Single Sided Hearing Loss

Posted by nla4625 @nla4625, Feb 10, 2021

I'm amazed how many posts there have been lately about single sided hearing loss and think having our own thread might be beneficial. I'm missing something really important about this issue and hope someone will please help me understand it. I used to explain my hearing issue to people who asked as follows: when you have two good ears, sound comes in from both sides and your brain can select what it wants to "hear". When you have only one good ear, sound comes in on one side and your brain can't separate out what it wants to "hear." It's all noise. Is that right or am I totally wrong? If it is right and I get the cros hearing aid, how will moving sound from my deaf ear over to my good ear make any difference in my ability to hear? Sound is still going in one side and will still be noise. I understand that if I need the bicros hearing aid, it will pick up the sound from my deaf ear, move it to my good ear and enhance the ability to hear in my good ear. This is really complex. I'm rooting for the new technology in the article Ken sent out about growing new tiny hairs in the ears of hard of hearing people to help them hear more clearly. Thanks for helping me understand this. Nancy

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Hearing Loss Support Group.

@barbb

nla4625 I have the bilateral acoustics (NF2) and when one was surgically removed my facial nerve was affected so I am saying how lucky you are that that didn't happen with you. Perhaps your tumor was relatively small? Do you know the size of it? Mine was considered of medium to medium large size at 3 mm (and I did have a very top surgeon although that was in 1996). I seem not to have seen Ellen's reference to "non invasive surgery" (which sounds like a contradiction in terms) and I am not sure how to search for it but I am very curious about that. Can you or someone help me find that, or quote it here?

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@barbb. I hope I didn't give the wrong information. I think Ellen said something about gamma knife radio surgery and mentioned she went home shortly after the procedure. Like you, I wondered what the heck it was and how she could recover so quickly. I was in St Mary's for at least a week and then took quite a while to recover fully at my mother's house. I did a google search where gamma knife radio surgery was described as noninvasive surgery...so those were my words, not hers. Here is an article about it. https://www.barrowbrainandspine.com/what-we-treat/brain-tumor/gamma-knife/ The strides that have been made from 1987 when I had the surgery to now are almost too much to fathom. I'm not sure what the size of my tumor was or where it was exactly located, However, I'll never forget the discussion or picture the doctors showed me of a hole the size of a pencil where the hearing nerve and facial nerve went through my skull into the brain where the tumor was. My gratitude for my positive outcome began with my doctor in Illinois, who said he wouldn't refer me to any place but Mayo because doctors there were removing the tumors without damaging the facial nerve. I'm really sorry you weren't so fortunate...maybe it did have something to do with the size of the tumor. Take care...Nancy

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@nla4625

@wendymb @erikas Hi Wendy, I don't know anything about this issue, fortunately, other than it drives people crazy and must be awful. If you go to the Hearing Group Page and scroll down through discussion topics, there is a whole discussion group sharing information about hearing aids that help with tinnitus. I'm sure you will get some great ideas and tips there. Good luck! Nancy

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thank you so much nia4625. i will check it out. and btw, nextdoor.com is a community or neighborhood "gossip/info" site where your neighbors chat about anything and everything local, with suggestions and tips, and questions.

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@th1

Hearing aids are one of the symptom relievers for tinnitus, and some of the newer ones have settings that, among other things, are supposed to reduce the effects on you of tinnitus - I have not tried any, but have seen releases of various manufacturers for this. Consumer Affairs website shows their favorite tinnitus app options for hearing aids are:
Embrace Hearing and Beltone
Our favorite tinnitus technology:
Miracle-Ear and Widex
Hope this helps

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great info, th1. will look into them.

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@nla4625

@th1. This does help, thanks, and reminds me that I need to refresh my memory when I visit the audiologist about precisely what my problem is and all the ways it can be addressed. I think the deafness in my left ear was caused by damage to the auditory nerve when they removed the acoustic neuroma. I read an article several years ago that doctors can now remove acoustic neuromas without destroying the auditory nerve if the nerve hadn't been too badly damaged to begin with. I remember thinking at the time mine must have been pretty damaged, since I was having serious hearing problems in that ear, which led to the diagnosis and subsequent surgery. I don't think they could have preserved the nerve.

