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Where’s That Sound Coming From?

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

One lady asked:

Do you ever hear something and can’t figure out immediately where the sound is coming from?

Another lady replied:

For me, that happens all the time. I have much less hearing in my right ear than in my left. At work when someone calls my name and I am up at the printer, I often turn to the wrong person and say, “What?” only to be told that it was someone else nearby.

Or I hear a repetitive noise, and have to turn my head in different directions to figure out where it is coming from so I can go see what it is.

Worst is when I am in a parking lot and hear a horn or the sound of the motor and don’t know if it is coming from behind me, or beside me, or is nowhere near me.

Similarly, I do not know what direction sirens are coming from when I am driving. It is scary, but also embarrassing at times. Fortunately I don’t have to deal with it very often, but one week I mistook where a police siren was coming from twice.

The first time I was on a ramp getting ready to merge onto a highway from the interstate and heard a siren. I looked carefully at the end of the ramp as I delayed merging into traffic and couldn’t find the source of the siren, and then realized the police car was behind me so I needed to get out of his way!

Then several days later I was driving home and came to an intersection with limited visibility when I heard a siren. I assumed since I was on a side road and the crossroad was a well traveled road, the emergency vehicle was on that road and again looked both ways several times trying to figure out where the siren was coming from. At which point the car across the intersection waved me to come through even though he had gotten there before I did, and I then discovered (again) that the police car had been sitting right behind me.

This goes to show that we hard of hearing people need to always be alert and use our eyes in addition to our ears (not to mention looking in every direction—not just the most likely ones)!

Unfortunately, people with a slow, progressive hearing loss often still act as hearing people, and expect their ears to work normally. Thus, they rely on their (defective) ears instead of using their eyes in addition to their ears.

For myself, I can’t hear the sirens until they are right beside me (much too late to get out of their way), so I always watch for flashing lights. It is the rare emergency vehicle that ever gets close to me without my already having seen its emergency lights and taken appropriate action. This is because I was born with a severe hearing loss and never have been able to rely on my hearing.

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Hearing Loss Research & Resources

Free Visor Cards

Download your free Visor Cards for hard of hearing or deaf people here.

Loop Systems

Loop your home or meeting room. Discover how you can hear wonderfully clear sound again when listening to the TV/radio, etc, or when listening to a speaker at a meeting.

Loop systems are one of the best-kept secrets in town. To learn more about Loop Systems and what they can do for you, click here.

Take Control of Your Tinnitus—Here’s How

If your ears ring, buzz, chirp, hiss, click or roar, you know just how annoying tinnitus can be. You do not have to put up with this racket for the rest of your life. This book teaches you many things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under your control so it no longer bothers you.

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Sounds Now Too Loud for You?

Hypersensitive to Sound front coverIf some (or all) normal sounds seem so loud they “blow the top of your head off”, or make you wince or jump, or cause you headaches or ear pain, or affect your balance, or result in fear or annoyance of sounds so you feel you have to avoid these sounds, this book is for you!

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Hearing Phantom Sounds?

When hard of hearing people begin hearing phantom voices or music, they immediately worry they are going crazy. It never crosses their minds that they are sane and are just experiencing Musical Ear syndrome.

To learn more about the strange phantom sounds of Musical Ear syndrome and what you can do about them, click here to read a comprehensive article about Musical Ear Syndrome.

Or get the book—Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

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Center for Hearing Loss Help

Neil G. Bauman, Ph.D.

1013 Ridgeway Drive, Lynden,
WA 98264-1057 USA

Email: neil@hearinglosshelp.com

Phone: 360-778-1266 (M-F 9:00 AM-5:00 PM PST)

© 2025 Center for Hearing Loss Help – Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life [which also includes perfect hearing] through Jesus Christ our Lord." [Romans 6:23]

"But know this, in the last days perilous times will come" [2 Timothy 3:1]. "For there will be famines, pestilences, and [severe] earthquakes in various places" [Matthew 24:7], "distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring"—tsunamis, hurricanes—Luke 21:25, but this is good news if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for "when these things begin to happen, lift up your heads [and rejoice] because your redemption draws near" [Luke 21:28].