Because you’re so hip, you were in the front row for the entire rock concert last night. It’s enjoyable, though it’s not good for your ears which will be ringing when you wake up in the morning. (That’s not so enjoyable.)
But what if you can only hear out of one ear when you wake up? The rock concert is most likely not to blame in that situation. Something else could be at work. And when you develop hearing loss in only one ear… you might feel a bit worried!
Moreover, your overall hearing may not be working right. Normally, your brain is sorting out information from both ears. So only receiving signals from a single ear can be disorienting.
Why hearing loss in one ear leads to issues
Generally speaking, your ears work as a functional pair. Just like having two front facing eyes helps your depth perception and visual sharpness, having two side facing ears helps you hear more effectively. So hearing loss in one ear can wreak havoc. Here are a few of the most prominent:
- You can have difficulty identifying the direction of sounds: Somebody yells your name, but you have no clue where they are! When your hearing goes out in one ear, it’s really very difficult for your brain to triangulate the origin of sounds.
- It’s difficult to hear in noisy locations: Noisy settings like event venues or noisy restaurants can become overwhelming with only one ear functioning. That’s because your ears can’t make heads or tails of where any of that sound is originating from.
- You have trouble detecting volume: In the same way as you need both ears to triangulate location, you sort of need both ears to determine how loud something is. Think about it like this: If you can’t determine where a sound is coming from, it’s difficult to detect whether that sound is simply quiet or just away.
- Your brain gets tired: Your brain will become more fatigued faster if you can only hear out of one ear. That’s because it’s desperately trying to compensate for the loss of hearing from one of your ears. This is particularly true when hearing loss in one ear happens suddenly. basic daily tasks, as a result, will become more exhausting.
So what causes hearing loss in one ear?
“Single sided Hearing Loss” or “unilateral hearing loss” are technical terms for when hearing is muffled on one side. Single sided hearing loss, in contrast to common “both ear hearing loss”, usually isn’t the result of noise related damage. This means that it’s time to evaluate other possible factors.
Some of the most prevalent causes include the following:
- Other infections: Swelling is one of your body’s most prevailing responses to infection. It’s just how your body responds. Swelling in response to an infection isn’t necessarily localized so hearing loss in one ear can be caused by any infection that would cause inflammation.
- Acoustic Neuroma: While the name might sound rather intimidating, an acoustic neuroma is a benign tumor that grows on the nerves of the inner ear. You should still take this condition seriously, even though it isn’t cancerous, it can still be potentially life threatening.
- Ear infections: Ear infections can cause swelling. And this inflammation can block your ear canal, making it difficult for you to hear.
- Meniere’s Disease: When somebody is coping with the degenerative condition known as Menier’s disease, they often experience vertigo and hearing loss. Often, the disease advances asymmetrically: one ear may be affected before the other. Menier’s disease often is accompanied by single sided hearing loss and ringing.
- Ruptured eardrum: A ruptured eardrum will usually be extremely evident. Objects in the ear, head trauma, or loud noise (among other things) can be the cause of a ruptured eardrum. And it occurs when there’s a hole between the thin membrane that separates your ear canal and middle ear. The outcome can be really painful, and usually triggers tinnitus or hearing loss in that ear.
- Earwax: Yup, occasionally your earwax can become so packed in there that it blocks your hearing. It’s like using an earplug. If this is the situation, do not reach for a cotton swab. Cotton swabs can jam the earwax even further up against the eardrum.
- Irregular Bone Growth: In extremely rare cases, the cause of your hearing loss may actually be some atypical bone growth getting in the way. And when it grows in a certain way, this bone can actually hinder your hearing.
So… What can I do about my single-sided hearing loss?
Depending on what’s generating your single-sided hearing loss, treatments will differ. Surgery may be the best option for specific obstructions such as tissue or bone growth. A ruptured eardrum or similar problems will usually heal naturally. Other issues such as excessive earwax can be easily removed.
In some circumstances, however, your single-sided hearing loss might be permanent. We will help, in these situations, by prescribing one of two potential hearing aid options:
- CROS Hearing Aid: This unique type of hearing aid is designed specifically for people with single-sided hearing loss. These hearing aids can identify sounds from your impacted ear and transfer them to your brain via your good ear. It’s very complex, very cool, and very effective.
- Bone-Conduction Hearing Aids: To help you make up for being able to hear from only one ear, these hearing aids utilize your bones to move the sound waves to your brain, bypassing most of the ear completely.
Your hearing specialist is the beginning
If you aren’t hearing out of both of your ears, there’s probably a reason. It’s not something that should be disregarded. It’s important, both for your well-being and for your hearing health, to get to the bottom of those causes. So begin hearing out of both ears again by scheduling an appointment with us.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7230949/
https://www.hear-it.org/single-sided-deafness
