Often, people with single-sided deafness can follow conversations in quiet settings. This can give your friends and family the impression that your hearing loss is only a minor issue. But single-sided deafness has a significant impact on your quality of life and should be recognized as a serious burden.

Listening with only one ear takes so much more mental effort to separate what you want to hear from background noise. You can’t tell where sounds are coming from, which can make you feel disoriented and overwhelmed.

This can leave you struggling to follow conversations at work or always having to turn your hearing ear to understand a friend, or worrying that you won’t notice sudden warning noises when crossing the street.

At MED-EL, our philosophy is to provide a closer match to natural hearing with our cochlear implants. The idea is simple: Provide a closer match between both ears so that both ears can work better together.

This makes it easier to match any hearing aid, including the hearing aid you’re wearing right now. By letting both ears hear their best, both ears can work together better.

What Is Sensorineural Hearing Loss?

Sensorineural hearing loss is a type of hearing loss caused by problems in the inner ear (cochlea) or the auditory nerve. These problems affect how sound signals reach the brain. The inner ear contains tiny hair cells that are responsible for converting sound into nerve signals that are then sent to the brain. But when these cells are damaged or when the auditory nerve doesn’t work properly, sound signals can’t be sent to the brain effectively.

The level of sensorineural hearing loss can vary from mild to profound. Individuals with profound hearing loss may be unable to hear even the loudest sounds. For individuals with milder hearing loss, the amplification a hearing aid can provide may be sufficient to enable them to hear.

Sensorineural hearing loss can make it particularly difficult to hear in noisy environments like restaurants, take part in group conversations, or communicate on the phone. The extra listening effort in these situations can lead to listening fatigue.

Treatment for sensorineural hearing loss depends on the cause and severity, as well as your ability to understand speech and hearing profile. If you have mild-to-moderate hearing loss, a hearing aid may be the best solution for you. If you have severe-to-profound hearing loss and hearing aids are no longer enough, a cochlear implant may be the right solution for you.

With the guidance of a professional who will consider both your audiogram and your individual needs, you can find the best solution for you.