When we think about someone with hearing loss, we often think that they are hard of hearing in equal measures in both ears. Did you know that over 3000 new cases of single sided hearing loss is diagnosed each year?

Although prevalence is not as high as deafness in both ears, not being able to hear from one side can have detrimental effects on our ability to hear where sounds are coming from.

Many clients find it difficult to communicate and require the speaker to be on their “good side” in order to hear them. If you think about everyday situations, such as the workplace or even just talking to your partner or kids at home, it isn’t always possible to manipulate the environment in order to hear from the good ear.

What type of solution can help with single-sided deafness then?

Our Audiologist, Nick Modrovich, has been fitting CROS hearing aid systems for decades. A CROS system is basically wearing a transmitter microphone on the side with the poor hearing loss.

The sound picked up from the “bad” side is then transmitted to a receiver that is worn on the side with good hearing. In effect, the person is hearing sounds only through the “good” ear but picking up sounds from both sides. “Our brains are incredible at being able to integrate and make sense of the sounds from both sides, even though it is all being fed into the one ear!

The devices look just like normal hearing aids which nowadays are extremely discrete. The smile we see on clients’ faces to be able to pick up sounds from their “bad” side is always very positive.”

Ability Hearing and Balance is an independent, Tasmanian owned hearing clinic located across Tasmania. We fit all brands of hearing aids and pride ourselves on transparency and integrity. Our pricing is often thousands of dollars cheaper than the big chains so consider supporting a local small business. We value you as individuals. Contact us on 1300 EAR PRO (1300 327 776) to see why our clients choose to trust us with their hearing needs.