While it’s common to think of hearing issues as impacting auditory senses in both ears, many people experience hearing loss in one ear only. Those with single-ear hearing issues often have trouble locating the origins of sounds they hear and find difficulty understanding parts of speech, particularly in noisy environments. Fortunately, audiologists have developed a range of unilateral hearing loss treatments to help correct these issues.
Unilateral Hearing Loss (UHL) Prevalence
UHL and its more advanced form, single-sided deafness (SSD), impacts around 5% of U.S. adults according to the National Institute of Health, with SSD being less common. Much like hearing loss in both ears, these types of single-ear hearing difficulties can develop over time or can come about suddenly. UHL and SSD can be congenital or occur later in life and can be caused by injury, illness, family genes, or environmental factors.
Causes of UHL
There are numerous conditions and situational factors that can lead to single-ear hearing damage in adults. Ranging from infection to genetics, these causes can include:
- Acoustic Neuroma – usually benign growths affecting auditory nerves, sometimes called vestibular schwannomas.
- Injury – a single incident or slowly building injury caused by external factors or insufficient care.
- Physical injury to ear or head – an impact or other form of trauma to the head or the ears.
- Acoustic injury to a single ear – a sudden loud noise that damages hearing in the ear closest to the sound.
- Exposure injury – long term subjection to loud noises in a single ear.
- Biologically-inherited factors – genetic conditions affecting skin or nervous system that can lead to losses in both hearing and vision.
- Infection or illness – swelling due to infection or nerve damage can cause hearing damage in one or both ears.
Tests for Unilateral Hearing Loss
There are numerous tests performed by a range of experts to help determine whether and to what degree a person is experiencing hearing loss in one ear. Audiologists typically use two different tests:
- Weber Test: Using a tuning fork, an auditory specialist will rest a vibrating tuning fork on a part of the patient’s head, their teeth or nose and get patient feedback on the sound’s volume in each ear.
- Erhard’s Test: the pathway from the outer ear to the inner ear is plugged to reduce sound absorption by around 30db on the normal ear, then the patient closes their eyes and is asked to repeat words spoken into their damaged ear.
Contact our team of audiologists to get started on testing for Unilateral Hearing Loss.
Treatment and Management of Single-Ear Hearing Loss
At first, there may seem like there are fewer strategies for managing unilateral hearing loss or single-sided deafness compared to the options for conventional hearing loss. However, many of the same techniques and technologies can be effectively tweaked to help those suffering from UHL or SSD. Using a similar combination of technology and communication management strategies can significantly improve a person’s communication skills regardless of whether the issue is in one or both ears.
Technological Treatments of UHL
There are several different technological options to help mitigate the effects of hearing loss in one ear, including:
- Traditional Hearing Aids – the conventional style can be worn in a single ear to amplify sounds
- CROS (Contralateral Routing of Sound) Hearing Aids – with devices in both ears, these reroute sound to the healthy ear that would typically get picked up by the damaged ear.
- BICROS (Bilateral Routing of Sound) Hearing Aids – these work similar to the CROS type, but with added amplification into both sides, good for people with mixed hearing loss.
- Cochlear Implants – a surgical option that aims to improve hearing capability through auditory nerve stimulation, works particularly well for SSD cases.
- Remote Microphones – various frequency modulation systems can be used to pick up sound micro-phonically and send it straight into the non-hearing ear.
- Bone Conduction Implants – with an implant behind the worse functioning ear, it sends vibrations through the bones near the ear for better auditory clarity.
Management Strategies for Unilateral Hearing Loss
There are many techniques you can use to help manage and thrive with hearing loss in one ear. Many of these are also strategies for communicating with conventional hearing loss, including:
- Being honest – let people know that you have difficulty hearing out of one ear.
- Being strategic – try to avoid important conversations in difficult to hear environments, like loud dining rooms.
- Using your good side – situate yourself so that the ear that hears better is closer to the source of sound.
- Consider psychiatric therapy – difficulty hearing can cause a number of psychological effects including depression and anxiety, therapy can help people deal with these issues.
Prevention of Unilateral Hearing Loss
Employing a range of behavioral strategies and lifestyle changes can do a lot to prevent single-ear hearing damage. Fortunately, they’re very similar to best practices for protecting your hearing in both ears. From hearing protection to physical fitness, some strategies include:
- Using earplugs or earmuffs – when loud environments can’t be avoided, you need to reduce the decibels.
- Being careful with headphones – listening to music on your personal device at too high a level can cause irreversible damage, especially over long durations.
- Exercising – lowering your blood pressure through regular exercise works wonders for your whole body, including your ears.
- Quitting smoking – tobacco use can lower blood circulation, which may impact your hearing
- Keeping things out of your ear – people commonly injure themselves by trying to clean their ears with cotton swabs
When Should You See a Specialist?
If you notice an increase in the difference between the hearing ability of both ears, it’s a good idea to see an audiologist right away. Some conditions may cause a slow deprecation of hearing ability, so catching it early and defining strategies to deal with it is essential.
Contact the audiologists at Prescription Hearing to get tested for UHL.
