Understanding Unilateral Hearing Loss

Friday, August 24, 2012 | Unknown at 8:15 PM |

Unilateral hearing loss occurs when a person has normal hearing in one ear and some degree of hearing impairment in the other ear. People who have this type of one-sided hearing decrease may have more difficulty locating the direction of a sound source, difficulty listening on the side with impairment, and difficulty understanding speech in noisy backgrounds. When conditions are favorable with a quiet environment, many with unilateral impairment will have very little difficulty with speech understanding.

Unilateral hearing impairment can be caused by birth defects, recurrent ear infections, head injury, acoustic tumors, and a variety of diseases (e.g, mumps, Meniere's disease, meningitis, and measles). Treatment and management will vary based on how severe the one-sided loss is. Some patients may simply be educated on the use of communication strategies, while others may need hearing aids or even cochlear implants. There are a couple of specialty hearing aid types that can be used in the case of unilateral hearing impairment. One type is called a contralateral routing of signals (CROS) hearing aid. With this type of aid, two hearing aids are worn, but one picks up signals from the poorer hearing ear and routes that signal to the normal hearing ear. This is especially helpful in situations where people are trying to speak on the side of the "bad" ear. It also can aid in sound localization. Another type of special hearing aid is the bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA). This may be used if your hearing impairment has a conductive cause. Sound bypasses the outer and middle ear systems and is transferred to the "good" ear through skull vibration.

Communication strategies may be used as a standalone treatment or in conjunction with hearing aids or cochlear implants. Auditory communication strategies may include:

• Turning the volume down on distracting background noises (if possible)
• Moving closer to your communication partner
• Positioning the ear on your "good" side closer to the person you are wanting to hear
• Staying away from or at a further distance from noise sources

While many of these strategies are second nature to those with unilateral hearing difficulties, they may not realize that performing these actions is recommended even after being amplified. It is strongly recommended for those with unilateral hearing impairment to have their hearing re-evaluated periodically. Any change in hearing status can affect those with unilateral losses differently than it would for those with hearing decreases in both ears. Talk with your hearing healthcare professional about your options to treat your unilateral hearing loss.