Guide to Hearing Loss in One Ear Before Going an Audiologist

Trouble While Hearing:

You might face trouble while hearing in noisy places like traffic areas, parties, etc. There are chances that you are not able to focus on a single person’s speech, and also filtering out noises might not be helpful even. This might result in often asking people to restate the conversation.

Louder Sounds Perceived:

It becomes harder to explain how loud the sound is exactly. When sound is perceived by our ears, the brain hears sound louder than the sound is perceived by one ear; this is because the brain receives the signal from nerves located in our ears to process sounds. This might restrict you to attend weddings, family functions, parties, etc. You might tend to avoid social events too.

Multi-tasking:

You might also face problems while multitasking because deaf in one ear increases cognitive pressure on your brain, the louder the noise the longer it takes to process or focus. While talking to someone, there is a possibility that you might miss what is being told to you. This might result in asking another person to turn down the volume.

Ringing In The Ear:

If you are dealing with hearing loss in one ear, you might not be able to figure out from where the sound is originating. Tinnitus or ringing in the ears becomes common suffering. When you wake up, you might feel a sudden muffled hearing in your one ear.

The causes for SSD might be subjective. Hearing loss is an outcome of aging; some causes can be reversible such as ear infections or wax build-up while some are irreversible like problems faced by the functioning of the ear itself. Let us take a look at causes of hearing loss in one ear in a detailed manner:

Exposure To Drugs:

In case of any biological snag, there is a possibility that you have been exposed to certain drugs or loud noise, injury in-ear, tumor, and illness in the past.

Ruptured Eardrum:

If you have a tiny tear or hole in your eardrum, there can be chances that you have eardrum rupture which might result in hearing loss in one ear.

Diseases:

Acoustic neuroma can also be one of the reasons for hearing loss in one ear because it is a type of tumor that presses our nerves and results in the deafness of one ear. Diseases like measles, meningitis can also affect your hearing. Otitis externa is also a cause for hearing loss in one ear.

Single-sided deafness is often permanent but in some cases, it can be cured with special devices by wearing them in our ears. In case of moderate or mild hearing loss in one of your ears, a hearing aid should be preferred to amplify and clear the sound for hearing loss in one ear.

If you are deaf in one ear, an Audiologist might recommend CROS, BICROS, or bone-anchored hearing systems and cochlear implants for better and effective treatment, if the situation is quite worse.

CROS

Contralateral routing of the sound system is designed if the ability to hear from another ear is completely adrift. It is worn on both sides of the ear. The job of CROS is to detect sound from the deaf ear and route that sound into the working ear; you can hear the normal sound without any amplification in your normal ear with the help of this device.

BICROS

Similarly, BICROS hearing aids work in a similar way but use a microphone for better transmission. An audiologist recommends BICROS hearing aids only when you are suffering from moderate to severe hearing loss. It not only helps to transmit sound whereas, but it also amplifies sound and makes it easier for you while dealing with single-sided deafness.

Bone-Anchored Hearing System

This is an alternative method for CROS, as people find CROS hearing aids useless. It sends sound vibrations directly to the inner ear through the skull bone. It is also known as bone conduction headphones.

Cochlear Implants

It works directly by stimulating the auditory nerves. According to the reports, cochlear implants were not being used for single-sided deafness but, in 2019, It approved that cochlear implants will be used specifically for the deaf in one ear.

Natural Remedies:

If the single-sided deafness is temporary, some of the natural remedies are also quite effective. Although the process of curing hearing loss with natural remedies is subjective it works best and has no side effects.

Why I Suffer From Partial Hearing Loss?

The partial hearing loss could be the result of malfunctioning of sensory organs of the inner ear. People with partial hearing loss frequently discover hearing loss upon waking up in the morning.

Is Sudden Hearing Loss A Sign Of Upcoming Risk?

The evidence has been seen that people who experience sudden hearing loss in one ear tend to increase the risk of having a stroke within the next few years after they lost their hearing.