Cookie Bite (Mid-Low)
A U-shaped dip in the middle of the hearing range, named for what it looks like on an audiogram. The affected frequencies overlap with the core of the human voice, so speech can sound hollow or muffled even when the volume seems fine. This pattern is often inherited and present from birth or childhood.
Summary
- Severity
- Mild27 dB HL
- Most loss at
- 2 kHz · 55 dB
Degree of the worse ear, averaged over all eight frequencies, on the scale used by U.S. audiologists (ASHA)
Pure-tone average (PTA)
- Left ear
- 35dB
- Mild
- Right ear
- 35dB
- Mild
What’s a pure-tone average?
Pure-tone average is the quietest tone each ear can just hear, averaged across three pitches central to speech (500 Hz, 1 kHz, and 2 kHz). It’s the single number U.S. audiologists use to sum up an audiogram. 15 dB or lower is normal hearing, and every 10 dB higher means sounds need to be about twice as loud to be heard. Internationally, the World Health Organization averages four pitches, adding 4 kHz, so where high pitches have more loss its number comes out higher.
Thresholds by frequency
| Hz | L | R |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 5 | 5 |
| 500 | 10 | 10 |
| 1k | 40 | 40 |
| 2k | 55 | 55 |
| 3k | 50 | 50 |
| 4k | 35 | 35 |
| 6k | 15 | 15 |
| 8k | 5 | 5 |