Single sided deafness, or unilateral hearing loss is much more regular than people realize, notably in kids. Age-related hearing loss, which concerns most adults at some point, tends to become lateral, simply put, it affects both ears to some degree. Because of this, the average person sees hearing loss as a binary — somebody has normal hearing in both ears or decreased hearing on both sides, but that dismisses one particular form of hearing loss completely.
A 1998 study estimated approximately 400,000 children had a unilateral hearing loss due to injury or disease at the time. It is safe to say that amount has gone up in that past two decades.
What’s Single-Sided hearing loss and What Causes It?
As the name implies, single-sided hearing loss indicates a decrease in hearing only in one ear. The hearing loss may be conductive, sensorineural or mixed. In intense cases, profound deafness is possible. The nonfunctioning ear is incapable of hearing whatsoever and that person is left with monaural sound quality — their hearing is limited to a side of their human body.
Causes of unilateral hearing loss differ. It can be caused by injury, for instance, a person standing next to gunfire on the left might end up with moderate or profound hearing loss in that ear. A disease may lead to the problem, too, such as:
- Acoustic neuroma
- Measles
- Waardenburg syndrome
- Meningitis
- Mastoiditis
- Mumps
- Microtia
No matter the cause, an individual who has unilateral hearing needs to adapt to a different method of processing audio.
Management of the Sound
The mind utilizes the ears nearly just like a compass. It identifies the direction of sound based on which ear registers it initially and in the highest volume. When somebody talks to you while positioned on the left, the brain sends a message to turn in that way.
With the single-sided hearing loss, the noise is only going to come in one ear regardless of what way it originates. In case you have hearing in the left ear, then your head will turn left to search for the sound even if the person talking is on the right.
Pause for a second and consider what that would be similar to. The sound would always enter one side regardless of where what direction it comes from. How would you know where a person speaking to you is standing? Even if the hearing loss isn’t deep, sound management is tricky.
Focusing on Audio
The mind also uses the ears to filter out background sound. It informs one ear, the one nearest to the sound you want to concentrate on, to listen to a voice. Your other ear manages the background noises. That is precisely why in a noisy restaurant, so you can still concentrate on the conversation at the table.
Without that tool, the mind gets confused. It is not able to filter out background noises like a fan blowing, so that is all you hear.
The Ability to Multitask
The mind has a lot happening at any one time but having use of two ears allows it to multitask. That’s why you’re able to sit and read your social media sites while watching TV or having a conversation. With just one functioning ear, the mind loses the ability to do something when listening. It has to prioritize between what you see and what you hear, which means you tend to lose out on the dialogue around you while you browse your newsfeed.
The Head Shadow Impact
The head shadow effect describes how certain sounds are unavailable to a person with a unilateral hearing loss. Low tones have long frequencies so they bend enough to wrap around the head and reach the working ear. High pitches have shorter wavelengths and do not endure the journey.
If you are standing next to an individual with a high pitched voice, you might not understand what they say unless you flip so the good ear is facing them. On the flip side, you might hear someone with a deep voice just fine regardless of what side they are on because they produce longer sound waves which make it into either ear.
People with only minor hearing loss in only one ear tend to accommodate. They learn quickly to turn their head a certain way to listen to a friend talk, for instance. For those who struggle with single-sided hearing loss, a hearing aid might be work around that yields their lateral hearing.