If a person cannot hear the sound produced by the tuning fork through the air or when the tuning fork is placed on the bone of the skull behind the ear,what type of hearing loss do they most likely have?
A) Conductive hearing loss
B) Sensorineural hearing loss
C) Both of these answers are correct.
D) Neither of these answers is correct.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Conductive and sensorineural hearing loss can be determined by testing hearing by air and bone conduction. A tuning fork is used in both tests. First, a vibrating tuning fork is placed close to the ear. Sound waves produced by the fork are received by the ear normally through the air to the outer ear, and then vibrations should be conducted to the middle ear. In the second test, the base of a vibrating tuning fork is placed on the bone of the skull behind the ear, causing the inner ear to vibrate directly. If the person cannot hear the sound produced by the tuning fork through the air, but can hear it when the tuning fork is placed on bone, it is not a problem with the organ of Corti or the auditory nerve. Instead, this indicates a conduction problem and conductive hearing loss. If the subject cannot hear in either case, it is sensorineural and possibly conductive hearing loss.

If a Person Cannot Hear the Sound Produced by the Tuning