Single sided deafness

Single-sided deafness (SSD) is also known as profound unilateral hearing loss. It is a type of hearing impairment that occurs when one ear has no functional hearing ability.

Individuals with SSD have:

• difficulty hearing conversations on their impaired side
• difficulty understanding speech in the presence of background noise
• difficulty localizing sound (i.e., determining the direction, distance and movement of sound)
• increased listening demands, requiring greater listening effort

Treatment options

CROS hearing aids

A CROS (Contralateral Routing of Sound) hearing aid transmits sound from the poorer ear to the better ear. A microphone/transmitter is placed behind or inside the poorer ear, where it picks up sound and transmits it wirelessly to a receiver or amplifying system on or in the normal hearing ear. Hearing in the good ear is preserved and remains completely unaffected.

Pros:

• non-surgical
• no long-term complications
• allows for a trial period
• least expensive option (systems starting at $2000)
• partial funding from the Assistive Devices Program coverage

Cons:

• sound is not restored in the non-hearing ear
• it may be more difficult to understand speech in noise

Cochlear Implant

A cochlear implant is a device that replaces the function of the inner ear. The cochlear implant bypasses the damaged parts of the inner ear. It consists of an internal implant that is surgically placed under the skin behind the ear and an external speech processor. It helps to restore hearing in the ear with the hearing impairment.

Pros:

• restores a sense of hearing in the hearing-impaired ear
• restores a sense of bilateral hearing
• may reduce listening effort
• may improve hearing in background noise
• may improve sound localization abilities
• Funding is provided for the initial cochlear implant and external speech processor but there is only partial funding for out of warranty replacement speech processors.

Cons:

• cost to maintain a cochlear implant speech processor can be higher than a hearing aid
• requires a surgery
• the cochlear implant only produces sound with the external speech processor is being worn.

Learn more about cochlear implants

Implantable Bone-Conduction Aids

The Med-El BoneBridge and Cochlear Osia devices are another type of bone-anchored auditory processing system. They are a semi-implantable hearing system, where the implant is positioned completely under the skin. The implant receives signals from an external audio processor worn over the skin.

Pros:

• hardware is implanted under the skin to avoid long term wound care (unlike percutaneous bone conduction devices)
• good cosmetic appearance
• There is no device on the better hearing ear
• The cost of the internal bone conduction implant and external audio processor is covered by OHIP. There is only partial funding coverage for out of warranty audio processor replacements.

Cons:

• There may be a dispensing fee charged for the fitting/programming of the external audio processor.
• Requires a surgery
• The bone conduction implant only produces sound when the external audio processor is being worn

Learn more about implantable bone conduction aids »