by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A man explained:
I am deaf on my left side due to four acoustic neuroma surgeries. I now have a TransEar hearing aid but it doesn’t work like I expected. How about a CROS aid? Also, what else is new on the market?
There are a number of solutions for single-sided deafness.
1. If you have normal hearing on your good side, just be deaf on one side and practice good coping strategies to help overcome it such as sitting with your good ear “into the room” when in church, in meetings, etc. When chatting, have the person you are talking to either sit opposite you or sit on your good side—this kind of thing.
2. Get a bone-conduction hearing aid that was designed for single-sided deafness. There are three “kinds” out there of which I’m aware. All use the principle of bone conduction to transfer the sound from your deaf side to the good side.
A. Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA). This involves having a titanium screw (post) drilled into your skull and the sound processor sits on this post. This is an invasive procedure and by far the most expensive.
B. TransEar. Which you already have. This is a BTE hearing aid that has a special transducer (vibrator) that vibrates a special ear mold that fits deep in your ear canal. Note: a new model is coming out shortly that might give you better results.
C. SoundBite. This was the “new kid on the block”. It vibrates your back molars to conduct the sound to your other ear. I wrote about the SoundBite here. [Note: On February 9, 2015, the SoundBite was taken off the market so has apparently gone the way of the Dodo bird.]
3. Get a CROS hearing aid. Cross aids are basically one hearing aid in two pieces. You wear the part that contains the microphone and transmitter on your bad side, and the part that contains the receiver and amplifier on your good side. It feeds the sounds from your deaf side to your good side. Because you wear a loose-fitting ear mold, you still hear all the sounds from your good side as well.
4. Get certain high-end regular hearing aids that “talk” to each other. You can set them such that any sounds picked up by the bad ear side are automatically transmitted to the good ear (crossover) so you can hear them.
CROS aids don’t seem to be very popular any more. Maybe because regular hearing aids that can do crossover (talk to each other) can do much the same thing.
I think the darling of the industry at the moment is the BAHA. It is worth investigating if you don’t mind the surgery and risks and expense involved.
Do your homework on all of the above, then talk to your audiologist about these various options and decide on what seems the best course of action for you.
I had brain stein hemorrabe single side deafness, neurogenic in cause, Bite-sound is gioing to work? thanks kj
I was struck SSD in February of 2010 and was devastated. I’ve regained much of my hearing in normal conditions by having baha surgery and being fitted with an Oticon Ponto. My only problen today is in very noisy locations like restaurants. Therefore I highly recommend to baha surgery.
I found out that I had SSD when I was in second grade. I had failed my hearing test three times and was told that it would make my school life difficult. It really hasn’t until this year. I don’t have any hearing aids or assistive listening device.I really don’t know what to do.
I lost my hearing level upto70 on my right ear due to chicken pox for the past 8 years..I need a solution very soonly..
My son was born with SSD. He is in first grade and uses a CROS system. It helps in the classroom setting as much as hearing conversation on his left (deaf side). He does not wear them outside the classroom. He is most successful when the FM system is used in the class. There are portable FM systems (they do not work easy with the CROS system). I am also looking into Apps to amplify sounds. If you haven’t discussed the hearing aid options with your Audiologist do so. They can let you try out the different systems. Even the BAHA can be tried with wearing a head band. Best of luck to you!
I have had single sided deafness since I was 2, I just turned 39. My question is… Is there any hearing devices for a person with my condition? I do not have the three bones or the eardrum in my right ear. I had Childhood Leukemia Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia between ages of 2 and 5. I had an internal ear infection when sick and due to low immune system it ate a hole in my eardrum and destroyed the three tiny bones. I have nothing but scar tissue in my right ear. I can’t use these types of hearing aids since I do not have the bones in this deaf ear to conduct. Is there any type of hearing aids that amplify your good hearing in my good ear? As I am getting older and work with the public in my job I am starting to have issues with hearing persons and in very loud atmospheres or those who speak softly. Any information on this will be appreciated. Thank you!