Since I have lost all the hearing in one of my ears, I have had many conversations like the following, “Oh, you can’t hear in one ear? Me too! It doesn’t bother me, though, because I have the other ear.” I have also had people say things like, “Well, since you still have one ear that works well, it isn’t a big deal that you are deaf in the other ear.” Even doctors and audiologists have brushed aside concerns about the lack of two functional ears, saying that you don’t need to do anything, or even worse, that there is nothing you can do to help with one deaf ear.

I recently watched a webinar led by an audiologist for the Acoustic Neuroma Association and the audiologist said, “We used to think that single sided deafness didn’t need to be treated, but we have found that people can really struggle with hearing in one ear and benefit from hearing devices.” This statement both frustrated and validated me. Of course, hearing with just one ear is not the equivalent of hearing with two ears. People should definitely be able to be treated if they have hearing loss in one ear.

To be clear, if you are deaf in one ear and feel like it isn’t impactful for your life and that it isn’t a big deal, that is awesome. I am so happy for you that it works that way. It is fantastic that losing hearing in one ear doesn’t make your life more challenging. I wish you all the success and joy. It’s great that your hearing loss is not a prominent concern.

However, many people with single sided deafness feel that hearing loss does make a significant impact on their life. We feel that it makes our lives more of a struggle. That can lead to unsafe situations. We experience so much fatigue and that hearing fatigue can impact our mental acuity. We sometimes avoid social situations because the background noise is so overwhelming. We may not be able to perform our jobs as we did before we lost hearing. We feel very dissatisfied with our hearing and that our hearing loss creates hardship.

An audiologist once described hearing with one ear as being like trying to read in a dim room. You can do it, but you are straining so hard you will end up tired so much faster. I feel like this is very true of my experience of unilateral hearing loss.

So, does single sided hearing loss need treatment? I think it depends on which camp you fall into. If you are happy with your life and don’t feel like your hearing loss matters, then I say keep on keeping on, and I wish you all the luck. If you are struggling with your hearing loss and feeling frustrated and overwhelmed, I would make an appointment to test drive some hearing devices. A good audiologist should allow you a trial period so you can see how you like the devices. If you are on the fence and are worried about costs, maybe try out the Air Pods Pro 2 over the counter hearing aid feature. It’s relatively inexpensive and a great way to try hearing assistance and see if you benefit. Read more about Air Pods as hearing aids here: https://luckybraintumor.com/2024/11/12/airpods-as-hearing-aids-for-single-sided-deafness/

If you are struggling with your one-sided hearing loss and having all the people in your world tell you that it isn’t a big deal, don’t feel like they are right. It is as big of a deal as you feel it is. So many people struggle with unilateral hearing. You are not unusual or alone. I was very unhappy with just one ear for hearing, and I am so glad I pursued a hearing device. It really changed my life for the better. While I have always felt that losing all the hearing in one ear was a small price for surviving a brain tumor, it is still a big loss.