Hearing with both ears

The importance of hearing with both ears

Ears work together as a team and the brain uses both to locate sound and ear in noisy environments.¹ Hearing with both ears is called binaural hearing. With unilateral hearing (hearing with one ear) it may be difficult to perform some tasks. These tasks are listed below.

Understand speech in noise

With unilateral hearing it may be difficult to hear speech in noisy environments.

With binaural hearing, it may be easier for the brain to listen selectively. It then may be possible to focus on specific conversations.²

Locate sound²

Not being able to tell where sound is coming from may cause problems.

For children, it may be hard to follow the teacher in class or team mates on the sports field.

For adults, driving through traffic may be difficult. For both, crossing a busy road could prove dangerous.

Avoid the head shadow effect

Sounds travel around the head so that the ear that works can send them to the brain. As a result, it may be difficult to hear and understand sounds, particularly high-frequency sounds in noisy places.¹

Listening music

Some of the people who have lost hearing in one hear say they enjoy less music and describe it as sounding unpleasant, indistinct or unnatural, compared to how it sounded with both ears.³

Binaural hearing and speech development in children

Hearing with both ears helps children better understand speech and language. This may be important for their learning and development.⁴

 

Two hearing solutions

Sometimes, using a hearing solution on both ears can be recommended. Several possibilities exist : two hearing aids, two implants (bilateral implantation) or a combination of a hearing aid and an implant (bimodal hearing).

The health professional is the only one able to determine which is the most suitable.