Single Sided Deafness Solutions | CROS/BiCROS/BAHA Hearing Aids

112,690

1,787 54

Published 2018-02-24

Dr. Cliff Olson, Audiologist from Anthem Arizona, discusses the best treatment options for Single Sided Deafness & some cases of Unilateral Hearing Loss.

Website: www.DrCliffAuD.com/

Clinic Website: www.AppliedHearingAZ.com/

If you have a hearing loss in only one ear, a traditional hearing aid may not be your best option. Depending on the severity of that hearing loss, you may require a different treatment all together. If you can no longer understand speech in your bad ear, amplifying it with a hearng aid will not help.

When you have no usable hearing in your bad ear, and good hearing in your better ear, you need a CROS device. This stands for Contralateral Routing Of Signal. These devices look like small hearing aids and transmit sound from your bad side to your good side. This helps you overcome the Head Shadow effect and hear speech from your bad side, on your good side.

If you are deaf in your bad ear, but also have some level of hearing loss on your better side, your best option may be a BiCROS, or Bilateral Contralateral Routing of Signal device. This is where the hearing aid on your better side receives sound from the transmitter on your bad side, but also amplifies it for the better ear that also has a hearing loss.

You may also have a surgical option that is called a BAHA or Bone Anchored Hearing Aid. This requires he implantation of a metal post or magnet into your skull by a surgeon. You then attach a Sound Processor that picks up sound from your poorer side and vibrates your skull so your better hearing ear can hear it. Sounds like magic, but any vibration of the bones in your head can be heard by your Cochlea (inner ear hearing organ). This is called bone conduction. There are even headphones that use this type of technology!

At the end of the day, just because you can't hear in one ear, doesn't mean that you don't have treatment options. You just have to find a hearing care professional that is comfortable with this type of hearing loss and knows what they are doing.

Ultimately, any time you are diagnosed with a hearing loss in only one ear, or an asymmetrical hearing loss, you should be referred to an Otolaryngologist (ENT) to make sure it isn't something serious like a tumor. If it is, you will need to get that treated immediately.

All Comments (21)

@sandclove 2 years ago

I'm quite thankful to see inner ear technology has improved. There didn't seem much my doc could do about 30 years ago, or at least, didn't seem an option for me if it was around. I'm confident to get checked out again. Thank you for that.
@shannondiffenderffer1383 6 years ago

Thank you Dr. Olson!This is terrific information put in layperson terms. Greatly appreciated, especially like the diagram showing the shadow effect.
@jamiemartinez2129 4 years ago

I was born deaf in my left ear,I’m now 30 and always wondered if there was any hope...
@Gemini_Godhand 3 years ago

He just described my hearing loss, EXACTLY, in his examples right down to the individual ears!
@thasneemdrawss 3 years ago

I was also born deaf in the left ear..but I didn't realise I was born with it but I used to face many difficulties in noicy areas and sound environments like head shadow effect,dizziness etc...and I realised this unique challenge in my 13 year old time..I took a test of pure tone audiometry..and realise that I was born with SSD and the range of hearing loss is profound hearing loss..can you please tell me to over come this.. without baha..
@sasamuraki 5 years ago

Was born with SSD (right ear). Use to tell my friends that locating sound is superhuman in my world 🙂 also, lots of noise further lowers my hearing capacity (cocktails, receptions, etc), people that know automatically walk on my left side (such as wife), arriving early at meetings is important so i can strategically sit for discussion purposes, etc etc Now planning to get hearing aid - we’ll see how it goes 👍
@shisui1369 3 years ago

I’ve been deaf from 1 ear since I was little I was Probobly born deaf lol it sucks since elementary through high school my classmates would try talking to me during class but I would not be able to hear them I was really shy because of my deafness so I would just nod my head even though I had no idea what they would be saying.. I’m 27 now and I feel like this deafness has really affected me big time :( I know I talk different I’m guessing because of my deafness I’m very shy and have lots of anxiety it sucks I wish I could hear normal I Probobly only have about 5% of hearing on my bad ear compared to my good ear.
@arm5510 4 years ago

