and vibrates.
• They place the ends of the tuning fork in the middle of your forehead or the top of your head.
• They’ll ask if you hear the sound in both ears or only one ear.

What type of results do you get with a Weber test?

Your healthcare provider may say the test is positive. That means you have conductive or sensorineural hearing loss.

In conductive hearing loss, the tuning fork sound is louder in the ear with hearing loss (or with some hearing loss). In sensorineural hearing loss, the sound is quieter in the ear with suspected hearing loss. If hearing loss is the same in both ears, the tuning fork sound may be loudest in the middle of your forehead.

Your healthcare provider will explain your test results. They may use these results along with other tests to make treatment recommendations.

Next steps

Your healthcare provider may do a Rinne test with a tuning fork. Your provider places the vibrating tuning fork on your head and then next to your ear. This test shows if there’s a difference in how you hear. They may refer you to an audiologist for more hearing tests.