Thanks for the good advice about buying and testing hearing aids. Before I spend more than $25 on anything, I consult Consumer Reports to see what their recommendations are. Before I go HA shopping, I'll look at their website again and download their latest information on hearing aids and do a lot of research on the internet. I'm a member of the professed luddite group here but am amazed at how much I love my Ipad and the worlds it opens up to me. I don't know what Next Door is but will check it out. Thanks! Nancy

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I don't get Consumer Reports. Can you tell me the year this information was given. Amberwaves

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@amberwaves

I don't get Consumer Reports. Can you tell me the year this information was given. Amberwaves

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@amberwaves.
I should have included the website for Consumer Reports before -- it is http://www.consumerreports.org. They usually divide their informative reports into three categories: overview; ratings and reliability; and buying guide. I'm not sure if you will get all of the information if you aren't a subscriber, so I copied the info available and pasted it below. I hope you will be able to open these links...sometimes when I send them it doesn't work, sigh. If you can't open them, you could go to their web site and search for hearing aids or do a google search on Consumer Reports Hearing Aids. The date on the buying guide was January 2019. I would bet they will be updating this soon and will watch for the latest information in their newsletters. AARP probably has some good information on hearing aids too, which I'll check out before I start my hearing aid shopping trip. Won't it be fun to go shopping? I hope this helps! I should have mentioned why I haven't been looking at OTC hearing aids. I need a special type of hearing aid for people who can hear in only one ear; and I think, maybe incorrectly, I have to get them through an audiologist or hearing center to be fitted properly. Additionally, I'm so protective of my good ear, I'm a little worried about putting anything in it that might damage it, even a reliable tried and true tested hearing aid. I am frankly amazed people buy prescription eye glasses that work for them over the internet, so maybe some day soon the same will be true for hearing aids. I still get my glasses from the optician in my ophthalmologist's office. Happy Valentine's Day -- one of my favorite holidays. Flowers, hearts and chocolates...what's not to love? Nanvy

Overview
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/hearing-aids.htm
Buying Guide
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/hearing-aids/buying-guide/index.htm
Ratings and reliability
https://www.consumerreports.org/products/hearing-aids-36930/hearing-aid-retailers-200074/view2/

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My husband says, “It opens up your world.”

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@nla4625

@amberwaves.
I should have included the website for Consumer Reports before -- it is http://www.consumerreports.org. They usually divide their informative reports into three categories: overview; ratings and reliability; and buying guide. I'm not sure if you will get all of the information if you aren't a subscriber, so I copied the info available and pasted it below. I hope you will be able to open these links...sometimes when I send them it doesn't work, sigh. If you can't open them, you could go to their web site and search for hearing aids or do a google search on Consumer Reports Hearing Aids. The date on the buying guide was January 2019. I would bet they will be updating this soon and will watch for the latest information in their newsletters. AARP probably has some good information on hearing aids too, which I'll check out before I start my hearing aid shopping trip. Won't it be fun to go shopping? I hope this helps! I should have mentioned why I haven't been looking at OTC hearing aids. I need a special type of hearing aid for people who can hear in only one ear; and I think, maybe incorrectly, I have to get them through an audiologist or hearing center to be fitted properly. Additionally, I'm so protective of my good ear, I'm a little worried about putting anything in it that might damage it, even a reliable tried and true tested hearing aid. I am frankly amazed people buy prescription eye glasses that work for them over the internet, so maybe some day soon the same will be true for hearing aids. I still get my glasses from the optician in my ophthalmologist's office. Happy Valentine's Day -- one of my favorite holidays. Flowers, hearts and chocolates...what's not to love? Nanvy

Overview
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/hearing-aids.htm
Buying Guide
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/hearing-aids/buying-guide/index.htm
Ratings and reliability
https://www.consumerreports.org/products/hearing-aids-36930/hearing-aid-retailers-200074/view2/

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Me too. We can’t afford to get my husband new aids.

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@faithwalker007

Me too. We can’t afford to get my husband new aids.

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@faithwalker007, you may be interested in this informative discussion with tips from fellow members.

- Help! I can't afford to buy hearing aids https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/help-11/

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@dwi

Sorry to say bi cros may not help with your brain not understanding. The only benefit I have found is they let you know whenSomeone is trying to talk to you from your self side. It is still stressful when in a nosy environment. Mine are 5 years old so I am sure some of the newer models are better as for as sound quality.

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@dwi You might want to ask @golden418 about his experiences with the older phonak bicros hearing aids and the newer models. He is the person who told me there was a hearing aid that would help me, which I hadn't known. I think he said the one he got 6 years ago didn't help him very much but the newer models had been greatly improved and did. Hopefully you will find the same when you get your new ones. Nancy

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Hopefully I will be able to return to the states next summer. Once I return I plan on checking out the latest models.

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