Hearing in only one ear is called ‘single sided deafness’ or SSD for short. SSD makes it extremely difficult to follow a conversation in background noise.
Other problems associated with SSD include:
- inability to tell where a sound is coming from
- greater fatigue at the end of the day due to straining to hear
- a sore neck from positioning the good ear to the source of sound
- reduced sense of space and volume (due to mono hearing, versus stereo)
Advances in technology and our understanding of the ‘plasticity of the brain’ has made it possible for people with single-sided deafness to benefit from a cochlear implant in the deaf ear. Many people have had their hearing restored in the deaf ear at Edgecliff Hearing. Below is the story of two such patients.
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Jason George
Like most people, Jason George took his good hearing for granted until he experienced a dramatic sudden hearing loss in his right ear that eventually led to him getting a Cochlear Implant.
In his role as a Senior Executive in the Pharmaceutical industry, Jason is required to travel extensively. He had just returned from a business trip to India when he suddenly noticed a full feeling in his right ear that got progressively worse over the next hour.
His GP diagnosed him with Sudden Severe Sensorineural Hearing Loss and the following day an ENT surgeon confirmed the devastating diagnosis. In June 2015 he was implanted with a hearing implant from Cochlear.
Just four weeks after the implant Jason said:
I have to say that I am both amazed and delighted with the results. Conversations in quiet environments already sound more articulate and I seem to have almost ‘super hearing’ in the high frequency range. Chip packets rustle like never before, light switches and ticking clocks make a satisfying click and more importantly the tinnitus I was left with after going deaf has diminished significantly. This last benefit almost justifies the surgery on its own.
Cheryl Marmont
I received a left sided cochlear implant in February 2015. I have been deaf in this ear for most of my life and have struggled through my working life as a Nurse and also socially. I was very excited and also nervous when a Cochlear implant was suggested.
I was amazed, to say the least, when I was switched on, on the second day. I could hear with my left ear for the first time in many, many years. To me it was like a miracle! It appeared to me to enhance the hearing that I had in my right ear but now for the first time I could actually hear my own voice in stereo. I could clearly hear people’s speech. I realised at that moment my life had just changed for ever!
My Cochlear implant has given me a quality of life that I never thought possible. To engage in conversation, hear birds, listen to music and be able to hear my grandchildren clearly is truly amazing. ‘THANK YOU’ will never be enough.
Both Jason and Cheryl were implanted with Cochlear Ltd’s latest cochlear implant, Generation 6. The Generation 6 cochlear implant speech processor can provide wireless audio connection to a mobile phone, television, computer and personal lapel microphone.
If you would like to discuss whether a cochlear implant could help you or someone you know, please phone Edgecliff Hearing and ask to speak with an Audiologist or email us to get the conversation started.