Thank you for this video, I have SSD in my left ear, severe hearing loss, and just above the line of severe on my right ear. In two days I have an appointment to have a hearing aid from my hospital (Canadian) for three months trial, before I am give a perception by my ENT to go purchase. I'm excited to be able to hear again, but nervous that I won't be able to get the same treatment you recommend.
@behemottka 5 years ago

Thank you, this is very useful. I have intracochlear schwannoma and one of those is likely in my future. Your channel was immensely helpful in navigating the choice of my current hearing aid. Thank you :)
@RubenRamirezDaKingSon 1 year ago

Thanks you for this video. The removal of a cancerous tumor on the eardrum caused complete hearing loss in my left ear at the age of 5. I am now 53 and never did get any hearing assistance for this. Now looking into the CROS hearing aid.
@frednance3988 1 year ago

I am 51 years old and i have partial hearing loss in my right ear due to bad ear infections at school. While growing up, i had been seen by audiologist from LAUSD. Within the past 6 years, i've gotten free hearing tests from Miracle Ear. the 2nd visit to them was back in August of this year. I was told i need to get a pair of hearing aids and NOT what you've talked about. Miracle Ear is a well-established firm. Howeer, who has $6-7k to spend as opposed to getting lower prices ones.
@bnglsg4619 1 year ago

Thanks for the information Dr. Cliff! Just wondering if, when using an Oticon CROS device, is the sound transmitted by the CROS upgraded by the "deep neural network" in the More aid worn in the good ear, or is the receiving device simply streaming the sound received by the CROS? I'm wondering if there is benefit in going with the higher tech Oticon or Phonak aids for the hearing ear simply in regard to sound quality.
@beccapearce597 5 years ago

This was hugely helpful. Thank you! I especially appreciate the comment that not all audiologists are used to handling this. Do you have any sense of if the BAHA bluetooth, or outside piece, is getting smaller as we gain in technology? And as things change, can the device we get today upgrade with that technology?
@mehtachini70 2 years ago

Dr. Cliff, your videos are very informative. I am eagerly waiting for Phonak to release the new CROS. Would you how long before the new CROS is released? Thank you.
@varunt2475 4 years ago

Hi, Could you do a comparison of the various Cros brands, especially an objective comparison of their performance in noisy environments?
@airborn65 5 years ago

Hello Dr. Cliff. I have moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss on my right ear and severe to profound sensorineural loss on my left ear. Will BiCros setup work for me or shall I just stick to binaural hearing aids? I appreciate your videos a lot. Thanks in advance for your advice.
@fookutube501 3 years ago

I'm getting my BAHA next week,but its only a demo, while i wait for my order.I was told it cost 13k,but lucky for me my Government pay for it.I can't wait.I'm deaf in my left and 30% in my right..
@gessed 4 years ago

I was born deaf in one ear and managed with a hearing aid on my good ear which was damaged while diving. I was a teenager who did not realize the danger. Hearing amplification was the answer.
@johnmccool6875 1 year ago

I left this same question on another one of your videos, but this video addresses my SSD issue exactly. I have mild to moderate hearing loss in one ear and profound hearing loss in the other. I went to an ENT/Audiologist group and they recommended either just 1 hearing aid (to save money) or a bicross solution. I also went to Miracle Ear and they recommended traditional hearing aids, saying that since my speech recognition is just as good when testing both ears together as compared to testing just my better ear traditional hearing aids would work well for me. I'm confused now on which to go with.
@ohkeydohkey 6 years ago

Dr. Olson, Thank you for your videos. They are truly informative. I’m looking for a SSD hearing aid and currently am in between the Phonak Audeo B-R and the Untiron Moxi Now which I have been informed are from the same company and have a relationship similar to Toyota and Lexus. From what I’ve seen in researching these and sticking to the car analogy, Phonak is more like the Lexus while Unitron is more like the Toyota. Both have similar “engines” but the Phonak has more features. I’m interested in hearing your opinion on each of these devices or maybe seeing a video on this wishful thinking