Hearing with both ears

The importance of hearing with both ears

Ears work as a team, and the brain needs them both to best understand speech and tell where sounds are coming from.¹

Binaural hearing

It is only when you hear with two ears that your brain is able to fully understand sound. If you can only hear in one ear (unilateral hearing) it may be difficult to:

• Avoid the head shadow effect - Sounds that come from your ‘bad side’ fall in the shadow of your head. They have to then travel around your head so your ‘good ear’ can send them to the brain. As a result, they may be more difficult to hear and understand clearly, especially in noise.² This is especially true for higher-frequency sounds.²

• Understand speech in noise - Consonants are higher-frequency sounds that contain much of the meaning of speech. Because of the head shadow effect, it can be difficult for people with only one good ear to understand speech in noisy situations.²

• Locate sound - Not being able to properly tell where sound is coming from can cause problems. For children, it may be hard to understand the teacher in class. For adults, driving through traffic can be difficult. For both, crossing a busy road could even be dangerous.

Binaural hearing and speech development in children

Being able to hear with both ears helps build speech and language understanding. This is important for children’s learning and development.³

“Binaural hearing provides you with the ability to tell where sounds are coming from and to understand speech in noisy environments. It allows you to take advantage of brain mechanisms that can separate the speech you want to hear from other sounds in the area.”

- Ruth Litovsky, Ph.D., Profession of Communication Disorders,
University of Wisconsin, Director, Binaural Hearing Lab, Waisman Center

Bimodal hearing (hearing aid and hearing implant)

Bimodal hearing combines the benefits of a hearing aid in one ear and a hearing implant in the other ear. The result is a richer and more natural hearing experience.³

With a bimodal hearing solution, you may experience many benefits, including:

• Clearer sound and improved speech understanding, especially in noise^4-6

• Being able to better tell where sounds are coming from⁶

• Being able to enjoy music more.^7,8

Bilateral implants

If you have a bimodal solution but still struggle to understand speech, bilateral hearing implants may be the answer to help you communicate effectively. A hearing health professional who specializes in all types of hearing solutions will be able to assist you.

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